FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
Realm of Shadows has reached a different ground than their previous albums and that makes for a smooth and pleasant album to listen too. If you’re the sort who likes Dream Theater, Ayreon and Solis then this cd is going to hit the spot. If someone had told me this was an early Dream Theater release, I wouldn’t doubt them. And that’s a good thing.
Going strong now since the early 90s, Vader keeps getting better and better with each subsequent release. Considered the death metal version of Slayer they are the leaders of the Polish death metal scene and, with this album, soon the planet.
With considerably less than a packed house at The Kool Haus, Down took no notice, and put on one hell of a show for the rabid Down fans that were in attendance. Despite the small mountain of contraband booze (among other substances) that piled up outside the entrance, the crowd were treeated to a set list that would make any long time fan of the band drool, including a wide range of songs from their 1995 debut scattered with selections from their two more recent albums.
Adam Wills and Sean Palmerston discuss last Friday’s Toronto performances by Down and Voivod
Returning from the late-90s to capitalize on the continuing bear hug the metal world given to every thrash band that ever existed in the 80s is Whiplash. The difference being that for a short while back in 1985-86, Whiplash fucking ruled – well, fucking ruled my world, at the very least.
All photos by Adam Wills. All photos are the property of Adam Wills and Hellbound.ca – do not copy without written consent.
A little bit of background information: the record is a collaborative project between two Mikes — Mike Mare and Mike Gallager (of Isis fame). Amigos is a 40-plus minute single-track of ambient guitar textures and carefully pieced-together layers of sound that, just as they are on the verge of overstaying their welcome, shifts gears so as to keep things from getting too boring.
In my opinion Doro is the best female heavy metal vocalist of all time; it was a real gift just to catch her for the first time back in June 2007 – that show was amazing but seeing her for the second time was like winning the metal lottery.
Albert Mansour reviews the recent Toronto performance by German metal goddess Doro.
Forget all of your cardboard cutout third division skidthrash bands that have been popping up all over the place in the last few years, Sacrifice has returned to show how it is done, period. These Canadian thrash icons have come back after sixteen years of hibernation to create what is possibly the best work of their career.
Rob Kachluba reviews the brand new, long-awaited return album by Canadian thrash legends Sacrifice.
Ok, I admit when I offered to review this CD I didn’t realize it was a reissue. Since I had never heard of the band before I couldn’t possibly know they had a discography and haven’t been together in ten years. On a good note, if I hadn’t actually looked at the date and saw this was recorded in 1997 I wouldn’t have thought the album sounded dated.
The lack of visual stimulation didn’t stop the audience from listing with rapt attention to the audio stimulation. They played what I believe was three songs (sometimes it’s a bit hard to tell when it’s an almost constant barrage of noise). I was pleasantly surprised how well the music translated into the live setting as I always wonder with this type of music, as on occasion it doesn’t work.