Cattle Decapitation Live
It's been a much lighter live music schedule for me this year, but I finally got to see two bands that I wasn't sure I'd ever get a chance to see: Cattle Decapitation and Brujeria. The former, because they don't tend to do many Canadian dates, and they tend to hit the usual stops — Toronto and Montreal, while the latter is a band I didn't think would ever be touring again.
The support acts were a noise / black metal band called Knoll, who really didn't do much for me, and a straight-edge hardcore band called No Cure who I saw in December of 2024. Knoll had an interesting stage setup, with the band playing in what looked like a haunted set from a Hammer Films horror movie, which was bolstered by the frontman looking exactly like Nosferatu. That said, their material just didn't hit right; the instrumentals were interesting, technical black metal pieces, but the frontman's relentless, staccato somehow didn't fit very well — and felt like two songs playing over each other at times. Their set started like Full Of Hell but quickly transitioned into immemorable blackened static.
No Cure have a really strong stage presence, and I made sure to get away from the mosh pit as I cannot stand the kids doing their weird karate nonsense. They're a very fun band to see live, even if I don't listen to much hardcore and even less of the straight-edge variety. I'm down to see these guys any time they're supporting bands I like. They had previously left enough of an impression, when I saw them with Vomit Forth, that I was happy to see them on this bill.
Brujeria did a great job with their set, even though I feel like I basically watched a cover band. They pulled off the material well, and I was really surprised at the reaction they got the moment the title-track to Brujerizmo kicked off their set. There were quite a few people in the crowd who had travelled from the US and overseas to catch Brujeria, so I guess the brand is much stronger than I thought. I'll give the frontman a pass for not realizing Trudeau is no longer our Prime Minister. I never thought I would see any configuration of this band play live and their energy was impressive.
Lastly, the headliners — and the primary reason I bought a ticket — delivered an amazing set. Vocalist Travis Ryan said he was sick, but it was hard to notice except in a very small number of transitions from his powerful shrieks to the evil troll-style clean singing he does. The band was on point and everything sounded great, but not like a band just miming to backing tracks — they were tight but not perfect reproductions of material.
Overall, a great show. My only complaint was one opening band that wasn't even bad, I just didn't vibe with.
PUBLISHED: 2026-05-04