FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
Barely squeaking into the realms of bona fide metal, Oklahoma City’s Memory Driven seem more intent on crossing over between the worlds of radio-friendly hard music and the more lenient metallions than dedicating themselves to something of true merit.
The latest effort from Swedish black metal veterans Dark Funeral continues the band’s tradition of brutal assaults on the ears of its listeners and fans. While Angelus Exuro pro Eternus has its strong points and memorable moments, it offers little to differentiate itself from the band’s back catalogue and never quite develops its own identity.
Converge seem to be following a trend among veterans like Sacrifice, Suffocation, Asphyx and Brutal Truth who have released albums this year: offering music that despite the band’s longevity, are if not one, the best albums they have ever created, all while staying true to their original sound.
Back before the “Steven Tyler falling off the stage” incident, ZZ Top and Aerosmith were scheduled to tour the football stadiums of the CFL’s Western Division. What with the pissing match that ensued, Aerosmith haven’t made up the dates yet, but ZZ Top came to Calgary for a headlining gig at the Pengrowth Saddledome, just a few days after the city played host to the 97th Grey Cup.
Packed to the gills with live performances, archival clips and documentary footage, Where Death Is Most Alive is an immensely gratifying look back at one of the most consistent bands in all of metal.
In the end, Paranoid Delusions/Paradise Illusions comes across as sort of extreme music opera where songs are movements and parts rather than isolated performances.
Like some terrifying amoeba, Between The Buried And Me has absorbed and incorporated a wild variety of sounds into themselves and spat back something that exhibits them all, but only uses them as ingredients to work toward their own ends.
Lacuna Coil live photo courtesy of wikipedia, copyright creative commons By Melissa Andrews Lacuna Coil, previously already in Toronto this year on tour…
Chicago’s The Atlas Moth emerge from the gate with a debut full-length album that is pretty entertaining at both it front and back end, but which has a more ambiguous middle that is much more tedious than it should be
By Melissa Andrews In the twenty plus years that Skinny Puppy have been around, their Friday the thirteenth show at Toronto’s Phoenix Concert Theatre…