VOID

“Never judge a book by its cover.” So often I’m reminded of this and how apropos these words are for when seeing and hearing Void. The band, which calls Lafayette, Louisiana, home, stormed the stage after a brief introduction from Ron Rinehart from Dark Angel. At first glance, it’s definitely a fancier and classier look on stage than the traditional thrash garb. This band and its music screamed through an awe-inspiring, just over forty-minute set and definitely made their presence known with songs and the banter in between. There were many mentions of being from Louisiana, as well as the fact that it was the last night of the tour for them. They expressed their gratitude for how Canada had treated them, with this night marking the Toronto debut for the band.

Void was the perfect start for this night of music. I got lots of notes, riffs, and melodies from classic 80’s thrash bands throughout the band playing a majority of the set from the newest album, Forbidden Morals, but other songs from Horrors of Reality had not only me but also other thrash metal enthusiasts warmed up by the time they left the stage. Seriously impressive set, and if you are into thrash metal, do yourself a favor and check them out; they might be your next favorite band.

SETLIST
‘Forbidden Morals’, ‘Return Of The Phantom’, ‘First In, Last Out’, ‘Apparition’, ‘Beneath… Lives The Impaler’, ‘Nine Blood Moons’, ‘Silent Onslaught’

HIRAX

Another debut in Toronto, but with a lot of history behind the scenes, this band has an extensive and long-standing career spanning just over four decades, and this is the first time they are playing in Toronto. Frontman Katon is a force to be reckoned with; as the senior and founding member of the band, the stage was not big enough for how much movement was made during this neck-breaking performance of thrash. Katon absolutely owned the stage and every inch of it, dodging band members throughout the performance. The drummer kicked off the set with some of the loudest thuds I’ve heard come out of the Phoenix speakers in years of attending this venue; matched with the band, the ferocity was an absolute audio assault on the ears. It was loud and consistently loud even with earplugs.

Even with the high decibels, this band started off at a slow and grinding pace but, as the music went on, picked up in speed while maintaining musical excellence. Katon was absolutely soaking in the first time being on a stage here, giving props to a lot of the Canadian thrash metal bands he came up with, even giving a nod to those who were in attendance this night as well. There was a funny moment where Katon said “merci” to us, and a majority of the crowd booed this gesture, and “we” were corrected almost instantly that we are all a community and we should learn to embrace each other as we are all that we have.

Keeping the setlist to songs from the 80s, the 2010s, and the new album released this year, Faster Than Death, this Toronto debut performance was one for the record books; everyone was more than warmed up and ready for the main event.

SETLIST
‘Hellion Rising’, ‘Blind Faith’, ‘Warlords Command’, ‘Lightning Thunder’, ‘Guitar Solo’, ‘Lightning Thunder (Reprise)’, ‘The Plague’, ‘Drowned Bodies’, ‘Faster Than Death’, ‘Criminal Punishment’, ‘Destruction And Terror’, ‘Bombs Of Death’

DARK ANGEL

The brand new album Extinction Level Event brought this tour to be a possibility; with four of the members from the 80s to present day and a killer second guitarist in the mix, this was a special and rare performance, since the last visit to Toronto was in 1989.

‘Raining Blood’ was the choice intro for the band on this night, to add to the anticipation and excitement of the Toronto crowd. The band started with the atomic clock, Gene Hoglan firing up the drums as if it were a motorcycle from a cold start, absolutely pounding on the bass drums while holding up the drumsticks like handlebars on a motorcycle. The rest of the band emerged onto the stage, which met the loudest reaction of the night to this point. Ron, the vocalist, absolutely commanded the audience with equal parts singing and putting the microphone in the faces of crowd members in an effort to absorb all the energy. Speaking of energy, Ron was all over the place in the performance, all over the stage, giving fist bumps to the crowd, and even jumping into the crowd for some choice songs to join the community in the pit. Half of the people in attendance weren’t paying attention to him bumping around, and a select few got selfies with him on the floor.

Back on stage we were told that the song ‘No One Answers’ is collectively the band’s favorite song of all time. I don’t know what they did at the soundboard, but this song was infinitely louder and maintained this loudness for the rest of the performance. A tribute was paid to the song ‘Extinction Level Event,’ which was coined by Jim Durkin, who had to leave the band in 2020 and ultimately passed away in 2023. With Jim’s full blessing, Laura was chosen as a replacement for Jim. The band cruised through the entire discography, hitting every single album possible along the way. Lots of moments for the string band members to shine, from Laura and Eric trading riffs back and forth, to a classic face-off of riffing, to Mike commanding the stage with thunderous bass.

Later in the set, Ron got the crowd going by announcing the song ‘Death Is Certain,’ and the response was LIFE IS NOT! Twelve songs later, and the performance left a lot of the crowd satisfied with the three-course offering of thrash metal. This was a monumental show that would leave anyone satiated with the music, accompanied by a sore neck.

SETLIST
‘Raining Blood (Intro)’, ‘Time Does Not Heal’, ‘The Burning Of Sodom’, ‘No One Answers’, ‘Extinction Level Event’, ‘Never To Rise Again’, ‘Apex Predator’, ‘Merciless Death’, ‘Sea Of Heads’, ‘Death Is Certain (Life Is Not)’, ‘Woke Up To Blood’, ‘Darkness Descends’, ‘Perish In Flames’

September 28th 2025 @ Phoenix Concert Theatre (Toronto, Ontario)
Images & Words By: Miles George