FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
We asked all of the contributing writers here at Hellbound.ca to submit their Top 10 albums of 2011, which we then compiled into a master list, assigning points to all their choices (10 points for #1, down to 1 point for #10). After tabulating the results, we have created Hellbound.ca’s Top 20 Albums of 2011. For part two of our continuing series, here is albums #15 through 11…
Anyways, I was looking at Rotate This’ concert tickets page to check if they were selling tix for Deep Purple (negative!), when I saw something interesting. Apparently, Kyuss Lives! is doing a second show in Toronto this year–on New Year’s Eve, no less–at tiny Queen & Bathurst bar Cherry Cola’s. Aye, but here’s the rub. This “once in a lifetime opportunity” will set you back a cool 200 big ones.
The latest band to make it big in the new wave of occult rock (ie Ghost, Blood Ceremony), these Dutch demons have unleashed a lengthy, 76-minute Metal Blade debut upon the masses with this, their second album. Opening with a shuffling, ringing, haunting instrumental, you know you’re in for a hell of a ride…
So, before I get into my top albums of the year, it’s time for some Christmas cleaning. These reviews have been sitting on my hard drive for a while, and chances are you haven’t heard of most of these bands–but some of them are worth checking out.
By the time you read this, tickets for the Deep Purple gig at Massey Hall next year will have just gone on sale. The band will be spending the entire month of February in our country on a 17-date Canadian tour that includes not one, but two gigs in Newfoundland, five concerts in Ontario, and at least one show in every other province except PEI and Quebec. I could be wrong, but I don’t think that a major non-Canadian recording artist has embarked on a cross-country tour of this magnitude in decades. Too bad they couldn’t turn back the clock on those ticket prices…
I gotta say, I’ve always been more of a Maiden man. Put it this way: I heard “2 Minutes to Midnight” before “Living After Midnight.” Well, maybe not, but the former made more of an impression on me. However, when Judas Priest announced their Epitaph farewell tour in the summertime, I didn’t think twice about getting a ticket–even though Kyuss Lives! went on sale the same day. Finally, after several months of waiting, the time has come for their final Toronto gig: Tuesday, November 22nd. I’ll be there with bells on.
Scratch Acid may have been the hipper choice, but I headed to the Horseshoe last nite to catch quintessential stoner rockers Fu Manchu, touring in support of a new vinyl reissue of In Search Of… There seemed to be quite a few aging, balding pudgy rockers on hand–the place was pretty packed!
As a whole, this album is a very long slog, but not an entirely unpleasant one.
When CKLN went off the air, I had it in the back of my mind that I’d be willing to get back into online radio at some point. However, it had to be under the right set of circumstances. I was looking for a station that specialized in stoner/sludge/doom with an open timeslot before most people went to bed. Fortunately, I found it. The first episode of Gruesome Tunes airs tomorrow at 6 pm!
Typically, when the hottest band from the land of Japan comes to town, the gig’s a sell-out. They’ve always played Lee’s Palace, and it’s always been completely packed. Although I’d expect nothing less from tomorrow’s performance, it seems that tickets are still available, both from Ticketbastard, and at Rotate This, which’ll save ya $4.50 in service charges.