SIX FEET UNDER | KATAKLYSM| WORMHOLE

THE SETUP…

On a rainy night in Toronto, death metal legends Six Feet Under returned to perform after a twenty-three-year absence. Coming along for the ride were Canadian death metal stalwarts Kataklysm and tech/death metal outfit Wormhole.

WORMHOLE

Wormhole opened the show with a short set of brutal-sounding music. To be honest, I am not a huge fan of this genre, especially when elements of deathcore are thrown into the mix. The songs all packed a punch, and they did get the crowd warmed up and primed for the next act.

KATAKLYSM

Kataklysm stormed the stage and tore straight into it. The set was an hour long, and fans were treated to 14 numbers of pure metallic bliss. They opened the show with ‘Push The Venom’ from 2010’s Heaven’s Venom. This song is a fantastic crowd-pleaser, and it got everyone moving. ‘Thy Serpent’s Tongue’ kept the energy going and the mosh pit fueled with furious action. The next song to follow was ‘Goliath’, the title track from 2023’s colossal effort of new material. The band also played ‘Die As A King’ from Goliath, before tearing into Prevail from 2008.

The middle of the set gave us ‘Soul Destroyer’, ‘The Resurrected’, and ‘In Shadows & Dust’. You could tell the band was just getting started, and the crowd was eating up the aggressive energy of the music. The next track, ‘I Slither’ from 2004’s Serenity In Fire, was a crowd-pleaser and probably the highlighted number for me in the set. We go back to Goliath for a real pounder in ‘Bringer Of Vengeance’ and then quickly flip back to 2006 for ‘Crippled And Broken’.

The remaining three songs, ‘At The Edge Of The World’, ‘Narcissist’, and finally ‘Black Sheep’ to close out the show, were all prime slabs of death metal. I don’t think anyone left disappointed once Kataklysm left the stage.

SETLIST
‘Push The Venom’, ‘Thy Serpents Tongue’, ‘Goliath’, ‘Die As A King’, ‘Prevail’, ‘Soul Destroyer’, ‘The Resurrected’, ‘In Shadows & Dust’, ‘As I Slither’, ‘Bringer Of Vengeance’, ‘Crippled & Broken’, ‘At The Edge Of The World’, ‘Narcissist’, ‘The Black Sheep’

SIX FEET UNDER

Six Feet Under took the stage and delivered a set that proved the band is as vital and important as ever. Fans were treated to ‘War Is Coming’ from 1997’s Warpath to set the tone for the night. Then, it was followed up with ‘Silent Violence’ from 1995’s Haunted. This is one of my personal favourites from the early days, and it sounded so great hearing it live again. We go back to Warpath for ‘Revenge Of The Zombie’, and we’re already having a rollicking good time. Vocalist Chris Barnes was on point throughout the set and sounded refreshed and ready to kick major ass. He kept apologizing for being away so long and mentioned the twenty-three-year gap since the last performance in Toronto. I don’t think fans really cared how long it had been because they just wanted to hear Six Feet Under play the songs they know and love.

‘Lycanthropy’ from Haunted was next, and it literally tore my head off. Then we got ‘Tore To The Bone’, again from the same album, and it was at this point you knew Chris Barnes and co. meant business. Of course, this also ensured we would get ‘Feasting On The Blood Of The Insane’ from 1999’s Maximum Violence next. This was another ripper of a tune and a total crowd-pleaser for the moshpit fanatic. ‘Victims Of The Paranoid’ followed from Maximum Violence, and ‘Seed Of Filth’ from 2008’s Death Ritual got us to the halfway point of the show.

The second half of the set blitzed along at a violent pace, and we were treated to a cover of ‘Death Or Glory’ from Holocaust. I think I recognized the newer material would be heavily featured at the back end from this point forward and enjoyed the selections. We got ‘Mister Blood And Guts’, and I was surprised when ‘Human Target’ from Haunted assaulted my ears next. I was enthralled when ‘Beneath A Black Sky’ played and pleasantly tickled my love for ’90s death metal. But the toppers of the night came next when Chris decided to play some Cannibal Corpse tunes with ‘Stripped, Raped And Strangled’ from 1994’s The Bleeding and finished it off with ‘Hammer Smashed Face’ from 1992’s Tomb Of The Mutilated.

Overall, it was a great night of ’90s death metal. Chris Barnes was on fire throughout the set, and even guitarist Jack Owen had a moment or two when he was given a chance to work his magic with a guitar solo. In the end, despite being away for twenty-three years, the music of Six Feet Under still had some cachet for longtime fans, and it felt good to hear these classic songs again.

SETLIST
‘War Is Coming’, ‘Silent Violence’, ‘Revenge Of The Zombie’, ‘Lycanthropy’, ‘Torn To The Bone’, ‘Feasting On The Blood Of The Insane’, ‘Victim Of The Paranoid’, ‘Seed Of Filth’, ‘Death Or Glory’, ‘Know-Nothing Ingrate’, ‘Mister Blood And Guts’, ‘Ghosts Of The Undead’, ‘Human Target’, ‘Beneath A Black Sky’, ‘Stripped, Raped And Strangled’, ‘Hammer Smashed Face’