February 5th, 2024
Toronto, ON @ History
Photos & Words: Miles Leblanc
Gone are the days of “An Evening with Machine Head” as the band seems to be dabbling with opening acts again. Although not another sell out, Torontoians showed up throughout the night to this wonderful offering of Slaughter The MarTøur, a play on the opening track from Machine Head’s most recent album, Of Kingdom And Crown.
GATES TO HELL
Before Gates to Hell hit the stage, I was given a heads-up by a crowd-goer that this band was going to be hard, fast, and be able to “taste” the music via the double bass. Looking at the setlist before the band hit the stage, shockingly revealed a double-digit worth of songs, which lead me to not know what was to come. Blending death metal and metalcore, this set was seemly quick and to the point. Absolutely churning through songs, with zero mistakes, or at least if mistakes were made, no one noticed. From a open floor, to a floor almost filled, this was a great opener to get the crowd pumped up from the near freezing temps outside.
Setlist
Possessed
Midnight Sacrifice
Malice
Resurrected
Human Extinction
Hell’s Warrior
Fortress of Torture
Evil Spirits
Blood Lust
Gates to Hell
Dissimulation
Drenched In Your Blood
ORBIT CULTURE
Selfishly, this was the main reason for me to hit this show tonight. This fairly “new” band to this side of the world, has been putting out music for just over a decade. Being the third time in Toronto since 2022, I couldn’t wait for the longer set that was to come.
Opening with ‘Saw’ (the very same song that I discovered the band back in 2020) was absolutely magical. Experiencing Orbit Culture live is fascinating, and I’ve only seen a handful of bands do this. They play at a slower tempo than the recordings, and it just makes the set feel heavier all the way through. Like clockwork the band banged through the set, executing older songs and brand new songs flawlessly. Banter in-between with the Toronto crowd was great. lots of moshing, lots of crowd yelling, and a wall of death during the lead single off ‘While We Serve’ from the new their new EP, Forgotten, was one of the most beautiful things ever. Witnessing my favorite song off the new EP was absolutely the highlight of the night for me.
As stated before – and I’m going to say it forever – Orbit Culture are the best band to come out of Sweden in a long, long time. They are absolutely leading the charge for a new blend of melodic death metal with heavy groove influences. With more shows and more exposure on this side of the world and worldwide in general, I can’t wait for them to move up the show ladder, becoming main support, or even a headline tour of North America… I will be there for that!
Setlist
Saw
Alienated
Black Mountain
Descent
From The Inside
While We Serve
Vultures Of North
FEAR FACTORY
Dino’s Fear Factory has risen from the ashes, once again a staple of the metal community music wise. New vocalist, Milo, fresh to vocals and touring, introduced the “new era of Fear Factory” to the rabid Toronto crowd. With a good amount of shows already under his belt, Milo has cemented himself into the fold as a vocal master for the Fear Factory brand as a whole. He absolutely nailed vocal points throughout the performance of songs, with a smile on his face, and almost effortlessly from start to finish.
Dino, of course, performed effortlessly, and Pete Webber (Havok) brings a freshness to the drums with an absolute onslaught of tightness and accuracy. And last but not least Javier Arriaga, filling in for Tony Campos this tour (Tony is out with Static-X at the moment) filled in beautifully, bringing that signature low-end sound Fear Factory fans know and love.
From my vantage point of the crowd, ‘Linchpin’ had the whole floor bouncing during the infectious grooves and hooks. The band was very vocal in letting the rabid Toronto crowd know that the next time they are back, it will be to headline with a longer set. When, and if,it happens, I’m there!
Setlist
Shock
Edgecrusher
Powershifter
Disruptor
Fuel Injected Suicide Machine
Linchpin
Slave Labor
Demanufacture
Replica
MACHINE HEAD
Toronto head cases packed the main floor just in time for the intro song to every Machine Head show, ‘Diary Of A Madman’ by Ozzy Osbourne, leading to a slow, but thunderous build up, Machine Head has selected the perfect song to start the setlist off. Being one of the founders of what is now called groove metal (and even nu metal), “The General” (the nickname for Robb Flynn), is the only original member of the band. Robb absolutely lead the charge and assault of music and vocals from the very first notes of ‘Imperium’, all the way to the end of the setlist. Robb was egging on the crowd throughout the night, starting with “get your fists in the air”, demanding more from the crowd, and almost giving permission for the crowd to ‘lose it” on a Monday night! Dimebag even got a video tribute during the song ‘Aesthetics Of Hate’.
Reece Scruggs, assisting on guitars as a touring member, absolutely nailed all of the riffs and melodies to perfection, even being given opportunity to do solos for certain songs, and absolutely drove each and every one them out of the park. Matt Alston fits in great on the drums, churning through the songs with absolute ease throughout the night. Last, but certainly not least, longtime bassist, Jared MacEachern, took care of the low-end heavy, without making a error.
It may have been years since Machine Head‘s last stop in Toronto, but I hope that the insanity of the crowd left an impression for the band to return soon! In the words of Robb Flynn ‘uhhhhh TORONTO, CANADA, do you feel alive tonight my friends!”… yes Robb, Toronto is alive and showed you all the love!
Setlist
Imperium
Ten Ton Hammer
CHØKE ØN THE ASHES ØF YØUR HATE
Aesthetics of Hate
Old
Locust
From This Day
NØ GØDS, NØ MASTERS
Slaughter The Martyr
Bulldozer
The Blood, The Sweat, The Tears
Davidian
Halo
This show absolutely delivered from the first note until the last, even if it was weird Toronto got a Monday night show of a tour of this caliber, Toronto showed up, packed the venue and left an impression on all of the bands. We can only hope they will be back very, very soon!