 | Review and photography by Alex Stojanovic (C) 2025 All rights reserved by MetalMasterKingdom.com DARK ANGEL w/ Hirax and Void @ Phoenix Concert Theatre Toronto, ON, Canada September 28, 2025 Presented by Inertia Entertainment Watch our interview with Gene Hoglan here For a band, especially one that hasn't released a record in a long time, but is still able to go out and do short tours and festivals, it must be a great feeling when you release a new record after a long time, then you find yourselves doing longer tours again. There have been many bands over the years that have experienced that, and one of the latest bands to have that experience this year was Dark Angel. Since reforming back in 2013, the band have been playing sporadic shows and short tours, but also working on the follow-up to Time Does Not Heal, and after over 10 years of working on it, Extinction Level Event was released this year, and they are currently on their first North American tour in 30 years. |
This tour made a stop in Toronto on September 28 at the Phoenix Concert Theatre, with Hirax and Void as special guests. Now even though I personally wasn't really a fan of the new record, it was still a treat to go and see one of the leading bands of the L.A. thrash scene and hear those classics. However, I have to say that I was rather quite suprised that the turnout was at about 50% capacity for this show. It makes me wonder if it should've been held somewhere smaller.
| As Ron Rinehart came out on stage for an emcee moment, he introduced the night's first band, which was Void, coming all the way from Louisiana. Being that it was also their last day on the tour, they entered the stage with pure fire in their hearts and gave a performance worthy of remembrance. For a thrash band, their choice of outfits was a bit odd, which were black and white pirate shirts, but they also wore cut jeans, leather pants and studded belts. The band themselves also had the look of being straight out of the mid to late 80s, especially with the amount of hair they all possessed. Their sound was in the realms of thrash and NWOBHM with the mixture of high vocals with some grit. Frontman Jackson Davenport had the half-mic stand, and the stem was made of a solid chain. It was their first time in Toronto, but the response they received made it seem like they built a fan base up here in advance of the show, and they will most likely be returning in the future. | VOID Photo credit: Alex Stojanovic / (C) 2025 MetalMasterKingdom.com |
| HIRAX Photo credit: Alex Stojanovic / (C) 2025 MetalMasterKingdom.com | It was now time to go old school with Hirax, who were making their first trip to Toronto in 40 years. Of all the bands, who were all phenomenal, Hirax took the crown as the best band of the bunch, simply because the amount of energy the band put on, especially the legend himself: Katon W. De Pena. For a guy who has been at it for 40 years, he put out more energy and fire than most guys half his age or younger these days. They were also the only band to have the best mosh pits, but they weren't enough for Katon to change his mind about Montreal. Given that many of their songs are between 1-3 minutes, the length of their setlist ran for 16 songs, but it was over within 40 minutes. They managed to touch on all six studio albums, including new songs from the recent years like "Drill Into The Brain", "Black Smoke", "Hellion Rising" and "Drowned Bodies", as well as several classics from Raging Violence and Hate, Fear & Power like "Blind Faith", "Destroy", "Warlord's Command", "Criminal Punishment" and "Bombs Of Death". |
| Closing out the night was the L.A. Caffine Machine, better known as Dark Angel. Before they walked out, the crowd got to warm up to the legendary sounds of "Raining Blood", which was then followed by the band's entrance to the stage and firing things off with "Time Does Not Heal" and "The Burning Of Sodom". There was no barricade for this show, giving the fans and the bands the opportunity to have a more intimate connection with tons of fist bumps, high-fives and letting the crowd sing along. There were a couple of moments where Ron Rinehart took time to pay tribute to Jim Durkin, even closing his eyes to where it looked like he was going to shed a tear. He even went down into the crowd to sing some songs. Speaking of songs, just like Hirax, Dark Angel showcased all five studio albums, with the two main points of focus being the present with Extinction Level Event, and their defining moment with Darkness Descends, with also a handful of cuts across We Have Arrived, Leave Scars and Time Does Not Heal. | DARK ANGEL Photo credit: Alex Stojanovic / (C) 2025 MetalMasterKingdom.com |
Eric Meyer and Laura Christine unleashed the fiery riffs with absolute power, while Michael Gonzalez brought some serious thunder, and of course Gene Hoglan was the monster that he always is behind the kit. Seeing him unleash some of the fastest skank beats of all time with such ease is always inspiring for me as a drummer. There's a reason why he's a big influence on me. By the time the set finished, it was still pretty early in the night. It felt like the set could've gone on for at least another hour. However, despite that, fans were left very satisfied and we can only hope that the L.A. Caffine Machine will return to Toronto sometime soon and not wait another 35 years.
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