Agalloch – Faustian Echoes
This new track sounds like an epic, though straight-forward, closing song in a full-length Agalloch album, not a stand alone experience. It’s an A-side that lacks a B-side.
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Film Review: Så Jälva Metal – The History of Swedish Hard Rock and Heavy Metal
I’d recommend the documentary for metal fans who are particularly interested in the origins of the genre and the roots of metal in hard rock. While I think the narrative could have been weighted more evenly, there is some fascinating archival and interview footage in Så Jälva Metal, and seeing the music from a new cultural perspective is refreshing and eye-opening.
Coheed and Cambria / Moving Mountains / Pianos Become The Teeth @ Music Farm, Charleston, SC Apr 30
“With the upcoming Iron Maiden tour preparing to get underway, many people are aware that half of the tour will be getting Alice Cooper as their opener — a man that needs no introduction — and the other half will be getting New-York based Coheed and Cambria. I know a lot of people who are disappointed with getting Coheed and I feel that disappointment is merely because, for the most part, people going to Maiden are just unfamiliar with the band so Alice Cooper seems like the better of the two. When I discovered that Coheed was going to do a warmup tour in preparation for their slot with Maiden, I jumped at the chance to go see these guys live as my previous chance to see them was dashed.”
Live review and photos by Justin Richardson
Dawnbringer – Into The Lair Of The Sun God
Into The Lair of the Sun God plays like an open-hearted love letter to an age when heavy metal was the brightest star in the sky.
Windsor Rock City band pulls a KISS, recording break-through(?) live album tonite…
Like I said, there have been countless live albums recorded since ’75–but they’ve been mainly used as a means to squeeze more money out of a loyal fanbase when a certain band doesn’t have enough material to make it back into the studio. Rarely have we seen another band use a live recording to launch their career… until tonite.
Soen – Cognitive
Cognitive by Lopez and Co is an excellent debut album, full of intelligent and engaging song material which should thrill the Porcupine Tree, Tool, A Perfect Circle, Oceansize and Amplifier crowds.
Tankard – A Girl Called Cervesa
Overall, for a band with a career spanning over three decades and ten plus studio albums, Tankard is as potent as they ever were. A Girl Called Cervesa really is a treat for the old fans and newcomers to the band, so re-fill your Tankard and get ready for that hangover because A Girl Called Cervesa will punch you right in the face and not think twice!
Sabaton – Carolus Rex
If you like hoisting a mug while you sing with your mates and pumping your fist in the air while singing the glories of battle or prefer to imagine yourself with one foot on a monitor, leading a crowd of enthusiastic head bangers in a chorus of “Gott Mitt Uns, As We All Stand United” then you Will LOVE this record.
COC still sounds good to me!
Alas, while they’re neither classic rockers nor 80’s hair band royalty, Corrosion of Conformity has been going strong now since 1981. And I gotta say, the three founding members, they’ve still got it–and then some!
Maryland Deathfest 2012 – The Images – Part I
Here are some of my photos from Thursday and Friday of this year’s MDF. I submitted a few photos of each band that Jay H. Gorania wrote about. Here are all the ones submitted to Hellbound. Cheerz…