Main musician Jay Valena has crafted a powerful full-length record with many strengths even as it doesn’t often stray far from the sub-genre’s tried-and-true clichés. Its organic, earnest, and perhaps even retro sound lifts its five lengthy tracks above some of the contemporaneous releases of even seasoned veterans of the genre. What it lacks in polish and originality it more than makes up for in terms of epic grandeur. That this self-titled debut is mostly the product of a single individual makes it all the more impressive.

COC has a new album coming out and, as Gruesome Greg says, “this is some good shit!”

World War Live: Battle of the Baltic Sea is both a good stopgap between albums and a pacifier for those wanting to know what all the fuss is about live.

Last week we ran our TOP 20 ALBUMS OF 2011 list, as voted by the writers of Hellbound.ca. Here are the individual Top 10s that were submitted by our writers for your personal enjoyment…

A hard act to follow, but Terror is an intimidating live act regardless of how someone feels about their music. Frontman Scott Vogel, formerly of the legendary, now-defunct Buried Alive, was in fine more, ruling the crowd that already paid him the blind-eyed devotion that a preacher at church might receive.

While I expected Hammers to be tight, I was pleasantly surprised to discover exactly how spot-on the intricacies of their songs translated live. Hammers of Misfortune, of course, had the perfect balance of both precision and emotion, the songs given a new vitality, positively glowing in the live setting.

But is it a step forward, or backwards? That all depends on your perception. I, for one, don’t dig this as much as the first album, and am certainly curious as to which direction the band will take with a new frontman/axeman. One thing is certain, though. Black Pyramid III won’t be a blind buy for me…

For 135 minutes, this film tells the story of the beginning, the rise, the success, the excess, the triumph and the establishment of the institution that has become Ozzy Osbourne.