 | Written by Alex Stojanovic Photographed by Rob Singh (C) 2019 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com IRON REAGAN, SACRED REICH, EXCITER and ENFORCED @ Lee's Palace Toronto, ON, Canada May 17, 2019 Presented by Inertia Entertainment Click here for our interview with Phil Rind of Sacred Reich Here in Toronto, the middle of May saw a couple of unexpected cold fronts make their way through the city, but thankfully those were the last of them for this year, and now the more appropriate weather for this time of the year is finally here. We've had enough of the cold. That being said, on May 17th, which was a rather warm Friday night, the co-headline tour between Iron Reagan and Sacred Reich rolled through town to play Lee's Palace. Also featured on this bill were Canadian speed metal originators Exciter and Richmond, Virginia thrash newcomers Enforced, making for one amazing night of thrash. |
There's just one thing about Iron Reagan that I need to get off my chest really quick before we get into the review. I'm obviously a die-hard thrasher, but in all honesty, Iron Reagan is a band I just can't get into. When your band is based around intentionally trying to be funny with your lyrics and music videos, it's hard for me to get into that. Now, I don't mind a funny song or two once in a while from a band, but if being funny with short songs and rather lame lyrics is your entire gimmick, that's when it's just plain cheesy. It looks like you're trying to hard to be funny, and it feels forced, and that just doesn't work. Do Iron Reagan's lyrics offend me? Absolutely not one bit. I'm a very hard guy to offend. Opinions will obviously differ on this, but that is basically what I think about Iron Reagan. The same goes for bands like Steel Panther, Austrian Death Machine, Cannibis Corpse, and other parody bands. Apologies for digressing, but I just had to get that off my chest.
| ENFORCED Photo credit: Rob Singh / (C) 2019 www.metalmasterkingdom.com | Richmond, Virginia thrash newcomers Enforced kicked off the night with a serious dose of thrash. You know it's going to be a great show when the first band sounds good sonically. While the crowd was still a little sparse when they hit the stage, the turnout was decent, and they managed to get a fair amount of people up at the front to watch their set. It was now time to go old-school, and I mean "REALLY" old school. Up next was the moment that many old-schoolers in Toronto have been waiting for for 35 years, as Canadian speed metal pioneers Exciter were next up. It was the first time that the band played Toronto since reuniting with Dan Beehler and Allan James Johnson. The last time the two of them played Toronto as part of Exciter was in 1984 at the Concert Hall with Motorhead. I know for sure that a lot of the new generation of fans were equally as excited (no pun intended) to get to witness these legends on stage. By this time, the venue was filled to capacity with many fans coming just to see Exciter. The set was kept old school for the most part, as they busted out many of the great classics like "Violence & Force", "Victims Of Sacrifice", "Beyond The Gates Of Doom", "Pounding Metal", "Heavy Metal Maniac" and "Long Live The Loud". |
In all honesty, it would've been great if John Ricci had not left the band, and we got to see the original lineup, but hey, stuff happens. However, Daniel Dekay has proven to be a more than worthy replacement for the big shoes that John left when he exited the band last year. Plus, it's two thirds of the original lineup. The crowd was ecstatic about seeing Exciter on stage, and the reception they gave made it feel like an Exciter headline show. All the fans, myself included, certainly hope that it doesn't take them another 35 years to play Toronto again.
| Coming up next were Arizona thrash legends Sacred Reich. It's amazing that ever since their 30 Years Of Ignorance tour in 2017, their first North American tour in 21 years at the time, the band are starting to become more active in North America after over 2 decades. Now that they have their first new album in 23 years called Awakening coming out, it only makes sense for them to do that. In our interview with Phil Rind, he said that the band are already planning another North American run for September and October. Be sure to keep your eyes and ears open for future announcements. The band kicked off their set with "The American Way", and throughout their 10-song set, they touched on several fan favourites like "Death Squad", "Ignorance", "One Nation", "Independent" and "Surf Nicaragua". They also gave fans a tease of the new record when they played "Awakening", the title track. This tour as a whole is also the debut of the band's new lineup with Dave McClain returning after leaving Machine Head last year, and new guitarist Joey Radzwill, who is 22 years old. According to Phil Rind, Joey wasn't even born when the band's last record Heal came out in 1996. It's always cool to see a young musician playing with veterans. | EXCITER Photo credit: Rob Singh / (C) 2019 www.metalmasterkingdom.com |
Finally, closing out the night was Iron Reagan. In my honest opinion, it should've been the other way around where Sacred Reich closed the show. Like I said in the second paragraph, I'm not an Iron Reagan fan, but I still enjoyed watching their set, because they were incredibly energetic and the crowd was still full of energy after moshing to three equally energetic sets from the previous three bands. A rather funny moment was when Tony Foresta was about to throw a water bottle into the audience, but he put in a little too much power in his throw, it ended up going into one of the openings in the ceiling.
| SACRED REICH Photo credit: Rob Singh / (C) 2019 www.metalmasterkingdom.com | IRON REAGAN Photo credit: Rob Singh / (C) 2019 www.metalmasterkingdom.com |
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| ENFORCED Knox Colby - Vocals Zach Monahan - Guitars Will Wagstaff - Guitars Zack Hullinger - Drums Connor McCormick - Bass Label: Unsigned Website: www.facebook.com/enforcedrva | EXCITER Dan Beehler - Lead vocals & drums Allan James Johnson - Bass & vocals Daniel Dekay - Guitars & vocals Label: Massacre Records Website: www.facebook.com/excitercanada |
| SACRED REICH Phil Rind - Bass & vocals Wiley Arnett - Lead guitars Dave McClain - Drums Joey Radzwill - Rhythm guitars Label: Metal Blade Records Website: www.facebook.com/sacredreichofficial | IRON REAGAN Tony Foresta - Vocals Landphil Hall - Guitars Rob Skotis - Bass Ryan Parrish - Drums Label: Relapse Records Website: www.ironreagan.bandcamp.com |
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