As promised last week, here are the Top 10 metal albums of 2012 according to the writers of Hellbound.ca. You will notice that, in comparison to our previously published Top 10 Canadian albums of 2012 list, a few Canadian artists actually ended up charting higher here than on the Canuck top 10. The reason for this is simply because we had more writers submit top 10 lists here than did for the Canadian list.

Collected, compiled and edited by Sean Palmerston

“If you’re a fan of extreme metal and you live in North America, it’s likely that you have a strong impulse to attend the continent’s biggest annual festival: Maryland Deathfest. Actually attending the fest, however, isn’t always possible, especially if you live thousands of miles away.”

Part two of Jay H. Gorania’s recap of Maryland Deathfest 2012, with live photos by Albert Mansour.

Late last year Jason Wellwood had the chance to speak to the one and only John Arch, the original vocalist for US progressive metal legends Fates Warning about his recent Sympathetic Resonance collaborative album with FW guitarist Jim Matheos under the name Arch/Matheos. Here is their chat, originally broadcast on Jason’s radio program Witchfinder Radio on CILU in Thunder Bay, Ontario, in its entirety.

Hybrid Child is effervescent and fun, a mostly harmless romp through progressive rock territory. District 97’s edge can be found in the way vocalist Leslie Hunt carries the melodies and the staccato riffing that anchors most of the tracks—you can sorta tell that a drummer composed them.

Despite some jagged rhythms and an unexpected groove Axioma Ethica Odini flows consistently to an abrupt not-quite conclusion, so that finally I’m perplexed but also persuaded that I want to work my way through it all again until I fully understand.

“I’m interested in various philosophical perspectives in relation to the inner workings of the mind and how that relates to being a human on planet earth. So there’s this balance between earth and cosmos and merging micro with macro. Something as simple as observing a flower one can see the entire universe contained within it. I’m also influenced by love and the variety of human emotions, sadness and despair, joy and happiness. Life is so incredibly rich and intense, it’s all there, happening all the time, I just have to open my eyes or more importantly heart to it. Life constantly informs us, if we could just pay attention.”

Navjot Kaur Sobti in conversation with Cynic guitarist/vocalist Paul Masvidal for Hellbound.ca

“Metal cannot often be defined as subtle. Every now and again, however, these is a show that serves as a sort of palate-cleanser, offering metalheads an opportunity to indulge in some of the more delicate flavours that this broad, strange genre of music has to offer. Cynic, Intronaut and Dysrhythmia performed just such a show, giving the audience at the Opera House an aural meal to be sipped and sampled as well as devoured.”

Natalie Zed reviews the August 2nd Toronto performance by CYNIC, INTRONAUT and DYSRHYTHMIA. Concert photography by Adam Wills

Fates Warning went out on a high note, however, in ending their set with “Through Different Eyes”, taken from 1989’s Perfect Symmetry. Though this was probably the only point in the set which mirrored the awesomeness of Parallels, the feeling of true disappointment never really set, and the audience—ourselves including—left the Webster Theatre on this night feeling fairly satisfied that we’d just witnessed a once-in-a-lifetime engagement.