Dragged Into Sunlight – American tour diary 2012 – Part 2
The long awaited second half of Jay H. Gorania’s tour diary highlight his summer sojourn with UK black metal enthusiasts DRAGGED IN SUNLIGHT. Live photos by Luna Duran.
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Dark Forest: Land of the Evening Star
“Sometimes album art can be misleading, but visual imagery is to some extent genre specific, so there’s usually a pretty good chance I can judge by an album cover if a band’s style is likely to be my kind of thing. Such was the case with Dark Forest’s Land of the Evening Star. What I can’t always predict is how good the music is going to be, but with Dark Forest’s third “Vinlandic pagan black metal” release, the tracks inside are not just well represented by the gloomy mountain and forest scene on the cover. They’re also very good. As impressed as I was with the recording I wanted to learn more about the band, so I went straight to the source.”
Interview by Laura Wiebe
Nightwish / Kamelot @ Center Stage, Atlanta GA, September 12 + 13, 2012
Justin Richardson reviews the September 12th and 13th performances by Nightwish and Kamelot at Atlanta’s Center Stage facility, done as a welcome to that weekend’s ProgPower USA festival.
Epic Kings and Idols: Devin Townsend Project / Katatonia / Paradise Lost / Stolen Babies @ The Opera House, Toronto ON, September 19, 2012
“With tour line-ups so diverse – much like metal in general – it’s not that common to run into a show where every band demands your equal attention (in anticipation, if not necessarily in performance). But the Epic Kings and Idols tour might have been custom designed for a metalhead like me, and even without a perfect execution this one ranks high amidst my favourite concerts of the year.”
Live review by Laura Wiebe, concert photos by Adam Wills
Iron Will paints a picture of strength, on stage and off, for death metal gladiators Kataklysm
“Director Tommy Jones captures the band’s stories of challenges and victories, both drunk and sober. Every. Single. One. You want an in-depth music documentary on a death metal band? This is it.”
Ola Mazzuca reviews Iron Will: 20 Years Determined, the new 2 DVD, 2CD compilation celebrating the first twenty years of Northern Hyperblast from Quebec death metal veterans Kataklysm.
Top Five Reasons Not To Miss ProgPower USA 2012
“This weekend sees North America’s longest running progressive/power metal festival happen when ProgPower USA XIII kicks off Friday night in Atlanta. This year’s edition will be the thirteenth overall and the key to its success has always been the diversity of the acts that are asked to play each year. The 2012 edition has some excellent talent participating on both days of the festival, but here is my own personal top five reasons why I think this year’s edition is a must see, time and finances permitting”
By Sean Palmerston
Korpiklaani / Moonsorrow / Tyr / Metsatoll @ The Opera House, Toronto ON, August 30, 2012
On August 30th a terrific foursome of current folk metal acts descended on Toronto’s Opera House that included Korpiklaani, Moonsorrow, Tyr and Metsatoll. Laura Wiebe documents the evening’s activities, with live photography by Adam Wills.
Hellbound’s Getting Stoked For… NOCTIS VALKYRIES 5!
Kyle Harcott is going to Calgary at the end of the month to the Noctis Valkyries V Metal Fest and is pretty excited about it. Not only does he get to see Venom, Pig Destroyer and Manilla Road, but he also gets to partake in the metal conference during the day. Here’s Kyle’s explanation about why he’s stoked to be going this year.
The End Records – The Music For Nations Reissues Part One
Recently The End Records acquired the rights to the catalogue of Music For Nations, an excellent British label which closed its doors in 2004. When the label folded into Zomba Music, which was owned by BMG which is now owned by Universal, many of the ‘smaller’ releases were discontinued or lost. The End Records has jumped in and brought many of these releases back to North America, some for the first time as domestic releases. Since there are so many of these, I’m going to break them up into a few different articles (hope you don’t mind) and keep the reviews relatively short.
Review roundup by Jason Wellwood
Dragged Into Sunlight – American tour diary 2012 – Part 1
Earlier this summer Hellbound’s Jay H. Gorania hit the road in the USA with England’s Dragged In Sunlight. Here is the first part of his tour diary accompanying the band on their US tour with Cough.
Live photos by Luna Duran and Albert Mansour.