Death Looms at Lee’s Palace

Jojo Taylor
2 hours ago
5 min read

By: Jojo Taylor

Toronto, Ontario - The trend I usually see in Toronto audiences is that we are very polite at concerts. I have heard many artists say this about our city. I truly believe they are saying we are too quiet. We usually wake up at the end of a show to get that encore song.

This was not the case on May 27th at Lee’s Palace. Our Legendary Brutal Death Metal band Cryptopsy and 3 other heavyweights from the States stood on Lee’s Palace stage to a sold out show of rabid fans from beginning to end.

Blood Monolith

Blood Monolith hail from Washington DC. The moment they hit the stage it was a surge of pure anarchy from the very first moment. Being the very opening spot in front of three other bands is a very difficult place to be. It usually means the audience will slowly warm up to your sound.

Blood Monolith took on this challenge and were very serious to make its mark right away. It was getting kicked in the head with army boots and you were looking the other way. Their speed is tremendous and their power is that of a bullet train plowing into a moose on the tracks.

When you want to conjure up Hell and have a moshing party, that is what happened by the third song. Who slams for the first band? Their intense speed mixed with slower crunchy riffs was the perfect storm to destroy Toronto from the start.

Blood Monolith Photo Gallery (all photos by: Jojo Taylor)

Spirit Adrift

I found it funny that this band actually apologized for just being an old school metal band placed in the middle of three Death Metal bands. With their classic doom and gloom sound, they lit up Toronto like a fine aperitif between meals. Toronto didn’t even notice or even care. This crowd was here to rock hard right until the very end.

Spirit Adrift is from Texas and had only three of the four members playing this evening. One of the members had to fly to Germany to see his all-time favourite band, Volbeat. The stand out track for me is called, “Spectral Saver”. It is a song dedicated to the singer's wife who is battling cancer right now. The support of Toronto was felt as people yelled out “Fuck Cancer!” This song came at you like a drunken bouncer with too many problems happening in his life. The guitar solo on this song had a very strong spiritual energy. For a doom band, this was a cool twist to the evening.

If I had to describe their sound, it reminded me of Black Sabbath during the Sabotage era, or the Dio years. I believe Toronto loved this band because they have that Sabbath sound. Toronto freaking loves Black Sabbath! Spirit Adrift finished their set with “Buried in the Shadow of the Cross”. The entire crowd was flashing the horns and the band almost looked choked up because they were worried earlier about being a misfit for the evening. 'Twas not the case.

Spirit Adrift Photo Gallery (all photos by: Jojo Taylor)

Necrot

Necrot entered the arena and started with a sound that was reminiscent of a hive of killer bees that wanted to invade our heads. In fact they were trying to knock off our blocks for their entire set. This band is from Oakland, California and is the equivalent of an atomic bomb. These guys are the real deal, with their style of pure brutal death metal. They have been crushing audiences since 2011 and are not slowing down anytime soon. They can wreck you like a silverback gorilla hopped up on meth! When they played, “Stench of Decay”, they got a circle pit going and it became a whirlpool that sank your soul to the bottom of despair.

They shared a story of their humble beginnings, playing house parties and selling their bootleg cassette tapes. This band is committed to be one of the great metal bands in the history of metal. Take a song like “Drill the Skull”. They are dedicated to sounding like a boulder that comes down and crushes your skull. This song just smashes you in the face with no apology in the future.

They finished with “Sinister Will” that was pure evil that seem to derive from the anger that wants to watch the world burn.

Necrot Photo Gallery (all photos by: Jojo Taylor)

Cryptopsy

The returning champions from Montreal came back to a sold out show here in Toronto. I should know, I have been trying to see these guys for years, but the show sells out before I can snag a ticket. Well thanks to Seasons of Mist, I got a media pass and can finally bath in all their gory!!

With an opening song, “Slit your Guts”, they crushed the crowd immediately to a pulp. They continued with, “Until There is Nothing Left”, and ripped up your soul to pieces. “Serial Messiah”, was like giving communion to the insane. At this point the mosh pit was in full motion and people were flying everywhere. Now this is a MOSH PIT! This mob was truly in need of some insatiable violence. Well, they got that in spades with” Dead Eye Replete”.

A fan stage diving at the Cryptopsy show in Toronto. Photo By: Jojo Taylor

This was the Decibel Magazine’s tour 2026. It was also the 30th anniversary of the classic album, None so Vile. They played six songs from this album that is considered their peak album.

I was standing off to the side of the stage where there were two huge woofer speakers on my side and two others on the other side. The bass was so powerful that it was probably causing some nerve damage in my body. I really didn’t care because I was getting a full body message from Satan himself. As the moshing continued, there was the powerful stench of man sweat looming in the air. Here I was without my Hazmat suit. The noxious fumes added to the bowels of Hades that was happening in this makeshift sacrificial room.

It was great fun watching everyone stage dive. Lead singer Lord Worm kept the hordes moving all night long in the pit of destruction. He was like a savage chef as he constantly stirred this cauldron of death and we were the ingredients.

Set List

Slit Your Guts

Until There's Nothing Left

Serial Messiah

Dead Eyes Replete

Benedictine Convulsions

Graves of the Fathers

Godless Deceiver

Orgiastic Disembowelment

Crown of Horns

Phobophile

Malicious Needs