Krisiun grateful in Toronto as they celebrate 25 years of 'Conquerors of Armageddon'
- jaybroderick
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
By: Jojo Taylor
Toronto, Canada - The Garrison is a small but mighty club that can bring in some of the best underground acts from around the world. In this case it was three bands from America and one from South America. This was a wild mixture of Death metal from Fargo, North Dakota, Long Island, New York, and Los Angeles, California. The headliner this night came in from Brazil.
Gorgatron
In today’s world of Heavy Metal, women are taking part in the low end guttural world of singing. I just found out that Gorgatron pulled this singer in at the last moment. Here is a blurb on their Facebook page explaining what happened: 'We accidentally left @hungusatron at @duffswings in Buffalo NY so shoutout to @roxana.redinca who will be taking over for our handful of Canadian dates!!!'
“Alright, here we go" Roxana Redinca exclaimed. "I’m off for a little 3-day dip on stage! And hell yeah, I packed Tums to survive the gas-station junk food, and I booked the window seat so I don’t suffocate in the certified “Eau de Tour Dude” smell in the bus. The guys are ready to get their hair done and get a full makeover for the upcoming shows… I’ve been waiting for this moment You have no idea!! You’re gonna FREAK OUT!”
And, Oh Yeah…Yeah?...Oh Yeah this band is from Fargo North Dakota and with this new singer on board, they really warm up the crowd with Roxana. In fact she was so seamless, it was as if we threw a body into a wood chipper and no one noticed.
Pyrexia
Pyrexia came all the way from the back alleys of Long Island, New York, and you could feel the true street intensity this band could bring. They are in your face spewing their poetic street meat for anyone biting. In fact singer Jim Beach came down into the audience to get a true mosh pit going. But in a lazy Toronto fashion, the mosh pit looked more like a maypole dance as men just jogged in circles. I enjoyed Beach's New York Banter with that accent rambling New York cliches like, “I’m walking here” or “I’m fucking outta here”!
This is a band that has been around since 1990 with plenty of line up changes. This line up came on strong and finished strong. In fact the mosh pit was looking healthier by the end of the day with plenty of fist pumping and stomping around. Beach stayed in the audience for the entire set to be one with his kind of people.
Abysmal Dawn
Like a Freight train running down a hapless victim, Abysmal Dawn’s first words were, “Are you Fucking ready? Let’s go”! Their style of thrash was as pleasant as a dominatrix standing on your throat and ready to start whipping you. I really enjoyed the second song "Perfecting Slavery". It sounded like an industrial machine ready to mold you into unearthly shapes.
This is a band from the bowels of the LA's underground metal scene. A song like “Cradle of Affliction” was very rough and ready. It was like dancing drunk with barbed wire. The death growls worked very well with many of their songs. Even drummer James Coppolino was proving his worth. I noticed he is not out to be the fastest drummer, but he brought an element of progressive rock to the already destructive force of this band. His gift was adding a new dimension instead of just hammering out a song.
This band formed in 2003 and is still exploring the many flavours of extreme metal. In fact they released this statement on their new label Season of Mist:
"Today, Abysmal Dawn are releasing “Cradle of Affliction”. Even though its various mutations have been banging around in their heads since Phylogenesis, the band’s new single proves timely. "'Cradle of Affliction' nods to the sound of our first record and our earlier melodic death metal influences like At The Gates”, explains vocalist, guitarist and founding member Charles Elliott. “This one is for Tomas (R.I.P.) and all the fans who have continued to support Abysmal Dawn throughout our journey for more than two decades now”.
Krisiun
Krisiun hails all the way from Brazil and is one of the leading forces of Death Metal for South America. They were heavily influence by bands like Sodom, Kreator and Morbid Angel. I believe there is some good love between the band and Toronto. It was a small but mighty crowd that was really enjoying the fact, that they flew thousands of miles just to smash their music in our faces.
With the sounds of singer Alex Camargo’s raspy voice you could tell they have been on the road for quite some time. But Toronto wanted it a little harder and faster, so they tied us to a Mack truck and drove us through a mental sandstorm. This is the kind of torture Toronto metal heads love! They love to scorch us with a wall of blast beats that stuck us to the wall. Even drummer Max Kolesne got to do a solo which you rarely see at shows like this one.
The mosh pit got harder and faster. The crowd surfing was a rising tide of joy both to the fans as well as the band. One fan made it to the front of the stage at the end of the song and hugged the singer. Then he jumped back in on the next song.
I have met a lot of South American people over the years and they are usually very grateful people. Krisiun added to the culture by constantly letting us know how much they are grateful for having the ability to still be playing all these years later and people still show up.
And there you have it; Extreme Metal bands can be very nice and generous. In fact I believe people get into heavy metal due to toxic experiences and because of this music, they give you a forum to be generous with your life. I should know, I have been seeing live metal since I was 17 years old.
Concert Photo Gallery (all photos by: Jojo Taylor)
Krisiun Online
Show Date: November 27, 2025