Author: Elena Francis
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Pallbearer + Kayo Dot @ Lee’s Palace, Toronto, 30 August 2017
Are we all doomed out yet? Over the last seven or so years, doom metal has risen from its moldy grave like a fiend from a ‘70s Hammer Horror film. Consequentially, this trendy reincarnation has spawned an army of redundant Black Sabbath, Candlemass, Electric Wizard and Pentagram clones as well as summoning the original corpses…
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Stick Men + Sonar @ The Garrison, Toronto, 27 August 2017
Time to get sticky! Stick Men are a progressive rock act where all three band members stick it to conventional rock norms by playing wielding sticks – two Chapman sticks and drum sticks. Formed in 2007 by Chapman stick player Tony Levin of King Crimson fame (who has appeared on over a whopping 500 albums),…
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Magma @ The Mod Club in Toronto, 20 August 2017
Sometimes progressive rock feels too limiting a label for an infinitely innovative collective credited with introducing unorthodox and challenging elements to music. One such act is cult legend Magma, formed in France in 1969 by the ambitious Christian Vander. Vander took Magma one step beyond other musicians at the time by creating his own language for…
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Anathema @ The Opera House, Toronto, 21 August 2017
The last time England’s atmospheric progressive rockers Anathema came to Toronto in 2013, visa issues cruelly skimmed the line up to just frontman Vincent Cavanagh, guitarist Danny Cavanagh and vocalist Lee Douglas. Now live in Toronto tonight, the whole line up is present and it the audience’s anticipation marks this show as long overdue. Starting…
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The Jelly Jam + Rustik @ The Rockpile, Toronto – 18 August 2017
A progressive rock/metal supergroup strikes Toronto! The members of The Jelly Jam include bassist John Myung from Dream Theater, guitarist and vocalist Ty Tabor from King’s X and drummer Rod Morgenstein, an alumni of Dixie Dreggs and Winger. Despite their line-up’s impressive roster of musical contributions, this band has a criminally limited fan base. Their…
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Today is the Day + Kayo Dot @ Hard Luck Bar, Toronto, 26 July 2017
A sizeable number of people think nothing is ever truly original, but that doesn’t mean musicians shouldn’t strive to develop something rare. Tonight’s one-two punch of Today is the Day and Kayo Dot is a welcomed concert of groups whose primary musical motivation is, refreshingly, to attain this goal. JUL 29: Today is the Day,…
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Extreme Noise Terror + Napalm Raid @ Coalition, Toronto, 27 June 2017
Extreme Noise Terror are a hearty staple in the diet of any grindcore or crust punk consumer. So given Toronto’s sizeable punk community, it’s understandable that tonight’s first date of their Canadian tour sells out. So far, so good. However, main vocalist and sole original member Dean Jones was denied boarding his flight from England…
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Annihilator + Entropy + Mason + Mutank @ The Opera House, Toronto, June 24, 2017
One of the most successful Canadian ‘80s metal icons strikes down in Toronto following their first show here in 23 years just last year. Jeff Waters and his merry band of men are probably Canada’s most famous thrash metal squad so seeing them play Europe more than their home province is disheartening. At least two…
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Fates Warning + Infinite Spectrum @ Mod Club Theatre, Toronto on June 21, 2017
One of progressive metal’s earliest instigators, Fates Warning, returns to Toronto tonight. Being the vanguards of metal’s most skilled genre that ignited the enviable careers of Dream Theater, Opeth and Queensryche, it’s exceedingly criminal that Fates Warning remain so underrated. Recently, these Americans recruited a wave of younger supporters as the retro heavy/power metal trend…
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Taake + Helheim @ Velvet Underground, Toronto
Infamous Norwegian black metallers Taake have endured a headache of a journey crossing the Atlantic for their North American tour. Their American visas were not approved before the tour kicked off, resulting in dates being canceled on a day-by-day basis with just a couple of days notice at most, hoping the visas would arrive the…