February 24, 2024
Toronto, ON. @Lee’s Palace
Words by: Staicha Kidd
Inertia Entertainment celebrated their 28th anniversary at Lee’s Palace in Toronto by bringing us an unforgettable lineup of metal, glitter, and gore. While a show featuring Blood Opera (Toronto’s only horror themed heavy metal band), Tragedy (a metal tribute to the Bee Gees and other classics), and Macabre (the poster child for murder metal) might seem like an eclectic mix, it was the perfect bill for metalheads that wanted a little whimsy and fun in between their shredding and headbanging. Walking through the doors and seeing mannequins, tombstones, and other props around the stage let all of us know that we were in for a wild night.
BLOOD OPERA
Our opening band was Blood Opera, taking the stage in their signature zombie gear and celebrating their CD release for Songs in the Key of Death. Opening with ‘Feeding Frenzy’ they wasted no time riling up the crowd with their catchy classic metal hooks and unbelievably powerful vocals. By the time they moved into ‘Fight to Survive’, a song about the 1977 film The Hills Have Eyes, it was clear that Toronto was in the mood for horror as the singer Maxxx Murder started swinging around a severed arm and a jumpsuit-clad monster mascot came into the crowd to jump around with us. By the third song, the crowd that was lingering at the back waiting for the headliner started to get pulled in by the undeniably enjoyable hooks, the fast and technical guitar leads, the tight drums, and the theatrical antics. Before the halfway mark the band brought out their crowd-pleasing hit ‘Be My Victim’, a Candyman themed love ballad that was met with dancing, swaying, and fist-pumping as the crowd sang along. However, it isn’t all about heavy metal, this band brings the horror just as hard. Their whole set had gory effects that were schlocky and fun, and at one point Maxxx Murder even ripped intestines out of bass player Damien Deathgasm’s stomach mid song (while he never missed a note). Halfway through, the band stopped for a “blood chug”, an act where the crowd chugs their beer and their guitarist Rip Junk chugs a skull shaped chalice full of blood. By this point all eyes were on these spooky weirdos and the crowd was just waiting to see what they would do next. Starting the music back up with ‘Don’t Go Out Tonight’, the latter half of the show was just as full of storytelling and practical effects, busting out eerie lanterns, spooky cemetery happenings, and giant wooden crosses. Whether you’ve seen Blood Opera several times like myself, or if it was your first time seeing them, it is clear that their characters are very well developed, and their songs are not just catchy and fun, they tell a story. And, if you’re a fan of classic horror, they are stories that you probably know and love. Ending their set with a bang, their singer came out with a massive fake dick and jerked it into the audience spraying them with thick fake blood to the tune of one of their most loved singles ‘The Gates of Hell’. All in all, a truly excellent and engaging set from these hometown heroes. If you like classic heavy metal and horror movies, this band is for you.
TRAGEDY
Next up was Tragedy from NYC, a metal tribute to The Bee Gees and beyond. Admittedly I had no idea what to expect from this band, but within about thirty seconds I was at the front row fully engaged with this uniquely outrageous act. From left to right there was spandex, booty shorts, feather boas, sailor suits, and fringe. Opening with the song ‘Tragedy’ the audience repeatedly had glitter and confetti thrown at them from out of a fanny pack and they were eager for it. While the band did experience some technical issues close to the beginning of their set with one guitar going out, they vamped well, and the jazzy bass and drum combo that kept going while they fixed it even got its own mini circle pit. Once the sound was back up and running they regained the crowd within seconds and hit us with metal covers from bands like The Pointer Sisters, Dolly Parton, and many other classics that your parents and grandparents know and love. Halfway through they announced that they were about to cover a song from King Neil Diamond, and they broke out into ‘Sweet Caroline’ while someone on stage came out wearing a King Diamond mask, and let me tell you, as a massive King Diamond fan, this joke landed very hard with me. Closer to the end of their set they began singing ‘It’s Raining Men’, but after the opening words from The Weather Girls “leave those umbrellas at home”, they broke into ‘Raining Blood’ by Slayer, and I cannot stress enough how much the crowd ate that up. Standing on the periphery of the pit I was fairly certain the frenzy of the crowd was going to knock me on my ass. The gags just kept landing, and by the end, after so much glitter, confetti, blowup dolls, and bubbles, I was left wondering if this is secretly what every metalhead truly wants, because the crowd went hard for every single second of it. These guys are truly well practiced at riling up a crowd. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention that at one point after getting a sing-along going, after “now just the women!” they went to “now just the non-binarys!” and my non binary friend lost their mind yelling along, as did a few others not used to feeling represented and seen in a metal pit.
Overall, this set was like a fever dream and the ending had me overhearing the sentence “I never thought I would see a circle pit to ‘Staying Alive’”. During the set one guitar player said that when it comes to a band like theirs, you have to be “smart enough to get it and bad enough to like it”. Turns out that’s exactly the crowd they met at Lee’s Palace.
MACABRE
Finally we ended with the legendary Macabre, a 3 piece from Chicago that has been defining the genre Murder Metal since 1985. If you don’t know Macabre, they are known for extremely fast and tight drumming, wild shredding, vocals that range from ear-splittingly high pitched to low and guttural, and having songs that are almost entirely about serial killers. Having loved this band since high school, I was very eager to get to see all of these elements in person for the first time, and they did not disappoint. I had the pleasure of meeting their drummer Dennis before the show and I told him that back when I started listening to Macabre, the internet was not ubiquitous like it is now, so I wasn’t sure if he was a real person or a drum machine. After seeing how unbelievable his performance was, I am actually still not sure if he isn’t a machine.
Opening with ‘Zodiac’, a song about the Zodiac Killer, the singer came out with a headworn microphone, something I don’t think I have ever seen a metal singer do, but quite frankly if I had to do so many wild guitar solos and adjust my vocal range that much, I also wouldn’t want to worry about a mic stand. Their set was a great mix of old and new material, showcasing songs from Sinister Slaughter (my personal favourite album), Dahmer (which was clearly a crowd favourite), and Carnival of Killers (their 2020 album, which I was not as familiar with, but really enjoyed). The crowd was clearly made up of a very devoted fanbase that was ready to bring wild and aggressive pits all through their set. Being right up at the front of the stage I could see and hear a lot of love for this iconic band, with one fan even buying them shots in the middle of their set, something that was very well received.
Macabre opened many of their songs by giving brief bios about the serial killers the song was about. These guys clearly know their stuff and have a great rhythm together, which is not surprising since in 39 years their lineup has never changed. At the end the crowd was hungry for an encore and they came back with my favourite song, the first one I ever heard from them, ‘Vampire of Dusseldorf’. The singer sang the first few lines and we all broke out into song with him, no music, just all of us slowly singing the lyrics to this brutal song about a German serial killer from the 1800’s. Once the music started up the circle pit was wild, with everyone soaking in every last moment of Macabre that they could. However, just when we thought it was over, they went into Serial Killer for their actual last song, a classic from their early days that many of us know and have loved for a very long time. It was an incredible set and I was overjoyed to get to see this bucket list band.
At the end of the night the crowd was covered in fake blood, glitter, and sweat, still buzzing from such an incredible and zany lineup of metal bands. Thank you Inertia Entertainment for celebrating 28 years by giving us such an unforgettable show.