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Articles, Headline June 22, 2009

Label profile: Shadow Kingdom Records

Taking the name of his label from the first of writer Robert E. Howard’s fantastical Kull story series, it’ll probably come as no surprise that Shadow Kingdom Records’ and Distro deals extensively in material where swords, shields, impossibly tall marble castles and scenic green hills are stained claret-red with the remnants of some mythical battle feature prominently on album covers. But a random sampling of both the titles Shadow Kingdom owner Tim McGrogan distributes and the bands with which he works illustrates that he’s not as dogmatically dedicated to epic/traditional metal as you might expect.

Headline, Reviews - Visual June 19, 2009

Iron Maiden: Flight 666

We asked our faithful HELLBOUND contributors who have already had a chance to view Flight 666 to write us a review of their viewing experience. Here is a compendium of all the submitted reviews, listed alphabetically by the last name of the writer. We hope you enjoy these individual viewpoints on this fantastic, award winning documentary/live film….

Articles, Headline June 17, 2009

Fatalist: Rechanneling Swedish Death Metal In Ventura County

While the classic Swedish death metal scene of the late eighties and early nineties has influenced today’s scene immeasurably, there are legions of new metal fans today that have yet to discover classic bands like Nihilist, Carnage, Unleashed and Grave. The retro thrash movement is of course all the rage as of late, but not a lot of new bands have yet to pay homage to those classics captured in the formative days of Stockholm’s Sunlight Studios. Ventura County, California based quartet Fatalist is one band that would like to try and help reintroduce that classic Swedish sound to the burgeoning metal masses.

Articles, Headline, Reviews - Books June 15, 2009

Doing The Devil’s Work: An Interview with Amy Sciarretto

“I get so many emails a day, through Facebook and even through my personal email account from people who don’t know me – and even people who do know me,” explains music journalist Amy Sciarretto, who teamed up with her friend and colleague Rick Florino to pen Do the Devil’s Work for Him: How to Make it in the Music Industry (and Stay in it) (McCarren Publishing). “I was giving advice away so much that I realized I was giving the same advice over and over again, so obviously there was a need for this information, so why don’t we put it in a book?”

Articles, Headline June 8, 2009

Darkthrone: Rally ‘Round The Black Flag

While Darkthrone may have been associated with the second wave of black metal by virtue of its time and place, the hellish duo behind the band, Fenriz and Nocturno Culto, always associated their band with the first wave of black metal, prior to the establishment of rigid genre boundaries. Back then, black metal had more to do with attitude and spirit. Darkthrone has always remained firmly entrenched in that black metal ethos.

Articles, Headline June 4, 2009

Heavy Rider: Why Motorcycles Are Metal

Despite the social consternation that both rock music and motorcycles shared, the coupling of the two eventually created a seamless union between man and machine. “Today there are not too many avenues to feel that sense of freedom, and I think that’s an exciting thing for people who ride motorcycles,” says Chris Barnes, frontman for Florida’s Six Feet Under and proud owner of a custom 2005 Harley Davidson.

Articles, Headline June 2, 2009

Tank: Their War Drags Ever On

Of all the original NWOBHM bands, few have been as sadly under-valued as London’s Tank. Formed by former Damned/Saints bassist Algy Ward in early 1980, Tank took the raw aggression of Algy’s former punk bands and applied it to a more metal setting.

Articles, Headline June 1, 2009

Word Association Fun With… AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED

Agoraphobic Nosebleed has just released their crowning achievement, the stunningly song-oriented ginormous musical fuck-stick that is Agorapocalypse and as the press cycle dictates, it’s time for them to do interviews promoting said record. We could ask about their packaging the CD in old-school longboxes, what took so fucking long and how a band that doesn’t have a drummer managed to place a drum solo in “Question of Integrity.”

Articles, Headline May 28, 2009

IRONSWORD: Force Of The Blade

One of the most exciting, invigorating slabs of true metal to make its way into my grubby hands this past year has been Overlords of Chaos, the third album overall by Portuguese power trio Ironsword. After two previous releases through Solstice guitarist Rich Walker’s Miskatonic Foundation, the band has found a new home on Pittsburgh’s Shadow Kingdom Records. The label has quickly been making a name for itself by releasing some of the best underground classic heavy metal to see the light of day in 2008, and this leads the pack as their best release yet.

Articles, Headline May 28, 2009

Solitude Aeturnus

It’s a good time to be a traditional doom metal fan. After years of inactivity from some of the genre’s most beloved acts, the past year or so has seen a glut of new and archival material made available. From the Pentagram and Bedemon rarities collections through Trouble’s reissues and new studio effort to the solid new Candlemass album – not to mention excellent new efforts by young bands such as Isole and The Gates Of Slumber – we’ve seen a wealth of riches unleashed.