Disparaging women is a real problem in our society. Ignoring someone who has been given a platform to write that the images and videos of young women, scantily clad with self-tailored metal gear is an irrefutable sign that women in metal do not, and will never be legitimized as true fans, is wrong. As a metal journalist, author and concert photographer, and more importantly a female metal fan for almost 30 years, if we want to generalize even more, that post essentially told me that regardless of the fact that writing about metal and shooting concerts serves as a portion of how I make my living, my work is not relevant because I do not have a penis.

Hi friends. It’s been a while. I know it. Sean certainly knows it. You, on the other hand, probably didn’t even notice I was gone. That’s okay. In my absence, I heard a rumour that some people have reaffirmed a love affair with vinyl. Some of these people even own turntables! Fucking crazy!! So, in salutary notion to those of you keeping it real and the labels who graciously send us their latest releases on varying colours of wax, I present the all-vinyl edition of Rimshots.

Katatonia, the Swedish kings of melodic gloom, are enjoying a couple of anniversaries in 2011. To celebrate, the band is playing a little more than a handful of headlining shows on the nights when current tour mates (and fellow Swedes) Opeth have decided to take some time off. Hellbounders Adam Wills and Laura Wiebe caught the fourth of seven such gigs scheduled in North America, crossing the border into New York State to see how our southerly neighbours would welcome one of our favourite bands.

Although he almost missed it – please see inside for all the details – Hellbound’s Rob Kachluba finally made it back to Atlanta GA earlier this month for this year’s edition of the ProgPower USA Festival. Here is Rob’s recap of the three days that he was in attendance at the fest, which included performances by Evergrey, Sanctuary, Ihsahn, Haken, While Heaven Wept, Forbidden, Therion and many more.

“When headliners Weedeater began to play, I was immediately struck by how much effort they put into differentiating their sound from every other group on the bill. Their tone was harsh, ugly, abrasive and super-filthy, the guitars and bass drenched in feedback. Vocalist Dixie Dave Collins matched this perfectly, sounding like he’d been gargling with hot rocks and thumbtacks. Their songs are generally on the short side, and this translated into blasts of super-distorted guitar that washed over you like waves of shrapnel.”

Natalie Zed reviews the September 13th Toronto performance by Weedeater, Saviours, Bison B.C. and Fight Amp at Lee’s Palace. Live photography by Laina Dawes.

Now home in Canada and back in school for another year, our favourite university journalism student has recently sent us her fourth installment in her Blasphemous Meals series, where she makes meals for her family taken out of the pages of the Bazillion Points book Hellbent for Cooking. Here are three more inspired meals that we here at Hellbound HQ wish we could have the chance to taste ourselves…

Days after kicking off a North American anniversary tour, with headlining dates tucked in between dates opening for Opeth, guitarist/songwriter Anders Nyström enthusiastically answers Laura Wiebe’s questions about Katatonia’s latest activities and current travels on this side of the Atlantic.

All Pens Blazing writer Neil Daniels in conversation with Hellbound’s Natalie Zed