November 9th, 2023
Toronto, ON @ The Opera House
Words & Photos By: Miles Leblanc
THE OMNIFIC
Australian two-bass-one-drummer instrumental progressive metal band The Omnific from Melbourne, Australia were the first band to hit The Opera House stage in Toronto tonight. Formed in 2016, the band currently consists of bassist Matt Fack, bassist Toby-Peterson Stewart and drummer Jerome Lematua. The guys have released one studio album, three EP’s and two standalone singles.
With a decent-sized crowd ready to start the night off, the band launched into their 2021 digital single ‘Antecedent’, a gorgeous melodic track with an incredibly beautiful low-end plucked out by the talented bass duo. They immediately followed this up with ‘Wax & Wane’ and ‘Merlin’s Id’ from their fantastic 2021 album, Escapades. With both band and crowd suitable warmed-up, they then jumped into another digital single ‘Phat Mackerel’ which was immediately followed by the bass-heavy sounds of ‘Base Camp’.
The last three songs of the night included back-to-back tracks from their debut full-length, Antecedent (‘Fountainhead’ and ‘Ne Plus Ultra’, respectively). The last track of their stellar set ‘Objets de Vertu’ was pulled from their 2017 EP, Kismet.
Overall, a killer set that might have gone over the heads of a few in attendance, but also likely garnered the band many new fans.
BEYOND CREATION
Montreal’s Beyond Creation might be the odd duck out on this billing with their brand of brutal progressive/technical death metal, but you can rest assured it worked well. I’m guessing most of those in attendance tonight came for the prog, whether that prog be of the lighter variety or the heavier.
The guys kicked things off with the exceptionally brutal ‘Fundamental Process’ from their 2014 album Earthborn Evolution. They would later drop another song from the album in the title track, ‘Earthborn Evolution’. The band then took things back several years with the track ‘In Adversity’ off of their 2018 album, Algorythm. They weren’t done with this album yet, as the guys would deliver two more from this technical masterpiece, which included ‘Ethereal Kingdom’ and the title track ‘Algorythm’.
Beyond Creation ended their set with two tracks pulled from their 2011 debut album, The Aura (‘Coexistence’ and ‘Omnipresent Perception’, respectively). If you have never witnessed the band live, they are certainly worthy of your presence. The precision and attention to detail is unrivaled in their respective sub-genre of death metal.
NE OBLIVISCARIS
Six-piece Australian progressive metallers Ne Obliviscaris are an enigma, both on the recorded front and the live front. Formed initially as a four-piece in April 2003, the group was founded by Marc ‘Xenoyr’ Campbell and Adam Cooper. Through the years, their sound has shifted from extreme metal into something far more complex and thought-provoking, with influences from a range of musical styles, including death, black, thrash and melodic metal, as well as classical, jazz, avant-garde and flamenco. Tonight, they showcased this vast repertoire in perfect form.
The band kicked things off with the odd-but-interesting cover of Sleep Token’s ‘Chokehold’. It was clear that those in attendance were well equated with this song as it went over quite well. Next up was ‘Intra Venus’ (off of their 2017 album Urn). The band would later revisit the album with the stellar track ‘Libera (Part I): Saturnine Spheres’.
Touring in support of their latest album, Exul (released back in March on Season Of Mist), the band delivered a handful of tracks from said album, which included ‘Equus’, ‘Misericorde I – As the Flesh Falls’, ‘Misericorde II – Anatomy of Quiescence’, and ‘Graal’. I was curious how songs from Exul would go over on the stage, as they are quite layered and nuanced. To my surprise, each and every track presented was near-perfect.
The last three tracks of the night took things back a bit, with the sonorous sounds of ‘Forget Not’ (off the 2012 album, Portal Of I), ‘Devour Me’ and ‘Colossus (Part I): Blackholes’ (from 2014’s Citadel). As mentioned at the top of this review, Ne Obliviscaris are an enigma. There aren’t many bands that can pull-off such complex and meticulous songs from the stage. These guys do it without even flinching.
