FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
Continuing on from our collected review of Thursday’s show, here is what we thought of the bands we saw which played Friday, Day two, of the 2011 Maryland Deathfest. Reviews by Adam Wills, Laura Wiebe, Kevin Stewart-Panko and Sean Palmerston, with photography by Albert Mansour.
One of the things we polled our writers on was to tell us what their Event of The Year was for 2010. Here is what they have sent us in response…
The beastly grit of doom. Grindcore’s fiery onslaught. Black metal’s confrontational excess. The jarring obtuseness of tech. Metal is founded on explosive, aggressive and often combative attitudes. Still, just when one feels remotely comfortable—possibly slightly expectant—as to what the genre’s next twist will be, something so dominant, furious and volatile comes along that it redefines the parameters of what makes a band extreme.
Keith Carman talks with Toronto’s Vilipend about their multifaceted and dangerous approach to music.
The great thing about fests like MDF is that the metal is simply overflowing. The bad thing about fests like MDF is that the metal is simply overflowing. If it’s sitting down to catch your breath, or grabbing a drink or a bite to eat, there are plenty of reasons causing one to miss one or too many killer bands.
Leaden and imposing while still agile and heated, Black Eye Blues isn’t redefining the world of hardcore overall but it’s still bold, inspired and original enough to be stunning.
Four years after their debut effort Black Thunder—though they have a number of EPs and other releases—apocalyptic groove-metal brigade Doomriders unleash what is easily their most accomplished effort in sophomore affair Darkness Come Alive.
Converge seem to be following a trend among veterans like Sacrifice, Suffocation, Asphyx and Brutal Truth who have released albums this year: offering music that despite the band’s longevity, are if not one, the best albums they have ever created, all while staying true to their original sound.
In the end, Paranoid Delusions/Paradise Illusions comes across as sort of extreme music opera where songs are movements and parts rather than isolated performances.
It took nineteen years but, in the opening guitar slashes of “Dark Horse,” listeners can almost hear the bandmembers collectively growl and then proceed to smash everyone listening over the head with thirteen of the strongest tracks this band has ever recorded; none of which fall into easy classification because Converge plays them all their own way, by their own rules.
With the completion of the second season of Metalocalypse, Dethklok took the road for a full North American tour with co-headliners Mastodon and strong support acts Converge and High on Fire. For a band that seems far from serious, they put together quite the heavyweight lineup, casting some of the top live talents to join them on their conquest for real-life world domination.
Adam Wills reviews the recent Toronto tour stop by Dethklok, Mastodon and friends.