Sean Palmerston

Sean is the founder/publisher of Hellbound.ca; he has also written about metal for Exclaim!, Metal Maniacs, Roadburn, Unrestrained! and Vice.

Articles, Features, Headline June 26, 2009

Epica: Classical Conspirators

Despite the fact that symphonic metal has become a very popular metal subgenre over the last decade or so, and although it’s become commonplace for metal bands to employ full orchestras on their studio albums, it’s not every day that a band is afforded the opportunity to perform live with a full orchestra behind them. So when Epica had a chance to stage a full-blown extravaganza in Miskolc, Hungary, of all places, needless to say the Dutch symphonic sextet jumped at the offer.

Featured, Reviews, Reviews - Audio June 26, 2009

Hatebreed: For The Lions

For The Lions slams out 18 tracks of covers that Hatebreed consider influential to their form of music. There are some obvious hardcore selections that won’t come as a surprise to most. Bands like Sick Of It All, Madball, Black Flag, Agnostic Front and Cro Mags are staples of the scene . It’s some of the left field choices that really
make this album interesting.

Featured, Reviews, Reviews - Audio June 26, 2009

Antigama: Warning

Although this is the fifth full length album from this polish death metal/ grindcore band, this is their first CD I have had the opportunity to listen to and I have to say it’s a killer.

Featured, Reviews - Audio June 25, 2009

Dreaming Dead: Within One

Hailing from Los Angeles, Dreaming Dead’s Within One is a memorable and catchy debut album from the band. The music is a blackened mixture of death metal and thrash, and for the most part the combination works here.

Featured, Reviews - Audio June 25, 2009

Hammerfall: No Sacrifice, No Victory

The five piece Swedish band Hammerfall started in the late 90s as a power metal side project of members from bands such as In Flames and Dark Tranquility. No Sacrifice, No Victory is now the band’s seventh full-length studio album

Featured, Reviews - Audio June 24, 2009

Madder Mortem: Eight Ways

Eight Ways returns to the captivating style explored on Deadlands. Eight Ways departs from that 2002 release in two important ways. First, while Deadlands tapered off around the middle of the album and never recovered, Eight Ways manages to sustain the interest level for its duration. Second, and certainly a key factor in explaining the first point, is the fearless-yet-tasteful exploration. Eight Ways is the sound of a band not only playing to its strengths but successfully extending that core sound.

Featured, Reviews - Audio June 24, 2009

Jungle Rot: What Horrors Await

Back with their sixth full length CD is this old school death metal band which emerged in the mid ’90’s. There is an undeniable influence of Slayer, Sodom and Obituary on this band from Kenosha, Wisconsin; this album is by far is a lot tighter than other albums I’ve purchased by them in the past. From

Articles, Headline June 24, 2009

Saros: Collaborative Creativity and a Heavy Flow

San Francisco boasts a long and well-recognized tradition of musical creativity. Not just an artefact of the past, this inventiveness has carried through to the present. Saros stands out among the Bay Area’s current crop of eclectic and talented artists, fusing multiple influences and personalities into a flowing inundation of moody aggression.