Blood Ceremony

Noctis Valkyries 5: Hell Comes To Cowtown

“I cannot stress how fantastic it was to attend Noctis V. To get to see three nights of amazing shows from a lot of bands who would never come to this part of the world otherwise; to spend afternoons rubbing elbows with those same bands, esteemed members of the metal literati, and like-minded fans, all of us just there to bask in the glory of metal, welcome and free to discuss the music we love so much with people just like us. It just might be that Calgary is the new metal capital of Canada”

Noctis 2012 wrap up article by Kyle Harcott

Hellbound’s Getting Stoked For… NOCTIS VALKYRIES 5!

Kyle Harcott is going to Calgary at the end of the month to the Noctis Valkyries V Metal Fest and is pretty excited about it. Not only does he get to see Venom, Pig Destroyer and Manilla Road, but he also gets to partake in the metal conference during the day. Here’s Kyle’s explanation about why he’s stoked to be going this year.

Hammers of Misfortune

Hammers of Misfortune / The Gates of Slumber / Castle / Kosmograd @ The Courthouse, Toronto ON, July 27, 2012

“This show was a long time coming. A few years after making their Canadian debut in Hamilton, Hammers of Misfortune finally made it all the way to Toronto – and brought The Gates of Slumber with them to boot! These two combined made this a must see for me since I love both bands and had never seen TGOS live before. And what a show it was!”

Live review by Sean Palmerston; Live photos and video by Adam Wills

Kadavar – self-titled

Following in the recent footsteps of Graveyard and Royal Thunder, German trio Kadavar, Tee Pee Records’ latest signing, attempts to bring the 70’s back with their bluesy heavy rock on this, their debut LP. You can’t really give ‘em any points for originality, so it all comes down to execution on this one.

Toronto is Doomed? Not anytime soon!

Last weekend, I was in Ottawa for the All That Is Heavy II doomfest, a six-band shindig featuring Blood Ceremony, Iron Man and Revelation, to name a few. This was the second notable doom-metal festival in Canada over the past few years, after Montreal is Doomed in December 2010, which happened to be Pagan Altar’s North American debut. (That was quite the nite for me, too!) So, when are we gonna see one of these things in Toronto? Don’t hold your breath…

Castle – Blacklands

Album number two from this Bay Area female-fronted doom trio. Funeral doom this is not—eight tracks spanning less than 36 minutes. From the upbeat (if none too uplifting) chugs and gleaming instro passages of the opener “Ever Hunter” through the piercing, haunted wails and jagged riffing of “Corpse Candles,” this is not your slogging bog-band doom, either.