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Heritage Hunter Snacks
Headline, Reviews, Reviews - Live April 10, 2012

Opeth / Mastodon / Ghost @ Sony Centre, Toronto ON, April 7, 2012

“Most readers of Hellbound are probably familiar with the typical metal venue – sticky floors, questionable washrooms, a dimly lit stage, and a sound system that only the most experienced sound engineers can master. But every once in awhile, we get treated to a special show, where a venue has as much to do with the atmosphere as the performance itself. Saturday’s Heritage Hunter Tour stop in Toronto, which took place at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, was one of these rare occurrences, and believe me, this was indeed something special.”

Live review and photos by Adam Wills.

Blogs, Featured, Gruesome Greg April 7, 2012

Finally, a way to combine football and heavy rock without a single note of “Don’t Stop Believing!”

As a die-hard sports fan, I’m often disappointed by the musical selection at sporting events. For every time that a stadium DJ might play “Run to the Hills” or “Hit the Lights,” there are at least a couple hundred renditions of “Don’t Stop Believing,” “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” “Blitzkrieg Bop” and whatever Nickelback’s latest single happens to be at the moment. I can’t remember the last time any of these songs actually fired me up. And when a football player’s idea of a metal band is Free Reign, well, let’s just say that I was starting to believe that good music and the gridiron don’t mix. But that was before I became tuned in to the greatness of Vince Lombarrdi.

Featured, Reviews, Reviews - Audio April 6, 2012

Psycroptic – The Inherited Repression

Upon first listen, Psycroptic sound like the spawn of Decapitated and Nile, which is why it’s no surprise that they’ve toured with both. Yes, this sound has been practiced and produced times before, but the recycling process doesn’t make the record a boring listen. Psycroptic respect the art of their progenitors in an attempt to make it their own. They’re far from an only child mentality as everyone in this band gets their time to shine.

Ancients
Headline, Reviews, Reviews - Live April 5, 2012

Ancients / Burning Ghats / Nylithia / Cathar / Graves @ Rickshaw Theatre, Vancouver BC, March 23, 2012

“It promised to be an epic night. With a good portion of Hellbound West (Rob Hughes/Cara Cross/yours truly) in the house, plus Mr. Palmerston representing the eastern faction, there was a definite buzz in the air for this showcase gig from local faves Ancients. On the cusp of putting out their reportedly-megalithic debut full-length, Ancients rented the Rickshaw for the night, brought a few friends’ bands along for the ride, and drew a pretty good crowd for their showcase.”

Live review by Kyle Harcott, except where noted. Concert photography by Ted Reckoning

Featured, Reviews, Reviews - Audio April 4, 2012

Killing Joke – MMXII

In short, MMXII by Killing Joke is one mighty fine follow-up record to its illustrious predecessor. The album has all the hallmarks of a great record. It has the songs, boundless energy and all the apocalyptic themes to do for.

Featured, Reviews, Reviews - Audio April 3, 2012

A Metal Blade quartet

Metal Blade celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2012. While the label has already released a plethora of classic and genre-defining albums, and fostered and supported our dearly loved heavy metal community, it remains, to this day, as active and energetic as ever. What the metal realm would have looked like without Metal Blade’s steely presence over the past three decades is a frightening thought indeed.

To help celebrate this, here are four new reviews of new Metal Blade titles by our New Zealand based writer Craig Haze, who tackles the new releases by Angel Witch, Exhumer, Ram and OSI