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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The Dean Ween Group – The Deaner Album
Ever since Ween announced its dissolution in 2012, the band’s fans have agonized over what might come next from founding members Aaron “Gene Ween” Freeman and Mickey “Dean Ween” Melchiondo. Some of them figured they pretty much had the group’s dynamic nailed; because Melchiondo was the huskier-voiced entity in the group and already had side…
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BigMotorGasoline – Fuel to Burn
Now, Hellbound is a metal site, and I’m a metal guy. But we’ve talked about plenty of non-metal on this site and I’m not made of studded leather. Plus, I like to sample the local cuisine every now and again. So to speak. Case in point, the debut from Marmora, ON rockers BigMotorGasoline, Fuel to…
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Ayahuasca – Yin
I can actually trace the roots of this Toronto band back to The Womb—literally, as that was the name of their former band. What started out as pure Pantera worship evolved into perhaps the most technically proficient sludge/noise-rock outfit around these parts, putting out a pair of pretty solid records in the late aughts. And…
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Khemmis – Hunted
I’ll admit, I’ve been sitting on this one for a bit. Khemmis’ debut album, Absolution, struck me as a slightly crunchier Pallbearer… and while there’s nothing wrong with that at all, it didn’t quite tickle my fancy. Oh well, second time’s the charm, right? This time, they’ve stretched out the songs a tad, with just…
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Lou Reed – The RCA & Arista Album Collection 17CD box set
The thing which really set Lou Reed apart from the other stars he was grouped with in the Seventies (including David Bowie, Iggy Pop and so on) is that he never once considered pandering to his audience – he always made them work for their enjoyment of his music. It could be said that making…
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Wasted Theory – Defenders of the Riff
The heaviest damn band outta Bear, Delaware is back with its second record, with a nod to Judas Priest and an album cover that screams High on Fire. These guys pull no punches off the bat with “Get Loud or Get Fucked,” a solid southern-rock stomper. This song actually reminds me of the late, great,…
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Red Fang – Only Ghosts
Album number four from Portland’s party-rock ambassadors comes three years, almost to the date, since their last record Whales and Leeches earned them an appearance on Letterman and a debut in the Billboard Top 100. Though they were perhaps a little more commercial-sounding the last time around, they still maintained the fun-loving, nerd-rock sensibilities that…
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Geezer – self-titled
Hailing from the other Kingston (that would be in New York), this heavy-rock trio shoots from the hip on their Ripple Music debut with 52 minutes of bluesy riff rock. New Paltz is sinkin’ man, and I don’t wanna swim! Leadoff single “Sunday Speed Demon” has a loose, 70’s garage-rock feel, with a few heavy…
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Asteroid – III
It’s been a while since Asteroid last made contact with earth. The Swedish heavy-rock trio was fairly active in the aughts, but had not released an album since early 2010. Now they return from an official hiatus with their third record, out on Fuzzorama Records, the indie label run by another Swedish trio you might…
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Watchtower – Concepts Of Math: Book One
Watchtower have a pretty legendary legacy among a niche group of metalheads. To just call their music “thrash metal” and move on is a disservice to both Watchtower and thrash metal. So what do you call it? Progressive thrash? Thrashy progressive metal? Heavy metal was already genre-bending in the ’80s, and that’s part of the…