Merauder: God Is I
Brooklyn, NY’s Merauder bring forth God Is I, a hardcore album that is not too extravagant or chaotic. With strong musicianship and relevant lyrics, the band still manages to produce something solid.
Slayer: World Painted Blood
All of a sudden Slayer’s new album trades the metal in their thrash for a heavy dose of hardcore, the infusion of which makes Slayer sound exactly like Black Flag did around 1985.
Blatant Self-Promotion: Gov’t Mule Live Review on Exclaim.ca
While Hellbound.ca is definitely my main focus these days, every now and then I still write for other places when asked. One band that I have covered for Exclaim! on a number of occasions that will appeal to some metal fans despite their non-metalness is the US based heavy blues rock quartet Gov’t Mule. The last time I wrote about them was about seven years ago, but when I got a last minute offer to cover their recent Toronto performance last week for Exclaim!, I rang up Albert Mansour to see if he was interested in checking it out.
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 the hint to get out, especially come Christmas time.
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 have easily subbed in for Mille in Kreator if the need ever would have arisen.
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 them on their conquest for real-life world domination.
Adam Wills reviews the recent Toronto tour stop by Dethklok, Mastodon and friends.
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 to the bands they respect, but treat the outrageous steps out with equally good humour
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.