TORONTO - Nearly 30 years later, Metallica still have thousands of fans willing to obey them as metal masters.

The Los Angeles quartet kicked off another round of North American dates with a sold-out show (the first of two) Monday night at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre as part of its ongoing World Magnetic Tour. And thankfully for most of the over two-hour concert, that mutual attraction between band and audience was quite apparent.

Working with a large rectangular stage located in the middle of the floor for an “in the round” feel, Metallica walked out to their signature intro The Ecstasy Of Gold before launching headstrong into the punishing That Was Just Your Life off last year’s album Death Magnet.

The song also showcased how lasers and not explosions were to be the eye candy for a large part of the night, looking a bit odd but effective more often than not. Eight large lighting rigs resembling coffins also hung high above the stage, with four of them occasionally rising and lowering, resembling Spinal Tap’s Stonehenge prop only with the proper measurements.

“Metallica, Toronto. Toronto, Metallica,” lead singer/guitarist James Hetfield said following the meaty The End Of The Line. The performer, who seemed happy with the crowd’s energy, routinely pumped his fist which the predominantly testosterone-teeming onlookers aped.

Perhaps what worked better this go around as opposed to their previous tour behind 2003’s St. Anger was how the new material meshed with the older nuggets such as Ride The Lightning and the plodding Sad But True. This was especially true of the one-two combination of Broken, Beat & Scarred and Cyanide, the former a solid rock tune fuelled by guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo.

Not to be outdone – and not timid when leaving his drum kit and showing his happiness at completing each number – drummer Lars Ulrich kept things on the rails in the centre of the stage. He also managed to give Trujillo the devil-horn salute during Fight Fire With Fire without missing a beat.

Of the 18 songs the band dished out, the first big highlight was for One, the lengthy winding track that concluded with flames and huge fireballs coming up from the stage for the powerful rat-a-tat-tat middle and conclusion.

After a rather ordinary The Day That Never Comes, Metallica raised the bar with Master Of Puppets as Hetfield let fans sing the lead vocals while he paced the stage, moving from one microphone to another as he often did for each track.

While Metallica still have a lot to give, the fact that a band rooted in such relentless riffs makes each tour and each passing year a bit tougher to deliver the goods. And teleprompters were seen in front of the microphones, occasionally scrolling lyrics to the newer tunes.