Author: Gruesome Greg
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Sorxe – Surrounded by Shadows
Though I haven’t heard of them before, Sorxe is part of the same Arizona sludge scene as the likes of TOAD, Godhunter and North — not to mention the Southwest Terror Fest, which I hope to attend some day — so that’s good enough for me to give ’em a listen. “Steamroller” comes rolling out…
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Cardinal Wyrm – Black Hole Gods
There have been enough notable sludge/doom outfits from down by the Bay Area—Sleep, Noothgrush, Neurosis, to name but a few—that when a newer outfit from San Fran or Oakland starts getting some press, I’d naturally be inclined to stop and check them out. But Cardinal Wyrm, much like the Finns in Cardinals Folly, employs the same…
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Staff playlists: the Labour Day weekend edition
Autumn doesn’t officially arrive in the northern hemisphere until the fall equinox – due this year on the 23rd of September. But for many of us, the final long weekend of summer marks the change in seasons we actually feel. Here at Hellbound we’re saying “see you later, summer” with another set of staff playlists: the Labour…
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YOB – Clearing the Path to Ascend
YOB is one of those names where I expect quality before I even take off the shrinkwrap. Only in this case, it’s been a while; their last album, Atma, came out about three years ago. Still, I wouldn’t expect any less from Mike Scheidt and co—I’m pretty sure its predecessor was on my year-end top 10 in 2011,…
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Accept – Blind Rage
I did not need to hear any of the advance singles to know this was going to be good. Three albums into Accept’s latest comeback, any skepticism about Udo-soundalike Mark Tornillo on vocals has melted away. Far from being over-the-hill dinosaurs, these guys have tapped into the sound of classic Accept, making this the Metal Heart to Blood of the Nations’ Fast…
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Bastard of the Skies/Grimpen Mire split
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never heard either of these British bands before, though they’ve both been around for a handful of years. But that’s what’s great about splits—they’re a bite-sized introduction to acts otherwise unknown, without putting you through the paces of a 72-minute album or something. And while I’m not…
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Music Blues – Things Haven’t Gone Well
I must admit that I’m somewhat partial to the autobiographical sludge solo project. (Let’s just say that if I ever get my shit off the ground, you’ll hear it here first.) Music Blues is the nom de plume of Stephen Tanner, ex-bassist of Harvey Milk—who weren’t exactly a band of happy campers to begin with.…
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Missiles of October – Don’t Panic
A Belgian band named after the Cuban Missile Crisis is not something you hear every day. Nor are they the only outfit with that moniker—there’s also a soul/folk band from California that beat them to the domain name for Missiles of October. That being said, if it came down to an armed nuclear standoff, I’d…
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Secret Cutter – Self Titled
It’s not cool to cut yourself; remember that, kids. But Secret Cutter, a bassless trio from Bethlehem (Pennsylvania, that is), is out to make the baby Jesus cry with their self-titled debut, a 26-minute blast of sludge-metal sickness. Downtuned chugs abound on tracks like album opener “Mirror Mirror” with glass-shattering vocals straining to be heard in…
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Blues Pills – Self-Titled
I’ve been hearing a bit of buzz about Blues Pills for some time, albeit predominantly from the other side of the pond. Though not a super group by any stretch (I think their bassist was in Radio Moscow or something), this multinational outfit unites an American rhythm section with a French guitar prodigy and a…