Author: Sean Palmerston

  • Keep of Kalessin – Reptilian

    Wow, what an absolute scorcher of an album this is after the so-so Kolossus release of a few years back

  • Book review – Only Death is Real: An Illustrated History of Hellhammer and Early Celtic Frost 1981–1985

    Like many pioneers, Hellhammer took their lumps from everyone, including its own members. They were hobbled by geography and underdeveloped talent, but they built a great mystique around themselves as they toiled to spread their malodorous gospel, only to be sent back to the drawing board after every recording session and demo release. This unlikely…

  • Triumfall – Antithesis of All Flesh

    While those burnt out on their black metal will probably want to stay away for now, sub-genre aficionados will find things they enjoy in Antithesis of All Flesh. It’s the bigger black metal fans, in all likelihood, that Triumfall are aiming to attract in the first place.

  • 16 Volt/ Chemlab/ Left Spine Down @ Neu+ral, Toronto, ON, May 10, 2010

    16 Volt is the project of Eric Powell. The tour included KMFDM’s Steve White. For a group that included some borrowed musicians due to the inability for some of the regular players to cross the border, the sound was quite cohesive. While Powell may not be personable with the crowd as Louche he still knew…

  • Nachtmystium – Addicts: Black Meddle Part II

    Addicts is one of the most diverse albums to be released in a long while and one that would be a crying shame to miss. Nachtmystium have become masters at pushing their genre to new and unexplored limits. Expect imitators, but don’t accept imitations.

  • Watain: The Hellbound Interview

    This kind of music attracts people that want to explore the dark , the kinds of things within that want to have an outlet and want to be manifested in reality, in your life. Black metal is one way of letting this side manifest. Justin M. Norton in conversation with Erik Danielsson of Watain on…

  • 3 Inches of Blood/ Goatwhore/ Burning the Day @ Mod Club, Toronto ON, May 13, 2010

    There is something solid, straightforward, almost wholesome about 3 Inches of Blood’s brand of traditional heavy metal that is particularly satisfying. Cam Pipes sang about orcs and hammers while unleashing a series of throaty old-school wails—what was there not to love? Natalie Zed reviews the May 13th Toronto performance by 3 Inches of Blood and…

  • Judas Priest – British Steel (30th Anniversary Edition CD/DVD)

    While the river of reissues pouring out of the major label music business is only swelling with time, some records just come with a fantastic story that would keep it selling well even if it hadn’t been repackaged and re-placed on new release racks; they just have an enduring appeal. Judas Priest’s British Steel is…

  • Misery Index – Heirs To Thievery

    For the older metal fan all grown this is like a vodka and red bull. It will keep you up and going so you can make more stupid drunken decisions so you can regret that thing you did behind the bar in the alley that got you a particularly nasty case of the herps.

  • Andrew Bonazelli: The Hellbound Interview

    I have no idea if Andrew Bonazelli has ever picked up an instrument, let alone ever played in a band, but his position as the reviews and managing editor of the almighty Decibel Magazine and the fact that he’s just released his second book, A Regular, means there’s a connection to the world of extreme…