Photos by Zombitrol
Tuesday, September 17th – Lee’s Palace, Toronto
An appearance by New Orleans’ black death thrashers Goatwhore used to be a regular occurrence in Toronto, as they’ve toured hard throughout the last couple decades. But COVID times put a damper on that, and it’s taken a while for their touring machine to get back into full swing. For a band who lives over 2000km away, their recent headlining show at Lee’s Palace felt strangely like a homecoming.
Goatwhore
The evening began with Toronto’s hooded black metal menace Thantifaxath. Although a local add to this show, they already had a limited run on this tour, and thus fit in nicely with the rest of the bill. The band delivered another set of their unique brand of sonically varied raw black metal. Thantifaxath has become one of Toronto’s most internationally well-known underground metal bands, so their sound has obviously struck a chord with many around the world.
Necrofier
Houston’s Necrofier were by far the most atmospheric band of the evening. Their southern melodic black metal got a significant reaction from the crowd. Drummer Dobber Beverly’s machine-gun fills and intense double-bass enveloped the room, penetrated only by vocalist Bakka Larson’s vicious shrieks. Their short set was a mix of both their albums, leaning on 2023’s Burning Shadows in the Southern Night. It’s a captivating album with a sound that contrasts the aesthetics of Swedish black metal with a tinge of southern rock and blues. Show up early for this band.
Vitriol
Vitriol made a few metal headlines recently when the Portland outfit announced that they were down to a two-piece; vocalist/guitarist Kyle Rasmussen and drummer Matt Kilner. This occurred after bassist/vocalist Adam Roethlisberger quit the band mid-tour, with Rasmussen admitting that it was because of working friction between the two of them. Despite this setback both Rasmussen and Kilner poured everything they had into their set of frantic death metal. If this is making the best of a bad situation, they should both feel proud of themselves. Rasmussen seemed especially energized. Apparently, they were using some bass backing tracks, but it wasn’t very noticeable (that’s not a bass player joke btw). Like Necrofier they populated their short stage time with tracks from both their albums, favouring this year’s Suffer & Become.
Goatwhore
Goatwhore’s set mostly drew from their most recent album, 2022’s Angels Hung From the Arches of Heaven. Standouts where the cutthroat riffs of “Death From Above” and the bass-heavy thrasher “Victory is the Lightning of Destruction.” The rest of their set were mostly hits from across their catalogue like “Alchemy of the Black Sun Cult,” “Apocalyptic Havoc,” “Carving Out The Eyes of God,” and of course, “F.B.S.” Vocalist Ben Falgoust dominated the stage and continuously whipped up the crowd with his infectiously positive attitude. Guitarist Sammy Duet and bassist Robert "TA" Coleman consistently traded positions, which gave everyone a good look at Duet’s amazing solos. Drummer Zack Simmons, looking more ripped than ever, is probably delivering the best performances of his career. Goatwhore is band that has paid their dues over the years and are now putting in top-notch shows as a headliner with quality new material, and an extensive and solid back catalogue. Let’s hope we see them back in Canada sooner than later, maybe with a new album in tow.
The North American Venonmous Evocation Tour continues through September 30th. You can purchase Angels Hung From the Arches of Heaven here, or listen to it in full below.
Thank you to Season of Mist
