Category: Featured

Featured posts

  • Helmet / Intronaut @ Lee’s Palace, Toronto ON, Oct 17, 2010

    “I wondered though, if anyone else was visibly shocked when (Page) Hamilton entered the stage. He was not only thin, he was gaunt. If it wasn’t for his deft guitar playing and strong, clear and commanding voice, I would have expected him to crumple onto the floor at any second.” Laina Dawes caught up with…

  • Dawnbringer – Nucleus

    I feel this band always had this kind of album in them and now have fully realized their potential in Nucleus: a glorious heavy metal album that should put a shit-eating grin on every metal head’s face.

  • Murderdolls – Women And Children Last

    Women And Children Last isn’t a good “metal” album, it could at least be seen as a decent hard rock or hair metal record.

  • Zoroaster – Matador

    While this is a pretty decent record in its own right, I’m somewhat saddened that Zoroaster has moved away from its own unique take on southern sludge towards a sound that can be filed next to Farflung, The Atlas Moth, and countless other bands.

  • District 97 – Hybrid Child

    Hybrid Child is effervescent and fun, a mostly harmless romp through progressive rock territory. District 97’s edge can be found in the way vocalist Leslie Hunt carries the melodies and the staccato riffing that anchors most of the tracks—you can sorta tell that a drummer composed them.

  • Årabrot – Revenge

    Imagine, if you will – a raw distillation of the best of the Amphetamine Reptile catalogue in its heyday, veering past the outskirts of black metal territory, and fronted by Supergrover, if he had a severe antisocial personality disorder coupled with a propensity to sing through ground-down teeth, in phlegm-clearing snarls, growls and shrieks. Congratulations,…

  • Photo Gallery: Triptykon / 1349 / Yakuza – Live in Toronto, ON

    Photo Gallery: Triptykon / 1349 / Yakuza – Live in Toronto, ON. All photos by Albert Mansour

  • Dio – Holy Diver Live

    While it is nice to see this upgraded to a higher quality format, as the redefinition of it has improved the picture quality over the original DVD release, I must admit that this release is not without its faults.

  • Triptykon / 1349 / Yakuza / Sylvus @ the Wreckroom, Toronto ON, October 11 2010

    “Visually the band’s performance style is understated, but the smaller venue allowed them to overwhelm the space. Alongside the expected Triptykon material, sounding much like it does on record, the set list was Celtic Frost-heavy, songs like “Procreation (of the Wicked)” snarled out with vicious intensity.” Laura Wiebe reviews the recent Toronto performance of Triptykon,…

  • Man, I’ve crossed a lotta names off my “Bands to See Before I Die” list this year…

    Growing up in Calgary in the pre-Noctis Valkyries days, I was deprived of live music in my formative years. Though the burgeoning oil metropolis was ever-expanding, it was not a regular tour stop for bands, especially from outside of Canada, as it was at least four hours to the nearest sizable city. Let’s just say…