Written by Alex Stojanovic
Photography by Rob Singh

(C) 2023 All rights reserved by MetalMasterKingdom.com

TOOL
w/ Steal Beans
@ Scotiabank Arena
Toronto, ON, Canada
November 21, 2023

Written by Alex Stojanovic

PANTERA
w/ Lamb Of God and Child Bite
@ Budweiser Stage
Toronto, ON, Canada
August 12, 2023

It has been a topic of discussion for well over a decade, and the unimaginable came to fruition just last year, when Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown announced that they would be teaming up together for a bunch of Pantera tribute shows.  The announcement caused quite a division between the fans, with one half being really stoked on it, and the other half causing an uproar and calling the move and insult to the legacy and the Abbott brothers.  At first, when it was announced, I wasn't sure how I felt about it.  However, as more details started rolling out, I started to get behind it more and more.

Written by Alex Stojanovic
Photography by Marta Chilina

(C) 2023 All rights reserved by MetalMasterKingdom.com

CANNIBAL CORPSE / MAYHEM
w/ GORGUTS and BLOOD INCANTATION
@ Rebel
Toronto, ON, Canada
September 27, 2023

It's a Wednesday evening in Toronto.  The weather is borderline warm and cool now that we've arrived in the fall season, and the fall touring season for bands is in full swing, so what do you do?  Go to a show of course, because what else, right?  One tour taking place currently is the co-headline tour between Cannibal Corpse and Mayhem, once again bringing the worlds of death metal and black metal together, along with Gorguts and Blood Incantation serving as special guests.  The tour of brutality steamrolled into Rebel on Wednesday, September 27, and the show attracted all ages, proven by the fact that I saw a dad holding his little girl on his shoulders during one of the sets and she was rocking out hard.

​Starting off the evening were Blood Incantation.  Now, I'm going to be completely honest as I always am, but they could've picked a much better first act for this tour.  For a band that has been around for over a decade and having released two full-lengths, they gave more of an impression that they were just starting out.  Their sound was full of ambience, which definitely made it really hard to distinguish any of the riffs, as it sounded like I was listening to just a wall of sound.  Frontman Paul Riedl's in-between song banters couldn't have sounded more unenthusiastic.  It came across as though performing live was a burden to him and he would much rather be doing something else.  As a result, it was rather difficult to watch their set and stay engaged.  I honestly found myself getting the yawns during their set.

Up next was some homegrown death metal with Gorguts.  It's a bit of a special occasion for anybody to see Gorguts since they don't tour that much these days.  They haven't played a show since 2017, so it must've also felt like a relief for the band to be back on the road after six years.  This was also the point of the show where myself and all those who were falling asleep during Blood Incantation really woke up.  Whoever was doing sound for Gorguts deserves a raise, because they made a death metal band's set have what I like to call the million-dollar sound quality.  Luc Lemay looked like a death metal wizard with his long grey hair and beard, but he has lost nothing off his voice or guitar playing.  Their short 6-song set consisted of tracks like "Rottenatomy", "Disincarnated", "Bodily Corrupted", "Considered Dead", "Inoculated Life" and "Obscura".

​Now it was time for headliner of the night: Mayhem.  Supplying the black metal portion of the night, they entered the stage which was later filled with smoke, with Attila Csihar dressing like the reaper in a raggedy hooded cloak for the first 3/4 of the set and a makeshift cross mic holder made of two bones, and then later dawning a mask that made him look like a Satanic zombie towards the end.  It was my first time seeing Mayhem, and to me, they didn't really surprise me as far as a black metal show goes.  It had all the elements that you would expect a black metal show to have from both the sonics and the visuals.  I found it kind of hard to watch their set because they weren't active on stage, and their movements were rather slow, trying to match with the atmospheric vibe from the tremolo-picked riffing.  I also found it rather odd that Attila didn't talk to the crowd in between songs.  Even though the band are notorious for their controversy surrounding Dead, they still manage to resurrect him each night with his voice introducing "Freezing Moon" on the P.A.  I honestly don't plan on seeing Mayhem, unless they're part of a bill that I really want to see.

Written by Alex Stojanovic

MEGADETH w/ BIOHAZARD
@ Colosseum Caesers Windsor
Windsor, ON, Canada
September 21, 2023

Written by Alex Stojanovic
Photography by Marta Chilina

(C) 2023 All rights reserved by MetalMasterKingdom.com

KLASH OF THE TITANS TOUR 2023
Sepultura / Kreator w/ Death Angel / Spiritworld
@ Danforth Music Hall
Toronto, ON, Canada
June 8, 2023

Presented by Embrace

Review and photography:  Navneet Johal


(C) 2023 All rights reserved by MetalMasterKingdom.com


RHAPSODY OF FIRE
Glory Of Salvation North American Tour 2023
w/ Wind Rose and Seven Kingdoms
@ The Garrison
Toronto, ON, Canada
May 14, 2023

​
Presented by Inertia Entertainment

It had been over a decade since I was last immersed into the fantastical realm of Italian symphonic power metallers Rhapsody Of Fire concert back in 2012.  Three years ago, in the spring of 2020, fans like me were stoked when another North America tour was announced - then sadly the COVID-19 pandemic hit and live music became a distant memory.  It is no surprise that the show sold out, proven by the fact that by the time the first opener hit the stage, The Garrison was packed to the brim.  The venue was sweltering with the combined excitement of hundreds of metalheads and their body heat.

Written and photographed by Alex Stojanovic

(C) 2022 All rights reserved by MetalMasterKingdom.com

CANNIBAL CORPSE
w/ Dark Funeral / Immolation / Black Anvil
@ Danforth Music Hall
Toronto, ON, Canada
November 6, 2022

Presented by Inertia Entertainment

​The end of the year is approaching, and with live music's resurgence continuing this year, Toronto has already seen an array of incredible shows this year, but there's still some more shows to come before the end of the year.  That being said, fans gathered at the Danforth Music Hall on a rather warm Sunday evening on November 6 for a night of brutality that included windmills, gutteral vocals, rampaging riffs, and a whole lot of notes, as one of the most brutal tours of the year was in town, which was Cannibal Corpse with special guests Dark Funeral, Immolation and Black Anvil.  This tour seemed like an interesting mix because it was a 50/50 split between death metal and black metal.  Even though they're two of the most extreme subgenres, it's a bit of an odd mix, because they both have blast beats and gutteral vocals, but death metal has much more going and is more fast-paced, whereas black metal seems more atmospheric with the soaring and dissonant tremolo-picked riffs.  Either way, the tour proved to be a great success because the show was sold out in advance.

Written by Alex Stojanovic

TRIVIUM (DEAD MEN & DRAGONS TOUR 2022)
w/ Between The Buried & Me / Whitechapel / Khemmis
@ Rebel
Toronto, ON, Canada
October 25, 2022

Presented by Inertia Entertainment

​The fall season is back in full force after two years of silence, and Toronto has already seen a bunch of great tours come through so far.  One of the several tours that came through was Trivium's Dead Men & Dragons Tour.  The juggernaut tour hit Rebel on October 25th less than a week before Halloween.  This marks the first Trivium made more than one stop to Toronto in an entire decade, as they were here back in the spring as part of the Metal Tour Of The Year with Megadeth, Lamb Of God and In Flames (see our review here).  Trivium are currently making up for a lot of lost touring opportunities due to the pandemic by touring behind In The Court Of The Dragon and What The Dead Men Say, and having just come off a tour supporting Iron Maiden, they wasted no time and jumped straight into their own headline tour with special guests Between The Buried & Me, Whitechapel and Khemmis.

Written by Alex Stojanovic

@ Meridian Centre
​St. Catherine's ON, Canada
October 22, 2022

I still remember like it was yesterday that we were already one week into 2020 when the news broke about the sudden passing of none other than the Professor, aka: Neil Peart.  Given how much of an influence Neil had on me on my drumming and lyric writing, and how much of a Rush fan I am, it goes without saying that his passing hit me like a freight train, and I speak for all my fellow Rush fans across the globe.  To me, it was like losing a friend I never had.  Now, celebrity deaths don't affect us as much as losing a loved one or someone close to us, but Neil's death was the only celebrity death that affected me.  When he left us, we knew that the rock and drumming worlds would never be the same again.

​​There was also no doubt that his passing would spark the idea of a memorial/tribute show.  Whenever a monumental figure leaves us, it only seems fitting to put on a tribute/memorial show for them.  That being said, the first-ever and probably only-ever tribute show for Neil was announced shortly after his death, and it was only fitting that the event be held in his hometown of St. Catherine's, Ontario.  Originally scheduled for May 2020, the event had to be postponed for a total of "FIVE" times due to a pesky little pandemic before finally taking place on October 22, 2022 at the Meridian Centre in St. Catherine's.  The event drew fans from southern Ontario, other parts of Canada, and even the States and abroad.

Written by Alex Stojanovic
Photography by Rob Singh

(C) 2022 All rights reserved by MetalMasterKingdom.com

THE BAY STRIKES BACK TOUR 2022
​w/ TESTAMENT, EXODUS and DEATH ANGEL
@ London Music Hall
London, ON, Canada
October 1, 2022

Presented by Inertia Entertainment
​
Eric Peterson of TESTAMENT Interview

​It's been a tour that the entire world has been begging for since it was first announced back in 2019, and the first leg happened in early 2020, and that is the monstrous Bay Strikes Back Tour, featuring three Bay Area thrash metal kings, and members of the second Big Four if you will: Testament, Exodus and Death Angel.  This juggernaut thrash tour had its first leg in Europe back in early 2020, right on the eve of the most difficult time the entire world has ever faced with the COVID-19 pandemic.  The bands managed to successfully complete that initial first leg, despite losing two shows due to the circumstances, but it would impact the band and crews right after with a number of people getting sick after they got home, and some crew members having to be stuck in Europe due to travel bans being implemented right at the point when they were supposed to head home.