A show of epic proportions was announced: Canadian black metal legends Panzerfaust celebrating a 20-year anniversary with their first Toronto performance since 2017. This show was a massive even before local bands Thantifaxath and Drofnosura were announced to open the blackened ceremonies. Toronto was truly blessed with a magical night before it even began.

DROFNOSURA

The only band I didn’t know walking into this night of unconditionally heavier music. Drofnosura started the set off very slowly, intensely, and loudly. The band increased the tempo slightly during the short and sweet set, culminating in a fevered finish. If 30 minutes was a sample of what this band has to offer, I will be keeping an eye out for the next local performance. There seems to be an infatuation with Toronto and 3-piece bands; this one does more with less, as the audience was still arriving. There were some people at the front, asking for one more song. I can only hope to see these people the next time this band plays.

THANTIFAXATH

There is a lot of secrecy surrounding Thantifaxath, as not much information is posted online outside of the music they release. Clad in facial coverings that were not like a mask, but rather extra material or fabric, this band brought the crowd together at the Great Hall in headbanging unison. This local offering of black metal, featuring infectious melodic riffing, was the perfect bridge from the first band to the main event. Zero banter, just ear-piercing sound with minimal breaks. The crowd was very warmed up at the end of this performance, and pretty much the main floor of the Great Hall was filled to capacity in anticipation of what was to come. Shout out to one of the concertgoers going absolutely berserk in a yellow shirt, running laps on the upper floor to this band in between knee-breaking headbanging.

PANZERFAUST

There is something truly special about anniversary shows; however, this one was a unique blend of a once-in-a-lifetime event and a very rare venue for heavy music like this. There was a drone to start off the set that had the whole venue vibrating with such force my toes were shaking standing in front of the stage, mixed in with “BIG FUCK OFF STROBES.” It wasn’t even into the first minute of the first song; the floor opened up with intensity for a mosh pit Toronto has not seen in the longest time. I have been a fan of this band since seeing them for the first time in 2012. According to online sources, this lineup is the most consistent and stable in the band’s history. Mixed in with all of the miles of extensively touring Europe in the years not playing Toronto, this band is ridiculously tight as fuck.

Panzerfaust has a habit of doing something truly unique during each performance, at least in my time seeing them live, and this time Goliath brought out an air raid siren to set off an alarm and establish a tone for the rest of the show. Throughout the nearly 70-minute set, mixed in with the strobes, was the most intense fog, so thick that the stage side of the venue was almost visually obscured from the back of the venue. After an eight-year absence from a performing in Toronto, I never wanted this set to end. I don’t know the songs by name, and unfortunately, nothing is available online. A lot of the Panzerfaust staple songs were played. If you have never seen this band, it is abhorrently the most violent and intense band from Canada that, by the end of the performance, will leave you in awe, speechless, and going, “What the fuck” just happened?” It’s a small club of bands that sound like this, and these black metal fundamentalists will give any band around the world a run for their money.

CONCLUSION

With the show ending just shortly after 11pm, this heavy “as fuck” concert left everyone in absolute awe, with the crowd divided in half. Half of the venue was familiar with what to expect, while the other half experienced it for the first time. Shout out to the Great Hall for experimenting with more extreme and nontraditional music, the sound crew for keeping the volume at an ear-shattering 105+ dB almost all night across all the bands, and lastly, thanks to Panzerfaust for taking a chance with a stacked lineup and giving us a performance years in the making.