Sylosis have just unleashed their latest masterpiece Monolith through Nuclear Blast on October 5th. On this, their third album, the band has taken their blend of progressive thrash and moved things forward. While still a complete ‘shred fest’, Monolith has more feel to it, more ambience if you will. Taking the band to record where giants have tread before (Monnow Valley Studio, which has housed Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Rush to name a few) seems to have given Sylosis the ability to convey mood a little more, and dial back on the technicality of their songs. Monolith is a fantastic achievement for this young band, and I had the pleasure of speaking with founding member/guitarist/vocalist Josh Middleton a few days after the North American release of the album.

The Early Years is a decade of primal folk, and a document that has evidently shaped one of metal’s most extreme divisions today.

Currently set to celebrate its Canadian premiere at the NXNE festival in Toronto, Så Jävla Metal is a documentary about the evolution of heavy metal music in Sweden. The film traces the beginnings of heavy metal through hard rock, beginning with bands like Europe, and continuing to trace the development of the sound as the music became heavier. It contrasts the way that Swedish metal grew up in tandem with metal in North America and other places in Europe, specifically in Norway, where the violence of black metal is contrasted again Swedish death metal. Writer and director Yason Hillborg found the time to talk to Hellbound about the documentary, his vision for it and his experiences making it.

Jason Wellwood reviews the brand new Three Inches of Blood album ‘Long Live Heavy Metal’ and also interviews their lead singer, Mr. Cam Pipes.

Review and photos by Justin Richardson
Even though the golden era of power metal has been over for years now, the double bill of Symphony X and Iced Earth can do nothing but excite someone who remembers that period fondly. From the virtuosity of Symphony X’s Michael Romeo to the precision rhythm of Iced Earth’s Jon Schaffer and the retro energy of young thrash revivalist openers Warbringer, this ticket was bound to be a lot of fun. And on a chilly Tuesday I made the trip to Charlotte, North Carolina to …

Since Hellbound.ca is a Canadian-owned and operated metal publication, we do things a little bit different than most. While 2011 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 third annual Top 10 Canadian Metal Albums writers poll.

Please check out what our writers feel to be the best Canadian metal albums released in 2011.

In her latest Blasphemy Blog entry, Ola Mazzuca discusses her last month spent in Urbino, Italy and its metal scene.

With their latest signing in Aenaon, Code666 continues to cement its name as the vanguard of forward-thinking blackmetal. Stellar release after stellar release, the label has proven its cutting-edge mettle time and again, and Cendres Et Sang is only further proof of the label’s impeccable taste.