PHOBOPHILIC

The opening act is a relatively new band from Fargo, North Dakota. I didn’t know anything about them going into the set, but I found out they released their debut album Enveloping Absurdity in late 2022 on Prosthetic Records. This was their fifth stop in Toronto since 2022, and I thoroughly enjoyed the short set of songs, which had a strong leaning towards the classic death metal sound. The set was brief, consisting of only five songs, all from the debut. I wish I had paid more attention to the individual tracks, but I will search them out and give the record a good listen.

SETLIST
‘The Illusion Of Self’, ‘Nauseating Despair’, ‘Cathedrals Of Blood (Twilight Of The Idols)’, ‘Those Which Stare Back’, ‘Diminished To Unbeing’

GORGUTS

Gorguts played the middle set, and I highly enjoyed the eight songs they performed live. Luc Lemay is a beast of a musician on stage, and he leads his crew with a “take no prisoners” attitude. The opening number ‘Disincarnated’ from 1991’s debut Considered Dead set the tone with huge impact. It’s such a great song, and once it ended, I wanted more! They gave us ‘Subtle Body’ from 1998’s Obscura and then ripped into ‘Earthly Love’ from that same album. Next, they played a new song from their upcoming 2026 release before playing ‘An Ocean Of Wisdom’ from 2013’s Colored Sands. They played another new, unnamed song before performing the rousing ‘Condemned To Obscurity’ from 1993’s sophomore album, The Erosion of Sanity. The set ended with another classic, ‘Bodily Corrupted’ from Considered Dead.

Overall, this was a set of old and new material that showed Gorguts’ evolution from straight death metal to a more technical and avant-garde approach in the later years. Luc and crew sound great onstage, and I can’t wait to hear the whole new album in 2026!

SETLIST
‘Disincarnated’, ‘Subtle Body’, ‘Earthly Love’, ‘(Unknown – New Song)’, ‘An Ocean Of Wisdom’, ‘(Unknown – New Song)’, ‘Condemned To Obscurity’, ‘Bodily Corrupted’

DEATH TO ALL

Death To All is made up of former band members who played with Chuck, so the line-up revolves around bassist Steve DiGiorgio and drummer Gene Hoglan. Along for the ride are guitarist Bobby Koelble and guitarist Max Phelps to round out the line-up. The set lasted 2 hours and spanned 19 songs played to perfection. The opening number, ‘Living Monstrosity,’ blew my mind right from the get-go. It was expertly played note-for-note, along with riffs that were spot on. In fact, the following three songs all sounded as if Chuck was alive and there in person, and I loved how this was more than just a tribute act. Songs like ‘Defensive Personalities’, ‘Lack of Comprehension’, and ‘Altering The Future’ were lovingly played and honoured in a live setting.

They broke up the Spiritual Healing set with ‘Zombie Ritual’ from Scream Bloody Gore, before moving back into Spiritual Healing to tackle ‘Within The Mind’ and then right after slotted in ‘The Philosopher’ from Individual Thought Patterns. I thought it was a little strange with the song placement, but once the title track ‘Spiritual Healing’ erupted, I forgot about it. My only complaint is why they left off ‘Low Life’, ‘Genetic Reconstruction’ and ‘Killing Spree’ from the set, since this was intended to be celebrating the album. Beyond that minor gripe, the band moved into Symbolic and actually played the entire album. With this being guitarist Bobby Koelble’s only appearance on a Death album, it made sense to play every song. Again, the attention to detail with the notes and riffs was incredibly faithful and performed to the highest levels that would make Chuck proud as hell. They started with the opening track ‘Symbolic’ and really focused on the progressive tone throughout. I highly enjoyed this portion of the set and thought numbers like ‘Zero Tolerance’ and ‘Empty Words’ were the highlights for me; however, many fans were shouting out ‘Crystal Mountain’ long before they tore into that number. But when they did, the place erupted in complete frenzy.

The encore started with ‘Spirit Crusher’ from The Sound Of Perseverance, which was solidly performed. It’s one of the few later-era Death songs that I really loved and enjoyed hearing live. The evening ended with ‘Pull The Plug’ from Leprosy that’s obviously a verifiable fan favourite. Overall, I was so impressed with Death To All’s performance in a live setting. This was my first time seeing the band in concert, and I love how they brought Chuck’s music to life. Steve DiGirogio took time in between songs to speak about his place in the pantheon of musicians who shared a stage with Chuck, and I found that quite touching. Gene Hoglan was dynamite behind the kit, along with guitarist Bobby Koelble’s inspired performance on the Symbolic songs. Even Max Phelps was solid on the solos he performed, and I liked how he did his best to replicate Chuck’s vocal delivery. Sometimes his cadence was off, but the shrieks and gutturals made you believe Chuck was channelling his energy through him.

SETLIST
‘Living Monstrosity’, ‘Defensive Personalities’, ‘Lack Of Comprehension’, ‘Altering The Future’, ‘Zombie Ritual’, ‘Within The Mind’, ‘The Philosopher’, ‘Spiritual Healing’, ‘Symbolic’, ‘Zero Tolerance’, ‘Empty Words’, ‘Sacred Serenity’, ‘1,000 Eyes’, ‘Without Judgement’, ‘Crystal Mountain’, ‘Misanthrope’, ‘Perennial Quest’