Author: Elena Francis

  • Razor + Anvil @ Club Absinthe, Hamilton, June 3, 2017

    Razor + Anvil @ Club Absinthe, Hamilton, June 3, 2017

    Want to see Canadian history come to life? One of Canada’s premier thrash exports, Razor, is slicing through Hamilton so tonight is a must-attend event for any hardened thrasher in the Southern Ontario region. Supplementing the bill are the insistent heavy metallers in Anvil, whose award-winning documentary catapulted them into the global rockers’ consciousness. New…

  • Tengger Cavalry + Felix Martin + Malphas @ Hard Luck Bar, Toronto on June 5, 2017

    Tengger Cavalry + Felix Martin + Malphas @ Hard Luck Bar, Toronto on June 5, 2017

    Dreaming of being a Viking is so passé! How about being a Mongol Shaman? Mongolian folk metal gallops into Toronto yet again tonight. Following their show last year, Tengger Cavalry return, their brand new album Die on My Ride in tow. Formed in 2010 and with an impressively extensive discography already, this Chinese-origin band does…

  • Hard Charger + Satanarchist @ Coalition, Toronto on June 8, 2017

    Hard Charger + Satanarchist @ Coalition, Toronto on June 8, 2017

    Countless bands blur the line between metal and punk so it makes sense to see a tour that showcases these two extreme genres together as equals. New Brunswick crusty rockers Hard Charger are joining forces with Portland, Oregon’s anarcho black thrashers Satanarchist for a coheadlining trip across Canada. Tonight it hits Toronto’s beloved Coalition but…

  • Windhand + Satan’s Satyrs @ Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto May 19, 2017

    Windhand + Satan’s Satyrs @ Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto May 19, 2017

    What better way to kickstart the weekend than at a gathering of dirty doom metal? Tonight sees US doom mongers Windhand and Satan’s Satyrs hit Toronto for an exclusive Canadian stop on their current tour. Doom’s popularity these days cannot be understated so it’s unsurprising that the classic Horseshoe Tavern is bustling with attendees. Virginia’s…

  • Destruction + Jungle Rot + Warbringer @ The Mod Club Theatre, Toronto, May 30, 2017

    Destruction + Jungle Rot + Warbringer @ The Mod Club Theatre, Toronto, May 30, 2017

    Destruction strikes back, devastating thrash attack! A full force metal package hits Toronto tonight, part of the Teutonic thrash titans’ North American promotional trek for last year’s Under Attack. This varied line up exhibits classic, mid-era and modern metal; bullet belts and patched denim are wholly encouraged. California’s Warbringer fared well carving a niche within…

  • Cryptopsy + Rivers of Nihil + The Zenith Passage @ Hard Luck Bar, Toronto, May 23, 2017

    Cryptopsy + Rivers of Nihil + The Zenith Passage @ Hard Luck Bar, Toronto, May 23, 2017

    Quebec death metal icons Cryptopsy are infesting Toronto yet again but fans are in for a very special delight this time. This Devastation on the Nation North American trek sees the band unearth classic album None So Vile live in its entirety. Unfortunately, though tech death Americans Decrepit Birth were supposed to be accompanying them…

  • BriefcaseFest: Sunday May 21st @ Coalition, Toronto

    BriefcaseFest: Sunday May 21st @ Coalition, Toronto

    It’s Victoria Day weekend, which means Toronto’s premier extreme music underground fest is here! Now in its fifth year of existence, local promoter Max Deneau’s BriefcaseFest is on a mission to provide a platform to emerging and appreciated Canadian and international artists in Toronto. This year is slightly different to previous ones; it features a…

  • Sirenia + Arkona + MindMaze @ Mod Club Theatre, Toronto, May 17, 2017

    Sirenia + Arkona + MindMaze @ Mod Club Theatre, Toronto, May 17, 2017

    It’s unbearably hot in Toronto but that doesn’t prevent a wave of melodic metallers going to the stuffy Mod Club to catch a coheadlining stint from pagan metal horde Arkona celebrating their 15th anniversary and symphonic metallers Sirenia on their maiden Canadian jaunt. Arranging lineups based on a female vocalist irrespective of genre feels lazy…

  • Shining, Revenge, Wolvhammer @ The Garrison, Toronto ON, May 9, 2017

    Shining, Revenge, Wolvhammer @ The Garrison, Toronto ON, May 9, 2017

    Tonight’s stop on the so-called No Safe Space Tour may be an attempt to take a swipe at the increasingly politicized climate the modern world exists in these days, but the line up, by black metal standards, is diverse: Wolvhammer’s sludge-tinged black metal, Revenge’s black/death cacophony and Shining’s progressive melancholia. Toronto’s black metal loyalists darken…

  • Goatwhore + Empyrean Plague @ The Garrison, Toronto, May 11th 2017

    Goatwhore + Empyrean Plague @ The Garrison, Toronto, May 11th 2017

    While it’s not quite the weekend, New Orleans extreme metallers Goatwhore are currently rampaging throughout the United States supporting Amon Amarth and have managed to squeeze in a headlining Toronto date without their Viking partners, so late night boozing it is. Although the Americans were most recently in Canada’s most populous city just last year, many…