SKELETAL REMAINS

There is something to be said about Skeletal Remains when they play; with only 30ish minutes on stage, the band, with a no-nonsense attitude, left banter off the stage and just played crushing music. Touring on the newest album from 2024, Fragments Of The Ageless, the setlist had a majority of the songs from this album. On paper, being the newest band on this lineup, at just over a decade of existence, Skeletal Remains proved to be an excellent choice as an opener for this night, showcasing and playing death metal with elements of old and new to get the incoming crowd limbered up. They responded as expected, with a lot of movement to express delight without words.

SETLIST
‘Void Of Despair’, ‘Beyond Cremation’, ‘Relentless Appetite’, ‘Congregation Of Flesh’, ‘Devouring Mortality’, ‘Unmerciful’

MALEVOLENT CREATION

The only band on this bill I’ve not seen before, which makes sense as a quick online search revealed they have not visited Toronto since 1992 and Canada since 1995. Hailing from the border city of Buffalo, Malevolent Creation came to the stage with a lot of cheers from the crowd. The community was given a heads-up that founding member and guitarist Phil Fasciana would be sitting out the whole tour for health reasons. I was shocked by this performance, as I had no idea what the music was. The touring three-piece, who have all been with the band in this decade, played music crafted before their time in the band, which made me want to check out the rest of the discography. This band started the crowd surfers that would continue on for the rest of the night, a rarity at this venue due to stage height; the band commanded the crowd throughout the setlist that was dominated by the selection of songs from almost every full-length album from the 90s. There was an audible boo towards the end of the set and the announcement of the last song. The Toronto crowd definitely wanted more! I wholeheartedly agree that this set went by too quickly, and they must come back soon!

SETLIST
‘Eve Of The Apocalypse’, ‘Multiple Stab Wounds’, ‘Coronation Of Our Domain’, ‘Dominated Resurgency’, ‘Infernal Desire’, ‘Premature Burial’, ‘Alliance Or War’, ‘Manic Demise’, ‘Blood Brothers’

VADER

One of the founding members of the death metal genre from the first European wave of the early 80’s that is still touring today. Hailing from the east, Poland’s Vader has absolutely stood the test of time. For the second time this year alone, previously touring under the “40 Years Of The Apocalypse,” Vader graced Toronto and Lee’s Palace once again. There is something to be said about the imposing ferocity of this band and how they can work the crowd into the palm of their hands. The band’s intro was near-deafening, with cracks of thunder, the lights on stage mimicking lightning, and finally complete with church bells ringing. Vader came on stage, poised to put the rabid crowd through the paces. Peter, the original and only founding member, sprinkled in bits of banter in between songs, thanking the Toronto crowd in his native tongue (Dziękuję) multiple times over the course of the set, which caused an insane amount of cheering from the punters. There were a lot of moments in the set where I could place certain riffs, fills, and even sequences where it was evident that the band created this music and other newer bands I’ve seen earlier in my concert-going would have adopted and, dare I say, “borrowed” these notes and melodies.

We have not had a full-length from Vader since the turn of the decade, but this performance would make it impossible to showcase everything from every album from their 40+ year career; however, it was a real treat to hear ‘Dark Age’, the first track from the first full-length album, The Ultimate Incantation, which was really phenomenal to experience. This was explained in full detail by Peter. The blistering set had literally zero slow moments; the band just punched right through the set, finishing off with an outro versus an encore… a fitting call back to the band name itself: the Imperial death march played over tape and the speakers, much to the delight of the now packed floor of the venue.

SETLIST
‘Intro’, ‘Wings’, ‘The One Made Of Dreams’, ‘The Calling’, ‘North’, ‘Xeper’, ‘Cold Demons’, ‘Forwards To Die!!!’, ‘The Final Massacre’, ‘This Is The War’, ‘Lead Us!!!’, ‘Dark Age’, ‘Carnal’, ‘Shock And Awe’, ‘Unbending’, ‘Sothis’, ‘Triumph Of Death’, ‘Raining Blood’, ‘The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme)’

KATAKLYSM

After a mini intro segued into the first song, Juno Award-winning Canadians from Montreal, Quebec, Kataklysm, stormed the stage with a blistering set for the ages. Maurizio, the vocalist, greeted us with a “What’s up, you sick motherfuckers?” He continued with a bunch of banter over the course of the almost hour-long set, fourteen songs highlighting many albums, with the majority from their most recent, Goliath, released back in 2023. We got to hear the newest single, ‘The Rabbit Hole’, from an unknown album yet to see the light of day. With fifteen albums in almost thirty-five years, the guys have visited Toronto nearly every single year, and tonight they absolutely punished the crowd song after song, including some crowd favourites and “must know songs” as per Maurizio. There was a cathartic synchronicity with the crowd; if they were not moving in the pit, everyone’s upper body was headbanging up and down to the cadence and melodies of the band’s music. Maurizio gave credit where credit is due, bringing up his love for Toronto and even bringing up history with all of the bands, touring with them all at specific points of their careers, and that “they had to run it back for a whole tour together.”

I must say, seeing these guys nine times over the course of a decade, this set from Kataklysm was near perfection, closing with the final hypnotic, melodic guitar notes by Jean-François Dagenais from the song ‘The Black Sheep’ to finish off the set. Maybe being the headliner in their very own country had something to do with it, or the magic of being dialed in after weeks of relentless touring, but Maurizio and the rest of the band absolutely made some new fans on this night and reminded everyone who’s seen them before who the fuck they are!

SETLIST
‘If I Was God… I’d Burn It All’, ‘The Ambassador Of Pain’, ‘Goliath’, ‘Die As A King’, ‘Narcissist’, ‘Guillotine’, ‘The Rabbit Hole’, ‘Bringer Of Vengeance’, ‘In Shadows & Dust’, ‘As I Slither’, ‘Manipulator Of Souls’, ‘Push The Venom’, ‘Crippled & Broken’, ‘The Black Sheep’

October 21st, 2025 @ Lee’s Palace (Toronto, Ontario)
Images & Words By: Miles George