FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
“If you’re a fan of extreme metal and you live in North America, it’s likely that you have a strong impulse to attend the continent’s biggest annual festival: Maryland Deathfest. Actually attending the fest, however, isn’t always possible, especially if you live thousands of miles away.”
Part two of Jay H. Gorania’s recap of Maryland Deathfest 2012, with live photos by Albert Mansour.
Post-ambient shoegaze drone doom duo (for lack of a better term) Nadja make their triumphant return to Toronto at The Garrison this Sunday. This is literally the only NXNE gig I’m attending this year. Yes, it’s that worthwhile.
Witch Mountain plays the Hard Luck Bar June 13th with Blood Ceremony and Castle. Consider this your two weeks’ notice!
Sparseness and minimalism play a large part in Constantinople’s allure, and the space within the tracks leaves room for darkly spiritual reflection.
Last weekend, I was in Ottawa for the All That Is Heavy II doomfest, a six-band shindig featuring Blood Ceremony, Iron Man and Revelation, to name a few. This was the second notable doom-metal festival in Canada over the past few years, after Montreal is Doomed in December 2010, which happened to be Pagan Altar’s North American debut. (That was quite the nite for me, too!) So, when are we gonna see one of these things in Toronto? Don’t hold your breath…
Album number two from this Bay Area female-fronted doom trio. Funeral doom this is not—eight tracks spanning less than 36 minutes. From the upbeat (if none too uplifting) chugs and gleaming instro passages of the opener “Ever Hunter” through the piercing, haunted wails and jagged riffing of “Corpse Candles,” this is not your slogging bog-band doom, either.
Adrien Begrand reviews the May 4th Saskatoon performance by Untimely Demise, Grand Master, Mares of Thrace and Agony Spawn at Amigos.
By Raymond Westland Paradise Lost is one of the true pioneers of the early UK doom/death metal movement, together with Cathedral, My Dying Bride…
Let’s face it, you’re not going to hear a wide variety of different styles on here, but for spaced-out doom done right, it doesn’t get much better.
When they did the first edition of this event, a fundraiser for local college radio station CKCU, I remember thinking, “Damn, that’s a great lineup!” Featuring four of Southern Ontario’s finest–Electric Magma, Gypsy Chief Goliath, Blood Ceremony and Sons of OTIS–there was really no reason that show couldn’t have happened in Toronto, cept nobody had the initiative to book it. But when I saw the bill for the sequel this year… Well, let’s just say the organizers are kicking it up a notch, and I definitely plan on heading up to the nation’s capital for this one.