FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
Since Hellbound.ca is a Canadian-owned and operated metal publication, we do things a little bit different than most. While 2013 was coming to a close we asked all of our contributors to pick their Top Canadian metal albums of the year. We then tabulated up their responses and have created our fifth annual Top 10 Canadian Metal Albums writers poll.
Please check out what our writers feel to be the best Canadian metal albums released in 2013.
Ask the Hellbound writers what the best albums of 2013 were and you get a wide-ranging list covering well over 100 records. It’s a…
Hellbound Metal: ”
Hey there, Hellbound readers! We are a little behind in playlists, Sean has been too busy with work related things to update everything as much as he should, so here are two weeks worth of playlists.”
“Importantly, the presentations often approached a generalized assumption that some group or groups of people hold about metal music or culture only to complexify the issue, demonstrating how research in particular locations, milieus, and demographics reveals the diversity in the ways people understand and engage with metal.”
Laura Wiebe reports back on the first North American academic heavy metal conference.
Jason Wellwood kicks off his new Iron Maple column, focusing on Canadian independent metal bands, with reviews of new releases by Abriosis, Anciients and Chariots Of The Gods, plus an audio interview with Chris Friesen of Adrenechrome
Target Earth is one of those albums that many reviewers will spend more time talking about what is wrong with it than what is right. Since it is the first album to feature Mongrain and it is essentially the start of a new era, you can expect it to be compared over and over to the band’s legacy. This is unnecessary in my opinion, for as Snake sings in “Warchaic”, the band is out “to find a brand new world”, and it is something they manage to do just fine.
“Director Tommy Jones captures the band’s stories of challenges and victories, both drunk and sober. Every. Single. One. You want an in-depth music documentary on a death metal band? This is it.”
Ola Mazzuca reviews Iron Will: 20 Years Determined, the new 2 DVD, 2CD compilation celebrating the first twenty years of Northern Hyperblast from Quebec death metal veterans Kataklysm.
Despite the rough-hewn quality of the demo’s performances and recording, it reveals that the essence of Voivod was present at the outset. While in 1984 it seemed unlikely that these four rivet-heads from Jonquiere would become prog-metal pioneers, it was obvious from the abrasive, alien nature of Voivod’s early material that this band was truly a breed apart.
Warriors of Ice is a definitely a high point in the career of Voivod and a show that will certainly go down in Canadian metal lore. Whether the band attempts to write an album of new material or even continues on in this (re)incarnation remains to be seen. If they decide not to continue on they have left us with one hell of a live record to day dream with. This is a must for any Voivod fan, or new-to-the-scene metal head.
An original effort of epic proportions, Rest takes the music of Neurosis/Isis into the 21st century, with their own unique southern touch. Often, songs this long have me nodding off, but there is enough dynamic fluidity, changes of tempo, pace and styles to keep me interested throughout.