Category: Reviews

  • Unleashed – As Yggdrasil Trembles

    Unleashed’s tried and true formula is a simple yet very effective one: big, meaty old school death riffs, songs that engage audiences instead of challenge, and loads and loads of good, old fashioned Viking shtick, thicker and tackier than Mackintosh toffee. It’s been done to death to the point where Unleashed couldn’t be more predictable,…

  • Trouble: Plastic Green Head (reissue)

    Boasting the most robust guitar tone of the band’s career, Trouble shifted to a riff-heavy approach and embraced the almighty groove. Trouble did not abandon its zeal for all things 70s so much as it reconciled this enthusiasm with a straight-up metallic punch. However, what truly allowed Plastic Green Head to stand out was its…

  • Midnight Odyssey – Firmament

    Firmament’s sound places the album squarely within ambient black metal territory, more Drudkh than Darkthrone. As such it’s probably more likely to appeal to those looking for something like the former than the latter. Think Circle of Ghosts but with more thunderous kick.

  • Apostle of Solitude – Last Sunrise

    Last Sunrise is a challenging album. It’s not something that will come to you first listen. It, like many of the best albums released by clear singing, true doom bands (think Solitude Aeturnus, Candlemass, Isole) is an album that needs a few solid run throughs(preferably by headphones) to fully let it sink in.

  • Triptykon – Eparistera Daimones

    Could it be that after three decades as metal musician Fischer has found his voice after playing with so many different styles? Eparistera Daimones is not that different from Monotheist, but that’s not a detriment when following an album that revived your career and reputation. Triptykon’s debut is a worthy piece in Fischer’s enigmatic but…

  • Metal Blade CMW Showcase @ Bovine Sex Club, Toronto ON, March 12, 2010

    On Friday, March 12th, Metal Blade Records put on a showcase of their Canadian talent during Canadian Music Week in Toronto. The list of bands was exciting: Assassinate the Following, Toronto locals Starring Janet Leigh, Aeternam from Quebec, Titan (also from Toronto), Barn Burner and the almighty Bison B.C. This was looking like a good…

  • Festival Recap – Scion Rock Festival, Columbus OH, March 13, 2010

    I like free things. I especially like them when they give me the chance to see a bunch of bands I dig for, well, nothing. So, after passing on going to the initial Scion Rock Festival with Kevin Stewart-Panko last year when it happened in Atlanta, I made up my mind I wouldn’t miss this…

  • Iron Man – Black Night (reissue)

    As previously mentioned in Albert Mansour’s recent Wolfbane review, Hellbound.ca has a pretty deep respect for the excellent job Pittsburgh’s Shadow Kingdom Records is doing chronicling long lost metal gems for modern day consumption. The long line of obscurities they have dug up in the past three years is admirable and this new reissue by…

  • Dillinger Escape Plan / Darkest Hour / IWrestledABearOnce @ The Opera House, Toronto ON, March 14, 2010

    DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN were merciless performers, never letting the audience relax for a moment. Not only did their wicked on-stage energy hold everyone rapt, but so did the possibility that at any moment Greg Puciato might dive directly into the crowd and continue to perform while crowd-surfing. Dillinger Escape Plan concert review by Natalie Zed,…

  • Orphaned Land with Suidakra @ The Wreckroom, Toronto ON, March 13, 2010

    After a short intermission Israel’s Orphaned Land presented to Toronto their version of Middle Eastern Heavy Metal. Foregoing the traditional metal uniform of all black, the band performed dressed in Arabic influenced white and accessories.