On a wintery Tuesday, Toronto’s History hosted a double feature in pure doomy stoner metal madness. December 9th saw the seventh stop in the House Of Mirrors Tour that had started in North Carolina and through the holidays, will continue into the beginning of March ending in Dallas, Texas.
Rochester-based King Buffalo opened the night by slowly pulling the room into their orbit. Starting with the recorded intro of Ecliptic’s “Stranger Things”-esque synths before sliding seamlessly into Hours, it was truly a move that immediately set the tone for a trippy set built on volume, atmosphere, and lots of patience. The trio thrives in that slow-burn space, and songs like Loam and Balrog stretched out with a sort of hypnotizing effect including thick basslines from Dan Reynolds and swirling guitars from Sean McVay filling the venue in a way that felt immersive like a psychedelic dunk tank. Songs like Drinking From the River Rising and a fan-favourite Centurion leaned into the band’s more propulsive side, locking into steady, trance-like grooves that showcased drummer Scott Donaldson’s groove and felt tailor-made for a crowd already tuned into the wavelength of the show’s headliner. With that said, the highlight came with Morning Song, made extra special by the in-person appearance of Ben McLeod, which added a sense of camaraderie and was a little taste at how complementary the sounds are between the two bands. It was an unhurried and undoubtedly solid opening set that didn’t try to steal the spotlight at all but instead expanded the room nicely to help prime for the big sounds ahead.
All Them Witches took the stage to a recorded blast of War Pigs, an easy crowd-sparker and a fitting throat-clearer before “changing the pace” as said by vocalist/bassist Charles Michael Parks Jr. dropping straight into Diamond. It immediately locked the room into their thick, blues-soaked fugue state of a set. The band really has a way of making heavy feel fluid, and earlier cuts like 1×1 and Blood and Sand / Milk and Endless Waters showcased that balance perfectly, stretching and contracting with a natural ease that never felt rushed in their longer runtimes and where we also saw keyboardist Allan Van Cleave sporting a fiddle, spotlighted for the former as well as later in the set. After introducing themselves and their Nashville roots, songs like Charles William and Saturnine & Iron Jaw then leaned into their more melodic side, while still carrying that satisfying low-end grit that gives their live shows some sonics that you can really feel. From the jump, it just felt like being pulled into a long, rolling current with pure tracks you can lose time to.
The middle of the set is where things really opened up for sure. One of their newest cuts Hold Up Say What? and The Children of Coyote Woman gave the band room to wander, with extended instrumental passages that let each member shine though Parks’ vocals led the way with its distinct attitude and twang that compliments these cuts so well. Cowboy Kirk and Harvest Feast added a rougher edge to their bluesy feel, tightening the grooves just enough to snap the crowd back to attention before plunging deeper again into their brand of hypnosis. It’s also obvious by this stage how much the drums manned by Christian Powers really keeps things locked in – super integral in ATW’s sound as Ben Mcleod’s awesome guitar work really interfaces well where there’s a solid backbone of rhythm. By the time they hit Enemy of My Enemy and When God Comes Back, the driving dynamic shifts were fully dialed in with quiet moments hanging in the air before slamming back down with purpose like a gavel on your skull. It’s the kind of pacing that only works when a band fully trusts their audience because at this point, it isn’t hard to believe mental exhaustion settling in with the crowd after so much heady guitar mesmerism since the start of King Buffalo’s set. Some looked tired while others looked like their brains were hardwired into the audio system, full steam a-head.
The closing run of another newer track Culling Line into a cover of Red Rocking Chair stripped things back just enough before The Death of Coyote Woman brought the set to a slow, heavy boil – its tension hanging in the room long after the last notes rang out. When the band returned for the highly anticipated Bulls and Alabaster, the encore felt like a final descent, all weight and atmosphere, pushing the sound to its widest edges without losing control and the audience to the edge of their mental capacity as the music pressed the inside walls of History like it also looked forward to escaping to the fresh air outside until it needed to come back to fill up the venue in Montreal the next day. It was a finish that felt earned rather than overstated, leaving the crowd suspended in that hazy, head-rattling space All Them Witches occupy so effortlessly when they’re fully locked in showing it also shouldn’t be understated that their jamming is not for the faint of heart and mind.
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