Author: Sean Palmerston

  • Priestess: Prior To The Fire

    Prior To The Fire sounds much more like Priestess does in a live setting, with songs like the sprawling “The Gem” showing them unafraid to stretch past the seven-minute mark while still retaining a strong pop hook in its chorus.

  • Kvist: For Kunsten Maa Vi Evig Vike

    For Kunsten Maa Vi Evig Vike is very much a product of its time, but it is a product that is not discoloured by the bitter taste of symphonic black metal’s subsequent indulgences. What Kvist brings to the table is quite simple: balance.

  • Deiphago: Filipino Antichrist

    Overall, this banshee-stabbing outfit are the Satanic missing link between John Zorn’s Painkiller and Portal, only with 137% more virgin violation to their theoretical credit. And hey, if you’re not feeling particularly like cuddling with hell’s servants, this can effectively be used to clear out any lingering party guests and family members who won’t take…

  • Morbid Saint: Spectrum Of Death

    Originally released in 1989 by a Mexican based label called Avenzada Metalica, this eight-song effort is an absolute face-ripper that will appeal greatly to fans of Dark Angel, Kreator and especially late 80s Razor. The songs are well written, the riffs are lightning fast and they possessed a vocalist in singer Pat Lind that could…

  • Dethklok/Mastodon @ Sound Academy, Toronto ON, October 23, 2009

    With the completion of the second season of Metalocalypse, Dethklok took the road for a full North American tour with co-headliners Mastodon and strong support acts Converge and High on Fire. For a band that seems far from serious, they put together quite the heavyweight lineup, casting some of the top live talents to join…

  • Children of Bodom: Skeletons In The Closet

    That lighter spirit is what makes Skeletons In The Closet worth listening to because they make the spirit in the rest most obvious; it’s all for fun. These seventeen covers showcase every side of the band, but the most recurring of the lot is that the band is obviously having fun as they pay tribute…

  • Porcupine Tree: The Incident

    Porcupine Tree’s tenth studio album, The Incident once again has proven to be another powerful performance by this veteran UK based quartet.

  • Wanna Meet ANVIL in Toronto tonight?

    I don’t usually post these kinda things, but since I do dig our underground Ontario metal heroes Anvil and fully support them during their return to mainstream noteriety I thought I’d share this: October 28th with Anvil at The Hard Rock Café in Toronto TORONTO – This Wednesday Live Nation gives fans ultimate access Anvil.…

  • 3 Inches of Blood/Saviours @ Amigos, Saskatoon, SK, October 26, 2009

    Based on the merits of Here Waits Thy Doom and Accelerated Living, a pair of first-rate albums released this fall, 3 Inches of Blood and Saviours finally feel truly on top of their game. With two new records conveniently out at the same time, not to mention two very compatible sounds, the pairing of these…

  • The Cleansing: Poisoned Legacy

    Poisoned Legacy is a fine addition to the Danish death metal corpus (mortale…apologies for the horrid pun). It is well-performed musically and quite enjoyable in short bursts, but it lacks the consistently dynamic songwriting required to hold the attention for its duration.