Author: Adam Wills

  • STAFF PLAYLISTS: September 2010

    BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! Find out what HELLBOUND’s contributors have been listening to during the month of September. Almost every writer has submitted their Top 5 list and have an option to list a book and a film they are into right now too

  • Katatonia / Orphaned Land / Swallow The Sun @ The Opera House, Toronto ON, September 13 2010

    “Vocalist Jonas Renkse is at once physically imposing and intensely vulnerable. He cradles the mic in his hands almost pleadingly, offering his voice to the audience. I found him completely mesmerizing. It was also a great joy to watch Anders Nystrom perform in person. He’s a wiry-framed and incredibly intense musician, his sinews as tautly…

  • Wormrot – Abuse

    By Rob Hughes I thank Wormrot for making one part of this job easy. They’re easy to classify. They play grindcore, straight up, with pure bloodlines going back to Napalm Death. No sax solos, no circus interludes, no ambient digressions dilute the mix. There’s no bass guitar either, which has no effect on the scathing…

  • Orchid’s Curse – Voices: The Tales of Broken Men

    Metalcore is a much maligned genre right now but it’s bands like Orchid’s Curse who are going to survive the ‘I’ve heard this before, booooring’ attitudes of today’s music consumer. Simply put, Voices: The Tales of Broken Men is a huge step forward and progression for the band.

  • Nachtmystium / Zoroaster / Dark Castle / The Atlas Moth @ Lee’s Palace, Toronto ON, September 11th, 2010

    “During this performance, they behaved as though the stage was land they wanted to annex; they walked on as though their performance was an outright invasion. The crowd responded accordingly. While the vibe in the room had gradually ratcheted up from “polite and well-behaved” to “cheerfully aggressive” during the previous three sets, when Nachtmystium played,…

  • Skelator – Death To All Nations

    By Kyle Harcott When the bands manage to get it right, I’m a fan of the trend of new classic-sounding power metal bands cropping up. There are a handful of bands that pull off the retro sound flawlessly enough to sound as though it comes naturally to them. But, as with any trend, the majority…

  • Photo Gallery: Katatonia / Orphaned Land / Swallow the Sun @ The Opera House, Toronto ON, September 14, 2010

    On Monday, September 14, one of my most anticipated shows of the summer arrived in town – the New Night Over America tour – consisting of the powerhouse lineup of Finland’s Swallow the Sun, Israel’s Orphaned Land, and Sweden’s Katatonia. By far one of the best shows of the year, I was lucky enough to…

  • Black Sleep Of Kali – Our Slow Decay

    The band’s first full-length, Our Slow Decay, constantly balances a tightrope between pronounced shades of Times Of Grace-era post-apocalypso, and modern-era thrash gallop on a par with Baroness, Bison, or High on Fire. As well, occasionally, the kind of vocal harmony work pops up that wouldn’t be out of place on an early ‘90s Dischord…

  • Jucifer – Canadian Tour Diary #3

    “We follow the directions from google maps and we can’t find any sign of the club. There’s nowhere legal for us to park in sight. We pull into a bus stop and I try calling the promoter and the sound guy. Neither one answers. We’re starting to think this show might not happen. Edgar jumps…

  • Lordi – Babez for Breakfast

    By Jason Wellwood Laughing out loud at the lyrics of a song is generally not a good sign when you’re listening to an album for the first time. If it’s Lordi though, not only is it okay, it’s kind of expected. Mr. Lordi and his costumed crew sound a lot more refreshed and ready for…