CASTLE RAT | UNTO OTHERS | WRAITH KNIGHT

THE SETUP…

There is something extremely magical about a band on an upward trajectory, no strangers to Toronto at all, for the second time this year and the fourth since 2024, the medieval metal master Castle Rat returned to a larger venue, headlining the city for the second time. The tour had only two Canadian dates, and in this month-long “Summon The Beasts” run, our stop was near the end. Not to be outdone, the band brought very eclectic openers, Unto Others and Wraith Knight. As one of the few stops on this tour to sell out, the legendary Opera House was a suitable upgrade; however, I’m convinced the jump to an even larger venue would have sold out as well.

WRAITH KNIGHT

For the second time this year, solo project dungeon master and evil synth music maker Wraith Knight returned to the city. Although different in stage presence this time, the music going through the century-old venue had a different depth to it, almost adding to the music; it was akin to being transformed into a dungeon, if not just for the set, from a stage presence standpoint, and keeping things a lot simpler this time than at the last visit. The larger-than-life keyboard stand from the previous visit, which blocked the view of the performance, was scaled down to something much more manageable, and even provided great sightlines to see this wizard of sorts go through the music on the keyboards. With this style of music, I was convinced the crowd wouldn’t react to this set; the dead crowd came alive between the short set of songs, much to my surprise, and the artist responded, “Fuck yeah, Toronto!” I’m not sure if anyone else was at the previous visit earlier this year, but this return visit almost felt like a repeat of those sets. With the purely instrumental set, we said little, but the final words of thanks and honour for being in our city didn’t go unnoticed by the sold-out crowd.

SETLIST
‘By Way Of Torchlight’, ‘With The Great Ancestral Sword’, ‘Decrepit Wings & Rotting Bones’, ‘The Dracolich’, ‘Through Blackest Marshes And Darkest Caverns’

UNTO OTHERS

The middle act for the night, the gothic rock and sometimes gothic metal band from Portland, Unto Others, returned after a four-year absence between shows. I remember hearing ‘Give Me To The Night’ come on my random playlist one evening, and I was so enthralled by the band that I couldn’t wait to see them a second time. With gothic-style crosses on stage waiting for the band to arrive and a pre-recorded intro, the band slowly made their way on and dove right into ‘Over Western Shores’, to the delight and roar of this sold-out crowd. Within no time, the venue floor started to rumble with the infectious grooves and endless melody, instantly translating to the audience. Hearing my favourite song from this band as the second song of the set, and epically singing along while capturing the band, was also worth noting; they performed it to perfection.

The band, and its members, had been stable since almost their inception (under a previous name), and they were incredibly proficient at playing the set, though slower tempo changes brought the energy into a somewhat catatonic state. That was until the song ‘Heroin’ screamed through the speakers; it was as if someone went to the audio system and dialled everything up to 10 with overdrive. The venue came alive again, and the movement continued throughout the rest of the set. With the set dominated by the debut album and scattered songs from the other two albums and some EPs, consistency in new music should come soon, and with that, a quicker return to Toronto.

SETLIST
‘Over Western Shores’, ‘Give Me To The Night’, ‘Butterfly’, ‘Nightfall’, ‘Can You Hear The Rain’, ‘Jackie’, ‘It Doesn’t Really Matter’, ‘Heroin’, ‘When Will God’s Work Be Done’, ‘I Feel Nothing’, ‘No Children Laughing Now’

CASTLE RAT

Being unique and standing out in this day and age is rare, if not next to impossible. For years, word of mouth alone about this “medieval fantasy doom metal” band, the mighty Castle Rat, hailing from Brooklyn, piqued my interest. For a band so niche, less than a decade in the industry, to sell out the Opera House as a headliner, given the state of things, is unheard of, and I believe they could have sold out a larger, more open venue. In keeping with the band’s lore, the theatrics and fantasy were immediate from the start of the set, flanked by a huge stage banner. To keep it as “old school” as possible, the band had an imposing, gigantic wizard with a staff and a wolf chasing each other on stage, while voices came through the loudspeakers- the first of many costumes, antics, and stories throughout the night. The wizard talked about a book passed down from space and time to the realm of Castle Rat the band, then physically left it on a pedestal for maximum effect. Up to that point, Castle Rat hadn’t played a single note, but it’s worth mentioning the loud volume and audible noise from the sold-out crowd; it was completely deafening. Leaning into the theatrics, every band member wore full regalia, adding another layer of imagery that hardly anyone does these days. It didn’t take long for the music to take over the venue; infectious, galloping riffs and hard-hitting drums put the crowd in a trance, not a mosh pit as is tradition with metal, but more of a “relaxed” style circle pit.

With one of the softest voices behind this imposing music, it took no time at all for “The Rat Queen” to become one of the best storytellers between some choice songs, complete with additional people on stage in multiple animal costumes throughout the night, including battle scenes and even a fight to the death. What was extremely enjoyable, and I believe a first in all my concert-going, was the time given to the other members to shine for individual solos during the performance. Yes, this added time to the over 75-minute performance, but each of the three performances throughout the night was well thought out, with the bass solo being the best of the three. Still celebrating the most recent release, Into The Bestiary, with the most songs from this album, and then choice songs from the debut album, this performance not only showcased the best of the band but truly took us all on a magical, thought-provoking, and whimsical journey through another dimension, which, in an awesome way, meant the world and problems outside of the venue didn’t matter during this captivating performance, making this set larger than life and as epic as possible. You would be hard-pressed to find any negatives from this show; as the end of this tour cycle, they made me a new fan, and I’m sure others did too, and with this incredible upward trajectory, we will surely see them again.

SETLIST
‘Dagger Dragger’, ‘Wizard’, ‘Wolf I’, ‘Bass Solo’, ‘Feed The Dream’, ‘Unicorn’, ‘Fresh Fur’, ‘Guitar Solo’, ‘Crystal Cave’, ‘Dragon’, ‘Drum Solo’, ‘Serpent’, ‘Cry For Me’, ‘Siren’, ‘(Don’t Fear) The Reaper’ (Blue Öyster Cult song)