Immolation, Blood Incantation & Human Compost @ Lee's Palace (October 24, 2019)

    There have been some killer tours blasting through Toronto the last few weeks. The Last Atonement Tour with Immolation and Blood Incantation keep the trend going, absolutely annihilating Lee's Palace last night. Immolation are a death metal staple, but Blood Incantation offer something a bit different.

    Immolation are veterans of death metal. They released their first demos in the end of the 80's and have put out 10 full length albums of pure old school death metal since then. Blood Incantation on the other hand started up around 2013 and take a more modern stance, injecting heavy atmospheric pieces into a mix of technical as hell and old school styles. Crushing the senses with thick soul melting progressions before blasting into light speed riffage and drumming that drags your mind through brutal alien worlds; a highly enjoyable experience!

    Local beauties' Human Compost started off the night and definitely made a few more fans in the process. Lee's Palace was filling in steadily as they blasted the crowd with their brutal blend of death grind. I took the opportunity the stand in the growing merch lines with eyes on a new Blood Incantation shirt and patch! It was nice to see such a heavy turnout for the local opener.

    I've been waiting to see Blood Incantation since 2016's Starspawn graced my ears. Their trippy blend of doom elements and ferocious death metal makes for some thick devastating atmospheres only breathable by the metalhead species. They started off the set with "Slave Species of the Gods", and "The Giza Power Plant" off their soon to be released album and followed it up with some gems in "Hidden Species" and "Hovering Lifeless". Their extraterrestrial brutality beamed an alien directly into the pit, starting off the evening mosh. I'm not joking. Moshing with an alien as they closed the set with "Awakening From the Dream of Existence to the Multidimensional Nature of Reality (Mirror of the Soul)" is why I do what I do!

Blood Incantation doing their thing at Lee’s Palace in Toronto! 🤘👽 pic.twitter.com/vUsFj42RJC

— Heavy Metal Yeti (@HeavyMetalYetii) October 25, 2019

    I was chatting with some friends out front of Lee's when I heard Immolation take the stage. With a quick sprint to the pit, Immolation were already into their destructive currents. They played an absolutely dialed set with a great array of material. The pit wasn't packed but it was full a some good friends and a few spirited bastards. While the moshing was erratic for a few moments here and there, tracks like "Immolation", "Dawn of Possession", "Burn With Jesus", and "Swarm of Terror" got the crowd moving sufficiently. They played a lot of material off their latest album Atonement and announced to the crowd there will be a new album next year!

    The LAST Atonement Tour makes a bit more sense as hopefully next time I see them will be with some new brutal material. Other than the alien mosh, another highlight of the night was shaking the hand of Blood Incantation's Paul Riedl. He is in some amazing bands and packs a hell of punch on guitar and vocals!  Cheers to all the bands and all the crazy animals who helped keep the pit going for such a godly showing of death metal. Check out some videos and photos from the night below! /../;,,;/../

Immolation

Blood Incantation

Human Compost

-Metal Yeti /../;,,;/../

Obituary, Abbath, & Midnight @ The Phoenix (October 17, 2019)

   You can always tell when Abbath is in town because the wind blows a few degrees colder! Last night was frigid as hell as the 30th Anniversary Slowly We Rot Tour rolled through Toronto with Obituary and Abbath headlining the night and Midnight as well as Devil Master in support. Obituary has put out a lot of wicked metal in their career and are widely credited as death metal pioneers (of the Florida variety). Slowly We Rot is just as devastating today as it was on release. Tracks like Internal Bleeding, 'Til Death, and Immortal Visions are knuckle dragging, belligerent death metal at its finest.

    I unfortunately missed Devil Master but made it right in time for Midnight, who's masked faces supercharged our spirits with good old reliable speed metal! Toronto loves its speed metal and Midnight payed homage to bands like Razor, Exciter, and even moderns bands like Chainbreaker.

Abbath look the stage as the fog machines began to pump out a thick smokey atmosphere. I've been waiting to see Immortal (err Abbath...) for years now. He has an incredibly fun energy for their grim as all hell take on life. From all the banter with the crowd, to the amazing facial expressions, and not to mention the to the master black metal riffage, Abbath and the gang did not disappoint. They played a mix of new material and even a bit of the Immortal discography with Tyrants, Warriors, and Winterbane a few of my favourite moments!

   Although they had some border crossing problems, losing guitarist Trevor Peres to the pesky northern border wall, it comes as no surprise that Obituary absolutely destroyed the Phoenix! There was appropriately lots of material off Slowly We Rot with Chopped In Half, Godly Beings, and Suffocation some of the definite highlights. There was some material from other records as well with a few good ones from Cause of Death, turning us inside out in the process... Closing with Slowly We Rot was an excellent choice (the only real choice for this tour) and the pit agreed thoroughly, exploding in size and energy as the riffs started punching us in our slowly rotting faces.

    I never miss an opportunity to see metal legends, so getting Abbath and Obituary on the same bill was a god damn treat. Gods of Black and Death metal in one room is a no brainier. Cheers to all the crazy animals I clashed with in the pit (I am bruised as all hell today! /,,/) and an ever bigger cheers to all the bands on this tour. 30 years of death metal is certainly something to be celebrated. Definitely make it out to this one if you can, and enjoy being CHOPPED IN HALF!

Obituary

Abbath

Splish Splash I was watching .... Immortal? 🧐 #Tyrants #Metal #Abbath pic.twitter.com/hVwMuGT5k2

— Heavy Metal Yeti (@HeavyMetalYetii) October 21, 2019

Midnight

-Metal Yeti /../;,,;/../

Amon Amarth, Arch Enemy, At The Gates, & Grand Magus @ REBEL (October 9, 2019)

    I've been sharpening my blades for weeks in preparation for the Berserker World Tour which is set to invade Toronto as Amon Amarth lead the charge with Arch Enemy, At the Gates, and Grand Magus at their six. I never miss a good opportunity to unite with my viking brothers and sisters for a good clash and some beers over an evening of metal. As with most metalheads, I've been a big Amon Amarth fan for years! Much of my heritage is from Norway and they strike a perfect chord between the best aspects of melodic death metal and some of the most interesting mythology and lore in human history. I would have come out for this reason alone but with such a stacked bill I did my best to crash the doors.

    I met up with some good friends and fellow viking soldiers near the end of Grand Magus's set. They opened the night hard and fast with a tremendous display of power and brutality. The crowd was growing fast and the drinks were flowing as their set closed and At The Gates took the stage. Playing a generous mix of old and new material, I was amped to hear songs like "Slaughter of the Soul", "Cold", and "Blinded By Fear". While it was obvious many were saving their energy for the battle to come, they still did a great job stoking the crowd even further.

    By the time Arch enemy took the stage there wasn't an inch of breathing room left as I forced my way towards the pit! I haven't seen this band since Angela was at the helm, but I was blown away by Alissa White-Gluz's energy and power on stage. Not to mention fucking Jeff Loomis... What an absolute beast. Most of the material was from their latest albums with Alissa but the pit kicked it up a notch to "My Apocalypse" and even more so for their encore of "Nemesis". Arch Enemy are wicked and still put on a hell of a show.

    Amon Amarth took the stage like an out of control fire burning a freshly pillaged village. Opening with "Raven's Flight" and the foundations were nearly ripped off with the push towards the front line of the stage. They delved into a mix of songs from the last decade of material, with a focus on material from their latest release "Berserker". We tried to send people up for crowd surfing but their legs were stuck in the crushing masses. Tracks like "Deceiver of the Gods", "Guardians of Asgard", "Crack the Sky", "Shield Wall", and "Twilight of the Thunder God" drove the pit into an absolute stupor, with drinking horns, cloaks, tunics, and massive motherfuckers committing acts of carnage in every direction!

    They closed the night showing a lot of respect for the crowd and fans, clearly acknowledging the battle that just took place! On top of a dialed performance from the band, the stage was full of live sword fights, powerful gods, and deadly sea monsters! Overall this was an unbelievable night of metal! This tour should be a priority for every metalhead in its path! A massive cheers to the bands and especially all the crazies I clashed with in the pit throughout the night! Sam Dunn even made an appearance! Check out some photos from the madness below!

Amon Amarth

ODIN! Guide our ships! Our axes, spears and swords!! Guide us through storms that whip! And in brutal war!! 🤘💀🛡⚔️ #Metal #AmonAmarth pic.twitter.com/DKCePP5gkd

— Heavy Metal Yeti (@HeavyMetalYetii) October 10, 2019

  
Arch Enemy

At The Gates

Grand Magus

-Heavy Metal Yeti /../;,,;/../