Children of Bodom, Swallow the Sun, & Wolfheart @ Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto (March 16, 2019).

     2019 is shaping up to be a great year of live shows for the Yeti. With a few smaller shows already under my belt, the first larger bill rolled through town with Wolfheart, Summoner's Circle, and Swallow the Sun supporting the gods of melodic death metal Children of Bodom! It has been almost a decade since I've seen Bodom live, the last time with buds at the tail end of high school. But hot on the heels of the release of their latest album Hexed, I could not pass up this opportunity. Wolfheart and Swallow the Sun were another huge pull for me, wanting to knockboth bands off my must see live list. /,,/

     I arrived just in time to catch the last song of Summoner's Circle's set, with the crowd already massing for the oncoming storm. After a few beers, I was more than ready for Wolfheart to take the the stage and I was off to the pit. While it took a few songs to get the everybody fully going, the energy exerted by the band was too much to resist and after a few minutes the bodies were flying. One of my favourite moments of the set (and the night) was a special "metal faced head nod of approval" from Lauri Silvonen on bass after going ballistic in the pit and throwing him the horns during Breakwater. After the chaos of Wolfheart, metalheads enjoyed a bit of a change of pace with Swallow the Sun set to take the stage. I just recently became a fan of this band, checking out their latest album and bunch of their back catalogue after that. I really enjoyed Swallow the Sun's set with their mix of slow doomy chugs and cutting guitars working well with their mysterious hooded stage presence. "New Moon" leading into "Stone Wings" was a highlight of this set for me, with the ominous guitar tones slicing deep and delivered perfectly by the band. 

     Swallow the Sun are a bit difficult to mosh to, but it was probably for the best as Children of Bodom's imminent presence had completely packed the Phoenix as the Hatecrew deathrolled in. Bodom opened up with "Are you Dead Yet?", which set the crowd off on a furious stupor that lasted the duration of the set. I'm kicking myself for waiting this long to see Bodom again; the energy that Alexi and the gang give off during their set is top notch and you can see how much they enjoy enticing the crowd with their melodic madness. I was pleasantly surprised with the diverse set list. With their latest album just a month old, they still played a wicked mix of old classics like "Sixpounder", "Angel's Don't Kill", and "Bodom Beach Terror" amongst my favourite new songs like "This Road", and "I Worship Chaos". But the best was saved for last with the band closing with a killer encore of two of my favourite songs from the early days playing "Hate Me!" leading into "Downfall". Check out some photos and videos from the night below! As always cheers to the bands and all the crazy metalheads I clashed with in the pit! Metal Yeti

That was good fun, I haven’t been to a Bodom show in years! /,,/ #Metal 🤘💀🔥 pic.twitter.com/zuhq7Ny0A5

— Heavy Metal Yeti (@HeavyMetalYetii) March 17, 2019

Children of Bodom

Swallow the Sun

Wolfheart

Dark Tranquility, Insomnium, Valfreya, and Primalfrost @ The Opera House, Toronto (Jan 15, 2015)

       I have been waiting to see Dark Tranquility since I first heard the Damage Done and Character albums back when I was a young Yeti first developing my metal palate. Tonight I killed two birds with one metal stone as I witnessed Dark Tranquility and Insomnium tear the roof off the Opera House in downtown Toronto. The night opened up with a blast of power folk and black metal from local melodic demons Valfreya and Primalfrost. Despite minor technical difficulties, both bands performed brilliantly and proved masters of their crafts, perfectly priming the crowd for the headlining acts (even inciting a sword fight mosh pit at one point). Insomnium took the stage next, unleashing a hell storm of melodic death metal mastery. I was completely blown away by Insomium's technicality and stage presence, as every song they played forced my inner viking to come forth in the mosh pit. They opened with tracks off of Shadows of the Dying Son, but also played older classics like Unsung and Weighed Down With Sorrow. By the time Dark Tranquility took the stage the crowd was completely ready for what was about to happen. They played an unbelievable set, opening with The Science of Noise and some songs off Construct; also including some wicked back catalog tunes like Damage Done and Misery's Crown! Cheers to all the bands for such an unbelievable show /,,/. And as always cheers to the crazy dudes I clashed with in the pit! Check out a few pictures from the night below.

Dark Tranquility

Insomnium

Valfreya

Primalfrost 

-Absolutely wicked show! Heavy Metal Sasquatch out /,,/

New Metal Review: Persefone - Spiritual Migration

   The Heavy Metal Sasquatch lives purely off raw power, requiring a constant and steady amount of face melting metal for sustenance. While a wide variety of metal bands suit the dietary needs of the "Metal Yeti", he prefers the technical complexity and the crunchy yet delicious musical variations associated with progressive metal. Persefone is one of these such delicious treats. Persefone calls themselves "progressive melodic death metal", but it feels like %100 tasty Prog to the Yeti. Their latest full length album Spiritual Migration is a masterpiece delivering brutally heavy riffs in combination with technical brilliance and beautifully timed special effects. Spiritual Migration is terrific from front to back, running an impressive seventy one minutes, and failing to disappoint on any level; successfully provoking many deep cerebral thoughts and emotions at the same time. This album is top tier prog metal, not heavily relying on any one specific style of play, while very successfully melding experimental instruments and sounds. Furthermore, their use of nature throughout the album provided a vivid feeling of tranquility; which is a stark contrast to the raw power and fury that was never to far away in the album as well as throughout the biological world. Listen to the full album below and make sure to check them out on facebook @ www.facebook.com/Persefoneband and buy their merch @ www.persefone.com. \m/

- Persefone's Spiritual Migration blew me away and is definitely worth your time and listening pleasure. It has been years since I've heard a prog metal band of this unique caliber. Persefone took a while to reach my ears, but i'm hoping they reach yours soon so you to can discover your new favourite band. "Innovative music for the open-minded listener".
- My Verdict
\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/ out of \m/\m/\m/\m/\m/
5/5 - Progtastic