Sacrifice w/ Macabre, Goatwhore, Panzerfaust (Inertia Entertainment 20th Anniversary) @ The Opera House on Feb 27, 2016 [Show Review]

Last weekend headbangers and face colliders from all over North America – including attendees from as far away from the Yukon and California! – squeezed into their denim and leather before squeezing into the oversold Opera House (Shh! Don’t tell the fire Marshall…) to celebrate the enduring success of Southern Ontario metal promoting powerhouse, Noel Peters and his Inertia Entertainment brand.

Those of us who came of age, or already were of age, in the ’80s and ’90s spent tremendous amounts of time sharing tales of geriatric misgivings and reminiscing with old friends between the blackened theatrical fire of Panzerfaust, Goatwhore’s raw-as-nails Celtic Priest worship, Macabre’s true crime-nursery rhyme death metal, and the memory lane thrashology of local heroes, Sacrifice.

And when we weren’t catching up and discussing our immoral pasts, we were watching other people collect raffle prizes that ranged from the very metal (CDs! Jagermeister! Guitars!!) to the not-so-metal (a stay at the legendary and posh Royal York hotel). A great party was thrown, speeches were given, stories shared, a perpetual deep cleanse worth of alcohol was consumed and there was even at least one fight in the moshpit that this hack witnessed from overhead in the balcony. The bands brought the sweat and noise and here’s what it looked like from our vantage point…. The stunning photography was shot by Mihela Petrescu.