FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
On Thursday I had a chance to speak to Mike Dean of the recently reunited Corrosion of Conformity about their excellent upcoming self-titled album that will be released on Candlelight Records. We had a nice chat while he walked his dogs, chatting about making the new album, how the band got together again as a trio and about being a metal musician for thirty years.
Right from the beginning though it is obvious that Joe Thrasher not only want to make you bang your head, they want you to remember these songs for a long time.
Late last year Jason Wellwood had the chance to speak to the one and only John Arch, the original vocalist for US progressive metal legends Fates Warning about his recent Sympathetic Resonance collaborative album with FW guitarist Jim Matheos under the name Arch/Matheos. Here is their chat, originally broadcast on Jason’s radio program Witchfinder Radio on CILU in Thunder Bay, Ontario, in its entirety.
Though it does not quite possess the potent and urgent vibe of Altar of Plagues’ Mammal, Social Disservices takes second place in my personal albums of the year. Hopefully it will receive even more recognition in 2012.
When The Screams Come is a great visual document of the band that will be as entertaining to longtime fans of the band as it will be to newcomers. It’s not the flashiest, it’s certainly a warts-and-all type performance, but it captures a historically important band in their background getting the kind of adulation they deserve.
The first and most obvious question you’re probably asking yourself after seeing that Hellbound is reviewing the Fat Wreck re-issues of the first five albums by these Goleta, California’s melodi-punk heroes is whether or not the version we’re reviewing here is the box-set edition or simply the individual releases reviewed as a collective. I believe what Grand Wizard Palmerston has provided here are the individual releases, seeing as they are strewn across my desk and there’s no box provided that might maintain any amount of order in the slightest…
Main musician Jay Valena has crafted a powerful full-length record with many strengths even as it doesn’t often stray far from the sub-genre’s tried-and-true clichés. Its organic, earnest, and perhaps even retro sound lifts its five lengthy tracks above some of the contemporaneous releases of even seasoned veterans of the genre. What it lacks in polish and originality it more than makes up for in terms of epic grandeur. That this self-titled debut is mostly the product of a single individual makes it all the more impressive.
Since Hellbound.ca is a Canadian-owned and operated metal publication, we do things a little bit different than most. While 2011 was coming to a close we asked all of our contributors to pick their Top Canadian metal albums of the year. We then tabulated up their responses and have created our third annual Top 10 Canadian Metal Albums writers poll.
Please check out what our writers feel to be the best Canadian metal albums released in 2011.
COC has a new album coming out and, as Gruesome Greg says, “this is some good shit!”
Early this morning I got an email from Sal Abruscato, frontman of A Pale Horse Named Death (as well as the drummer for Life Of Agony and the original timekeeper from Type O Negative) offering a full stream of their show yesterday, January 6th, at the Knitting Factory in New York City. So, without further adieu, here is said show for your viewing pleasure.