FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
Even with turnover amongst the ranks of its members over the years, Therion has the foundation of Johnsson and (unofficial) Karlsson and continue to write and record some of the most creative albums in the symphonic metal genre. The epic album Sitra Ahra ranks among their very best works.
The great pacing throughout the album makes you wonder why we haven’t heard such glorious blistering thrash from the lads earlier. Forbidden abandons any past or modern pretense and makes thrash metal vital again by combining heaviness, speed, melody, and technicality into a marvelously accessible package.
With two jam-packed DVDs and two CDs, Forging the Land of Thousand Lakes is nothing if not thorough.
Rather than being labeled a horrible listen, this album is simply unsatisfying. After listening to tracks from Malevolent’s previous studio release, Doomsday X, it seems that something is missing. Depth is absent, vocals lack vigor and there is nothing audibly fresh in terms of musicality
Despite my quibbles with the lyrical content, this album is a great piece of throwback metal, Andy Sneap harnessing the classic 80’s Accept sound and bringing it into the 21st century. Their last Udo-less effort may not have aged well, but Blood of the Nations is timeless.
Hellbound readers, we’re sure that by now you are all familiar with our Natalie Zed, right? Natalie was our big grand prize winner way 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, after a really, really long layoff (sorry NZ!), here is Natalie’s fifth installment (reviews #41 – 48 for those keeping stats at home) in what Hellbound likes to refer to as “Postcards From Natalie Zed”…
By Gruesome Greg Last year, Candlemass released Death Magic Doom, an album that showed they’re still one of the top epic doom bands going…
“One great aspect of the music of Kataklysm lies in its applicable lyrical content and fan connection by constant consideration of live performance. Tracks “Push The Venom” and “Hail The Renegade” have that moshpit-ready tone evoking imagery of successful stage presence with a responsive thrashing audience. It is important to decipher the differences between artists made for small-venue to large stadium shows or, on the contrary, zero desire to tour at all.”
Kataklysm’s latest death metal offering is discussed by Ola Mazzuca.
“When I think about us being four young guys who started a band in high school and now we’re sharing a stage with Ozzy Osbourne and Motley Crue, I think that’s pretty crazy! We look at each other and think, ‘man, that’s pretty awesome!’ compared to where we came from. Every year it seemed like it grew a little bigger and it took a little while for us to become serious about playing music. We started Kataklysm more as a hobby, we wanted just to have fun, hang out, to tour and see the world and party with a lot of people. After awhile you see that your career is doing better and you realize that ‘wow, this can be your daily job’ and that’s how it’s been for the last 8 years or so.”
Jason Wellwood in conversation with KATAKLYSM’s J-F Dagenais
Helped by the fantastic production of Andy Sneap, you have the perfect combination of old school Accept with a modern touch. All their trademarks are here. Excellent riffs that are undeniably Accept in feel/tone, with those huge gang vocals and twin guitar attack will have you grinning from ear to ear.