 | Written by Alex Stojanovic Photography by Rob Singh (C) 2026 All rights reserved by MetalMasterKingdom.com LAMB OF GOD w/ Kublai Khan / Fit For An Autopsy / Sanguisugabogg @ Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto, ON, Canada March 20, 2026 I think it goes without saying that we are now absolutely fed up with winter after all the toilet seat temperatures, as I call them, causing probably more people than I can recall to get sick more than once, myself included. Well, the good thing is that as the winter of '25-'26 officially met the guillotine, Torontonians officially welcomed the spring season (with the remaining winter remnants still lurking) by letting out our frustrations about winter in the pit to the gloriously vicious sounds of Lamb Of God, who made their return to Toronto for their first pure headline show here in a decade. |
The last time they did a pure headliner here was in 2016 (which I was lucky enough to see). This year saw them running out of the gates and heading out on tour right after the release of their tenth studio album Into Oblivion, and Toronto was only the third stop on the tour, which hit the Great Canadian Casino Theatre on March 20, with Kublai Khan, Fit For An Autopsy and Sanguisugabogg. On a quick side note, you can say that this year is a pretty significant year for the Virginia metal legends because not only are they releasing their "tenth" album, but they are celebrating the 20th anniversary of Sacrament, which is undoubtedly the album that just elevated them in the big leagues after the success of Ashes Of The Wake, so plenty of reason to celebrate Lamb Of God in 2026.
| Hitting the stage an hour after doors opened, Sanguisugabogg fired the night off with a deadly dose of death metal from Columbus, Ohio. At first, their name really weirded me out, wondering where in the hell they got that from and what it even means. After doing some research on it, I was able to sleep at night. Getting into their set, it only lasted for 25 minutes, and it was chock-a-block full of breakdowns, tempo changes and dirty low-tuned guitars. Having said that though, their sound was in the vein of death metal mixed with a little bit of deathcore. They had no bassist, so the low end was provided by the two low-tuned guitars, which I think is becoming more and more common amongst many bands. Firing into the second round was Fit For An Autopsy, the only band of the openers I was familiar with, but it was my first time seeing them live after missing them back in 2017 when they opened for Trivium and Arch Enemy. I also never got around to hearing any of their songs until this night, and in my opinion were the best of all the openers. They also got the biggest pit of the night which ended up going around the soundboard in the middle of the floor. They were also the only band of the night to feature clean vocals alongside the famed gutterals, and of all the openers, I felt that they should've had a slightly longer set time. I was actually kind of surprised that Will Putney was not there. Up next were Kublai Khan. The best way to describe them is if Five Finger Death Punch was a more hardcore band. As always, I pride myself on being honest, but I wasn't exactly a fan of Matt Honeycutt's frontman persona, as it gave too much of a frat boy/jock vibe, both appearance-wise and verbally. He was jacked, and he never missed an opportunity to say something to the crowd, even during vocal breaks in songs. I know it's all subjective on how a frontman's on-stage persona appeals to the crowd, but this one was not really appealing to me. It was too juvenile for my liking. Even the moments where he barked like a dog for comedic effect was so unnecessary, it had me rolling my eyes. However, of all the openers, they had the crowd going the wildest, and had the crowd screaming along to the songs. The crowd's enthusiasm was kind of parallel of when I saw Suicide Silence open for Machine Head in 2012, and I commend them very highly for having the crowd reacting the way they did, and the amount of energy they brought. | SANGUISUGABOGG Photo credit: Rob Singh / (C) 2026 MetalMasterKingdom.com FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY Photo credit: Rob Singh / (C) 2026 MetalMasterKingdom.com |
| KUBLAI KHAN Photo credit: Rob Singh / (C) 2026 MetalMasterKingdom.com | It was now time for what we were all in attendance for: Lamb Of God. They kicked the set off with a triple shot of old school tunes, which were "Ruin", "Laid To Rest" and a nice surprising deep cut: "Blood Junkie". Given that they're touring on Into Oblivion, they ripped through a handful of new songs like the title track, "Parasocial Christ" and "Sepsis". The title track in particular went over rather well, with the crowd knowing the chorus, showing that this song is already has some strong legs. A deep cut I was rather surprised in a great way to hear them pull out "Grace" from Wrath as they haven't played that since that tour. As great of a song as "Set To Fail" is, that's the obvious pick from that album, so I'm glad that they didn't go the safe route on Wrath. The rest of the set saw the band tear through some more fan favourites like "Desolation", "Omerta", and "11th Hour", as well as the usual setlist staples like "512", "Walk With Me In Hell", "Memento Mori" and the signature closer: "Redneck". Even at age 55, Randy Blythe still has the charisma and power as he did in the 2000s. He's one of those figures that can just stand at the front of the stage and just stare at the crowd, and the crowd would respond with thunderous roars. That's when you know you're a legend. |
| Of course, as per usual, now I gotta give my opinion of the setlist, and my own personal wish list. Every band has those songs that must be played at every show, and every fan has their own personal wish list of deep cuts that they'd love to hear the band play. With Lamb Of God, those songs are "Walk With Me In Hell", "Redneck" and "Laid To Rest". When it comes to songs of the last decade, I know that "512" has become a pretty big song, but I personally don't feel it has the same legs as the aforementioned setlist staples. That being said, for a Sturm Und Drang song, it would've been nice if they maybe swapped it out in favour of maybe "Still Echoes" or "Overlord". When it comes to the self-titled album, "Memento Mori" is now a big song, but that one works so incredibly well in a live set, but I think they can swap out "Resurrection Man" for another one, as that one hasn't really left the setlist since Metal Tour Of The Year in 2021. "Checkmate" would've been a nice one from that record for a change, because it was the first single from the record, yet aside from promo/special shows, it never made it on to a tour setlist, which is weird. That being said, what a night it was with Lamb Of God and we look forward to their return in the future! | LAMB OF GOD Photo credit: Rob Singh / (C) 2026 MetalMasterKingdom.com |
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