Written by Alex Stojanovic
Photography by Marta Chilina

(C) 2023 All rights reserved by MetalMasterKingdom.com

KLASH OF THE TITANS TOUR 2023
Sepultura / Kreator w/ Death Angel / Spiritworld
@ Danforth Music Hall
Toronto, ON, Canada
June 8, 2023

Presented by Embrace

Review and photography:  Navneet Johal


(C) 2023 All rights reserved by MetalMasterKingdom.com


RHAPSODY OF FIRE
Glory Of Salvation North American Tour 2023
w/ Wind Rose and Seven Kingdoms
@ The Garrison
Toronto, ON, Canada
May 14, 2023

​
Presented by Inertia Entertainment

It had been over a decade since I was last immersed into the fantastical realm of Italian symphonic power metallers Rhapsody Of Fire concert back in 2012.  Three years ago, in the spring of 2020, fans like me were stoked when another North America tour was announced - then sadly the COVID-19 pandemic hit and live music became a distant memory.  It is no surprise that the show sold out, proven by the fact that by the time the first opener hit the stage, The Garrison was packed to the brim.  The venue was sweltering with the combined excitement of hundreds of metalheads and their body heat.

Written and photographed by Alex Stojanovic

(C) 2022 All rights reserved by MetalMasterKingdom.com

CANNIBAL CORPSE
w/ Dark Funeral / Immolation / Black Anvil
@ Danforth Music Hall
Toronto, ON, Canada
November 6, 2022

Presented by Inertia Entertainment

​The end of the year is approaching, and with live music's resurgence continuing this year, Toronto has already seen an array of incredible shows this year, but there's still some more shows to come before the end of the year.  That being said, fans gathered at the Danforth Music Hall on a rather warm Sunday evening on November 6 for a night of brutality that included windmills, gutteral vocals, rampaging riffs, and a whole lot of notes, as one of the most brutal tours of the year was in town, which was Cannibal Corpse with special guests Dark Funeral, Immolation and Black Anvil.  This tour seemed like an interesting mix because it was a 50/50 split between death metal and black metal.  Even though they're two of the most extreme subgenres, it's a bit of an odd mix, because they both have blast beats and gutteral vocals, but death metal has much more going and is more fast-paced, whereas black metal seems more atmospheric with the soaring and dissonant tremolo-picked riffs.  Either way, the tour proved to be a great success because the show was sold out in advance.

Written by Alex Stojanovic

TRIVIUM (DEAD MEN & DRAGONS TOUR 2022)
w/ Between The Buried & Me / Whitechapel / Khemmis
@ Rebel
Toronto, ON, Canada
October 25, 2022

Presented by Inertia Entertainment

​The fall season is back in full force after two years of silence, and Toronto has already seen a bunch of great tours come through so far.  One of the several tours that came through was Trivium's Dead Men & Dragons Tour.  The juggernaut tour hit Rebel on October 25th less than a week before Halloween.  This marks the first Trivium made more than one stop to Toronto in an entire decade, as they were here back in the spring as part of the Metal Tour Of The Year with Megadeth, Lamb Of God and In Flames (see our review here).  Trivium are currently making up for a lot of lost touring opportunities due to the pandemic by touring behind In The Court Of The Dragon and What The Dead Men Say, and having just come off a tour supporting Iron Maiden, they wasted no time and jumped straight into their own headline tour with special guests Between The Buried & Me, Whitechapel and Khemmis.

Written by Alex Stojanovic

@ Meridian Centre
​St. Catherine's ON, Canada
October 22, 2022

I still remember like it was yesterday that we were already one week into 2020 when the news broke about the sudden passing of none other than the Professor, aka: Neil Peart.  Given how much of an influence Neil had on me on my drumming and lyric writing, and how much of a Rush fan I am, it goes without saying that his passing hit me like a freight train, and I speak for all my fellow Rush fans across the globe.  To me, it was like losing a friend I never had.  Now, celebrity deaths don't affect us as much as losing a loved one or someone close to us, but Neil's death was the only celebrity death that affected me.  When he left us, we knew that the rock and drumming worlds would never be the same again.

​​There was also no doubt that his passing would spark the idea of a memorial/tribute show.  Whenever a monumental figure leaves us, it only seems fitting to put on a tribute/memorial show for them.  That being said, the first-ever and probably only-ever tribute show for Neil was announced shortly after his death, and it was only fitting that the event be held in his hometown of St. Catherine's, Ontario.  Originally scheduled for May 2020, the event had to be postponed for a total of "FIVE" times due to a pesky little pandemic before finally taking place on October 22, 2022 at the Meridian Centre in St. Catherine's.  The event drew fans from southern Ontario, other parts of Canada, and even the States and abroad.

Written by Alex Stojanovic
Photography by Rob Singh

(C) 2022 All rights reserved by MetalMasterKingdom.com

THE BAY STRIKES BACK TOUR 2022
​w/ TESTAMENT, EXODUS and DEATH ANGEL
@ London Music Hall
London, ON, Canada
October 1, 2022

Presented by Inertia Entertainment
​
Eric Peterson of TESTAMENT Interview

​It's been a tour that the entire world has been begging for since it was first announced back in 2019, and the first leg happened in early 2020, and that is the monstrous Bay Strikes Back Tour, featuring three Bay Area thrash metal kings, and members of the second Big Four if you will: Testament, Exodus and Death Angel.  This juggernaut thrash tour had its first leg in Europe back in early 2020, right on the eve of the most difficult time the entire world has ever faced with the COVID-19 pandemic.  The bands managed to successfully complete that initial first leg, despite losing two shows due to the circumstances, but it would impact the band and crews right after with a number of people getting sick after they got home, and some crew members having to be stuck in Europe due to travel bans being implemented right at the point when they were supposed to head home.

Written by Alex Stojanovic


SCORPIONS
@ Budweiser Stage
Toronto, ON, Canada
August 21, 2022


​Presented by Live Nation

Written by Alex Stojanovic
Photography by Rob Singh

(C) 2022 All rights reserved by MetalMasterKingdom.com

@ History
Toronto, ON, Canada
August 23, 2022

Presented by Inertia Entertainment / Live Nation

Written by Alex Stojanovic
Photography by Anna Sklavos

(C) 2022 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com

METAL TOUR OF THE YEAR 2022
w/ MEGADETH, LAMB OF GOD, TRIVIUM and IN FLAMES
@ Budweiser Stage
Toronto, ON, Canada
May 18, 2022

Presented by Live Nation

​It was also their first time touring in North America as a quartet in over 30 years, and also the first time that the band has kicked off touring behind a new album in North America.  The departure of Mike Sifringer last year left some people skeptical regarding the future of Destruction.  It may just be Schmier as the only original member left now, but he has a fine bunch of guys joining him with the dual guitar attack of Damir Eskic and Martin Furia, and the rampaging drumming of Randy Black, making this Destruction lineup more powerful and as unstoppable as ever, both on record and live.

​Kicking off the festivites was VX36.  I saw this band once before back in 2014 when they were opening for Onslaught.  At the time, they were just another run-of-the-mill thrash band with nothing really exciting or enticing about their music, other than a few decent riffs.  It turned out to be the same case this time around.  For me, they did have a hard time keeping my interest in tact, however they did manage to get the crowd pretty warmed up, because the pit they had going was of decent size and intensity.  On top of that, even though I didn't find the band all that interesting, I'd definitely choose them over the next band.

Up next was Sunlord, a trio from New York who were making their Canadian debut on this tour.  Of the three opening bands, they had a more of a tough time keeping my interest than VX36 did.  I didn't find their music to be enticing at all.  I understand that there wasn't a whole bunch of space on stage for the opening bands to move around, but even with their movements, it felt like they were just going through the motions on stage.  The drummer was the only member of the band that seemed like he was having a good time.  The only entertaining part of their set was when the singer joked with the crowd that if the mosh pit wasn't big enough, everyone would have to do a bunch of push-ups.  On top of that, the crowd wasn't all that active during their set, except for having a small pit that didn't last too long.

Written and photographed by Alex Stojanovic


DESTRUCTION w/ NERVOSA, SUNLORD and VX36
@ Lee's Palace
Toronto, ON, Canada
May 1, 2022


Presented by Inertia Entertainment

It has been another pretty hellish winter, but the weather is now improving, even if we still have a couple of cooler days here and there.  On top of that, the return of touring continues to be in full swing, which needless to say, is an amazing thing.  One of the tours that came through this spring season was Destruction at Lee's Palace on May 1st, with special guests Nervosa, Sunlord and VX36.  This was Destruction's first tour of North America since 2017 for the Under Attack album.  They didn't have the opportunity to come here for the Born To Perish tour, so in a weird way, they were promoting two records here, those being Born To Perish, and their new album Diabolical.

​Taking the stage next were the lovely ladies of Nervosa.  This was only their second North American tour, but also like Sunlord, they were making their Canadian debut on this tour.  After Sunlord's quite dull set that almost put much of the crowd to sleep, Nervosa did a total 180 to the atmosphere as they were the most energetic band of the night.  The ladies got an entire crowd that was 90% male moshing, headbanging and pounding their fists.  This was their third North American tour overall, but it was their first one since 2016, and first one with the current lineup.  Of all the singers on the entire tour, Diva Satanica was the most energetic, but she had the advantage of that, due to the fact that all the other singers on the tour were playing guitar as well.  With an ecstatic reception, it's clear that this won't be the band's last time here.

​Finally, closing off the night was Destruction.  Having been 5 years since Toronto got to see the German thrash legends, it goes without saying that the fans were ecstatic when they hit the stage, and on top of that, from what I can remember from the other times I've seen them live, this might've been the biggest headline crowd they had in Toronto in a while.  Starting off the set with new music with the title track from Diabolical, they played a career-spanning setlist, touching on many different eras.  The selection of new music from Diabolical and Born To Perish included "Repent Your Sins", "Born To Perish", "No Faith In Humanity" and "Tormented Soul", and the selection of classics included the standards like "Mad Butcher", "Thrash 'Til Death", "Nailed To The Cross", "Release From Agony", "Curse The Gods" and "Bestial Invasion".  We were also treated to some cool deep cuts such as "Death Trap", "Tormentor" and "Inspired By Death".

Given that it was my first time seeing the band as a quartet, I can definitely hear a big difference in the sound with two guitars compared to when Mike Sifringer was the only guitarist.  As great of a player that Mike was, and as monstrous of a tone he had, the band's live sound was still lacking that extra bottom end of a second rhythm guitar, particularly during solo sections.  However, now that they got a second guitar, it sounds so much more fuller and more aggressive than before, so it goes without saying that going back to being a quartet was one of the best decisions the band ever made.  With an eclectic setlist, and a new lineup, Destruction made their 40th anniversary celebration in Toronto one to remember.