INTRO
For some people, this was the last concert for them for 2024 (I, myself am not in that category).This European tri-fecta of bands that span the horizon of three sub genres of metal was a wild announcement when it was made, and I couldn’t wait to see two bands I know, and then experience one for the very first time at the legendary Opera House in Toronto.
ZETRA
Hailing from London, UK the synth duo Zetra got the Opera House off on the right foot with a member on keys/vocals and guitar/vocals, and a whole bunch of programmed noise, this band had all of the notes and voices in the right spots. They were a little bit of an anomaly from the rest of the line up tonight, but with the starting to fill, a lot of the crowd was bouncing in the spot grooving to this wonderful music. With the amount of equipment on stage, this set-up in the Opera House was less than ideal to shoot this band. Within the first song I exited the media pit to the middle of the floor to get a better vantage point for photography to capture the band properly, which wasn’t a great vantage point but at least a pit wasn’t active during these quick moments. Zetra is just getting started as they are touring and supporting their self-titled debut album back in September. I have no doubts they will be back possibly with more members and a longer setlist.
Setlist
‘Sacrifice’, ‘The Angel Cries’, ‘Starfall’, ‘Shatter The Mountain’, ‘Suffer Eternally’, ‘The Mirror’, ‘Gaia’, ‘Sacred Song’
GAEREA
Blink and you’ll miss it. One of Portugal’s leading black metal bands had a super short and super intense set. Gaerea is something I feel everyone needs to experience if you appreciate black metal, and especially if you love metal as a whole. This band approaches the same with everyone in uniform completely in black, with black body paint to cover exposed skin and last but certainly not least, completely enclosed balaclava’s, with the Gaerea band symbol forward facing. The band came through like a freight train, to the point where it felt as though the century old Opera House walls were shaking from the intensity of all the band members firing on all cylinders. The tiniest bit of tech issues took out the bassist for 30-60 seconds, but rebounded quickly rounding out the low-end, not much banter with this band at all. I genuinely have no idea how this band is able to play without seeing. It would be one thing for one member to have this costume, but all of the band members? Madness! Three visits to Toronto in eighteen-ish months, and now touring on a new album. My guess us that they will be back before we know it… hopefully as a headliner.
Setlist
‘The Poet’s Ballet’, ‘Hope Shatters’, ‘Unknown (song title, not an unknown song)’, ‘World Ablaze’, ‘Wilted Flower’, ‘Laude’
ZEAL & ARDOR
It almost felt like a religious experience… an epiphany… a blessing directly from Switzerland! Not often you get to see three vocalists on-stage, with one doing main vocals and the other two vocalists doing backing vocals. As a result, Zeal & Ardor had the venue in the palm of their hands from the first note to the last. With almost a full-house, the fans in attendance joined in absolute unison to chant with the band, which absolutely amplified and brought goosebumps to not only my body as I’m sure others in experienced this, too. The trio of gospel vocals aside, there is no slouch in this band from an instrumental standpoint either. In-between songs Manuel Gagneux, was rendered speechless by the crowd “this is too happy, back to the sad music”. Just a great euphoric experience that you wish you could bottle for the sad days, or for those who experience endless winters. Although Z&A didn’t play the most amount of songs from the most recent album, Grief, anyone who has seen them on previous tours will be able to tell the cohesion of all the band members is top-notch.
Setlist
‘The Bird, The Lion And The Wildkin (intro)’, ‘Wake Of A Nation’, ‘Götterdämmerung’, ‘Ship On Fire’, ‘Erase’, ‘Gravedigger’s Chant’, ‘Tuskegee’, ‘Blood In The River’, ‘Killanova’, ‘Run’, ‘Golden Liar’, ‘Sugarcoat’, ‘Death To The Holy’, ‘To My Ilk’, ‘Feed The Machine’, ‘Devil Is Fine’, ‘Une Ville Vide’, ‘Trust No One’, ‘I Caught You’, ‘Clawing Out’
OUTRO
Europe is definitely producing the most amount of metal out of any other spot or corner of the world. Three bands touring together on brand new albums, this tour with the mixing of genres was a brilliant draw and brought people out to Toronto. It’s good to see more tours doing this, as it’s an absolutely beautiful way to experience new music.
November 28th, 2024 @ The Opera House
(Toronto, ON)
Images By: Miles George
Words By: Miles George