JINJER| ENTHEOS

THE SETUP….

In today’s day and age, there is something to be said for having to label everything as accurately as possible. With constant change and evolution paramount in music, it becomes increasingly subjective over time to define a band by genre and subgenres. Touring North America for the second time in less than a year, but this time as a headliner, Ukraine’s hottest metal export, Jinjer, triumphantly returned to Toronto and brought along an equal force to be reckoned with in California’s death metal four-piece Entheos. The female-fronted tag team of these two metal acts made for a night to remember, as the city witnessed one of the first shows of this almost two-month-long tour on a Sunday night at Danforth Music Hall.

ENTHEOS

After an abhorrently misleading and unfortunately long wait of 90 minutes from the venue’s doors opening to the band Entheos hitting the stage, the near-sold-out crowd inside the venue, and more specifically on the floor, was passionately and vocally loud at the chance to finally hear some live music. With the band logo up on a video screen brought in specifically for this show, the crowd was just waiting for that first note to hit.

Admittedly, this was my second time seeing Entheos; however, it feels like a lifetime since that performance to this night, as I don’t remember much of the first interaction. This set, however, blew me away. Bringing that beginning-of-the-tour energy, Chaney Crabb was an instant standout from the rest of the band. Headbanging, singing, and screaming across multiple octaves in all sorts of styles, and all while commanding every single inch of the stage, it was clear from the first minute of the performance she was here to take over, at least for this performance.

Not to be outdone in the slightest, the drummer Navene, co-founding member of the band, sounded extremely crisp in his playing, specifically when smashing the cymbals and the bass drum. Finishing up the rest of the band, the two guitarists, fairly new to the band but not to touring, rounded out this metal four-piece to perfection.

Mentions of a new album coming this October were met with a roar from the crowd. The setlist was broken down into music from the band’s catalogue from this decade, including three new songs from the aforementioned upcoming release. Jokingly, it was noted that all the music was new to the audience, who did not know the band or its catalogue. The set went by quickly and with much enjoyment, as anyone, whether familiar with or new to the band, would be hard-pressed to find anything wrong with this stellar band that absolutely set the tone for the headliner.

SETLIST
‘All For Nothing’, ‘Empty On The Inside’, ‘Absolute Zero’, ‘Hell Is A Part Of Me’, ‘I Am The Void’, ‘Life In Slow Motion’, ‘A Thousand Days’, ‘Golden Crown’, ‘An End To Everything’, ‘Return To Me’, ‘The Sinking Sun’

JINJER

Absolutely no strangers to North America as they continue to tour here annually, Ukraine’s Jinjer are—with zero argument here—one of the hottest metal exports to the masses. The band embraced Toronto with yet another show, whereas last time they visited London, they were opening up for another headliner (Trivium). This show was absolutely special with the biggest production to date. The stage was complete with a drum riser and front and back screens for intense visual effects. Taking the energy from the previous set, the intensified Sunday crowd was very strong in expressing how much they needed this music, starting minutes before the set was scheduled to begin.

Long-standing fans of the band, myself included, heard those all-too-familiar notes from the beginning of the King Of Everything album as the band, one by one, methodically made their way out to the stage, with Tatiana being the last member to come to the stage. She was, albeit the most powerful of the four, anchoring the stage with a striking presence and a fierce, commanding aura. Right out of the gate, the band name, logo, and visual effects played in rotation to accompany the hard, extreme-hitting music. These were some of the best visuals and artwork I’ve seen in my concert-going experience, adding phenomenal dynamic visual depth that took the performance to another level and kept all the senses engaged.

It didn’t take long for Tatiana to take a moment, stop, and address the packed crowd: “You want some hardcore from Jinjer? You like some hardcore? Yes, you do,” before immediately continuing to dominate and command the crowd from the stage with ‘Fast Draw’. It is near impossible to define the band under a single subgenre, since they are masters at blending seemingly anything and everything with such heaviness. It was clear from this message that the crowd understood the assignment, with nonstop movement on the floor, headbanging, and, of course, crowd surfing.

Nothing can be taken away from the vocals in any way; as impressive as they were throughout the performance, the instruments hit with such concentration that they left enough space for everyone on stage to shine. A balanced audio experience made it easy to focus on each one of the band members throughout—a seemingly impossible task, I’m sure, but impressive to experience. Over the course of the 80-minute performance, aside from Tatiana’s initial address to the crowd, every other attempt to address the crowd was drowned out by fan accolades.

The setlist was not only dominated musically by eight songs from the band’s most recent release (Duél, released in 2025), but also included eight songs from other releases in the band’s discography. They rounded out the set with ‘Pisces’, the band’s most viral song, and also did an encore for ‘Sit Stay Roll Over’, which made for a better closing song than on previous visits to the city. They also went out of their way to thank Entheos before these two songs—a pure class act.

Something I’ve not seen in a very long time: a majority of the crowd stayed until the last note was played, a true testament to how powerful and genuinely captivating Jinjer is. As a fan for over a decade who hasn’t missed a single Toronto performance to date, this was hands down their best concert and performance yet. With a completely engaging, zero-mistake setlist that was absolutely dialled in, it was one of those rare shows where the outside world just completely faded away.

For me personally, and I can only hope for others in the crowd, both bands brought their “A” game with top-tier, phenomenal, and full-of-energy performances. To date, this unique show with only two openers is one of the few shows from 2026 I can say is the front-runner for concert of the year, proving sometimes less is more with just two bands for a concert, offering a better night of music in comparison to a traditional four or even five-band show. With the tour just getting started across North America until the end of July, this show is a must-see for anyone into either band and, more importantly, heavier music!

SETLIST
‘Intro: Prologue From King Of Everything – Instrumental’, ‘Duél’, ‘Green Serpent’, ‘Fast Draw’, ‘Vortex’, ‘Disclosure!’, ‘Tantrum’, ‘Teacher, Teacher!’, ‘Kafka’, ‘Judgement (& Punishment)’, ‘Hedonist’, ‘I Speak Astronomy’, ‘Perennial’, ‘Someone’s Daughter’, ‘Rogue’, ‘Pisces’, ‘Sit Stay Roll Over’