 | Written by: Alex Stojanovic Photography: Rob Botten (C)2017 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com @ The Mod Club Toronto, ON Canada May 30, 2017 It's been a long two years since Destruction played in Toronto, but it's been three since they last headlined here. However, after releasing a solid new studio album with Under Attack last year and doing a number of shows already around the world in support of the record, they decided to come back to North America and pay a visit to the fans. For their current North American tour, they assembled a killer lineup of bands that unites the worlds of thrash and death metal. Special guests on the tour were Jungle Rot, Warbringer and Demons Within. This awesome bill hit Toronto on May 30th at the Mod Club. For a Tuesday night, there was a pretty decent turnout at the show. |
| (C)2017 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com Photo: Rob Botten | Opening the show was Demons Within. I've never seen or heard of them before, but as I was listening to some of their material, one thing that stood out was that Joe Barto's vocals reminded me of Chris Barnes a bit. Seeing them on stage was awesome as they put on a real solid performance. Their music had tons of pummeling grooves and real dark riffs on the seven-string guitars. Joe also had a bit of the Tommy Victor of Prong look going on. The downside about their performance was that there was rarely any activity in the crowd. As they finished their set, Joe said to the crowd "See you at church on Sunday!" drawing a pretty big laugh. |
| (C)2017 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com Photo: Rob Botten | Next up were Warbringer, and this is when the crowd activity began. It's always a real treat to see these guys live. After a couple of years of adversity with some lineup changes, they released a beast of a new record with Woe To The Vanquished and are currently touring in support of it. They stormed on stage like they were ready to go into battle and began their set with "Silhouettes", riling up the crowd into a frenzy. Anyone that has seen Warbringer live knows that they put a TON of energy into their shows. The band played the first five songs off Woe To The Vanquished in chronological order, which were "Silhouettes", "Woe To The Vanquished", "Remain Violent", "Shellfire" and "Descending Blade" and they closed the set with "Demonic Ecstacy" and "Total War". The only issue about their set was that Jesse Sanchez's bass was turned up a little too much, but other than that, Warbringer delivered a stellar and chaotic performance once again and I look forward to seeing them again! |
| (C)2017 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com Photo: Rob Botten | Taking the stage next was Jungle Rot with their brand of groovy death metal. I've only seen them once before at Mayhem Fest 2015, and they were one of only three side stage bands that impressed me that day. It was great to see them again. They were incredibly tight and they touched on songs like "Worst Case Scenario", "Doomsday", "Voice Your Disgust", "Ruthless Omnipotence", "Paralyzed Prey" and "Psychotic Cremation". The band had a great volume balance with all their instruments, which always makes a band's set much more enjoyable. Even though the mosh pits weren't huge, they were still energetic and there was still tons of headbanging and fist-pounding going on. |
| (C)2017 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com Photo: Rob Botten | Finally, finishing off the night was Destruction. It's always great seeing the German thrash legends live. The set started off new with "Under Attack", followed by a hop in the time machine back to 1986 with "Curse The Gods". Comparing this show to the last time I saw Destruction at the Mod Club, there was less smoke on stage this time, whereas last time, the stage was filled with smoke, you couldn't see the backdrop or even drummer Vaaver. The band touched on a healthy amount of tunes from the last 17 years and songs from the first three albums. Other songs from Under Attack the band touched on were "Dethroned" and "Second To None". Schmier still has the ability to hit those high notes and Mike Sifringer's guitar tone was deadly as always. This time, you could see both the backdrop and Vaaver. As the set went on, we were treated to several fan favourites like "Nailed To The Cross", "Mad Butcher", "Life Without Sense", "Release From Agony" and "Total Desaster". The band even threw in a couple of deep cuts that they haven't played in a while like "Thrash Attack" and "The Antichrist". The main part of the set was ended with "The Butcher Strikes Back". The encore began with "Thrash 'Til Death", but when the song ended, the band faced a technical issue where Schmier's bass amp blew and they needed a few |
minutes to fix the problem. They ended up fixing the problem and the band closed their set with "Bestial Invasion", ending an awesome night of metal in Toronto. My only complaint is that I wish the band played "Eternal Ban". Anyone that has never seen Destruction live, I highly recommend going to see them when they come through your town. I look forward to next time!
| DEMONS WITHIN Joe Barto - Vocals T.C - Guitars Q - Guitars Desolation - Bass Sypher - Drums Label: Unable Records Website: www.demons-within.com | WARBRINGER John Kevill - Vocals Adam Carroll - Guitars & vocals Chase Becker - Guitars Jesse Sanchez - Bass Carlos Cruz - Drums Label: Century Media Records Website: www.warbringermusic.com | JUNGLE ROT Dave Matrise - Vocals & guitars James Genenz - Bass Geoff Bub - Guitars Jason Borton - Drums Label: Victory Records Website: www.jungle-rot.com | DESTRUCTION Schmier - Vocals & bass Mike Sifringer - Guitars Vaaver Dramowicz - Drums Label: Nuclear Blast Records Website: www.destruction.de |
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