Category: Reviews – Audio
Glorious metal in all its earthly forms, compressed onto shiny plastic discs or into digital files. Which ones will become the soundtrack to your life?
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Underworld – Dubnobasswithmyheadman (20th Anniversary vinyl reissue)
There aren’t many occasions when the artistic population of an entire musical genre is able to point to a single album and say it pretty much inspired everything that would matter in and about the genre thereafter, but that’s actually possible when it comes to dubnobasswithmyheadman – Underworld‘s third album. Dubnobasswithmyheadman didn’t just break the…
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Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble – The Complete Epic Recordings Collection
Some Hellbound readers may see this review of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s new box set on the site and be confused: “Stevie Ray Vaighan’s not metal,” they may scream, “he’s a blues guitarist!” This is true. SRV IS a blues guitarist (and a damned good one), but his work garners mention on Hellbound for a few…
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Blooodbath – Grand Morbid Funeral
Well death metal enthusiasts, it’s finally here and it’s only taken six years for another Bloodbath release. There has been a lot of speculation over the past year or so as to who was going to be the new vocalist, so when it was announced that it would be Nick Holmes of Paradise Lost fame it was…
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Sans Soleil – A Holy Land Beneath a Godless Sky
The band’s name, Sans Soleil, translates to Sunless, and they worked with a guy who produced Earthless on this EP, but their music actually sounds more like Earth. And no, not just because some of these songs are viola-driven, although that certainly helps. It’s the stringed instrument that rises right away on opening track “A…
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Origin – Omnipresent
The music of tech deathers Origin produces either a smile or a grimace. Outer space themed! Insanely fast! Insanely technical!…but also a blender of sound and a stagnant end point close to frigid techno. Really, resembling a computer blurp isn’t something everyone aspires to (or wants to listen to). 2008’s Antithesis changed the narrative by…
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Astrakhan – A Tapestry of Scabs and Skin
The second release from these young Vancouver sludgesters Astrakhan combines the two tracks from their previous The Pillarist 7” with a couple new numbers on this 25-minute EP. “Cupid’s Fist” comes swinging out of the gate, a djenty piece of post-sludge with breakdowns aplenty. Vocals are clean and atmospheric for the most part, but they…
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Death From Above 1979 and Old Lines – last minute xmas vinyl suggestions
Two last minute vinyl picks for your holiday gift-giving list, from Bill Adams, editor-in-chief of Ground Control Magazine. Death From Above 1979 The Physical World (Last Gang/Warner Brothers) On The Physical World, it’s impossible to miss the difference between Death From Above as they existed in 2005 and this new, re-energized incarnation of the band.…
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Psychostick – IV: Revenge of the Vengence
I love this album. Sometimes albums that are funny are only good for one listen, but I’ve lived with this one for a few weeks, and I still like listening to it. One of the reasons is that the band are great musicians and there are some really good metal songs here. A reference point…
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The Oath – The Oath
It says a lot for The Oath that their music actually matches the images created by the album’s cover. I’ve seen this album described as occult rock, but that’s beginning to become a catch-all term, it’s meaning worn out by over-use. Rather, to my experienced ears this a great modern take on the new wave…
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Graveyard Ghoul / Cryptic Brood split
You can judge Final Gate Records‘ latest split from the cover. It’s a skeletal sepulchral party in full occult swing, done in pen ‘n’ ink scratching à la Mark Riddick. Musically it’s the same – this is Old Skool Death Metal worship at the altar of Incantation, so if that sounds like fun, take gulp…