Murderdolls – Women And Children Last
Women And Children Last isn’t a good “metal” album, it could at least be seen as a decent hard rock or hair metal record.
Reviews
Zoroaster – Matador
While this is a pretty decent record in its own right, I’m somewhat saddened that Zoroaster has moved away from its own unique take on
southern sludge towards a sound that can be filed next to Farflung, The Atlas Moth, and countless other bands.
District 97 – Hybrid Child
Hybrid Child is effervescent and fun, a mostly harmless romp through progressive rock territory. District 97’s edge can be found in the way vocalist Leslie Hunt carries the melodies and the staccato riffing that anchors most of the tracks—you can sorta tell that a drummer composed them.
Årabrot – Revenge
Imagine, if you will – a raw distillation of the best of the Amphetamine Reptile catalogue in its heyday, veering past the outskirts of black metal territory, and fronted by Supergrover, if he had a severe antisocial personality disorder coupled with a propensity to sing through ground-down teeth, in phlegm-clearing snarls, growls and shrieks. Congratulations, you’ve just come close to conjuring up Oslo’s startlingly visionary Årabrot and the sound of their latest blood offering, Revenge.
Dio – Holy Diver Live
While it is nice to see this upgraded to a higher quality format, as the redefinition of it has improved the picture quality over the original DVD release, I must admit that this release is not without its faults.
Triptykon / 1349 / Yakuza / Sylvus @ the Wreckroom, Toronto ON, October 11 2010
“Visually the band’s performance style is understated, but the smaller venue allowed them to overwhelm the space. Alongside the expected Triptykon material, sounding much like it does on record, the set list was Celtic Frost-heavy, songs like “Procreation (of the Wicked)” snarled out with vicious intensity.”
Laura Wiebe reviews the recent Toronto performance of Triptykon, who were joined by 1349, Yakuza and Sylvus.
Malevolent Creation – Invidious Dominion
Rather than being labeled a horrible listen, this album is simply unsatisfying. After listening to tracks from Malevolent’s previous studio release, Doomsday X, it seems that something is missing. Depth is absent, vocals lack vigor and there is nothing audibly fresh in terms of musicality
Tank – War Machine
To reiterate, change the band’s name to something inoffensive and mediocre, to better reflect the music contained within, and I’d be more apt to give this a moderately higher mark. But to so thoroughly tarnish the memory of classic Tank with this half-assed schmaltz is inexcusable and pointless.
Raven / Entropia / Magnus Rising / Striker @ The Red Room, Vancouver BC, Oct 2, 2010
“Raven hit the stage like an atom bomb about 9:30 and proceeded to remind the crowd that, even 35 years into their career, trial and tragedy besides, they still bring the athletic rock like nobody’s business. When I stopped to remind myself that Raven, alongside perhaps only Motörhead, pretty much invented the genre that became known as speed metal, and later thrash, this was special to see indeed.”
Kyle Harcott reviews the recent Vancouver appearance of legendary metallers, RAVEN.
Hellbound Horror: Frozen
“While Frozen isn’t your typical modern horror movie, having a void of an abundance of gore (although there is some, and it’s very well done), an evil antagonist or supernatural entities, it’s the lack of these elements that really add to what makes the film special. Instead, it uses a scenario that is familiar to most people, and adds a terrifying, yet very realistic, “what if?” situation.”
Adam Wills discusses the isolation horror movie, FROZEN, out now on DVD and Blu-Ray through Anchor Bay Entertainment.