The first record gave me a lot of reasons to listen to it time and again. This new record gives me reason to let it collect dust. The best songs here are from the indie release, so there’s no need to spin the new one if you own the first album, and if you don’t I suggest you track it down and buy it.

Matt Lewis reviews the October 28th show by BAPTIZED IN BLOOD and guests at Hamilton’s Club Absinthe. Photos by Albert Mansour.

Women And Children Last isn’t a good “metal” album, it could at least be seen as a decent hard rock or hair metal record.

Hellbound readers, we’re sure that by now you are all familiar with our Natalie Zed, right? Natalie was our big grand prize winner way back in January, taking home more than 50 CDs + and shortly after she received her huge box ‘o CDs, Ms. Zed asked us over at Hellbound HQ if we’d be interested in running reviews of her winnings if she did postcard sized reviews of the albums. How could we say no?

So, after a really, really long layoff (sorry NZ!), here is Natalie’s fifth installment (reviews #41 – 48 for those keeping stats at home) in what Hellbound likes to refer to as “Postcards From Natalie Zed”…

“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

“Testament and Megadeth have both been around as long as I have been alive; Slayer is two years older than I am. These bands have been around for a very long time and have gotten exceptionally good at what they do. More that that, they have defined their genre. Watching Slayer perform, it suddenly hit me: this is what everyone else is going for. This is the aesthetic so many other bands attempt to emulate. Not just the sound, either, but the presence, the charisma of the band members.”

Natalie Zed reviews the July 29th performance by SLAYER, MEGADETH and TESTAMENT at Toronto’s Molson Canadian Amphitheatre

“On this occasion, however, while I certainly felt overindulged, I enjoyed the sonic gluttony. Whereas Death Angel left me feeling like the insides of my ears had been coated in burning pitch, Soilwork brought a delicious coolness to the show. Their bluesy, melodic death metal proved to be an excellent foil to Death Angel’s performance. These bands work exceedingly well together in this regard; the tour is well curated. Soilwork have matured well as a band, retaining all their punch and aggressiveness while becoming smoother and more balanced in their overall sound.”

This EP plays a lot with the dynamics of sound. The interplay between loud and quiet, digital and analog creates rich waves of tension and release. I was struck by the depth of each of the tracks, not just in terms of the layers of sound but also the thought and care that went into crafting these alternate interpretations.