Although I had seen his name on the Bravewords.com messageboard previous to him writing for Hellbound, my first introduction to Gruesome Greg was when he contacted me about writing for the site. Since then Greg has been an integral part of the writing staff, always willing to give his opinions on the music sent his way for review.
-Sean Palmerston
Name and Location:
Gruesome Greg, T-Dot (via Cowtown)
How did you start writing for Hellbound?
Seems to me I saw a post on the Braveboard about a brand new metal site that was looking for writers. I don’t remember the exact wording, but whatever Sean wrote gave me the impression that this site already had some experienced writers on board with solid industry connections, so I told him, “Hey, if you need someone to write about stoner/sludge/psych/doom/heavy rock, I’m your guy.”
What’s your favorite piece published during Hellbound’s two years?
I like the collaborative stuff we’ve done, whether it was Favourite Iron Maiden Record, Favourite Canadian Metal Album, Motorhead Month… And I gotta say, our year-end Top Albums list kicked the shit outta BWBK’s!
What are some of your best concert memories?
Seeing Sleep play in Portland last year was unreal. That, and sitting in the front row for the Seahawks’ home opener the next day made for one of the best, if not the best weekend of my life!
Born Too Late II doomfest in Rochester a couple years back. After a three-hour holdup at the border on August long weekend, I walk in and Apostle of Solitude starts playing. Dayum! The whole lineup was incredible, and I dropped a ton of money on CDs, direct from the artists, that you never see in stores…
Seeing AC/DC for the first time in ’08 was big for me. They came to Calgary a couple times when I was growing up, but it was always a very hot ticket, so I didn’t get to see them until I moved out here. And every time Maiden comes to town, I’m there. (They hadn’t played Calgary between ’88 and when I moved here in ’05.) The greatest Maiden gig for me had to be the ’08 tour, when they busted out the classic Powerslave set. Seeing Heaven and Hell with Dio twice, both fantastic performances. RIP. Oh, and catching the reunited Accept in action, twice. I hope they stick around for a couple more North American tours!
One more that I hafta mention. A couple days after I moved here, in August of ’05, I saw a poster on a street lamp for a gig called the Gates of Hell fest with Anvil, Razor, Piledriver and Nuclear Assault (along with a few other bands). That was my second Toronto metal gig (first was Gigantour a couple weeks prior), and I knew I had found a new home!
Black metal, death metal or grind?
None of the above. DOOM!
(Well, if I hafta pick one, I’ll go with grind. There are a couple grindcore bands I like, namely Macabre and Brujeria.)
Person you’d like to interview but it hasn’t happened…
I’m not big on interviews. Although I finished journalism school and got my BJ (Bachelor of Journalism, yo!), I never really liked the whole interview process. (Especially transcribing. Transcribing’s a bitch!). That being said, when Earsplit PR was sending out emails for Eyehategod interview requests, I was awfully tempted. Too bad the band was only available between 2 and 4 in the afternoon…
I suppose I’d also kinda like to pick Corporate Death’s brain on serial killers and whatnot. I haven’t read any Macabre interviews that really
delved into that. Mind you, I haven’t read a lot of Macabre interviews, period.
The most underrated metal album is:
Body Count – self-titled. If all rap metal sounded like this, the sub-genre wouldn’t be considered an embarrassing turn-of-the-century relic
that most people associate with Fred Durst. Any of the musicians on this record coulda played in any of the thrash bands going at the time, and Ice T knew he was preaching to a white, suburban audience on songs like “There Goes the Neighbourhood” and “Mama’s Gotta Die Tonite”–which sure hit home with me. This was the record I didn’t want my parents catching me listening to when I was 14. Butchered at Birth was fine, as long as they didn’t see the artwork, but Body Count s/t always made me sweat.
You are suspended in limbo for eternity and can only listen to five metal albums on repeat. What are they?
The first four Black Sabbath albums, with Sleep’s Holy Mountain beating out Saint Vitus – Born Too Late for the five spot, though I think six is a much more metal number, so I’d find a way to include both. 😉
