Category: Reviews – Live
Hellbound is always there, lurking in the crowd, while the band blisters the very air.
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Venom Inc. + Goatwhore @ The Mod Club, Toronto, 5 September 2017
Venom are among the most influential heavy metal artists even to this day, responsible for imbuing metal with Satanic theatrics. Venom Inc. is a reunion of three members from the English band’s 1989 ‘Prime Evil‘ album, namely Demolition Man, Mantas and Abaddon. Fans spout the praises of the original group’s mainman Cronos but credit should…
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Marduk / Incantation @ The Garrison, Toronto, 2 September 2017
Black and death metal form an unholy alliance to deliver evil to Toronto. The instigators in question are Marduk and Incantation, both acts at the forefront of their genres with pedigrees few can surpass. Swarms of black-clad metal heads take over The Garrison for a dose of darkness. Household death metallers Incantation need no introduction…
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Pallbearer + Kayo Dot @ Lee’s Palace, Toronto, 30 August 2017
Are we all doomed out yet? Over the last seven or so years, doom metal has risen from its moldy grave like a fiend from a ‘70s Hammer Horror film. Consequentially, this trendy reincarnation has spawned an army of redundant Black Sabbath, Candlemass, Electric Wizard and Pentagram clones as well as summoning the original corpses…
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Stick Men + Sonar @ The Garrison, Toronto, 27 August 2017
Time to get sticky! Stick Men are a progressive rock act where all three band members stick it to conventional rock norms by playing wielding sticks – two Chapman sticks and drum sticks. Formed in 2007 by Chapman stick player Tony Levin of King Crimson fame (who has appeared on over a whopping 500 albums),…
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Magma @ The Mod Club in Toronto, 20 August 2017
Sometimes progressive rock feels too limiting a label for an infinitely innovative collective credited with introducing unorthodox and challenging elements to music. One such act is cult legend Magma, formed in France in 1969 by the ambitious Christian Vander. Vander took Magma one step beyond other musicians at the time by creating his own language for…
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The Jelly Jam + Rustik @ The Rockpile, Toronto – 18 August 2017
A progressive rock/metal supergroup strikes Toronto! The members of The Jelly Jam include bassist John Myung from Dream Theater, guitarist and vocalist Ty Tabor from King’s X and drummer Rod Morgenstein, an alumni of Dixie Dreggs and Winger. Despite their line-up’s impressive roster of musical contributions, this band has a criminally limited fan base. Their…
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Anciients, Dead Quiet and Muffler Crunch @ Hard Luck Bar, Toronto, 18 August 2017
If you aren’t familiar with Anciients, you should be. The British Columbia-based band recently took a swing through southern Ontario as part of their Voice of the Void Canadian tour with Dead Quiet. Hellbound welcomed them to Hamilton for their performance at This Ain’t Hollywood – a night of top-notch live metal also featuring local openers…
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Neurosis / Converge / Amenra at the Danforth Music Hall, Toronto, 2 August 2017
Amenra Crushing hypnotic sludge. Screamed vocals. Very Neurosis-like in style. Slow parts and catchy melodies. Nice black and white visuals. Clouds and nature with burning and smoking landscapes. Maybe close to as punishingly epic as a cult of Luna show. Lots of feedback and ringing and sustained notes and riffs. Echoing bass and drums can be felt…
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Today is the Day + Kayo Dot @ Hard Luck Bar, Toronto, 26 July 2017
A sizeable number of people think nothing is ever truly original, but that doesn’t mean musicians shouldn’t strive to develop something rare. Tonight’s one-two punch of Today is the Day and Kayo Dot is a welcomed concert of groups whose primary musical motivation is, refreshingly, to attain this goal. JUL 29: Today is the Day,…
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Green Day, Oakland Coliseum, 5 August 2017
Let me start off this show review saying from the early to late-90s I would have considered myself a Green Day fan. From the first time I heard the album Kerplunk around 1992 I knew these Bay Area guys were something special. Now, let’s fast forward to the present. I hadn’t seen Green Day in…