CRIMSON SHADOWS

With a brand new album, Whispers of War, released earlier this summer, this performance was poised to be an epic return to the stage for Crimson Shadows, the 2013 Wacken Metal Battle winners who perform a musical blend of melodic death and power metal. They have only played four times in this decade, not since 2022 for a Toronto performance, proving on this night that there is something to be said for keeping performances staggered and not over-saturated. The guys slowly hit the stage one after another. Cory, the drummer of the band, was hitting the drums with such force that my head was vibrating from the sheer volume coming out of them. This short but intense set from Crimson Shadows showcased several tracks from the new album. They also hit us with ‘Heroes Among Us’, which was dedicated to the Canadian Armed Forces.

The now four-piece absolutely showed great poise running through the set, with guitarists Ryan and Greg trading guitar solos. The vocalist, Jimi, and backing vocalist Greg, mouthing each other’s parts, seamlessly took turns from growls and screaming to clean vocals throughout, while Cory just smiled the whole way through, engaging in some drumstick acrobatics. This might have been early for some to arrive at the venue, but by the time the band finished, the venue was packed, and I’m sure it made the band happy that Toronto showed up! With the new album, plus next year marking 20 years as a band, I’m sure we will be seeing them locally more in the near future.

SETLIST
‘Intro’, ‘Dawn The An Age’, ‘Whispers Of War’, ‘Defenders Of The Crown’, ‘Rise Of The Fallen Soul’, ‘Heroes Among Us’, ‘Guardians’

POWERGLOVE

If you have never seen Powerglove live, you are missing out, even if you are not a gamer exclusively. A three-piece from the USA that does instrumentals for both video game theme songs and TV show theme songs is an absolutely mind-blowing experience that always gets the best out of the crowd every time I’ve seen them. Opening on the video screen, which features the videos as the 4th member of the band, we are greeted with a commercial for the legendary Powerglove, with a giant inflatable version on stage. We are introduced to that with a kid gearing up to play some Street Fighter with some of the band members as playable characters, a little bit of a tongue-in-cheek nod throughout the night, and the videos playing. The band stormed the stage during the fight scene, and man, my childhood and how many times playing this game, we are met with ‘Guile’s Theme’; mid-song there is an extended solo with Gabriel asking us to jump, jump, jump, and the packed venue did just that, to the point where the floor was waving from everyone not in sync.

There was a lot of physicality and banter throughout the short performance, including crowd participation with inflatable weapons during the ‘Super Smash Bros. Melee Theme’, a giant Poké Ball during the ‘Pokémon Theme’, and numerous moments where the crowd was asked to jump. A funny moment was during ‘Tetris’, where Gabriel was telling the band to “GO FASTER” over and over and over again, and the band’s ability to keep up was a huge feat.

The line of the night was this: “We are a band called Powerglove, and we have come here tonight to fuck with your childhoods and play some video game metal for you!!!!!” The musicianship is absolutely next-level; they have gone full force into the performance, and it shows. Gabriel has a custom Nintendo NES-style guitar and plays while playing the keyboard; Bassil is one of the only drummers I’ve ever seen who can play standing up; and there is no information on the bassist, but he rounds out the three-piece, as everyone is dressed up for battle. The speed metal band really left me wanting more, as this is the first time I’ve seen them open and not headline. This performance went way too quickly, and I selfishly just wanted more songs. The crowd absolutely loved this, and the band was having fun the whole time. If you haven’t seen them, check them out! So incredible live!


SETLIST
‘Intro – Nintendo Powerglove Commercial’, ‘Guile’s Theme’, ‘Tetris’, ‘Super Smash Bros. Melee Theme’, ‘X-Men Theme’, ‘Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Medley’, ‘Sailor Moon’, ‘Kirby’s Dream Land Theme Song’, ‘Pokémon Theme’, ‘Mario Minor’, ‘The Power Rangers Theme’

SONATA ARTICA

I’m shocked to read in my research that Finnish Power Metal band Sonata Arctica has been around since 1995, sure, under two different band names. Still, there is no mention at all of being a band for thirty years as of this year, or of the anniversary, which should absolutely be celebrated, especially with two original members. A slow and epic intro brought the band on stage, almost reminiscent of the opening of a movie; this created a sense of anticipation for those who didn’t know what was about to come. Sonata Arctica hit the stage with an absolutely ravenous and rabid crowd responding to the first and third singles from the newest album back-to-back.

‘First In Line’ brought out some fierce, rapid-fire drumming to start, and then just a barrage of notes from the guitars and keyboards, much to the delight of the crowd, some of whom had been waiting six years for this performance. ‘Dark Empath’, bringing at random an up-and-down roller coaster of feelings, with a crowd chant that got cut off too shortly. The tempo kicked up to a maximum with ‘Flag In The Ground’ but then back down with ‘I Have A Right’. I had a moment where my brain picked up on the lyrics, and this song absolutely broke me in the venue; such a damn emotional song.

It would be impossible to play everything from all of the eleven albums in the discography, but Sonata Arctica played as much as they possibly could, choosing to play three songs off the new album and then keeping the rest of the setlist from very early in their music career. First time seeing Sonata Arctica, they are definitely a blend of sub-genres together to make a super unique sound and vibe; every song borrows from different sub-genres simultaneously, which leads to a signature styling that brought out a very high-energy and receptive crowd, even on a Monday night.

SETLIST
‘First In Line’, ‘Dark Empath’, ‘Flag In The Ground’, ‘I Have A Right’, ‘Angel Defiled’, ‘Tallulah’, ‘The Last Amazing Grays’, ‘San Sebastian’, ‘Broken’, ‘Replica’, ‘My Land’, ‘FullMoon’

ENCORE
‘Wolf & Raven’, ‘Don’t Say A Word’ (with ‘Vodka’ outro)

September 29th 2025 @ The Mod Club (Toronto, Ontario)
Images & Words By: Miles George