I’ll be the first to admit that the choice of venue for The Shining Over North America Tour stop in Toronto (or, as a friend in the concert-going community poetically posted, “the depressed bastard’s tour”) featuring Swallow The Sun, Harakiri For The Sky, Ghost Bath, and Snakes Of Russia felt a touch undersized for such a stacked billing. Thankfully, this particular night was a better-than-average concert night for a Friday and an early start.

SNAKES OF RUSSIA
There comes a time when I run into a “band” where I go in completely unknown, and this was the odd instance where I had no idea what to expect. Walking into the venue with eight minutes to spare before they started, I was pumped to see a table set up with a lot of wires coming out of it. Once Snakes Of Russia, the one-man project of Joseph Holiday, got underway with the performance, it was a heavier version of synth and a smattering of sounds from two different boards on this stage. The music coming out of the speakers of the venue was capturing both the attendees already in-house and those still making their way in, all of whom were brought to an emphatic trance, slowing and methodically headbanging to the sounds coming from the stage. I personally would like to add that this music mid-set brought me right back to the mid-90s in playing Command & Conquer. I’m not sure if this was an influence for Joseph or not, but this was better than average compared to almost anything I’ve seen from a “first-time” situation. 

GHOST BATH

Transferring from a one-man project to a band with six members on stage, Ghost Bath brought the venue’s energy up, even with some of the most depressing music possible. Originally hailing from China to much notoriety, then later from Minot, North Dakota, the band are leading the charge on a newer sub-genre of depressive/post-black metal. Not much is known about the band, but the music speaks for everything; a solid and short performance that certainly garnered them new fans. Hopefully, the guys will return to Toronto on tour for their coming album, which is being released later this year. 

Setlist

‘Hide From The Sun’, (Unknown), Rose Thorn Necklace’, ‘Death And The Maiden’, ‘Convince Me to Bleed’, ‘Burial’

HARAKIRI FOR THE SKY

Touring for one of the best albums of 2025, Scorched Earth, Harakiri For The Sky returned to Toronto for another dose of live music with a blend of new songs from said album. The band stormed the stage with a full-force assault, so much so that the crowd started a mosh pit within the first few minutes of the first song. There is a seriousness to the music that H.F.T.S. brings to the table, talking about a lot of negative themes (depression, addiction, death, suicide). There were a lot of melodies and riffs to make the crowd vibrate from the start to the finish of this performance. Every song from the new album was played to perfection and sounded better than the digital copy on my phone; the only thing that was missing was the resounding and loud FUCK at the end of the song ‘With Autumn I’ll Surrender’. I’m unsure if that was a misstep in the performance or if this was reserved for the album only, but I never wanted to hear the F word so much live. Even with only six songs, the hour-long performance felt like five minutes. With this being their second time coming to North America, I selfishly can’t wait for this band to come back and headline. Harakiri For The Sky was firing on all cylinders, and performances like this will pay dividends soon. Shout out to one of the guitarists who had a moment during one of the songs in the set that just had a “rolling riff” that made time stand still. I wish I could remember which song it was, but it was one of the most beautiful moments of the night. 

Setlist

‘Keep Me Longing’, ‘With Autumn I’ll Surrender’, ‘Fire, Walk With Me’, ‘Without You I’m Just A Sad Song’, ‘Sing For The Damage We’ve Done’, ‘Calling The Rain’

SWALLOW THE SUN

One of my first photography opportunities was shooting Swallow The Sun opening for Finnish legends Children Of Bodom in Toronto. I didn’t understand them at the time; subsequent visits have righted that situation, and seeing them as a headliner for this show was bittersweet. After a seemingly endless intro from the moment H.F.T.S. got off the stage until Swallow The Sun hit the stage, we were then hit with a dark and heavy 80+ minute set that touched on a lot of the new music from last year’s album, Shining. The guys made sure to appease longtime fans by throwing in some songs culled from their 25-years of existencel. The newer songs translated wonderfully live, similar to the previous performances; the crowd was packed and moved throughout. A really phenomenal performance, even if it was at one of the smaller venues in Toronto; they will be back soon enough, I’m sure. It would have made the performance better to hear the title track from their most recent album. Maybe that will be reserved for a second NA tour, which we can only hope will be sooner than later.

Setlist

‘Innocence Was Long Forgotten’, ‘What I Have Become’, ‘Firelights’, ‘Under the Moon & Sun’, ‘Woven Into Sorrow’, ‘Charcoal Sky’, ‘New Moon’, ‘MelancHoly’, ‘Night Will Forgive Us’, ‘Plague Of Butterflies: Pt. I: Losing The Sunsets’, ‘November Dust’, ‘Swallow (Horror, Part 1)’

CONCLUSION

From the moment the doors opened to the last notes of Swallow The Sun, there was a lot of time spent at the venue, and understandably so. I can’t say I’ve seen many bands do an eighty-minute set; this would be the first time at such a small venue. Toronto might have been in the middle of winter, but the Velvet Underground was red hot from all this sad and heavy music. A better-than-average show from this stacked lineup that left the crowd perhaps more tragic and in tune with their feelings through the power of music.