Shooting Guns: dealing some heavy instrumental magic
When it comes to the metal aesthetic many bands feel they need to choose the route of texture or torture. Bands decide whether to…
Kreator/ Accept/ Swallow the Sun @ Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto ON September 12th 2012
By Natalie Zed September marks the beginning of an extraordinary concert season in Toronto. Throughout the fall and winter, this city is being treated…
Corrosion of Conformity/ Torche/ Black Cobra/ Gaza @ The Opera House, Toronto ON, June 21 2012
Natalie Zed reviews the June 21st Toronto performance by Corrosion of Conformity, Torche, Black Cobra and Gaza at the Opera House. Live photos by Albert Mansour
Staff Picks: Favourite Canadian Metal Songs
To celebrate Canada’s birthday today we has asked all the Hellbound contributors what their favourite Canadian metal songs of all time were and to write a paragraph or two why. Here is what they told us, along with youtube links to all the songs in question so you can enjoy them too.
HAPPY CANADA DAY TO ALL!
Volbeat/ The Sleeping/ Dommin @ the Mod Club, Toronto ON, August 17, 2010
“I have no bone to pick with VOLBEAT at all. Their heavy metal/rockabilly/early rock’n’roll gangster aesthetic is fantastic. They’re greasy, twangy and a hell of a lot of fun to see live. Michael Poulsen embodies their sound: lean, punchy muscles, the lines of his brow and cheekbone just a little haggard from hard living, slicked back, dark hair and covered in old-school tattoos. His voice is surprisingly clean. Volbeat’s set was idiosyncratic and playful.”
Natalie Zed reviews the August 17th Toronto performance by VOLBEAT, THE SLEEPING and DOMMIN at the Mod Club. VOLBEAT live photos by Adam Wills.
Obituary/ Entombed/ Rumplestiltskin Grinder at The Opera House, Toronto, ON June 1, 2010
I have yet to attend a metal show that I am not excited about. It’s an excitement that transcends ticket price, record label, venue, or profile. Whether I am going to see a deep-underground band playing in a tiny bar, or a legend taking on the ACC, I experience the same moment of unrestrained pleasure when I step out my door wearing heavy boots and carrying earplugs in my pocket.
Natalie Zed reviews Obituary/Entombed/Rumplestiltskin Grinder in Toronto, accompanied with photography by Adam Wills.
Portal/ Krallice/ Bloody Panda @ Mohawk Place, Buffalo NY May 24, 2010
The energy that Portal projected, both in their music and their sheer physical presence, was overwhelming. Every gesture that The Curator made was impossibly intense. I spent the entire set staring wildly up at the band, certain that any moment something Very Bad was going to happen. They’re masters at wielding this carefully managed sense of dread. Portal is aptly named; when they were on stage, reality felt somehow thinner than it was before.
Natalie Zed reviews the May 24th performance by Portal, Krallice and Bloody Panda at Buffalo, NY’s Mohawk Place. Concert photography by Adam Wills.
Postcards From Natalie Zed, Part 1
Hellbound readers, please welcome aboard Natalie Zed! Natalie was our big grand prize winner back in January, taking home more than 50 CDs + and shortly after she received her huge box ‘o CDs, Ms. Zed asked us over at Hellbound HQ if we’d be interested in running reviews of her winnings if she did postcard sized reviews of the albums. How could we say no?
So, without further adieu, here is Natalie’s first installment in what Hellbound likes to refer to as “Postcards From Natalie Zed”…