Most of the crowd found out inside the venue that both Vader and Incantation were stopped at the Canadian border and wouldn't be playing. The crowd booed when the announcement was made by one of the earlier bands on the bill (whose name escapes me), and rightfully so, since both bands have not only recorded a lot of great material in the past, but are also formidable live acts.

It would take some great music to make up for the loss of the aforementioned bands, and the final two acts were up for the challenge.

London's Blood of Christ were totally amazing, to say the least. A death/black quartet formerly on Pulverizer Records (who I hear has gone belly-up), the band put on an energetic set consisting mostly of material off the bands' debut CD _... A Dream to Remember_. Most worthy of note was the drumming, which held two levels of intensity; blast beat and hyperblast (ala Kataklysm or Cryptopsy). I tells ya, when Blood of Christ find a suitable label, they'll become as noteworthy as the aforementioned Canadian bands in the death metal scene.

Morbid Angel's set was without prejudice the -best- set I've ever seen a band play in my life. Even better than when the band last came to Toronto with Grip Inc. a few years ago. New vocalist/bassist Steve Tucker fit perfectly into the live situation, doing both new and old material almost flawlessly. Trey Azagthoth was a wonder to watch, his guitar wizardry a sight to behold. Pete Sandoval did a great job behind the drum kit, hitting peak speed during the first blast beat in "Day of Suffering". Morbid Angel played a set list that touched on every album except _Domination_ (which wasn't surprising, since Azagthoth had told me himself he didn't care for that album), playing older songs like "Lord of All Fevers and Plague", "Rapture", "Blood on My Hands" and "World of Shit (The Promised Land)". The bulk of live material came from MA's newest opus _Formulas Fatal to the Flesh_ -- tracks like "Heaving Earth", "Prayer of Hatred", "Bil Ur-Sag", "Nothing Is Not", "Covenant of Death", "Hellspawn: The Rebirth" and "Invocation of the Continual One". "Chapel of Ghouls" ended it off, which in my opinion is one of the best death metal songs ever written. What a spectacle to behold; it truly was the most exciting hour of live music I have yet to experience.

An unforgettable show, Morbid Angel (with the help of Blood of Christ) made this show one for the books, a momentous occasion that should go down as Toronto's best metal show of the year.