Golden Horns of Plenty During the 2025 Golden Horns Awards Show at Monarch Tavern

jaybroderick
Jul 22
4 min read

Warmachine perform live at Monarch Tavern in Toronto. Photo By: Jojo Taylor

Courtesy of Jojo Taylor from Blast Toronto

Toronto, Ontario - There was plenty of stuff happening at the Monarch Tavern recently. Metal enthusiast and interviewer Belgian Jasper organized the second annual Golden Horn Awards. There were four bands playing on the bill, a short awards ceremony celebrating Canadian Metal and a raffle near the end of the evening. To get your raffle tickets, you had to drink your way to win! With every drink purchased, you received a raffle ticket. To up the odds, you bought plenty of drinks.

By the time the raffle was being announced, there were plenty of stumbling hopefuls waiting to hear their number being called. The prizes were very good. There were a bunch of CD’s given away by a Metal company called Seasons of the Mist. They provide some of the heaviest of metal from around the world and introduce that Iron filled sound to Canada. The grand prizes were concert tickets to see Killswitch Engage at the Bud Stage later this summer and tickets to see Bruce Dickinson when he makes his way through Toronto. You got all of this compliments from Belgian Jasper, and he did this as a birthday gift to himself. This guy is hardcore and generous.

Pieces of Maiden

Opening the evening was an Iron Maiden tribute band that stuck with the first two releases. Yes, that would mean we will be in for a treat from the Paul Di’Anno years. They opened with “The Ides of March” and “Wrathchild”. This got the crowd very excited as we all yelled "Wrathchild" at the right time. This was the right crowd, because as I walked in, about half the people there were wearing an Iron Maiden T-Shirt, myself included.

This was my 16 year old happy playlist because Iron Maiden was one of my first Metal loves. These two albums are absolute classics in my world. With songs like "Killers", "Running Free", "Transylvania" and "Sanctuary", I was in my happy place. The band finished the night with what felt like a 10 minute Epic Metal song, that was not an Iron Maiden song. I asked the singer after the show what song they did and it was from another classic 80’s band, Gamma Ray.

Black Absinthe

What can I say except that Jasper has great taste in Metal bands. Black Absinthe got on next and converted some new people in their community. They play their music pretty straight forward; heavy riffs and an unrelenting force that wakes you up and keeps you wired throughout their performance. I felt like I was on the train Pelham 123 and heading for a glorious disaster. I believe that is the purpose of Black Absinthe anyway.

What makes this band special is that they contain just the right amount of crazy that can appeal to anyone who loves Metal, no matter what genre is your favourite. They are a headbanger's paradise with gratifying riffs and creating solid audience participation. Their low rumbling sound is like a seismic wave of destruction. There are not many Metal bands that can both create a dance floor and a mosh pit within the same room.

Pyres

With the opening riffs of doom and gloom oozing from the speakers, I was expecting another emblematic stoner band. These guys did a quick twist and exploded like a doomsday bomb being shot out of a cannon. As the band got deeper into the set list, the music seemed to meld into an unhinged state. Visually I was watching a bear crawling out of a cave of insane echoes and reality began to slip way. The crowd got a little wilder, even Jasper was having a great time.

Like any good Metal band, there has to be an angry song towards your parents, in this case, the father. When they got to the end of their set, they said the last one was going to be a banger! It started off pretty simply, but by the time we got to the end, they created such a sonic disruption, that they left the entire audience stranded out in space. This is a band I need to check out again.

Warmachine

What can I say about Warmachine? They are one of Canada’s long lasting metal bands on the scene today. They started way back in 1998 with a bunch of demos and finally put together their first full album in 2005 called, The Beginning of the End. They began with a mid-tempo rocker from the first album called, “Empty”. They continued with the same album and cranked out, “Eye for an Eye”. What made this evening more fun was the fact that strange concert goers came to the show. Butter Chicken loves metal and went moshing with a few people in the crowd. A devilish Nicolas Cage showed up with his mocking face to prove he is the most metal actor out there.

The fans got excited to hear their song, “Inevitable”, which they have not played in ten years. I love it when bands pull out the hidden gems. They also tried out a new song. I hope this is a sign that there will be a new album in the works that we all can look forward to. This night, I personally loved the song, “Betrayed”. It was raw and crunchy like a good breakfast cereal made out of spiked ball bearings. The end came when Warmachine was “Moving on”.

Golden Horns Awards

This is the second Golden Horns award show. There aren’t many categories, but I am sure there will be more sections added as time moves forward. Here is the list of Winners:

Best Interview: Majestica

Best Indie Artist: Bumblefoot

Best Live Show: Crypta

Best Record Label: Nuclear Blast

Best Metal Warrior: Metal Pilgrim

Best Toronto Artist: Kylira

Best Superfan: Miles George the Photographer (Congrats from another superfan photographer)

Concert Photo Gallery