Hellbound Metal: “I was delighted when they opened the set with an excellent rendition of “The Devil’s Orchard”, but I was absolutely over the moon when they followed it up immediately with “Ghost of Perdition” and, this was a real shocker, “White Cluster” off Still Life. I wasn’t expecting anything that old to be played at all, so witnessing this live was a wonderful thing.”

Live review by Sean Palmerston; Special concert photos courtesy of Mike Bax / lithiummagazine.com

“Though revisiting Schuldiner’s musical legacy meant the sense of collective loss was strong, the sense of fellowship was stronger. In the end it was less for sadness than a cause for celebration.”

Laura Wiebe reviews the April 28th Toronto performance by Death To All and Anciients. Concert photography by Adam Wills.

Hellbound Metal: “As Clutch tore into a blistering rendition of “Crucial Velocity” off of this year’s excellent album Earth Rocker, the crowd began its metamorphosis into one singular entity; a living, breathing cyclone of energy. For the next 90 minutes Neil commanded the stage like a preacher gone mad, pointing his fingers wildly in the air while delivering lines about who stole his rock and roll in a sermon-like fashion.”

Live review by Renee Trotier, concert photos by Albert Mansour.

On April 15th, Absu visited Toronto once more with local guests Sylvus and Empyrean Plague. Here is a recap of the evening; photos and words by Danielle Griscti

In 1996, Hellbound’s Sean Palmerston was offered the chance to do the first ever in-person North American radio interview with Quorthon, leader and visionary behind legendary Swedish black metal act Bathory. They also went out for dinner together beforehand, and here are Sean’s memories of that fateful night some seventeen years ago, shared in public for the first time since.

“I think they would see the band touring and we had a very solid touring fanbase and we would sell a consistent amount of records album to album. And I think the record label saw that and they’d get excited about that and they thought to themselves “Well surely this band can sell this many tickets and can sell 100,000 records. With any kind of help at all we can make this a gold band or even a platinum band.” It didn’t take them long to realize that it’s tough work to sell real music.”

Matt Hinch in conversation with J.P. Gaster, timekeeper for Maryland hard rockers Clutch.

“Graveyard had tapped into a human condition that made a roomful of strangers no longer seem strange. It’s not something you can experience every day, but it’s certainly something worth waiting for.”

Live review and photography by Renee Trotier

ProgPower USA 2012 had one of its most diverse line ups in the festival’s history. Here is Justin Richardson’s recap of the first day of last September’s festival, which included performances by Sinbreed, Kingcrow, Amaranthe, Serenity, Primordial, Redemption and Epica.

Review recap and all concert photography by Justin Richardson.