Tag: review
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Hands of Orlac / The Wandering Midget split
Cruz del Sur has established a solid reputation in power/epic doom circles, with several records from the likes of Argus, Atlantean Kodex, Slough Feg and While Heaven Wept under their belts. So when they put out a split between a couple bands I’ve never heard of, from Italy and Finland, respectively, I’ll at least give…
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A Fast Ride Out of Here: Confessions of Rock’s Most Dangerous Man
By Pete Way with Paul Rees Published by Constable (Little Brown Book Group) Ozzy Osbourne says that he’s way out of his league when it comes to Pete Way; on the strength of this entertaining book I would say that most certainly is so. Musically, Pete is most famous for playing the bass in UFO, but…
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Anciients, Dead Quiet and Muffler Crunch @ Hard Luck Bar, Toronto, 18 August 2017
If you aren’t familiar with Anciients, you should be. The British Columbia-based band recently took a swing through southern Ontario as part of their Voice of the Void Canadian tour with Dead Quiet. Hellbound welcomed them to Hamilton for their performance at This Ain’t Hollywood – a night of top-notch live metal also featuring local openers…
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Argus – From Fields of Fire
It’s been a while since we last heard from Argus. Their last album, Beyond the Martyrs, was released in 2013, and when combined with a lack of appearances on any notable U.S. underground doomfests lately, I wasn’t sure if this band was still a going concern. Fortunately, Pittsburgh’s premiere purveyors of power/doom metal have returned…
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The Chemical Brothers – Born In The Echoes (2LP reissue)
After over a quarter century of holding dance clubs hostage with some of the most well-known club-pop ever to also grace radio airwaves, the question has become how The Chemical Brothers have held the the venerable position they have. They are some of the most visible purveyors of dance club music and culture after all and, in…
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Crafteon – Cosmic Reawakening
One of the best things about writing about music is the gems amongst the dross you come across. Such a shining multi-faceted jewel is Crafteon’s ‘Cosmic Reawakening’. Imagine a Dimmu Borgir inspired by the tales of a certain H.P Lovecraft, and you’re half-way there! The clue of course is in the band’s most original name. Musically, Crafteon…
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Contrarian – To Perceive is to Suffer
Contrarian is a four man wrecking crew, a technical quartet who weave epic songs in the vein of late-era Death albums (with the help of drumming phenomenon George Kollias, known for his role in the infamous Nile) and Cynic. The epic masterpiece The Sound of Perseverance comes to mind when I sit down and start to…
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Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Into The Great Wide Open (vinyl reissue)
Abraham Lincoln once said (to a delegation from the National Union League who were urging him to be their presidential candidate) that, “It is never wise to swap horses in mid-stream”. After the popular breakthrough that his solo album made in 1989, Tom Petty clearly took that adage to heart when it came time to…
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M.U.T.A.N.K. – W.H.A.T.S.T.H.A.T.
To misquote that great film ‘Conan The Barbarian’, ‘what is good in metal?’ And the short answer is MUTANK! Why? Because they get it. Metal is supposed to be fun, uplifting and life-affirming. It’s supposed to bring us together, which is a good thing in a world tearing itself apart. In short, Mutank get it;…
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Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough) LP
Twelve years after they started, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers found themselves in a fairly unique position in pop music: they’ve been working long enough and had been influential enough that radio waves were beginning to get crowded which artists who cited the band as an influence – or at least seemed like it. On…