 For unknown reasons, Azreal was not present at this show, so the first act of the night were our fellow Canucks in The Agonist, who started the night off with incredible energy and energetic tunes and performed to a pretty receptive crowd. Vicky Psarakis' filled the Phoenix with both brutal and melodic vocals. Some of the songs the band performed included "A Necessary Evil" and "The Anchor & The Sail". For the first three quarters of the set, there wasn't much activity in the crowd, just people headbanging, but it was during the final quarter that a couple of decent mosh pits started going. (C)2017 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com Photos: Rob Botten Next up, we were treated to some ass-kicking Bay Area thrash metal with Death Angel. This is where the crowd-surfing began. They began their set with the intro to "The Ultra-Violence", then jumped into ripping thrash-mania with "Evil Priest", just like the last time I saw them when they opened for Slayer. The primary focus of their set was material since the band's reformation in 2001. Mark Osegueda's vocals were in top form as always, unleashing those godly high notes like he's in his prime. He then shared with the crowd the unfortunate news about his grandmother's passing that day and he dedicated the show to her. We send our condolences to Mark and his family, but he and the band still gave 110% despite the sad news. Whenever addressing the crowd, Mark always delivers messages of positivity. Other songs the band touched on included "Claws In So Deep", "Left For Dead" and "Caster Of Shame". I was real happy they played "Father Of Lies" because it's one of my favourite tracks off their latest record The Evil Divide. Osegueda's command for movement and activity in the crowd during "Thrown To The Wolves" and "The Moth" was met with some amazing mosh pits and crowd-surfing. Like every time I see them live, Death Angel left me with my mind blown and they made quite a few new fans on this night. (C)2017 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com Photos: Rob Botten | Written by: Alex Stojanovic Photography by: Rob Botten (C)2017 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com The Phoenix Toronto, ON Canada February 15, 2017 Presented by Inertia Entertainment It was great to be back at the Phoenix Concert Theatre after only a year and a half as it's one of my favourite venues to see a show, especially because the sound is usually great. The day after Valentine's Day, Toronto was treated to quite a show, which was the Bound By The Road tour featuring DevilDriver and special guests Death Angel, Winds Of Plague, The Agonist and Azreal. With this awesome lineup, fans were in for some intense mosh pits and a great night of metal. Let's get down to the festivities. (C)2017 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com Photos: Rob Botten Next up were California deathcore titans Winds Of Plague, who really energized the crowd and got mosh pits going for each song. Whenever I see deathcore bands live, usually the sound is super distorted and all I can hear is almost complete white noise, but Winds Of Plague had a decent clarity to their sound. Even though the solos were drowned out a bit, the riffs were all distinguishable, and it's what really stood out about their set. They displayed great energy on stage and delivered an overall solid performance. Vocalist Johnny Plague even went to the audience to let them scream into the mic at one point. (C)2017 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com Photos: Rob Botten Finishing off the night were DevilDriver. It was my third time seeing them, and the last time I saw them in 2013 with Trivium, just happened to be at the Phoenix. The set began with "End Of The Line" followed by "Not All Who Wander Are Lost". DevilDriver take pride in filling their set with full-throttle, face-smashing tunes, perfect for headbanging, crowd-surfing and moshing. The only slower song in the set was the band's cover of AWOLNATION's "Sail". Their stage set was nothing too fancy, except for two podiums on either side of the stage and some extra lighting, which enhanced their show. During their set, they touched on several fan favourites like "I Could Care Less", "Grinfucked", "Hold Back The Day" and "Before The Hangman's Noose", as well as a couple of cuts off the latest record Trust No One like "Daybreak" and "My Night Sky". Towards the end, we were treated to "Clouds Over California", "Ruthless" (where Dez encouraged fans to crowd-surf and shake his hand "if they had the balls"), and the set ended with "Meet The Wretched". Overall, DevilDriver's headlining set was pretty short. It consisted of 13 songs, but it lasted for only an hour, which is pretty unusual for a band that has seven records out, but they still delivered an unbelievable show living up to the satisfaction of all the concertgoers. |
| DEVILDRIVER Dez Fafara - Vocals Mike Spritzer - Guitars Austin D'Amond - Drums Neal Tiemann - Guitars Diege "Ashes" Ibarra - Bass Label: Napalm Records www.devildriver.com | DEATH ANGEL Mark Osegueda - Vocals Rob Cavestany - Guitars & vocals Ted Aguilar - Guitars Will Carroll - Drums Damien Sisson - Bass Label: Nuclear Blast Records www.deathangel.us | WINDS OF PLAGUE Johnny Plague - Vocals Art Cruz - Drums Alana Potocnik - Keyboards DaveyOberlin-Rhythm guitars Michael Montoya-Lead guitars Justin Bock - Bass Label: Century Media Records www.windsofplague.net | THE AGONIST Vicky Psarakis - Vocals Chris Kells - Bass Danny Marino - Guitars Pascal "Paco" Jobin - Guitars Simon McKay - Drums Label: Napalm Records www.theagonistband.com |
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