ATLAS

Slow, grinding, and ominous churning of violin strings against what seemingly is a timer or the noise of a gear being turned, Finland’s “Northcore” Atlas graced Toronto for the first time. Instantly, the drums set the tone for the sound the incoming crowd would experience over the course of the set. If perception is reality, then looking at this band, the music they put out is a lot heavier sonically than the goth aesthetic of the band suggests. A solid lineup since the band’s inception in 2015, the band is touring on the third album, Sunder, released earlier this year, which absolutely dominated the set for this short but impactful performance.

Not much was said between the songs; the audience was asked if we wanted one more, and the people in attendance resoundingly said yes. Bleeding through the label of metalcore being the genre for this band, it was intense, it was melodic, and most of all, the band’s sound was a different blend of the music in the best way possible, and even though it was a debut for the band to this side of the world, they made use of the whole stage, bringing that beginning of the tour energy and leaving an impression on the incoming crowd.

SETLIST
‘Sermon Of The Dying Light’, ‘Tower’, ‘Coven Of Two’, ‘Anodyne’, ‘I Whisper Your Name Like A Curse’, ‘Uni’, ‘Ukko’, ‘Salt And Sulfur’

OV SULFUR

An all-too-familiar intro for me, as over the speakers the band came out and performed the opening track for the newest album from Ov Sulfur, released earlier this year, named Endless. Always impressive in person, the sheer force of Ricky’s guttural vocals sounds even more powerful and dominating in person. The rest of the band and its instruments blistered through the set, playing some of the finest deathcore the city has ever seen. Halfway through the set, the band gave the crowd a bit of a breather, which was absolutely warranted, as this crowd showed up to move and could use a break. Ov Sulfur brought out the saddest song in the band’s discography, ‘Wither,’ which was explained to mean a lot to the whole band, as they have all lost someone.

With the pause in activity on the floor, the intensity ramped back up, focusing on songs from Endless to round out this intense set, complete with a wall of death, the vocalist jumping off stage to sing into the faces of crowd members against the rail, and last but not least, the opera house’s very large, shiny disco ball got some rare usage at a metal show, no less. The short but intense set from the band was just what the crowd needed to be completely limber for what was to come, as we were warned, Orbit Culture was going to take our heads off. With only two albums in the discography and a relentless touring schedule, the trajectory for new music will no doubt be upward.

SETLIST
‘Endless//Godless’, ‘Seed’, ‘Stained In Rot’, ‘Befouler’, ‘Death Ov Circumstance’, ‘Wither’, ‘Forlorn’, ‘Vast Eternal’, ‘Evermore’

ORBIT CULTURE

After years of coming to North America to open for a who’s who of headlining bands, Orbit Culture was finally here for a headlining set. Learning from touring with others has given the band more confidence on stage, complete with impressive visuals in banners, flags, and a blistering light show, adding to their power and presence. The extended intro ringing through the speakers had the packed floor and the almost sold-out venue salivating, cheering loudly, and foaming at the mouth for this performance to begin. The all-too-familiar riffs for this song were the perfect countdown-like warning for the crowd to begin to lose their collective minds.

“We are Orbit Culture from Sweden, and we welcome you to the Death Above Life tour. Make some noise for us, Toronto.” Niklas emphatically screamed to the crowd, “Both the opening song and the tour name were references to the recent 2025 release ‘Death Above Life.’” After this opening song, the crowd surfers came over into the photo pit one by one, at times overwhelming the already packed media area. The Toronto crowd was addressed multiple times throughout the night; with a longer set, Niklas had plenty of time to charm the crowd, mentioning that ‘Bloodhound’ was dedicated to Toronto from the last visit to Toronto, opening for the mighty Slipknot, and asking the moshers to circle pit often.

The band also had some fun later in the set with the crowd, asking, “Are you ready to serve?” and then walking offstage to garner more cheers as they continued the last songs of the set, “We came from Sweden!” One of the final requests as well was to split the room in half for a wall of death, all in good fun for the crowd to let off some steam. For close to 75 minutes, Orbit Culture ground through a 12-song setlist that included my favourite song from this band and started my obsession with them: ‘Saw.’ The performance was not only loud but also sonically shaking certain fixtures in the venue, including glass windows inside, something I’ve never seen in all of my visits to the Opera House, this historic, over 100-year-old venue.

A flawless display across multiple releases from their discography with next to no slow songs to speak of, yes, slow moments where the band was playing certain songs at a significantly slower tempo, which made those moments infinitely heavier and louder, one of the best displays of blistering melodic death metal absolutely firing on all cylinders, and the crowd was in perpetual motion, which no doubt led to sore bodies during and days later. One of the finest Swedish music exports touring right now, I am absolutely a diehard fan of this band, the genre, and music from Sweden, but I am not the only one saying this about Orbit Culture; this band is the finest example of modern melodic death metal, and I’m really glad to have witnessed it as much as I have and that Toronto showed up on a weeknight for them.

SETLIST
‘Death Above Life’, ‘The Storm’, ‘The Tales Of War’, ‘North Star Of Nija’, ‘Saw’, ‘From The Inside’, ‘Bloodhound’, ‘The Shadowing’, ‘Open Eye’, ‘While We Serve’, ‘Hydra’, ‘Vultures Of North’