Tidal Arms – Tidal Arms
By Gruesome Greg Although their self-titled is actually the second album from this Brooklyn-based trio, it happens to be their first that I’ve actually…
experimental
The Night Watch – s/t
Hellbound Metal: “The Night Watch have released a challenging debut, one which initially did not work for me. Though not all the tracks stand out, it’s with repeated listens that it becomes apparent to me that the album is an exciting piece of avant-garde metal/post-rock/insert label here.”
Thérèse Lanz of Mares of Thrace: The Hellbound Audio interview
I had the opportunity to chat with Thérèse Lanz about Mexican food, video games, being interviewed, stupid questions she is asked, Chicago (and what to eat late night), U.S. Politics and a little bit about music a few weeks prior to the release of The Pilgrimage (Sonic Unyon Metal) and the cross Canada tour that will probably be bringing Mares of Thrace close to your town. Regardless of how many times you speak to Thérèse, she is always entertaining and has a lot of very informed things to say on pretty much any topic. But mostly on tacos and video games…
Interview by Jason Wellwood.
Primus @ Sound Academy, Toronto, ON, July 27, 2010
“While avoiding the bookend records (Suck On This and Antipop) completely, Primus pulled together a set tailor-made to please the devout and focused on fan favorites like “Eleven,” “Pudding Time,” “Golden Boy” and “Southbound Pachyderm” rather than reaching for any “Wynona” or “My Name Is Mud”-sized brass rings (“Jerry Was A Racecar Driver” represented the only bonafide hit in the set) or throwing any curiosity-seeker that may have been in attendance a bone.”
Bill Adams reviews the July 27th Toronto performance by the reuinited PRIMUS. TOM FUN ORCHESTRA opened the show.
Nachtmystium – Not so black metal
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.
Nachtmystium – Addicts: Black Meddle Part II
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.
Triptykon – Eparistera Daimones
Could it be that after three decades as metal musician Fischer has found his voice after playing with so many different styles? Eparistera Daimones is not that different from Monotheist, but that’s not a detriment when following an album that revived your career and reputation. Triptykon’s debut is a worthy piece in Fischer’s enigmatic but always provocative musical career.
Into the crawlspace with THE WHITE MICE
Like the rodents they are named after, The White Mice are an elusive target. Here are the known facts; the band is from Providence, R.I. They released the wonderfully twisted Ganjahovadose via 20 Buck Spin last year. They’ve recorded a slew of splits and EPs with titles like Mouse of Mendes and Do They Know It’s Christmice? Their symbol is a rodent’s face scrawled on a pentagram. The music? Bass, distortion pedal and drums with liberal electronic effects and samples where applicable. They’ve been categorized as industrial, noise, art rock and noisegrind. Perhaps a better description would be unclassifiable.
The Melvins: Chicken Switch
For this album, thirteen musicians weren’t just handed a single song and asked to artfully adorn it with electronics, they were handed as much source material from The Melvins’ songbook as they wanted and asked to get as creative as they wanted in creating something new from their source material selections; essentially being asked to create a series of sound collages from any and as much Melvins material as they liked.
Gaza: He Is Never Coming Back
Gaza’s He Is Never Coming Back is a tumultuous collection of powerful, almost too emotional songs that are heavy – not for simply being dudes from Salt Lake City who want to show who has the biggest balls on the block, but simply because they have something very powerful to day.