Death metal is truly worldwide. Take, for example, Greece’s Septicflesh. For over three decades, this incredible band has led the charge for symphonic-infused death metal in this region and beyond. When this Modern Primitive In North America Tour 2025 was first announced, I was incredibly excited (even before the venue and lineup changes), as there were a couple of bands on this billing I had not yet experienced.

STORMRULER

This four-piece from St. Louis, Missouri, stormed the tiny stage of the Velvet Underground but maximized the full usage of what they had. Stormruler, a contemporary-sounding blend of black metal, really looked the part, adorned with armbands full of spikes, studs, and nails (oh my!). This new-to-me band opened my eyes and ears to what has been labeled online as “melodic black metal.” This short but intense five-song set was an excellent sample of the layers this band brings to the table. I’m unsure if they are collectively a supergroup from other bands, but it felt that way. They played a new song from an upcoming album that absolutely kicked ass. Although they were replacements for Ex-Deo, this was a fantastic band to start the night.

Setlist

‘Sacred Rites & Black Magick’, ‘Reign Of The Winged Duke’, ‘In the Eye Of The Mirror’, ‘Ten Heralds, Ten Desolations’, ‘Internal Fulmination Of The Grand Deceivers’

VLITMAS

Another band that was entirely new for me. Hailing from all parts of the world, Vltimas paid a crazy amount of attention to detail during the changeover, even making an effort to change the skins for the bass drums. The band hit the stage to the sounds of Black Sabbath’s ‘Trashed ‘by Black Sabbath playing as the intro. From the first to the last song, Vltimas were firing on all cylinders. Each and every member made the most of the set and aimed to impress the crowd musically. Frontman, David Vincent, clad in a leather trench coat and top hat, made great strides to entertain the audience between songs. Unfortunately, the small and tough Toronto crowd did not react during the banter. Still, he soldiered on with the set, completely sticking to his planned manifesto to attempt to convert the audience to the Vltimas camp.

Setlist

‘Trashed (Black Sabbath – intro)’, ‘Volens Discordant, ‘EPIC’, ‘Something Wicked Marches In’, ‘Invictus’, ‘Mephisto Manifesto’, ‘Exercitus Irae’, ‘Last Ones Alive Win Nothing’, ‘Scorcher’, ‘Diabolus Est Sanguis’, ‘Everlasting’, ‘Highway Star (Deep Purple – outro)’

SEPTICFLESH

As of 2025, Septicflesh will be entering their 35th year of music and performances (with a hiatus in the mid-00s), which is crazy. Even crazier (and rarer) is that three out of the five members onstage tonight are founding members. Remember the tiny stage comment from earlier? Septicflesh brought out screens with designs to cut the view of the stage down even further. With five members onstage in this intimate venue, it left next to no breathing room for them. I felt fortunate seeing this band from the other side of the world in such an intimate setting, just pounding away and providing a unique flair to the often unforgiving death metal. Frontman, Spiros, had the crowd in his hands, with shouts of “Brothers and sisters” and the burning question so passionately brought forward: “ARE YOU READY, MY FRIENDS?!”. The setlist was kept in this millennium of music they have produced, spanning five out of eleven albums in total; they definitely laid a beating on their collective instruments. The crowd inside the Velvet Underground finally warmed up (perhaps by a spell cast onto everyone by the band), with the mosh pit moving in unison and ample headbanging all around. A blistering seventy-minute set left the crowd absolutely exhausted of energy by the end; I will never tire of hearing the song ‘Anubis’ live. I have not been there since the beginning of this band, but this outstanding performance made me question when Septicflesh will return. No intro and no outro, just an intense masterclass and legendary performance.

Setlist

‘The Vampire From Nazareth’, ‘Neuromancer’, ‘Pyramid God’, ‘Hierophant’, ‘Portrait Of A Headless Man’, ‘Coming Storm’, ‘Martyr’, ‘We, The Gods’, ‘A Desert Throne’, ‘Virtues Of The Beast’, ‘Communion’, ‘The Collector’, ‘Anubis’, ‘Dark Art’

Change is a constant, and from the start, this tour is a friendly reminder of that. The crowd that showed up experienced something very special and unique, as this band hasn’t played such an intimate venue since 2012, proving that not all change is negative. Special thanks to Inertia Entertainment for bringing this tour to Toronto; many people left the venue with smiles on exit.