March 19, 2026
Lamb Of God headline
It’s been just a handful of days since Lamb Of God dropped their new record and already, they’re on tour. What’s more, is they’ve arrive in Montreal with a metalcore fan’s dream line-up in tow: Sanguisugabogg, Fit For An Autopsy and Kublai Kahn TX. Are you kidding me!?
This was a fresh tour that was only entering its second night here in Montreal, and I often wonder if its better to catch a tour at the start or at the tail end?! At the start, there’s potentially rust and jitters, while at the end perhaps exhaustion. Regardless, it isn’t something that the audience has any control over, is it? The tours are booked. This is the date in your city. Are you coming or not, fucko!? That’s really all there is to it.
See Also: Journey at Bell Center, Montreal
Having taken the time to check out Into Oblivion, the new record in question, I was eager to see what sort of a setlist Montreal would be getting. Montreal was one of their first stops on the tour, therefore there wasn’t much information on the tour itself. A big part of me enjoys that early tour mystery.
We’ve become far too used to the temptations that the internet provides. The ability to see setlists before the show you plan to attend, to watch cell phone footage of the night before and so on. Not knowing what to expect is part of the excitement that live music provides. And tonight was, truthfully, extremely fun.
Sanguisugabogg
I don’t know for certain, but I imagined that when Sanguisugabogg walked out onto the stage tonight, they were walking out into the biggest venue they’ve ever played. Maybe a festival or two along the way have been bigger, but either way, the band showed no signs of intimidation.
For all intents and purposes, they seemed to treat it like any other club show they have played. I attribute that to confidence in their product. Now, I won’t bullshit you here and say I’m overly well versed in this band. Yeah, I’ve heard a few tracks here and there, but I’m fairly certain that I mispronounced their name each and every time I tried saying it. I’m not even sure I can say it twice the same way in a row! And fuck knows what it means! (Ok, so after I wrote that, I looked it up… its a leech. A bloodsucking leach. Plus the word bog, which where I’m from means toilet so, I’m beginning to regret looking it up!)
Of the bands to play tonight, Sanguisugabogg are the only one I wouldn’t label metalcore – more of a swampy hardcore-influenced death metal band, and honestly that is more my jam than metalcore is. Tonight, live and in the flesh, I felt that Sanguisugabogg have a tribalism to them. A sort of simplistic approach to their brutality the way things used to be done back in the days of Grave and Unleashed.
On stage, was an assortment of cheesy plastic limbs that look like they came out of a Halloween store – or borrowed from Gwar’s grotto. While looking silly, I kept looking at them and each time I did, I got a bit of chuckle from them. I’m starting to think these guys have a sense of humor about them.
Fit For An Autopsy
A couple of years ago, a copy of Oh What The Future Holds landed in my email inbox and I was blown away by it. In fact, I would go as far as to say I became obsessed with that album for a good chunk of time. In my mind, I thought it came across as a Frankenstein meshing of Rivers Of Nihil and Gojira, both of which being bands I very much enjoy. Rejoice!
Somehow though, I managed to miss them whenever they played Montreal. That is, until tonight.
They kicked off their seven song set with Lower Purpose, a track off their newest album The Nothing That Is. This laid out the groundwork for what was to come: no nonsense and a foray into brutality.
By the time they played Pandora, I was fully invested. From that slide pinch harmonic squeal that echoes Gojira’s L’Enfant Sauvage onwards. But, sadly, there was just a single track that came after that. Far From Heaven, also from the Oh What The Future Holds album – and I thought to myself, that anybody in the arena that wasn’t already into these guys would be now. I get that bands hate to be compared to other artists, but fuck it, that opening riff on Far From Heaven is total Gojira, and Gojira being a francophone band, are huge in Montreal.
Finally seeing Fit For An Autopsy live was awesome, but too short – I’ll have to catch them at a headlining gig at some point. That’s the catch with this sort of show – you get a bunch of good bands but in small doses.
Kublai Kahn TX
Next on stage, was Kublai Khan. A band named after a Chinese emperor, for some reason, from Texas. An intense, high-energy act that are rooted in modern metalcore and beatdown hardcore. Surely, a lesson in violence was to come.
With the whole band dressed in white, and with the backlit strobes flashing behind them, Kublai Khan were almost transparent. Invisible even. All around them on the large stage, was emptiness. The most minimalistic stage set up possible. Maybe that was the point, to create a sense of bleakness and dread. I can’t say for certain, but it certainly felt eerie. I can’t decided if this set-up was complimentary to their sound, adding that eerie ambiance – or counter-product in a we’re a small band over our heads on a giant stage motif. I hope that doesn’t sound rude but… whatever.
While the visuals were minimal – the music too is stripped back. No thrills. No nonsense. Kublai Khan TX are about to the the point aggression. Brutal riffs, breakdowns, filthy guttural vocals and keeping their songs short and nasty.
“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel” said frontman Matt Honeycutt, “we just want to spin this motherfucker” he said, and he motion with his singer, for crowd participation. As the next song began, the mosh pit opened up into a giant circle pit, with all these nutty kids running about in a giant circle, bashing into other. The crowd surfers got going too, riding a tsunami of sweaty long-haired people, crashing over the barrier and keeping the security agents busy all night – and that was only going to gain moment once Lamb Of God take the stage.
Lamb of God
As the bands logo projected onto a giant curtain that stretched across the large Bell Center stage, the hootin’ and hollerin’ from the obviously excited crowd began to grow. As the curtain dropped, and Lamb Of God emerged, playing Ruin, the crowd erupted in a frenzy of kinetic energy.
I first saw Lamb Of God as an opening band back on May 6th, 2001 – with Cannibal Corpse, Dimmu Borgir and The Haunted at the Spectrum. It trips me out to see how far they’ve come in the twenty five years (holy shit, I’m getting old) since that night. Headlining festivals the world over, and playing as close to hallowed ground as the city of Montreal has to offer. The Bell Center. Home of the Montreal Canadiens. It also proves why people should show up to see the opening bands!
Tonight, we gathered for the release of Lamb Of God’s tenth studio recording. Plus, this is a no-gimmicks-tour than brought along some of the biggest up-and-comers in the metalcore realm. And while I doubt I’ll ever see any of these bands headline this stage in the years to come, I would wager I felt the same way about Lamb Of God, almost a quarter of a century ago.
I was bemused. The venue was about two thirds filled; but this was the Bell Center – an NHL sized arena. The biggest arena in the NHL to be exact. I suppose it would be asking a whole hell of a lot to fill a building this big so this was still a very solid turn out. It is also exactly why you come early for the opening bands. I’ve literally watched Lamb Of God go from opening act to headlining the best arena in the NHL. Sure, it took a while but they got there. They did it.
The night ended with Redneck and a simple request from Blythe – a massive circle pit. The floor section obliged, as a massive circle formed. People ran around a small group of stunned, stranded folk in the middle of it all. From up above, the scenery was surreal, and I’m sure a lot of the younger people that had opted for the seated section were now regretting that decision. I must admit – it did look fun, but I’m way too old for that sort of shit these days.
On the whole, this had been a formidable night. Mostly…
Given that Randy Blythe is a photographer himself and one that I have seen in a photo pit in years past, I found the low quality of stage lighting a bit shocking. He knows how bad it was. He must. Which means that the garbage lighting is intentional, and that seriously distracted me from enjoying the evening.
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Beyond that, much of what made Lamb Of God fun to see live in the past wasn’t there tonight. The classic microphone flip, or the jumping about that the stage that Blythe has been known for throughout the years, gone. At best, Blythe stomped about a bit in what was a surprisingly pedestrian show, as if they didn’t really want to be there.
I’m going to chalk this one up to this being just the second night of the tour, and there being some rust. Hopefully they pick it up for the rest of the dates to come. Having seen the band many times before tonight, this was by far the least impressive showing.
