Hellbound Staff Interrogations #11: Laina Dawes
Today’s interview is with Toronto metal writer and upcoming book author Laina Dawes
Read Moremike scheidt
Witch Mountain – South of Salem
Highly recommended for fans of Sleep, YOB, Black Pyramid, and any other band with a legitimate claim in “stoner doom” territory.
Read MoreIndian – Guiltless
These guys play slow, dirty swamp metal, buried deep under several layers of distortion. Much better suited for the bleakest, darkest days of winter than an early spring release.
Read MoreJay H. Gorania’s SXSW 2011 – Part 1
If the cataclysmic, earthquaking rumble beneath Japan was felt stateside, it was surely through Yob’s bottom-heavy, Sabbath-via-Cathedral-and-Sleep riffs. Their music and vocals and presence were passionate and ritualistic. Because of the repetitive nature of the riff-driven madness, the songs stay with you long after they’ve finished playing, bouncing around from synapse-to-synapse in your tenderized gray matter.
Read MoreUnearthly Trance – V
There isn’t much in the way of standout tracks on this one, but rather a continuous, pummelling, ear-pounding assault that only seems to get slower as the album nears its conclusion.
Read MoreBest weekend ever…
In case you didn’t know, I just got back from the West Coast a couple days ago. Saw Sleep in concert at the Roseland Theater in Portland, then caught the Seattle Seahawks’ season opener at Qwest Field. These were the best two days in recent memory.
Read MoreFall Into Darkness 2009 DVD
If you ever find yourself reading press releases about metal tour announcements on the West Coast and suddenly wondering, Now why the hell am I not living in Portland? don’t worry, you’re not the only one. Thanks to local booking agent Nanotear, whose clients are some of the coolest, most cutting-edge artists in heavy music, the Oregon city has turned into a very strong metal market, a fact hammered home annually with Fall Into Darkness.
Read MoreYOB: The Great Cessation
The Great Cessation is well-deserving of the focus and effort it asks of its listeners.
Read MoreYOB: Zen and the Art of Crushing Skulls
Zen Buddhism has always played a central role in Scheidt’s songwriting for YOB, especially on the two previous albums, 2004’s The Illusion of Motion and 2005’s great The Unreal Never Lived, but on The Great Cessation a considerably more blunt approach, which often seems to border on despair and even anger, permeates such tracks as “Burning the Altar” and “Breathing From the Shallows”.
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