 | Written and photographed by Alex Stojanovic (C) 2019 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com DEATH ANGEL w/ EXMORTUS and HELLFIRE @ Lee's Palace Toronto, ON, Canada November 26, 2019 Presented by Inertia Entertainment With a little over a month left before both 2019 and the 2010s come to an end, Toronto metalheads are getting out to the last shows of the year and decade. One of those shows was Death Angel's current headlining tour, which made a stop in Toronto at Lee's Palace on Tuesday, November 26th. For me, this was the last show I'll be attending for both 2019 and the 2010s, and what a way to end it. This is Death Angel's first headlining tour in six years. The last time they headlined in North America was at the start of the cycle for The Dream Calls For Blood back in the fall of 2013. It's a bit of a celebratory time for Death Angel because a.) this is their first headlining tour in support of their latest album Humanicide, but more importantly b.) they got nominated for their first-ever Grammy for Best Metal Performance for the album's title track. I'm not a fan of the Grammys at all, but a huge congratulations is in order. For a Tuesday night, the turnout was incredible. This might've been the biggest crowd Death Angel ever had for a headline show in Toronto. With Death Angel headlining, and special guests Exmortus and HellFire, it was truly a night of California metal in Toronto. |
| Kicking off the festivites were Bay Area metal titans HellFire. It was the band's first time in Toronto, and they had a fairly decent crowd arrive early to see their set. The best way I can describe their sound is melodic metal with hints of thrash. Me and a friend of mine both agreed that frontman Jake Nunn resembled Kurt Cobain a little bit, and bassist Herman Bandala resembled Cliff Burton a little bit in both his appearance and playing style. A great start to the night. Up next were Whittier, California technical thrash monsters Exmortus. It has been a long three years since I last saw these guys, which was with Amon Amarth back in 2016. It was my fifth time overall seeing them, and it's always a pleasure. They never fail to impress a crowd with their impeccable musicianship and technical tunes. Early on in this tour, the band got into a horrible accident, which caused both their van and trailer to be totaled. As a result, they had to cancel some shows. A GoFundMe page was set up, and within just 48 hours, they raised close to $25,000, and they were able to get a new van and trailer, and continue the tour. That just goes to show the strength and the bond in our amazing metal community across the entire world. | HELLFIRE Photo credit: Alex Stojanovic / (C) 2019 www.metalmasterkingdom.com |
| EXMORTUS Photo credit: Alex Stojanovic / (C) 2019 www.metalmasterkingdom.com | Closing out the night were the Bay Area thrash legends in Death Angel! This show marked my seventh time seeing the band, and just like all the other times I've seen them, they did NOT disappoint. I've seen the band more times as a support act than a headliner. A lot of times when I see them as a support act, they smoke the other bands on the bill, including the headliners. When I saw them open for Children Of Bodom back in 2014, I knew that there was no way COB was going to top Death Angel's show. Anyways, I digress. They kicked off their set with a great one-two punch of old and new. It started off new with "Humanicide", followed by a jump in the time machine back to The Ultra-Violence with "Voracious Souls". Their set spanned their entire career, but the only albums that were excluded were Frolic Through The Park and Killing Season. If one song from each of those albums could've been included, I would've hoped for "3rd Floor" and "Lord Of Hate", but that's just me. Some of the other new songs the band touched on included "Aggressor", "The Pack", "I Came For Blood" and "Immortal Behated". They also included "The Dream Calls For Blood", "Claws In So Deep", "The Moth" and "Father Of Lies" from the previous three records. They also included a classic deep cut from Act III, which was "Stop". |
| The guys in Death Angel love to have a good time on stage. Case in point, while Mark Osegueda was introducing the band members, the other guys would randomly start jamming snippets of cover songs. Before Ted Aguilar could even be introduced during the band member introduction segment, the band jumped into a fairly lengthy cover of Rush's "2112: The Temples Of Syrinx", and a snippet of "YYZ". On top of that, they were laughing, and acting like it was a fun jam at their rehearsal space. That just goes to show the bond that the current lineup has with each other. The band even invited my good friend (and bandmate) Derek on stage due to the level of passion that was exuding from him. With tons of energy left in the crowd after over an hour of non-stop moshing, Death Angel closed the night with "Mistress Of Pain" and the medley of "The Ultra-Violence / Thrown To The Wolves". What an amazing night of metal at Lee's Palace, and what a way to end (for me) the 2019 / 2010s concert season. It has been another incredible year and decade of metal shows. It's now time to rest up for the holidays, and gear up for another amazing year and decade of shows. We look forward to seeing what 2020 and beyond has to offer. | DEATH ANGEL Photo credit: Alex Stojanovic / (C) 2019 www.metalmasterkingdom.com |
| DEATH ANGEL Mark Osegueda - Vocals Rob Cavestany - Guitars & backing vocals Ted Aguilar - Guitars & backing vocals Will Carroll - Drums Damien Sisson - Bass Label: Nuclear Blast Records Website: www.deathangel.us | EXMORTUS Jadran "Conan" Gonzales - Vocals & guitars Cody Nunez - Bass Chase Becker - Guitars Adrian Aguilar - Drums Label: Prosthetic Records Website: www.exmortusmusic.com www.facebook.com/exmortusofficial | HELLFIRE Jake Nunn - Vocals & guitars Tony Campos - Guitars Herman Bandala - Bass Michael Smith - Drums Label: RidingEasy Records Website: www.hellfiremetal.com www.facebook.com/hellfiremetalSF |
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