Toronto's Metal Community Unites Under Rain and Riffs for Six Feet Under's Epic Return

jaybroderick
28 minutes ago
5 min read

By: Jay Broderick

Toronto, Canada - This was one of those nights where Toronto’s metal community proved exactly why they're one of the greatest crowds in the world. Soaked in rain, sweat, riffs, and absolute unity! Six Feet Under’s first Toronto appearance in 23 years turned Lee’s Palace into a furnace, and thanks to Inertia Entertainment, the city finally got the long‑overdue beating it deserved.

Standing outside Lee’s Palace waiting for doors, the sky opened up like a punishment ritual. The early birds scattered for cover, while eight of us crammed under a tiny entryway trying to stay dry when someone cracked, “How many metalheads can you fit in a 6 sq. ft. space?” The perfect pre‑show omen. Inside awaited a three‑band bill: Wormhole, Kataklysm, and Six Feet Under. The energy was already nuclear!

Wormhole

The chaos of Baltimore's Wormhole ignited the room as the band hit the stage like they were trying to crack the building’s foundation. Vocalist Julian Kersey walked out holding a jug (yes, a full jug) of water, chugging between guttural blasts.

The mosh pit opened instantly, no warm‑up required as the band's brand of growly, technical death metal had bodies flying from the first breakdown. Sweat wasn’t just dripping from heads, it was literally pouring off limbs. The room felt like 1987 reborn, but with modern brutality. Wormhole didn’t just warm up the crowd, they caught it on fire!

Wormhole Photo Gallery (all photos by: Jay Broderick)

Kataklysm

There is an insane love for Montreal's Kataklysm. 10 months ago, the band headlined the Carnival of Death Tour right here at this very venue in October of 2025. And there was some genuine disappointment when the fans learned that Kataklysm weren't going to be headlining this show. I'll cut to the chase here... this set blew the October date out of the water!

The band kicked off their set with the 2010 track "Push the Venom", and just as amped as the crowd was for Wormhole, they exploded in a sea of bodies and limbs. As I maintained my place along the front rail, I had to plant my feet, lower my centre of gravity, and hope that the moshers behind me didn't send me careening forward with my camera smashing into my face (I'm an old school photographer who actually holds the camera up to his face, framing the shot through the view finder).

Maurizio Iacono performs live at Lee's Palace. Photo By: Jay Broderick

Very early in the band's set, vocalist Maurizio Iacono gave a shoutout to a couple in the front row who are from Germany, and who apparently go to every show the band plays. It's the exact kind of adoration I'm talking about. As the band band crashed through their supporting set, Maurizio addressed the crowd occasionally, telling them how much they love playing in Toronto, and at one point applauding how amazing heavy metal fans are. "The world is messed up, but this community is what keeps people sane". Everybody was smiling, everyone together, everyone looking out for each other.

Even still, I got moshed into oblivion in the front row. Sweating buckets. Lost my glasses. Found them later crumpled on the floor like a casualty of war. The band played non‑stop, no breathing room, no mercy. Kataklysm left the room buzzing. Life is better in the pit, and this set will be hard for anyone to top.

Kataklysm Photo Gallery (all photos by: Jay Broderick)

Six Feet Under

23 years later, Toronto finally got its beating as the lights dropped, and Six Feet Under walked on to Piledriver’s “Witch Hunt”, a perfect Toronto nod! The crowd detonated as the 'gone far too long' band ripped into "War is Coming" from their 1997 sophomore album Warpath. Vocalist Chris Barnes' dreads reached down to his feet, swinging like weapons.

“It’s been way too long” the singer said in the understatement of the century, but he promised that it won't be as long next. Hopefully not. For us older fans, 23 more years may never come. But at minimum, we can enjoy the moment. And the jam-packed Bloor Street venue certainly was doing that! A girl on her boyfriend’s shoulders, was screaming every lyric. Two fans made it onstage and dove off. The band blasted through brutal songs like "Revenge of the Zombie", "Torn to the Bone", and "Feasting on the Blood of the Insane".

Chris Barnes performs live at Lee's Palace. Photo By: Jay Broderick

By the middle of the band's set, the crowd was exhausted, drenched, overheated, but still giving everything. Even as the temperature inside Lee’s Palace impossibly continued to rise, Six Feet Under themselves continued to forge through. A brief but ripping guitar solo from guitarist Jack Owen was the introduction into the band's cover of Holocaust's “Death or Glory” and as the crowd continued to rage, Barnes joked, “Who would’ve known we’d have to come to Canada to see this?”

The band played some new music too from their newest album Next to Die, when they dropped “Mister Blood and Guts”, which was pure carnage. There was nothing fancy here from Six Feet Under, and that's how the metal scene in Toronto love it. The formula is simple... a handful of their heroes on stage, pounding out one heavy track after another.

Jack Owen performs live in Toronto. Photo By: Jay Broderick

In 1993, Chris Barnes of Cannibal Corpse fame formed Six Feet Under as a side project, but it became his main focus after leaving the former band in 1995. So there is really little doubt that the band closed their set with 2 Cannibal Corpse tracks "Stripped, Raped and Strangled" and "Hammer Smashed Face". As the tracks titles may suggest, by the end, the room was wrecked, but in the best possible way. What a wonderful night. What an historic return. The crowd refused to quit, and the band proved why they’re still one of the heaviest forces walking the earth.

Set List

War Is Coming

Silent Violence

Revenge of the Zombie

Lycanthropy

Torn to the Bone

Feasting on the Blood of the Insane

Victim of the Paranoid

Seed of Filth

Death or Glory (Holocaust cover)

Know-Nothing Ingrate

Mister Blood and Guts