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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Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard – Yn Ol I Annwn
This is the third album from the splendidly named Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard. No band sounds like M.W.W.B.; they are a secret the world needs to know. For sure, there are reference points, such as Black Sabbath and Hawkwind (and the musical spirit of adventure that Hawkwind represent is something far more bands should take…
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Sacro Sanctus – Liber III: Codex Templarum
This is metal made for the very best of reasons by Mr. Albert Bell, a long-time mainstay of the Maltese metal scene: for the love of the music and culture. For, make no mistake, fifty years down the line, metal is a legitimate culture, with a glorious past, exciting present, and much optimism for its…
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Mork – Det Svarte Juv
When such an arbiter of good taste as the mighty Fenriz endorses a band you can be sure they are something special, and indeed Mork are special. Black metal in the best sense of the word, the songs herein take the listener on a journey through the soundscape of the soul. For sure there are…
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Getaway Van – self-titled
Man, just the band name and the logo of this Vancouver outfit has got visions of Fu Manchu slowly cruisin’ through my head before I even push play. Hey, it’s no Boogie Van, but this Getaway Van is still Hell on Wheels, dude! OK, so they might not be the closest disciples of the Fu,…
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High Reeper – Higher Reeper
After putting out a smokin’ Sabbath/Saint Vitus-inspired self-titled record about a year and a half ago, Philly’s High Reeper is already back with album number two. Why get high when you can get higher, bro??? The eight-song, 40-minute effort picks up right where its predecessor left off, with “Eternal Leviathan” serving up a solid slice…
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Brant Bjork – Jacoozzi
It’s always a good day for stoner rock when Brant Bjork releases a new record—although this isn’t really a new, new record, and it isn’t your typical Brant Bjork record, either. Recorded in 2010, Jacoozzi is just Brant jammin’ with himself, playing all the instruments like he did on Jalamanta, his solo debut from ’99…albeit…
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Minors – Abject Bodies
After seeing Minors about a year ago with Primitive Man and Spectral Voice in Toronto, I quickly grew deeply in love with these guys. Their first record, Atrophy, was simply perfect and when I heard they were doing a new album I was immediately excited. Minors are a powerviolence group from Windsor, Ontario that are…
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Staff Playlists, February 2019
This month, in honour of Valentine’s day, we’ve added an extra category to spread the love. We’ve also added a category for all you Anti-Valentiners out there. Come accompany the humans of Hellbound this time around for their picks, recommendations and hearts full of Metal. Hellbound recommends Bill Adams New release: Royal Trux – White…
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Revolution: Underground Sounds of 1968
Various Artists – 3CD boxed set 1968 was a milestone year, both musically and socially (as evidenced by an excellent documentary series that recently aired on the History Channel). We very much live today in a world that is shaped by the events of 1968, such as the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther…
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Kings Destroy – Fantasma Nera
Kings Destroy has always offered an original take on melodic doom that can’t easily be pigeonholed – for instance, while their NYHC roots might have some influence on their chugging guitar riffs, they don’t sound anything remotely like sludge metal. Fantasma Nera, their fourth album, sees the band move at times away from “doom,” displaying…