By Jay H Gorania
Images by Jay H. Gorania, Kevin Lerminiau, Isabelle Stricklesse, John Judkins, Joey Mack

June 1-7: Sweden, Germany, Poland, The Czech Republic, Slovakia
Getting out of the bathroom at a pit stop about an hour outside of Stockholm, I noticed the hell bus had left me. “How could they not notice I was gone,” I wondered. Normally, I’m an incredibly on-edge, high-strung kinda guy, but for some reason, I didn’t panic. The good-spirited beautiful twin teenaged girls who worked at the pit stop’s shop lent me their phone (guardian devils …

Supporting their Axis of Eden album last summer, the legendary experimental extreme metal/noise rock outfit Today Is The Day embarked on a successful, sonically violent multi-national European tour supported by the nomadic, dynamic duo Jucifer (they constantly tour and live in their RV), Pittsburgh’s grindcore outfit Complete Failure and Paris’ Four Question Marks.

Hellbound.ca contributor Jay H. Gorania was part of the contingent that criss-crossed Europe and has written a three part tour diary on the escapades that ensued. The first part of the diary is presented today, with the rest to follow next week.

Starkly contrasting the straight-to-business, wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am approach of the rest of the evening’s acts, with their short, quick and violent sets, headliners Hirax took the stage as though they were Judas Priest or Iron Maiden playing Madison Square Gardens. – by Jay H. Gorania

Goatwhore is one of those bands that lights a fire under my ass. Though generally regarded as a black metal band, they’re actually so much more. There’s a rugged punk attitude, the dirge ’n sludge inherent to Louisiana metal bands is certainly present—offering some definite doom sensibilities—and never before has their thrash influence emerged as prominently as it has now with the release of Carving Out The Eyes of God, easily their career’s highlight thus far.