FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
Ever been totally shocked by an album that you figured you had pegged on name recognition alone? It’s dangerous to make assumptions like that and the most recent proof of that fact is the coolest thing about Bring Me The Horizon’s third album.
Metalcore is a much maligned genre right now but it’s bands like Orchid’s Curse who are going to survive the ‘I’ve heard this before, booooring’ attitudes of today’s music consumer. Simply put, Voices: The Tales of Broken Men is a huge step forward and progression for the band.
By Matt Lewis Ion Dissonance, a band among bands hailing from the great metal hotbed of Quebec. Their fourth album Cursed comes without much…
Holy Christ, the new songs Ion Dissonance played, which were about half their set, blew me away. Crazy, maniacal and with a heavy as an elephant low end, these guys use 8 string guitars and you can feel it in the stomach. Their performance was tight, to the point and they left it all on the field.
The band sound like a mix of Burnt By the Sun and, in a way, Blessings the Hogs (but not as unfocused as BTH). Contained within the riffs are elements of thrash and hardcore but it’s a great blend, like nabob coffee or that guy on the donkey coffee. If you like modern metal with adrenaline fueled rage and with a little of intelligence thrown in, feel free to pour a cup
Fans of the hardcore spectrum yet consistently pegged as metalcore, Parkway Drive have never been considered an outright metal band. However, with latest endeavour Deep Blue, they just might be responsible for blurring that thin, thin line to an incredibly indiscernible extent.
The beastly grit of doom. Grindcore’s fiery onslaught. Black metal’s confrontational excess. The jarring obtuseness of tech. Metal is founded on explosive, aggressive and often combative attitudes. Still, just when one feels remotely comfortable—possibly slightly expectant—as to what the genre’s next twist will be, something so dominant, furious and volatile comes along that it redefines the parameters of what makes a band extreme.
Keith Carman talks with Toronto’s Vilipend about their multifaceted and dangerous approach to music.
If you like it mean, fast, crusty and hammering, check out Goner, it’s a housewrecker of a disc.
Overall, yes, this offering is brimming with value but the jury is out on whether or not that’s impulse or extended. Still, with its improved quality, bountiful bonuses and footing in solid new school ‘core, there have been far worse ways to part with hard-earned dollars than Suicide Season’s Deluxe version.
Hellbound readers, we’re sure that by now you are all familiar with our Natalie Zed, right? Natalie was our big grand prize winner back in January, taking home more than 50 CDs + and shortly after she received her huge box ‘o CDs, Ms. Zed asked us over at Hellbound HQ if we’d be interested in running reviews of her winnings if she did postcard sized reviews of the albums. How could we say no?
So, without further adieu, here is Natalie’s third installment (reviews #21 – 30 for those keeping stats at home) in what Hellbound likes to refer to as “Postcards From Natalie Zed”…