Tag: metal
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Rozamov – This Mortal Coil
I actually saw this Boston trio in Toronto last summer, when they played the basement of the Smiling Buddha with Moon Curse and Ol’ Time Moonshine. And with all due apologies to said moon units, Rozamov was definitely the heaviest band on the bill. I half-expected my old landlord to come down and tell ‘em…
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AURAS – Heliospectrum
O’ Canada, who are you really? Are you a dualistic nation, because of your anglo/franco roots? The colonial settlers whose languages and cultures would permeate the land, intertwining two disparate homelands into one? Are you a romancing of the classic era, or are you an eclectic mix of all nations of the people your borders…
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Ol’ Time Moonshine – The Apocalypse Trilogies
Y’know, the first thing that struck me about this CD was the packaging. See, I’ve got a whole binder full of CDRs from a buncha local bands from back in my days at CKLN—including a few from Diablo Red, this outfit’s spiritual predecessor—so when I get something new from someone nearby, it’s usually not very…
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Kings Destroy – None More
At this point, I’m pretty familiar with Kings Destroy… but you might not be. This NYC epic doom outfit has three albums under its belt, and they’ll be playing Toronto for the third time—along with Montreal and Ottawa—as touring support for Truckfighters later this month. Not that they sound much like Truckfighters, mind you. If…
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Lo-Pan – In Tensions EP
Columbus heavy rock crew Lo-Pan is kicking off 2017 in style with this five-song, 22-minute EP. The grizzled tour veterans head out with “Go West,” a slower, sludgy stomp that kinda reminds me of Torche, especially in the vocal department. “Sink or Swim” is slightly shorter and crunchier, a decent, mid-paced, melodic rocker. The slow,…
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Baby In Vain – For The Kids EP
Some self-important critic somewhere will review Baby In Vain‘s first EP and say they saw it coming. Over the last couple of years, bands like Dilly Dally, Like A Motorcycle and Ex Hex have all come along and resurfaced the road which once traced the way between hardcore, metal and grunge and also renewed interest…
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Arduini/Balich – Dawn of Ages
In case you weren’t familiar with the two names on the cover, Victor Arduini played guitar on the first two Fates Warning LPs, while Brian Balich is known to doomsters as the former voice of Penance and current voice of Argus, one of the leading purveyors of power-doom these days. This collaborative effort has been…
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Metallica – Hardwired… To Self-Destruct (Deluxe Edition 3CD)
It’s funny how the psychology of salesmanship works – after a certain point, one has to wonder where the logic goes. A great example of that can be found in the Deluxe Edition, 3CD version of Hardwired… To Self-Destruct. As previously stated in my review of the standard-issue 2CD version of the release, Metallica‘s new…
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RUN-DMC – Raising Hell LP
Legacy Celebrates 30th anniversary reissue LP Without attempting to get too colorful or indulgent about it, Run-D.M.C.’s third album, Raising Hell, is one of the most important and influential albums to come out of the second half of the twentieth century. That fact is beyond dispute; it was Raising Hell which really got producer Rick…
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Hellbound Year End 2016: Matt Hinch
Hellbound’s End of Year Wrap Up: Part 3 Well, hell’s bells – 2016 was a hellride of a year, wasn’t it?! As the New Year comes creeping in with trepidation, the individual members of Team Hellbound take a look back at our favourites of the year, give our personal thoughts on the state of heavy metal in…