This was Khemmis’ first headlining Toronto appearance — and my first time seeing them live. They’d come through town a couple times before as part of package tours, but have now vaulted into headliner status with the release of their third album, Desolation, which leans more towards traditional heavy metal territory…leaving me curious as to what their set would sound like.
With no local openers, Atlanta blackened power metal band Cloak took the stage promptly at 8:30. Although I don’t listen to much Bathory these days, some of their tunes reminded me of Quorthon’s later Viking metal musings — although I might hesitate to refer to a band from Georgia as Vikings. 😉
Khemmis did a good job of balancing the slower, Pallbearer worship of their earlier works with some of the speedier songs from their most recent record, putting on an energetic, 60-minute set that used every inch of the stage. I’m not even really picking out highlights here — all of these pics are from their first song!
