Cancer Bats perform live at The Opera House in Toronto, Ontario. Photo By: Jojo Taylor By: Jojo Taylor Toronto, Ontario - Cancer Bats fans, you may regret reading this. If you missed their 20th anniversary party at The Opera House on April 10th, you missed the best show of the year so far! This was a celebration like no other. But, I will digress already to let you know who else showed up before I get to the highlight. Chastity Chastity perform live at The Opera House. Pho

Loose Jaw perform live at The Spot in Newmarket, Ontario. Photo By: Michael Drukarsh By: Michael Drukarsh Newmarket, Ontario - Once again The Spot in Newmarket opened its door for another all ages metal-core extravaganza. This time though, the premise behind the four band bill was a little more special as headliners Loose Jaw took the advice of owner Mike Capobianco and booked the venue as well as the supporting acts for their very own cd release party in celebration of th

Rod "Ozzy" Clarke performs live at El Mocambo in Toronto, Ontario. Photo By: Michael Drukarsh By: Michael Drukarsh Toronto, Ontario - If you were lucky enough to grow up through the 70s and 80s you’d have had the opportunity to see many of the best metal bands perform in their prime. As the years go by we continue to lose our heroes... our icons. Thankfully we have musicians and artists willing to continue to pay homage to those who have fallen. Check out Ashley Depaz’s cove

Mortrem perform live at El Mocambo in Toronto, Ontario. Photo By: Michael Drukarsh By: Michael Drukarsh Toronto, Ontario - Mortrem is a Toronto-based post-metal band formed by lifelong friends who share a passion for crafting heavy, melodic music. Now streaming world wide, Mortrem’s debut album One With the Earth was celebrated on April 3rd with a very special release party at the El Mocambo . With themes that ominously fit perfectly in today’s world, Mortrem created an al

Black Label Society perform live at Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Ashley Depaz By: Ashley Depaz Toronto, Canada - On Sunday, March 29th, 2026, the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto became the epicenter of pure metal power as Dark Chapel, Zakk Sabbath and Black Label Society took the stage for a night that left the crowd flooding to the stage. The venue was packed from the moment the doors opened, with a diverse crowd of elder metalheads and younger

Erra perform live at History in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Ernon Schneeberger By: Ernon Schneeberger Toronto, Canada - From the moment the doors opened at History , the room pulsed with anticipation. Toronto crowds don’t mess around when it comes to live music, and on March 17, 2026, they packed the venue for The Silence Follows Tour , a powerhouse lineup headlined by progressive metalcore heavyweights Erra and Currents. Aviana Aviana perform live at History. Photo By: Ern

Not Enough Space perform live at Hard Luck Bar in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Ernon Schneeberger By: Ernon Schneeberger Toronto, Canada - The Shallow Graves Tour has been ripping across North America this spring, with a killer lineup of rising acts Not Enough Space , Bailey Spinn, and Set For Tomorrow backing up the Dark Divine tour. After a string of East Coast dates, the tour finally hit Toronto’s Hard Luck Bar on March 11, 2026, and honestly, it felt like the room might e

Orbit Culture perform live at The Opera House in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Canada - Walking back into The Opera House after a 3 year absence felt a little surreal. I hadn’t been here since Chelsea Grin levelled the place in April of 2023, and realizing it had been that long genuinely blew my mind. For a venue that once pulsed with heavy shows week after week, the past couple of years have been strangely quiet. But tonight? Tonight

Incarnatus perform live at The Spot in Newmarket, Ontario. Photo By: Michael Drukarsh By: Michael Drukarsh Newmarket, Ontario - I found myself back at The Spot on Saturday February 28 (which to be honest, might just become a monthly ritual for me), to witness Hardcore Is For Lovers . The Spot gives off a very indie/DIY vibe but the bands that take the stage are far from the amateur garage bands working out their stuff. The five acts on the bill promised to deliver a night o

Halfway Down perform live at Gabby's in Scarborough, Ontario. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Scarborough, Ontario - The night belonged to HALFWAY DOWN , and to the electric, youthful crowd that packed into Gabby’s Restaurant in my old stomping grounds of Guildwood. On February 27th the band psyched themselves up for a three‑set rock marathon that felt like a blast from my past! HALFWAY DOWN is a band made up of high school and university musicians who, based on t

Belphegor perform live at Lee's Palace in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Jojo Taylor By: Jojo Taylor Toronto, Canada - How do you take your Metal? Blackened! What I love about Lee’s Palace is they are a club that hosts a wide variety of music. They support local acts that want to play a bigger stage or they are a stage for international artists to play to an intimate crowd. So, when a band comes in from around the world, Toronto loves to visit these clubs, because you wouldn’t

Lita Ford performs live at Casino Rama in Rama, Canada. Photo By: Michael Drukarsh By: Michael Drukarsh Rama, Canada - There is something very magical about rock and roll from the 80s. It just seems to have the power to make everyone smile, from the bands that play it to the fans who love it. And this was once again on display last night at Casino Rama as Lita Ford headlined an intimate show along with opening act Headpins. Headpins Headpins perform live at Casino Rama. Ph

Hellseer perform live at The Spot in Newmarket, Ontario. Photo By: Michael Drukarsh By: Michael Drukarsh Newmarket, Ontario - Nestled in an unassuming business complex next to a church on Gorham Road in Newmarket, The Spot Rehearsal Studio has become the hidden gem for live music events in Ontario's York Region. Along with nine well equipped rehearsal rooms available for monthly and hourly rental, The Spot boasts a newly renovated concert space, a tattoo artist, a print sho

Left to Suffer perform live at The Garrison in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Canada - Still reeling from the storm of the century on January 25th, Toronto continued to be a disaster zone when I headed down on February 4th to take in Left To Suffer 's The Eternal Suffering Tour . Snowbanks swallowing sidewalks and parking lots, and downtown traffic moving at a crawl. But inside The Garrison , none of that mattered. Metal fans packed the r

Ghost perform live at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Michael Drukarsh Photos By: Michael Drukarsh Words By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Canada - Toronto didn’t just host Swedish rockers Ghost on Saturday night... it surrendered to them! By the time doors opened at Scotiabank Arena, the place was already buzzing with fans in full Ghost regalia... face paint, papal robes, ghoulish masks, and enough ghostly attire to turn the concourse into a cathedral of the damne

Judas Rising perform live at The Rockpile in Toronto, Ontario. Photo By: Michael Drukarsh By: Michael Drukarsh Toronto, Ontario - The temperature inside The Rockpile wasn’t too far off the outside temperature of minus a million degrees last night as the crowd slowly made their way into the venue. But that all changed as soon as the lights went down and the first of three bands hit the stage to deliver a set of classic heavy metal to fans ready to warm their hearts and souls

Lord of the Lost perform live at Danforth Music Hall in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Canada - Toronto has seen some things… but nothing like January 2026! By the time Germany’s Lord of the Lost finally took the stage at The Danforth Music Hall , the city had already survived a week that felt like hell! First came the brutal cold snap on January 23rd... A soul‑crushing –50°C (that’s –58°F for our American friends), officially making Tor

Kayo Dot perform live at The Cave in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Canada - There are hidden rooms in Toronto’s music scene, and then there’s The Cave . Well, ok, maybe it's not "hidden", but I certainly had never been aware of the upstairs venue at Lee’s Palace. How it has eluded me all these years, I cannot say. How I’ve been going to shows in this city for 4 decades without knowing this grungy little sanctum existed is beyond me. But

Krisiun perform live at The Garrison in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Jojo Taylor By: Jojo Taylor Toronto, Canada - The Garrison is a small but mighty club that can bring in some of the best underground acts from around the world. In this case it was three bands from America and one from South America. This was a wild mixture of Death metal from Fargo, North Dakota, Long Island, New York, and Los Angeles, California. The headliner this night came in from Brazil. Gorgatron Roxa

Death to All perform live at The Danforth Music Hall in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Canada - Winter has gnashed its ugly teeth here in Toronto, the death of summer clearly not a dream. The biting cold and first snowfall outside felt ironic for tonight’s showcase, a night dedicated to the legacy of Chuck Schuldiner , one of the most influential figures in heavy metal history. Inside the Danforth Music Hall , however, warmth came not fro