Heavy metal at The Opera House (735 Queen St. East, Toronto) has become a tradition in Toronto, but the gathering of three metal bands all hailing from Finland is a rare novelty.  Swallow The Sun, Moonsorrow, and Finntroll entertained an all-ages crowd on Monday night that made up for enthusiasm what they lacked in numbers.

The appearance of each new band onto the stage was a theatrical moment which included apocalyptic entrance music and the hoisting of banners as if armies storming a battlefield. The effectiveness of the mood setting preparations was underscored by the fact that each band was given ample time to perform complete sets. The resulting steady flow of black metal infused with Finnish folk music had heads banging, hair swirling, devil horns pumping, and mosh pits in full swing even before headliners Finntroll had their instruments in hand.

At the end of each set, fans feverishly chanted “one more song” and thanks to the efforts of a highly efficient stage crew, gap times between bands were meagre minutes. The Finn rockers clearly fed off the crowd’s energy and they willingly expressed their appreciation of the zeal. There were many highlight moments throughout all performances but the overall upshot of seeing these strongly unified metal bands was the bona fide standout.

Dave MacIntyre