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Heavy rain, blistering winds, and unsettling cold; the perfect amount of brutal weather to endure waiting in line to once again see one of the most brutal bands on earth play live at the Sound Academy that Friday October 23rd.

This as one concert I had been anticipating for a while now, I mean just the thought of Mastodon and Dethklok clashing together to bring about one brutal harmony of head banging, skull crushing metal was a dream come true. The end result of the night was not as much as I had hoped for. Even though I had bruised my entire body and came out near deaf, I was not entirely satisfied.

The year before I had seen Dethklok play with Soilent Green and Chimaira at the Kool Haus and it had turned out to be one of the best concerts I have ever had the privilege of going and even had the privilege of being my first full on review for this site. The set lists were great, my front row and center position was even better, but when standing there for four hours straight it just wasn’t the same warm tingling feeling I had gotten the year before.

One of the best bands of the night I would give over to the first opening band High On Fire. Not only were they personable with the audience but they were great at shredding out loud guitar riffs and delivering their share of the metal. From wear I was standing, the vocals were all but inaudible but I felt my head nodding up and down in approval and slapping hands with the lead singer. It was one of my favourite parts of the entire night.

Next up was the band Converge and this is where the night really started to go down the gutters. Their music was okay to say the least but man I have never seen a lead singer act so disrespectful to anybody before. Not only did this guy stop in the middle of sets to try to get the press to stop taking pictures of them aka their jobs, but he would apologize to the audience for these guys who are just doing what they were paid to come there to do. I mean they weren’t bothering anybody and it wasn’t like they were really blocking anybodies view. Following this, he would also swing his mic around a whole lot and would get his mic chord wrapped around this one security guards next every so often choking him and never apologizing for it. I could see him even treating his stage hands like garbage as well. Not what I’d call a top notch act in the least.

The moment finally came when Mastodon took the stage and everyone tried rushing my spot at the front to just get a glimpse of these magnificent gods of metal. I have to admit they played a pretty solid set list, although most of what they played was from their latest album Crack The Skye. I have not seen such amazing melodies both soothing yet energizing and roaring at the same time come alive in front of my eyes. Where the musical talent was all there in full force, that little personal bit was lacking at the same time. It really felt like they just wanted to play through their stuff as fast as they could and then get off stage. This made their set kind of dull at the same time and felt like it was never really going to end until finally they left the stage and their roadies came to clean up while Mastodon’s drummer stayed behind to quickly say “Goodnight Toronto, you’ve been great”. One song I really thought they should have played that night was “Cut You With A Linoleum Knife”. Since the whole concert was being presented by Adult Swim, and Mastodon did that song for the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie, you would only assume the song would be played.

Lastly to the stage with a roar of excitement and chanting came Brendon Small; creator of the show Metalocalypse as well as Dethklok itself. Doing most of the voices for the show while masterfully playing lead guitars and doing vocals for all of the songs, he’s proven to be talented beyond parallel. When it comes to Dethklok there’s always that little personal touch present which, makes everything that much more enjoyable. I found myself taking some of the best pictures of the night while they were on stage as well as doing my most head banging and singing along during this time as well. This was the best part of the night and was the part of the night I had been yearning for all day long. A great set list, an awesome band and a great storyline and video to go along with everything it was a sight to be seen.

The only problem to be seen here was that this was the exact same storyline that went along with last year’s tour, I mean was it really that hard to come up with a slightly different storyline than the one previous to this. If you bought the Deluxe Dethalbum II you can basically watch what I saw that night from the comforts of your own home on the bonus DVD, it really isn’t all that different save the few new songs/videos that were added in here and there. It was amazing if you hadn’t been to the concert the year previous but having seen this almost exact same concert last year, it was a bit of a letdown.

Still the night was full of brutality and metal most pure and that I applaud, but the lack of personal touches here and there and having an almost identical concert played from the previous year left me kind of sour. That was all fixed after a quick trip to the merchandise booths but overall the night was a mixed reaction of excitement and distaste.

Cut You Up With a Linoleum Knife by Mastodon
The Gears by Dethklok
Divinations by Mastodon