FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
Crisis do have some early metal influences happening though the majority of what you’ll hear is hard rock driven material. The guitar owes as much to the 60’s British Invasion sound as it does NWOBHM, which is to say that it’s catchy but not exactly metal and not overly memorable either.
The word “aphotic” means lacking light, specifically outside of the range of sunlight, like the abyssal depths of the ocean floor. But there is light here, a strange, phosphorescent light — this album shines.
Ever since vocalist Tomi Joutsen joined the band four albums ago Amorphis has been on a consistent roll for the most part firing on all cylinders. Last album Skyforger was a huge hit on many of year end lists and is probably their best work yet. Now A Beginning of Times is good but maybe not up to the quality of there last three outings.
“There’s numerous ways that metal shows are often described: epic; intense; but the best word to describe this show? Fun. Devin is refreshingly positive and enthusiastic as he jokes, pokes fun and chats with the crowd throughout the night, all the while performing with a combination of smiles and silly faces. And when you add Anneke’s glowing charm to the mix, you can’t help but have a great time.”
Adam Wills recaps a performance abroad, seeing Devin Townsend in the Netherlands with Anneke van Giersbergen.
“While this bout of First Gen punk rockers strutting their new stuff (OFF!) or taking a skank down memory lane (Descendents) was clearly not about to grab Southern Ontario by the short and curlies, with enough bodies filling the concrete lawn to instigate agoraphobia, it was clear that Southern Californian punk rock has clearly grown in appreciated stature over its three decades.”
Keith Carman reviews the June 16th outdoor performance by Descendents and OFF! at NXNE in Toronto. Live photos by Heather Carman Ostrander.
Book of Dowth is a solid uniform testament of folk influenced melodic death metal for fans to feast upon.
As a whole, this self-titled offering is short and sweet, eight tracks weighing in at 20 and a half minutes. Nothing special, but if you like slowcore, it’s worth a shot.
“A Storm of Light provided a performance that felt more like a denouement than a revelation. Their set featured a heavy visual component, in the form of projected videos that drenched the stage in light. It was quite lovely, which is unsurprising considering that vocalist/guitarist Josh Graham is the visual artist for Neurosis.”
Natalie Zed reviews the June 11th Toronto performance by A STORM OF LIGHT and TOMBS at Toronto’s Sneaky Dee’s. Live photos by Laina Dawes
Listeners and long-time fans will be absolutely thrilled by this updated presentation of Blizzard Of Ozz because it does do a service to the songs – but the catch is that they have to make it by the re-treatment of “Crazy Train” to do it, and that may be a greater accomplishment than many might suspect.
Sepultura, celebrating their 27th year as a band in 2011, are still in fine, fine form. Derrick Green is an engaging frontman, bantering with the crowd between every song, and absolutely tearing the place up vocally. Drummer Jean Dolabella is a powerhouse, and the best compliment I can give him is that all of the classic Sepultura songs (let’s face it, the drums were always Sepultura’s signature) sounded exactly the way they were supposed to. Paulo, Jr? Well, Paulo’s bottom-end keeps it all in place – he doesn’t move around or interact with the crowd so much, but as the oldest-serving member of Sepultura at this point, he doesn’t have to. And Andreas’ guitar riffs were monstrous and legendary, he too kept the crowd engaged and roaring.
Kyle Harcott reviews the May 31st appearance by Sepultura at Vancouver’s Vogue Theatre. Live photos by Ted Reckoning.