Sent into Orbit: Blood Incantation Opened The Stargate at Lee's Palace in Toronto
Photo: Steve St. Jean
Toronto's weather flipped the switch to winter, leaving a line of bundled-up fans braving the cold outside Lee's Palace on the last day of November. Inside, the vibe was anything but chilly.
The night started with Denver's Madeline Elizabeth Johnston, a.k.a. Midwife. She's not your typical progressive death metal act, but her set made perfect sense—it oozed the same dark intensity that metal fans crave.
Johnston took the stage solo, her vocals filtering through a modified telephone receiver, drenched in reverb and distortion. It felt like tuning into a signal from another dimension (you know, like trying to catch a scrambled pay-per-view channel back in the day). Standing center stage, she layered looping guitar parts and built sprawling, atmospheric soundscapes while a projector displayed dreamy black-and-white visuals: clouds, roadways, and abstract textures. It was equal parts hypnotic and haunting.
The crowd's reaction was unexpectedly enthusiastic, with loud cheers after every track. Even as an opener for a death metal show, Midwife held her own, and honestly? I was right there with them, hooked on her moody, emotional vibe.
Then came the main event: Colorado's progressive death metal titans, Blood Incantation. Touring in support of their latest album, Absolute Elsewhere (a nod to the mid-'70s prog collective), the band delivered what might go down as one of the best metal performances Toronto has seen in the last couple years.
Their set faced a slight delay with sound issues, forcing the band to step on stage mid-blue-fog to soundcheck. After a false start and a quick walk-off, the crowd's chant of "One more song!"—before the set had even begun—set the tone for an unrelenting night. Once the issues cleared, Blood Incantation launched into Absolute Elsewhere in its entirety—a genuine holy-shit moment for Toronto metal fans.
The performance was otherworldly, both sonically and visually. Drummer Isaac Faulk dominated the stage on a riser flanked by massive pillars on each side of the stage, creating the feel of an ancient alien alt-universe. In a venue as intimate as Lee's Palace, the scale of their sound and presence was surreal—it's hard to imagine seeing them in a place this small again.
The crowd was a whirlwind of mosh pits, sweat, and "Open the Stargate!" chants as the band ripped through impeccable riffs and intergalactic shredding. Faulk's drumming was relentless, a highlight of the night, while frontman Paul Riedl guided us on a cosmic journey that perfectly balanced chaos and precision.
Blood Incantation sounded as sharp—if not sharper—than their studio recordings, cementing this as one of Toronto's most badass shows in recent years. Consider this your wake-up call if they weren't already on your radar.
CONCERT PHOTOS
BLOOD INCANTATION
BLOOD INCANTATION SETLIST
The Stargate [Tablet I]
The Stargate [Tablet II]
The Stargate [Tablet III]
The Message [Tablet I]
The Message [Tablet II]
The Message [Tablet III]
Inner Paths (to Outer Space)
Encore:
Obliquity of the Ecliptic
Photography: Steve St. Jean
