Porcupine Tree

Soen – Cognitive

Cognitive by Lopez and Co is an excellent debut album, full of intelligent and engaging song material which should thrill the Porcupine Tree, Tool, A Perfect Circle, Oceansize and Amplifier crowds.

Metallic Taste Of Blood: The Hellbound Interview

“Metallic Taste Of Blood is one of the latest projects by Porcupine Tree bassist Colin Edwin. Together with guitarist/composer Eraldo Bernocchi (Obake/Somma), drummer Balazs Pandi (Obake/Merzbow) and keyboardist Jamie Saft (John Zorn/Merzbow) he worked on arguebly one of the best albums of this year. Through some digital magic I was able to speak with three of the four members, namely Colin Edwin (CE), Eraldo Bernocchi (EB) and Balazs Pandi (BP) about the origins of this remarkable musical venture, future projects and the prospects of touring together…”

Interview by Raymond Westland

Heritage Hunter Snacks

Opeth / Mastodon / Ghost @ Sony Centre, Toronto ON, April 7, 2012

“Most readers of Hellbound are probably familiar with the typical metal venue – sticky floors, questionable washrooms, a dimly lit stage, and a sound system that only the most experienced sound engineers can master. But every once in awhile, we get treated to a special show, where a venue has as much to do with the atmosphere as the performance itself. Saturday’s Heritage Hunter Tour stop in Toronto, which took place at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, was one of these rare occurrences, and believe me, this was indeed something special.”

Live review and photos by Adam Wills.

Killing Joke – MMXII

In short, MMXII by Killing Joke is one mighty fine follow-up record to its illustrious predecessor. The album has all the hallmarks of a great record. It has the songs, boundless energy and all the apocalyptic themes to do for.

A Metal Blade quartet

Metal Blade celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2012. While the label has already released a plethora of classic and genre-defining albums, and fostered and supported our dearly loved heavy metal community, it remains, to this day, as active and energetic as ever. What the metal realm would have looked like without Metal Blade’s steely presence over the past three decades is a frightening thought indeed.

To help celebrate this, here are four new reviews of new Metal Blade titles by our New Zealand based writer Craig Haze, who tackles the new releases by Angel Witch, Exhumer, Ram and OSI