BLOOD CEREMONY at Lee’s Palace, Friday, September 2. Rating: NNNN
Followers of the occult know that the witching hour is when ghosts and witches and the like reach full power, and Toronto doom rock four-piece Blood Ceremony definitely reached theirs during their long-awaited homecoming at Lee’s Palace.
New album Lord Of Misrule, their fourth, arrived in March, but like many metal-minded bands, Blood Ceremony have been focusing on the European market since its release, only now giving Canadian fans the live version (and Torontonians their first show in about a year and a half).
The band having toured so much prior to their return meant that hometown fans got a forceful, tight set that included near the beginning first Misrule single Old Fires and Witchwood from 2013’s The Eldritch Dark, during which singer/flautist Alia O’Brien proved that it’s possible for speedy flute licks to inspire something close to a mosh pit.
Besides slaying the woodwind, between clouds of dry ice O’Brien delivered expressive vocals, excellently witchy moves, doomy Korg power and amiable between-song banter while her three bandmates stuck mostly to the shadows (aside from bass player Lucas Gadke’s lead vocal turn on ethereal folk ballad Lord Summerisle).
Which isn’t to say the six-string and rhythm section didn’t stand out. It’s impossible to overstate the satisfaction of a heavy riff – and a beat worthy of it – kicking in so hard that the entire room starts nodding/headbanging/body rocking in unison.
That happened a bunch of times thanks to guitarist Sean Kennedy, especially on two songs about Oliver Haddo, the stonery rocker Oliver Haddo from 2011’s Living With The Ancients and the final song of the main set, The Magician, which inspired a woman in the front row to climb on top of a stage monitor directly in front of O’Brien to thrash out some air-keyboards.
So glad to have you darkening our doors again, Blood Ceremony.
carlag@nowtoronto.com | @carlagillis
