Temple of Night, Bloodless Child, Jinn Arcana, & What Remains @ Tail of the Junction (Dec 21, 2019)

     Last night was the Winter Solstice so I decided to celebrate with some killer local black metal! With an undying cold and savage bitterness, black metal is music for the frozen soul and provides the perfect soundtrack for such an occasion. Keeping true to the evil themes the bands also put on a food drive and unwrapped toy drive during the show to donate to local charities. I love metalheads... The show was at a small bar in the west end called Tail of the Junction, which is cool spot for a drink and catch some tunes. The bars unforgiving brick walls were excellent for the sound and set an appropriate backdrop for the mood.

     The night opened with Totonto's What Remains, as they rocked out with some high energy tunes and some wicked proggy guitar parts. They had a lot of spunk and delivered some quality jams. Next up was Jinn Arcana who almost gave the bartender a god damn heart attack when they opened their set with a 3 minute prayer to the dark gods complete with hoods, skulls, the satanic bible, a dagger, and the ominous chime of the cymbals from the bands drummer. Jinn Arcana play some down tempo raw as hell material laced with moments of dank unholy grimness.

     Things cranked up a notch as Bloodless Child from London, Ontario set up and unleashed their blackened death metal madness on the group of gathering metalheads and bar patrons just trying to watch the hockey game... They played as a trio for the show with one insane drummer and two guitar leads. They were relentless with brutal riffing and kicked some serious ass! The ambulance flying by at high speeds during their set synced up a little too well.

     Temple of Night were my main reason for coming out to this show. They are an emerging black metal band from Niagara Falls who play an insidious mix of atmospheric and symphonic black metal with a more traditional tone in their song structure and overall aesthetics. They opened with their single "Secret Lord of All" and followed it up with two songs that I was hearing the first time. Temple of Night were absolutely dialed instrumentally and they had incredible stage presence with enough fog and cloaked corpses to make a graveyard jealous. On top of the swarming guitars and devastating and complex drumming, the vocal range provided is impressive with savage growls and shrieks backed up by live orchestral vocals from the keyboardist. Where so many bands would go the route of backtracks, Temple of Night show what they are made of and give the full live experience. The set was short with the band still gearing up towards a launch off demo or EP hopefully in the near future. In the meantime enjoy some of their tunes below and check out a few photos from the night! Cheers to all the bands that played and all the metalheads who came out to celebrate the longest night of the year!

Temple of Night

Bloodless Child

Jinn Arcana

What Remains

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

Cattle Decapitation @ The Opera House (Dec 4, 2019)

     Cattle Decapitation are one of those bands that have always turned heads. From their unapologetic album art, to their lifestyle choices and lyrical content, they strike a chord with the unsettling reality we find ourselves living in. Metal has always been about looking into the eyes of the demons that haunt us and harnessing that power. Cattle Decapitation expose a modern frustration with our current societal trajectory. Their latest release, 'Death Atlas' warns of the ends of humanity and helps provide the tools to process the situation. The only way we can fix out problems is by facing them head on!

     Last night was Toronto’s turn for the stacked Genocidal Tendencies Tour. Unfortunately, this tour has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Full of Hell had their van and gear stolen and last night Author & Punisher couldn’t make it to the show due with break down issues. None the less the devastation must go on. I just missed Vitriol, but I arrived at the Opera House right as the legendary Atheist took the stage. They’re old school death metal and hardcore attitude was great to get the energy up for a Wednesday night. It was nice to bask in some good old Florida death before cranking up the notch for a more modern headliner.

     Cattle Decap showed a lot for love to Canada during their set and the fans reciprocated. They opened with the first several songs off 'Death Atlas', “Anthropogenic: End Transmission” and “The Geocide”. They did have a mix of older songs with “A Living, Breathing Piece of Defecting Meat”, “Forced Gender Reassignment”, “Mammals in Babylon”, and “Plaugeborne” absolute crowd pleasers to be expected. You can tell an new album is damn good when even with the material so fresh, the crowd sings loudly and rages in the pit to all the right parts. 'Death Atlas' is another fantastic release from this killer band. Cheers to the bands that played, the ones that wished they could, and all the crazy animals in the pit! Check out some photos and video from the night below!

Cattle Decapitation 

The cattle were decapitated and it was awesome! 🔥🐄🔥 pic.twitter.com/sscGA8aYvX

— Heavy Metal Yeti (@HeavyMetalYetii) December 5, 2019

Atheist

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

Between the Buried and Me, Chon, & Intervals @ The Phoenix (Nov 24, 2019)

     Between the Buried and Me is a band that caters to a diverse crowd of metalheads. Early fans of the band expect a heavy, raw, and visceral experience,  while other fans expect the heavy progressive elements to drive things along. They've been busy touring lately but their latest run has them paired up in a progressive metal powerhouse with Intervals to get things started and Chon as a co-headliner. Stopping in my neck of the woods in the middle of their tour run is an opportunity I can not resist.

     Anytime Between the Buried and Me makes a stop in southern Ontario I make an effort to see them! Intervals is another band I've been a huge fan of for years, especially with their home base in Toronto. I first heard Aaron Marshall's guitar talk at a live show with Northlane in 2013, and their early EP's "In Time" and "The Space Between" completely blew my mind. Since then, I've been loving the wild and more joyful progressive metal tangents they've been exploring on their latest few releases. Chon is a band I have not explored in much depth before this tour, but I can see why they are driving the ship this time around.

     Intervals opened the night to an eager hometown crowd. These guys are top notch instrumentalist and they proved it again last night. Opening with some amazing material off their latest and last few releases, they turned up the dial with the final few songs coming off their beloved "In Time" EP from the early 2010's. They woke the pit up with Alchemy and Mata Hari, amping the crowd to acceptable proportions for such a night.

     Every BTBAM show is a god damn experience but last night was something special with the band able to take some liberties with their set list, free of album release stipulations and with very prog focused tour mates. I deliberately avoided looking at the set list before the show to keep it a surprise and I wasn't disappointed. Opening with ALASKA, they sent The Phoenix into an absolute stupor. They followed up in style with Ants of the Sky bleeding directly into Prequel to the Sequel with a some guest vocals from the Chon crew. Not having Dustie present for the Colors 10 year anniversary tour hurt, so this was a treat. Playing into the proggy atmosphere of the tour, we went on an Ecotopic Stroll before blasting off into Parallax territory with Autumn and Extremophile Elite. They closed the set with Blot, Glide, and Voice of Trespass which again sent the pit into overdrive.

     Chon took the stage next and put on one hell of a show. This was my first time experiencing this band and I liked what I heard. Intricate guitars and percussion, uplifting melodies, and some mind altering moments are what these guys do best. The crowd was 100% on board with the band, singing the instrumentals as if they were vocal tracks and moshing as a juxtaposition of tone. I didn't know the material, but I had a wicked time none the less. Cheers to all the bands who played and a shout out to the animals in the pit as per usual! Check out some photos and video from the night below!!

Between the Buried and Me

Between the Buried and Me never leave me disappointed! 🤘🤩🔥 #Alaska pic.twitter.com/Aq3mI65sdo

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

Chon

Intervals

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

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 /../;,,;/../