LIVE REVIEW – CRYPTA, DEATH CLUB, PRETTY FACE

There is something really cool, fantastic, and intimate about seeing a band from the other end of the world in such a small venue in a world-class city like Toronto. Brazil, its metal generations, and its progeny have really cemented the country as a stalwart of the whole continent. On this sold-out Wednesday night (that felt like a Friday night), Crypta, one of the worldwide leaders of death metal from South America, visited Toronto, thanks again to Inertia Entertainment.

PRETTY FACE

Hailing from Brampton, Ontario, a suburb northwest of Toronto, Pretty Face was opening this night. There were a lot of chants of the band’s name from the crowd just as the band was taking the stage, which was impressive, seeing this band for the first time, and before a note was even played. In between the lyrics of struggling while growing up, this up-and-coming band blended multiple sub-genres, with a majority of death metal being the focus. This short but powerful set left me wanting a longer performance, which means I will have to catch them again soon.

DEATH CLUB

I’m no stranger to Death Club, but this band would be new to a majority of the sold-out crowd tonight. Adding another guitarist recently to the mix, the now four-piece “all over Ontario” band was one of the perfect local openers for Crypta on this night. My second time reviewing this band, after fourteen times seeing them live, this performance was something special. Touting themselves as modern metal, the set was performed with such technical precision and passion—easily the best performance from them I’ve seen to date—even throwing a cover of a Billie Eilish song, ‘You Should See Me In A Crown,’ in the mix, that I feel if the band never gave a heads up it was a cover, the interpretation of the song would feel and sound like it could be from them, as I think about every single cover this band does across multiple bands and genres. The crowd left the band both speechless and smiling, with many chants of the band’s name almost every single time the band paused between songs.

The time on stage may have been short, but it was memorable, with choice audience members begging for more songs. Still touring on the debut album Betrayal, I personally can’t wait for new music from this band. Death Club was truly on fire this night, proving and establishing themselves to the audience, and being true to the band’s moniker, “Ain’t no party like a Death Club party,” enhanced by the fun outro over the speakers as well.

CRYPTA

I will forever be grateful to see bands from around the world when they come to Toronto. Still, for an up-and-coming world-touring band like Crypta to play such a small space and headline, it becomes a total pinch-me moment that I will never take for granted. I often feel this way about almost every concert, but this night was extra special. After some delay getting set up, there was a change in the air when the intro ‘The Aftermath’ started to play on the speakers, almost as if something celestial “woke up” inside everyone on the floor from the thunderous sound from the band, and specifically Fernanda Lira, the bassist and vocalist for the band, began with ‘The Other Side Of Anger’ as the first song for the set. Crypta continued to dominate the stage to a feverish, rowdy, and packed crowd at the garrison, transferring energies from both the band and the venue.

Having only two albums released, Crypta brought it on this night, definitely establishing their place in the genre. Through the headlining set, the community was able to witness a tremendous amount of music from both Echoes of the Soul from 2021 and Shades of Sorrow, the most recent album from 2023. Recently winning a Golden Horns Award for being “the best live band,” the band made a lot of fans happy and made some new fans in the crowd through this over-an-hour-long set. The extensive and daunting North American tour is over at the time of reading this, and a concert of this size and scale will more than likely never happen again on this intimate level. Crypta have, without a doubt, established themselves as one of the worldwide leaders of death metal on this tour, breaking boundaries and putting in the work, gaining fans along the way. For Toronto, this was one of the better shows and a memorable Wednesday night for this genre this year.

SETLIST
‘The Aftermath’ (intro), ‘The Other Side Of Anger’, ‘Kali’, ‘Lift The Blindfold’, ‘The Outsider’, ‘Possessed’, ‘Lullaby For The Forsaken’, ‘Stronghold’, ‘The Limbo’, ‘Trial Of Traitors’, ‘Under The Black Wings’, ‘Starvation’, ‘Dark Clouds’, ‘Lord Of Ruins’, ‘From The Ashes’, ‘The Closure’ (outro)