haarp – The Filth
The Filth shows enough promise that I’m curious to see what haarp come up with for their next record.
Kyle Harcott
The Roller – Wasted Heritage
The Roller offer no apology for their crust-laden brand of hatesludge. They don’t care if you like ‘em or hate ‘em; they’re going to keep on bulldozing everything that gets in the way regardless.
Watain/ Goatwhore/ Black Anvil @ Rickshaw Theater, Vancouver BC, Nov 14, 2010
“Soon enough, all ceremonial flames were lit and out strode the dread beast Watain to perform their black mass. What a show. From the opening strains of “Malfeitor”, Watain held the Rickshaw rapt with satanic attention. Their reputation preceding them, the band completely revel in malevolence and black theatrics, from coating themselves in pig’s blood to utilizing flame as the major light source onstage.”
Kyle Harcott reviews the November 14th Vancouver debut by WATAIN. Also on the bill were Goatwhore, Black Anvil and local support from Galgamex.
In Conversation With Killing Joke’s Jaz Coleman
“We have no contemporaries that are alive, let alone making music for the right reasons. We’re the last ones of a certain era, really, from the second wave of punk. And our career’s been very different insofar as I think the most meaningful and exciting and perhaps vital part of our career has been from the middle to this point. The velocity of each album increases, and now with the original lineup back… wow, it’s great. But we’ve never stopped putting out records. And that’s it. Other bands reform, we haven’t, we just keep going.”
Kyle Harcott speaks to Killing Joke mainman Jaz Coleman on the eve of the release of their newest album Absolute Dissent.
Torche – Songs For Singles
As far as the Torche sound goes, Songs For Singles is a breakthrough; there have been hints of veering off in this direction from the beginning, but Torche have really nailed it down here. Though I’d have been just as happy to wait for a full-length, at 21 minutes, this feels like more a tease than anything.
STAFF PLAYLISTS: October 2010
Hellbound’s staff give our picks for Halloween-themed songs to coincide with one of our favourite holidays.
Various Artists:Snakebites – The Music of Whitesnake
Every cover is so irritatingly faithful to the original version it’s aping –right down to sounding overproduced- that it’s painful. But try as they might, none of the covering vocalists here appear to possess an nth of the swagger and soul that Mr. Coverdale conveyed in his prime (even if he did nick it from Robert Plant).
Årabrot – Revenge
Imagine, if you will – a raw distillation of the best of the Amphetamine Reptile catalogue in its heyday, veering past the outskirts of black metal territory, and fronted by Supergrover, if he had a severe antisocial personality disorder coupled with a propensity to sing through ground-down teeth, in phlegm-clearing snarls, growls and shrieks. Congratulations, you’ve just come close to conjuring up Oslo’s startlingly visionary Årabrot and the sound of their latest blood offering, Revenge.
Tank – War Machine
To reiterate, change the band’s name to something inoffensive and mediocre, to better reflect the music contained within, and I’d be more apt to give this a moderately higher mark. But to so thoroughly tarnish the memory of classic Tank with this half-assed schmaltz is inexcusable and pointless.
Raven / Entropia / Magnus Rising / Striker @ The Red Room, Vancouver BC, Oct 2, 2010
“Raven hit the stage like an atom bomb about 9:30 and proceeded to remind the crowd that, even 35 years into their career, trial and tragedy besides, they still bring the athletic rock like nobody’s business. When I stopped to remind myself that Raven, alongside perhaps only Motörhead, pretty much invented the genre that became known as speed metal, and later thrash, this was special to see indeed.”
Kyle Harcott reviews the recent Vancouver appearance of legendary metallers, RAVEN.