FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!
Find out what HELLBOUND’s contributors have been listening to during the month of September. Almost every writer has submitted their Top 5 list and have an option to list a book and a film they are into right now too
By Matt Lewis Ion Dissonance, a band among bands hailing from the great metal hotbed of Quebec. Their fourth album Cursed comes without much…
“Only in death metal can you seriously announce that the next song is about the secret shadow-dwellers who live underground, have the room nod along seriously and then play a blisteringly brilliant song without a hint of irony. It’s damn fun to play mind-bogglingly intricate, complex music and still assert that the subject matter is inspired by psychic vampires. It is excellent, serious music delivered with charm, humour and monsters — there is nothing not to love.”
Natalie Zed reviews the August 28th Toronto performance by ABORTED, AUGURY and SYSTEM DIVIDE at Sneaky Dee’s. Live photos by Adam Wills.
Holy Christ, the new songs Ion Dissonance played, which were about half their set, blew me away. Crazy, maniacal and with a heavy as an elephant low end, these guys use 8 string guitars and you can feel it in the stomach. Their performance was tight, to the point and they left it all on the field.
“Metal cannot often be defined as subtle. Every now and again, however, these is a show that serves as a sort of palate-cleanser, offering metalheads an opportunity to indulge in some of the more delicate flavours that this broad, strange genre of music has to offer. Cynic, Intronaut and Dysrhythmia performed just such a show, giving the audience at the Opera House an aural meal to be sipped and sampled as well as devoured.”
Natalie Zed reviews the August 2nd Toronto performance by CYNIC, INTRONAUT and DYSRHYTHMIA. Concert photography by Adam Wills
The Obsidian Conspiracy had an almost insurmountable expectation being the follow up from TGE and both solo records, which were great. Nevermore fans will be disappointed with this new album however, as the record doesn’t really deviate from the Nevermore formula and some of the songs are just plain stale.
While the practice of genre blending is nothing new to the world of metal, few bands have taken it to the extremes that Chicago band Nachtmystium have. Built on a strong foundation of second wave black metal, that band have evolved progressively into a psychedelic, industrial and post punk fueled black metal behemoth, culminating in their latest concoction, Addicts: Black Meddle Part II. Lead singer, guitarist and band mastermind Blake Judd weighs in on the band’s directional shifts and his growth as a musician in this exclusive interview with Hellbound’s Dave Sanders.
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!
Find out what HELLBOUND’s contributors have been listening to during the month of May. Almost every writer has submitted their Top 5 list and have an option to list a book and a film they are into right now too.
By Adrien Begrand Although there aren’t many metal side projects that are actually worth getting very excited about, without question, every time Witchery puts…
Addicts is one of the most diverse albums to be released in a long while and one that would be a crying shame to miss. Nachtmystium have become masters at pushing their genre to new and unexplored limits. Expect imitators, but don’t accept imitations.