Blood Of The Black Owl – Light the Fires
This isn’t the kind of album you’d listen to during a first date, but it’s great to do reading or studying to. I now feel ready to take a long nature hike on a chilly November day.
Reviews
Serpentine Path – self-titled
Right off the bat, you can tell this is one heavy vegetable; slow, punishing doomy riffs with deep-throated death metal growls. Winter is a definite reference here, albeit this record sounds thicker and sludgier, presumably because it wasn’t recorded in a basement.
The Return of… Kevi Metal’s Rimshots (August 2012 edition)
Back again by popular demand, it’s the one, the only Kevi H Metal and his Rimshot reviews! A long standing Hellbound favourite returns.
Nate Hall – A Great River
A Great River is raw and jagged, and yet beautifully serene in parts. It’s as incongruent and temperamental as any of our hearts, and Hall tears his chest wide open on the album, unafraid to express his own shortcomings and fears in the hunt for peace and fulfillment.
The Sequence of Prime – Inter-
For 24 minutes, Inter- roars with the urgency of a timed self-destruct mechanism. Pulse-rifle riffs and leads pour forth in a violent torrent, the drums a pile-driving invocation of horrible, foam-at-the-mouth chaos. All of it an industrial-accident-level cacophony presided over by this voice, this horrible, wonderful oh-you’ve-fucking-had-it-now! madman howl of rage, pain, madness, despair, and enough desperation to choke a vatload of blissed-out science-deniers.
Pagan Altar – The Time Lord
Anyways, this is really only essential for Pagan Altar completists and mega-fans. If you haven’t heard these guys yet, seek out Volume 1 first (or Judgement of the Dead if you happen to find it on vinyl).
Cryptopsy – Cryptopsy
I admit when Cryptopsy first crossed my desktop I was hesitant. The clean vocals (and keyboards) of The Unspoken King left a sour taste in my mouth. Not knowing what I was getting myself in to, this self-titled rejuvenation far exceeded any expectations I had. Growing on me with every listen, Cryptopsy is becoming one of the most enjoyable death metal releases of 2012.
Formloff: Spyhorelandet
Spyhorelandet comprises the kind of unrelenting hopelessness you’ll experience stumbling naked and bleeding though a blizzard after seeing your family devoured by wolves. However, where much of black metal concentrates on diabolic or fantastical pursuits, Formloff are interested in the “ugly personal histories each of us carries”.
Horseback – Half Blood
Based on The Invisible Mountain and now Half Blood, Horseback has mastered the art of crafting a proper album. The first half has its feet in the dirt, the second half has its eyes on the stars. It manages to cover a lot of stylistic territory, yet it’s a cohesive collection and an effortless listen from start to finish.
Black Moor – Lethal Waters
Lethal Waters is a surprisingly good take on traditional heavy metal in the vein of Iron Maiden (“Hellraiser”, “Midnight Warrior”, “Hatred’s Maze”) splashed with early 80’s thrash, particularly Megadeth (“Lethal Waters”, “Thunderhead”) and delivered without a hint of parody. This is genuine admiration channeled into a modern interpretation. These lads play from the heart and it shows