January 25, 2026
Lord of the Lost brings the fire to Montreal’s frozen hellscape
Hamburg, Germany’s Lord of the Lost brought the ”Dark Winer” tour to Montreal this past Sunday, providing a well deserved bit of warmth to those who attended.
Frigid and unforgiving, the evening’s weather was exceptionally extreme. Yet despite overwhelming environmental obstacles, the venue was comfortably filled by dedicated fans and showgoers. A very respectable turnout for an evening that could only be described as a direct challenge to Life itself.
See Also: Blind Guardian at Mtelus, Montreal
Opening the night was a band that didn’t make it to Montreal the last time they tried, back in April 2025. Halted at the border by undisclosed obstacles, they were forced to cancel their show at Foufounes Électriques.
So, without further ado, let’s take a stab at the Duke of Spook, Wednesday 13.
Wednesday 13
Wednesday 13 is a force to be reckoned with.
Grafting glam metal and fast paced, horror rock, this band shook the room from start to finish.
With a career spanning almost 30 years, the founder of the now defunct Murder Dolls is a minor prince of darkness in his own right. Wednesday 13 brought gallons of unique character and attitude to the stage, accompanied by a great band that delivered a tight performance. And what’s more, they looked awesome doing it.
Never heard of this gruesome band of horror driven, cadaverous rockers? I’d recommend the band’s 2025 release, Mid Death Crisis. It’s a great effort that displays a large portion of the range Wednesday has developed over the years. During the show, they played the songs “In Misery”, as well as “When the Devil Commands”, which are featured on this album.
The last song of their set was a cover from one of Wednesday 13’s previous projects, Frankenstein drag queens from planet 13. The song, entitled “I love to say Fuck”, saw the band’s front man galivanting across the stage with his ghoulish gait, brandishing a big, black umbrella with an enormous “FUCK” written on the top. Figuring prominently in the middle of the umbrella was huge middle finger. Clad in studded leather with a broad, WW2 military cap, he nimbly hopped around the stage, shoving the umbrella at the crowd.
Wednesday 13 successfully walks the line between glam metal and darker influences, delivering great shock rock that walks the fine line between PG-13 and R rated.
I’ll be looking to catch them again in the future, hopefully in a setting like Foufounes Électriques, where the chaos can be more intimately embraced.
The Birthday Massacre
The Birthday Massacre, born of London, in the land of Ontario, was up next.
I have to say, that witnessing their poppy blend of electronic goth rock, was a surprising delight. Following Wednesday 13’s trashy horror show, this was a subtle shift to a more dreamy atmosphere.
Singer Sara Taylor is a wonderful vocalist. This could just be me, but I could feel the mischief oozing from her being. She seemed comfortably genuine on stage, as though it was a small pub and not a large venue. Keyboardist Owen Mackinder handles his instrument like a mad musician, and uses every available centimeter of his space to stretch and pose like a cartoon character. The entire band has a strong persona, which made this band real fun to watch.
The song “Dead” was a highlight of their set to me, and has become one of my favorite tracks of theirs. It features on their compilation album, Imajica. A funny thing one notices when perusing their discography, is that every album cover is primarily in some palette of purple. A very consistent theme that seems to imbue everything they do, including their stage lighting.
I was pleasantly surprised to find out that their first show in Montreal had been at the now defunct Club Saphir, a classic venue on St-Laurent boulevard, in 2003.
Lord Of The Lost
The lights were dim but the stage was alive with an epic, instrumental track and minimal lighting.
Suddenly, the Lord entered the stage, wearing dark, flowing ministerial looking clothing that suspiciously, also made him look like a cyberpunk yoga teacher.
Wasting no time, the rest of the band flew onto the stage and began a very energetic set.
Musically, this is a band that lives on the fringe of what most might call ”classic metal”. They’re a quasi-perfect recipe of power, pop, symphony and bits of melodic death metal. Could there some Neue Deutsche Härte inspirations in there as well? Literally translating to ”New German Hardness”, this type of metal, also known as ”Dance Metal”, is a label often attributed to Rammstein.
Earlier on in the set, they addressed the crowd with an important statement regarding bass player Class Grenayd. The Lord spoke to the explaining that their bassist did not accompany them on this tour. Class had decided to stay behind for reasons of mental health. I was impressed, mostly with their candor and willingness to discuss this topic publicly.
Reveling in musical genre fluidity, Lord of the Lost is definitely not afraid of challenging Metal archetypes. And that, I think, is this band’s strongest attribute. In contrast, however, I would also say it’s one of the reasons I sometimes didn’t always get what was happening. Or was slightly perplexed at certain moments of the show.
One such situation was when the singer called for a one person circle pit. He encouraged the crowd to raise one arm into the air, with index fingers pointing high. Then, they were to begin jumping up and down while twirling. Im not a big cirlce pit twirler myself, but the crowd was digging it.
Towards the middle of the set, Wednesday 13 made a surprise entrance. He joined the headling band for a collaborative track of theirs, ”I hate people”. But not without the Lord first giving a lengthy speech about how the song was not some misanthropic hymn, but more of a middle finger response to those who would judge others for their way of life.
Read More:
>> Lord Of The Lost at Beanfield Theatre, Montreal
>> Gowan at Mtelus, Montreal
>> Die Spitz at Le Ritz PDB, Montreal
All in all, Lord of the Lost’s performance was bold, incredibly energetic and full of good vibes. Furthermore, it was a multi generational event that brought together kids, teens and parents, all enjoying the spectacle that was Lord of the Lost. I have to admit, it was cool to see such a demographical variety. It felt like one big, estranged family had gathered on a cold, winter night in Montreal to share in the experience.
And that’s what I think the Dark Winter tour was all about; bringing people together to celebrate what makes us individually unique, all the while reminding us that the fight to protect what we have in common, is never done.
