Death To All in Toronto

On a cold day, what’s the best thing to help warm up? Heavy, thrashing, death metal of course! And on November 11th, through the frigid streets of Toronto was the Danforth Music Hall, where inside, death metal band Death To All warmed the crowd with their ripping, chugging riffs with support from Phobophilic and Gorguts.

Kicking off the set was Phobophilic, who describe themselves as a “nauseating death metal band from North Dakota” composed of Christian Alm (bass), Vincent Tweten (drums), Josh Poer (guitars, vocals), and Miles McIntosh (guitars). And they definitely were nauseating in the best way possible. Their sound held that of a quintessential death metal band, but also with the added fantasy feel. All throughout their set, through themes in their lyrics or through their. extremely precise and technical riffing, Phobophilic immersed the room in their music. Their sound was steeped in this evil that made their music sound like death metal boss music. And as their 5 song set drew to a close, Phobophilic left the crowd excited, amped up and ready for the insanity that was to come.

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The next to grace the stage with their thrashing riffs and crazy headbanging was Gorguts. This Canadian heavy metal group left it all on the stage. The most memorable part of their set were definitely the intense, animalistic growls from vocalist and guitarist Luc Lemay. Although they were a mixed bag of members, they still came together to perform some downright filthy riffs. Guitarist Kevin Hufnagel and Lemay along with bassist Colin Marston and drummer John Longstreth were perfectly in tempo with their chugs, creating a nasty, snarling sound that all metalheads love. Gorguts shouted out the headliners, Death To All, saying how honoured they were to be touring with their idols. During the final song of their set, Bodily Corruption, everyone in the crowd was headbanging along from the beginning to the end. By the time Gorguts left the stage, they had left an impression that would surely stick with fans for the rest of the night.

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And now it was time for the headliners and then the band everyone was waiting for, Death To All. The band is something of a tribute band to the original death metal band, Death. The members are all the same as the original band, save for their vocalist Max Phelps who is in place of original vocalist Chuck Schuldiner, who passed away in 2001. Although the lineup is a little different, Death To All still brought forth the classic death metal sound everyone in the audience loved.

Now these riffs were nothing short of incredible. Death To All, having mostly seasoned members of the band, knew how to bring the heat. Each member knew how to perform while still remaining technically sound. Lead guitarist Bobby Koelble was one to note; he played technically complicated riffs with such precision, all the while headbanging and moving around on stage. Gene Hoglan’s double bass drums were creating such a rich, deep sound, it was surprising there wasn’t a miniature earthquake inside the Danforth. Steve DiGiorgio sometimes brought out a 3-stringed bass that only added to the deep, chaotic and downright filthy sounds of the set.

Death To All’s music was the highlight of the night, with their precision and thrashing sounds that took everyone in the audience back to the early days of death metal. This new creation definitely did their previous justice, because by the time they finished their set, metalheads young and old were buzzing with excitement.