It was a huge night celebrating one of the most venerated bands in metal history as Death to All came to the MTelus to mark the anniversaries of Spiritual Healing and Symbolic. The legacy of Death on the metal world is undeniable since the music of Chuck Schuldiner has inspired generations of young musicians to pick up a guitar and learn to play extreme metal.
Our first band of the evening was Phobophilic, a death metal group from North Dakota that plays a very classic style of the genre. My circle of friends strongly recommended that I check them out and I must say I was not disappointed. They brought tremendous energy as the opener with slow and brutal metal filled with buzzing distorted guitars and cavernous vocals. They are definitely a band I need to listen to more since they had interesting riffs and an old school sound that reminded me of Incantation.
The next band was hometown heroes Gorguts, one of the most legendary groups to come from our province. I have been part of the metal scene for more than twenty-five years, and I had never had the chance to see them live. I must admit I was absolutely blown away by their performance.
Luc Lemay, singer and lead guitarist, amazed the crowd with his masterful playing which blended chaotic frantic riffs with beautiful melodic passages. It is unbelievable, but his voice sounds even more majestic than before as he hit the low guttural vocals with such precision and strength while shredding some of the most complex riffs imaginable.
The crowd responded with intense fervour to these legendary hometown heroes as fans moshed and banged their heads while staring at the frontman with utter amazement. The mosh pit was furious and the fans themselves organized a wall of death to add even more madness to the atmosphere.
Their set covered their entire discography and we even heard new material from their upcoming album, which fit perfectly with the classics.
My highlights from the set were finally getting to hear tracks like Subtle Body and Earthly Love from their groundbreaking classic Obscura.
Gorguts are true legends in the local scene and have inspired countless bands both here and abroad with their unique mixture of chaotic technical wizardry that combines absolute brutality with underlying melody. They have long been heralded as giants in the death metal community and they showed the crowd exactly why they remain one of the greatest bands in the genre.
It was now time for the main act, Death to All, a celebration of the music of Chuck Schuldiner performed lovingly by his former bandmates in Death. As mentioned earlier, this set focused on the classic albums Spiritual Healing and Symbolic. I was personally ecstatic since Symbolic has always been my favourite Death record, and I have many fond memories of listening to it as a teenager.
With Chuck passing away so young from brain cancer at the age of thirty-four, most of the crowd never had the chance to see him perform live, and this celebration is the perfect way to keep his music alive and share it with a younger generation that worships this legendary band.
This was my third time seeing Death to All, and even though I knew what to expect, I was still blown away. I will take every opportunity to see metal legends Steve DiGiorgio and Gene Hoglan live, and once again, they did not disappoint. Steve may be one of the greatest bassists in metal, wielding his fretless bass with such precision and technicality that it is a marvel to watch. Max, the lead vocalist and guitarist honouring Chuck, makes you suspend reality for an instant and feel as though you are watching Chuck himself on stage.
The first part of the set focused on Spiritual Healing and the early part of Death’s discography. The crowd was moshing wildly and singing along to these classics. The pit was nonstop throughout the evening and reached a crescendo during the renditions of Zombie Ritual and The Philosopher. Steve addressed the crowd and thanked everyone for honoring the memory of Chuck and keeping the music alive.
The second part of the set was a full playthrough of Symbolic which I consider the band’s magnum opus since it combines the brutality and technicality of their early sound with an added layer of melody and a classic metal feel. The band mentioned that even in the days of Death they never played all of these songs live.
Everyone sang along and headbanged to the classics like the title track and the crowd went absolutely insane for the beloved Crystal Mountain. The pit remained nonstop for the entire show as bodies crashed into each other and fans crowd surfed. They wrapped up with an encore featuring the two classics Spirit Crusher and Pull the Plug.
This was an incredible evening celebrating pioneers of the genre and carrying the legacy of Death on the road once again. Whether you are a young fan born after Chuck’s passing or an older listener lucky enough to have seen Death back in the day, this show was fantastic. It was also a perfect night for the moshers since I have not seen such intensity in a metal pit in quite some time as fans remained relentless from start to finish, showcasing our city’s love for heavy metal.
Review – Jason Maher
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