FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
“Black metal, if it is to be effective, must be capable of forming an expression that provokes in both music and ideology. In fact, it is a mistake to speak as if the former is discrete from the latter; the expression itself, if it is effective, must make the music ideological and the ideology musical.
Nightbringer, with its esoteric lyrics detailing the present-day shadows cast by ancient and forgotten gods, does precisely this.”
Album review by Tate Bengston
A heavy foursome from a college town (Columbus, OH) named after a character from a Kurt Russell movie (Big Trouble in Little China), Lo-Pan had been going on five years before they caught the ear of Small Stone Records, who have remastered and re-issued the band’s debut album.
Ever the innovator, Justin Broadrick can now add ‘Christmas album’ to his respectable canon, as he leaves us slavering for the next Jesu full-length. I’d say it’s a safe bet you won’t stumble across another Christmas-themed album as original or inspiring this year – and not one god-damned sleigh bell to be heard!
While not every track can boast the same impressive quality, We Wish you A Metal Xmas… offers a bit of sonic relief from the repetitive soundtrack that normally accompanies the Christmas season. If you take it with a grain of salt and pinch of irony, you might even find yourself enjoying a carol or two.
Time and circumstances are not always kind to metal, and this archive is a fantastic look at those who were left behind in the Texas underground metal scene of the 1980’s.
Hellbound readers, you know Natalie Zed, right? Natalie was our big grand prize winner way back in January, taking home more than 50 CDs + and shortly after she received her huge box ‘o CDs, Ms. Zed asked us over at Hellbound HQ if we’d be interested in running reviews of her winnings if she did postcard sized reviews of the albums. How could we say no?
She’s reviewed all the original CDs and is now reviewing newer things that have made their way to her. Here is part eight of her ongoing series which we like to call “Postcards With Natalie Zed”.
Artep has chosen to focus on a primitive form of symphonic black metal comparable to the first two Dimmu Borgir albums, which it blends with Dark Funeral-styled blasting. The band’s music is every bit as derivative and dull as such a combination might indicate. The only thing that separates Artep from many of its peers is that it commits more than its fair share of missteps as it travels this well-trodden path.
With their latest effort, Earth toys with the idea of heaviness. Angels of Darkness… isn’t an album that pounds and pummels you into submission, but lightly glides on by, taking you along for the ride. This record exudes mellow vibes, so light a candle and close your eyes as it takes you away…
What is the best thing Entombed has done since Wolverine Blues? It’s Seattle, Washington’s Black Breath and their album Heavy Breathing.
“This is not the girls music. This is unkind. There are no engines allowed. It’s the rock music”