Riverside – Memories In My Head
Prog, neo-prog, art rock, apples, oranges… you can take your labels and pick them apart on your own time. Let’s just enjoy this classy excursion from Riverside for now.
Porcupine Tree
Hellbound Staff Interrogations #13: Natalie Zed
Who else could be number thirteen in our staff interviews but Natalie Zed?
CloverSeeds—The Opening
CloverSeeds have an accessible modern prog sound that plucks bits from the accepted gallery of influences: Tool, Radiohead, Porcupine Tree, Anathema… It’s big and blustery, with taut riffing and grand, sweeping gestures in any number of time signatures, all presented with clean, powerful production.
CONTEST: Beat The Winter Blahs! Win CDs & DVDs!
It’s late February, everyone’s starting to feel the winter blahs now, so what better way to battle it than with a contest! We have put together two cool prize packages courtesy of our friends at Candlelight USA, Eagle Rock Entertainment, The Laser’s Edge, Nuclear Blast and Sonic Unyon Distribution. You can pick one of the two prize packs to win. Find out more inside
Riverside – Reality Dream Live
This two disc set is an excellent introduction to the Polish band’s live show, which should also win them over a whole new crowd of fans too.
Postcards From Natalie Zed, Part 5
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”…
The Pineapple Thief – Someone Here Is Missing
Straight up, Someone Here Is Missing is an excellent album that deserves to be heard by anyone conversant with Porcupine Tree, Radiohead, or Anathema.
Votum – Metafiction
The amazing thing about this release is the drastic change from their debut; with some work put in by the listener they will be rewarded with such a intelligent laid back prog masterpiece. This new direction may put off some of the heavier progmetal fans out there but if you are willing to put in the time and this could sit nicely by years end for top ten material.
Porcupine Tree @ Sound Academy, Toronto, ON, May 8, 2010
Were this simply an auditory barrage (which I am more than familiar with), I might have had more resistance. But it was much more than that. This show was a carefully orchestrated, beautifully curated performance. The video accompaniment interesting and tasteful, and varied enough that I was never able to settle fully into it or anticipate what was coming next…
Natalie Zed reviews the Saturday, May 8th performance by UK prog rock veterans Porcupine Tree at Toronto’s Sound Academy. Concert photography by Adam Wills.
Orphaned Land: The Hellbound Interview
“Israel is not an easy place for a normal life, but OL’s music can emerge only from a place such as the Holy Land. The multi cultural life here, being a spiritual center, a center of religious wars and conflicts and even being a Jewish back to his homeland after 2,000 years. I’m in a heaven of inspiration.
Being an artist is always a struggle, especially in a country where the army is needed much more than art. Sometimes it’s very hard for us to get support or any attention to what we have to say. It’s a sacrifice and a choice we took, so we don’t complain. At the end of the day, I feel lucky to have a band and to give people some hope and moments of happiness.”
Adam Wills in conversation with Orphaned Land mastermind Kobi Farhi about their latest album, The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR.