FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
Even with turnover amongst the ranks of its members over the years, Therion has the foundation of Johnsson and (unofficial) Karlsson and continue to write and record some of the most creative albums in the symphonic metal genre. The epic album Sitra Ahra ranks among their very best works.
Marrow of the Spirit is not, personally, the musical paradigm shift that was Ashes Against The Grain. It is instead a welcome development of and contribution to Agalloch’s catalogue, an album that is a sure contender for the inevitable “best of” lists coming up.
“It was horrible. We were not well-received at all. People would throw dog food at us. People called us pussy metal.”
On the eve of the release of their excellent comeback album Jupiter, Justin M. Norton speaks with ATHEIST drummer and co-founder Steve Flynn about their early years, the re-emergence of the band and their exciting new album.
I will say that while past albums from The Ocean excluding Heliocentric have had a lot of groove heavy riffs this album doesn’t really lock in a riff for too long. It is quite varied and I think that’s why it threw me at first. I was expecting the same type of formula as previous efforts but Anthropocentric has really stepped it up a notch in terms of an evolved sound.
Here is what we played on the October 24th, 2010 edition of HELLBOUND RADIO
The great pacing throughout the album makes you wonder why we haven’t heard such glorious blistering thrash from the lads earlier. Forbidden abandons any past or modern pretense and makes thrash metal vital again by combining heaviness, speed, melody, and technicality into a marvelously accessible package.
Every cover is so irritatingly faithful to the original version it’s aping –right down to sounding overproduced- that it’s painful. But try as they might, none of the covering vocalists here appear to possess an nth of the swagger and soul that Mr. Coverdale conveyed in his prime (even if he did nick it from Robert Plant).
“I think the biggest thing that has helped with the resurgence in classic power/speed metal is probably blogs and the internet. Plus, there’s so much crappy music out there that it seems only the classic metal/power/speed bands are worth listening to since they still stand the test of time.”
Kevin Stewart-Panko in conversation with HOLY GRAIL vocalist James Paul Luna about their debut album, Crisis In Utopia, set for release October 26th on Prosthetic Records
Here is the playlist for the October 17th edition of HELLBOUND RADIO
With two jam-packed DVDs and two CDs, Forging the Land of Thousand Lakes is nothing if not thorough.