Another round of monthly staff picks and playlists from the folks at Hellbound. Leave your own favourites and recommendations in the comments.
Steve Earles
New Release: Hawkwind – Roadhawks. Hawkwind are the institution that
gave the world Lemmy and without him I would not be typing this!
Hawkwind are very special and Silver Machine should be the Nation
Anthem!
Otherwise with the virus I have been delving back into the past like
Bruce Willis in 12 Monkeys. Thus, I am currently listening to Lock Up
The Wolves from Dio, and it’s surprisingly great! Lovely.
Arta Gailuma
Listening to: Rotting Christ. If not for Covid, I would see them live this coming weekend at Karmoygeddon, but then again there’s never too much of Rotting Christ..
New release: Cirith Ungol – Forever Black. Out on April 24th, 2020, via Metal Blade Records
Symptomatic Slammers: None. The music changes constantly depending on my mood and what YouTube’s algorithm thinks I’d like
Gruesome Greg
Listening to: Saint Vitus – Born Too Late
New release: Tyrant – Hereafter
Non-Metal: The sound of pots and pans banging outside my window at 7:30 every day
Wild card: Last weekend, there was no lineup at the grocery store and the toilet paper aisle was fully stocked. Is this progress?
Symptomatic Slammers: Skinless – Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead
Danielle Griscti
Listening to: ORANSSI PAZUZU – Mestarin Kynsi
https://oranssipazuzu.bandcamp.com/
Finnish spellcasters return to expand the realm of the possible.
Full review to come, for now enjoy the music video for “Uusi Teknokratia” :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScMbsZW3qn4
New release: VOLUR – Veiled City ft. Michael Eckert
https://volur.bandcamp.com/album/veiled-city-ft-michael-eckert
Toronto doom-and-gloom sweethearts subtly crescendo their way into frequent rotation.
Live: ENSLAVED at Verftet online music festival
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qwpBCH38U8
Progression, reminiscence, and general all-out rulage in an audiophile’s dream of a studio setup.
Non-Metal: DEEP SHIFT SOUND – Four Meditations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpjPs0FBXoI
Far on the opposite end of the spectrum, ambient pieces of calm to soothe the surrounding chaos.
Wild card: LUSTRE – The Ashes of Light
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwM2aOI82Y0
Subtle screams co-exist with mellow, happy synths in a strange balance.
Symptomatic Slammers: BLOODY FORTRESS – Isolation
https://bloodyfortress.bandcamp.com/album/isolation
Dank and delicious.
Sean Palmerston
Listening to: Primordial – on a total Primordial kick and am listening to the 8 albums I own by them.
New release: My Dying Bride – The Ghost of Orion (Metal Blade)
Live: Enslaved – Live in Concert (April 9, 2020 – online performance)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qwpBCH38U8&t=3697s
Just amazing. Enslaved crush just as much without an audience as they do playing in front of a full house.
Non-Metal: Grateful Dead – Dick’s Picks Volume 36
Wild card: Zombi – Cosmos (Relapse)
Symptomatic Slammers: Edge of Sanity – Crimson (Black Mark Production).
40 minutes of brilliance. A single song that weaves in and out of many styles of metal. The perfect headphone album.
Sarah Riley
Listening to: Acid Bath – When the Kite String Pops (Road Runner Records, 1994)
New release: Theres a couple new releases from this past month that I want to mention.
- Becomes Astral – Purgatory (Nomadic Arts, April 30th, 2020). Super rad Progressive metal band from Southern Ontario. Well worth checking them out and giving them a listen. Well worth supporting the Ontario metal community.
https://becomesastral.bandcamp.com/music
- Benighted – Obscene Repressed (Season of Mist, April 10th, 2020). If you’re into Death/Grind you need to listen to this album. Absolutely brutal. In my opinion, it topped the newest Abortedrelease.
https://benighted.bandcamp.com/album/obscene-repressed
Non-Metal: The Cure – A Forest (Seventeen Seconds, Fiction Records, 1980)
Wild card: Is it considered a cop out if I say Tiger King?
Symptomatic Slammers: Obituary – Infected (Cause of Death, Roadrunner Records, 1990).
Daniel Smith
Listening to: Death – Leprosy
New release: Oranssi Pazuzu – Mestarin Kynsi
Non-Metal: Fiona Apple – Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Wild card: The White Ribbon (2009) Directed by Michael Haneke
Symptomatic Slammers: Ulthar – Through Downward Dynasties
