Throne of Katarsis: Helvete-Det Iskalde Mørket
Norway’s Throne of Katarsis have produced a sophomore full-length album that is, in almost every way, a recreation of much of the early nineties Norwegian black metal sound.
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Blasphemy Blog #1: Lords Of Chaos – Yay Or Nay?
There has been much controversy and mixed opinions surrounding Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground since its 1998 release. Michael Moynihan and Didrik Soderlind’s book is probably the most notable of it’s kind, offering much insight to the life and crimes of our favourite black metal artists.
Lords of Chaos: a story involving the TNBM scene, with actors retelling the intriguing, but violent tales of music, murder and arson. Will it shock or compel?
Progressive Nation tour @ Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto ON, August 14, 2009
This past Friday marked the Toronto stop of this year’s Progressive Nation tour, the now-annual summer festival curated by and starring Dream Theater as headliners – basically their chance to take out some of their favourite bands on tour with them across North America playing outdoor amphitheaters.
Sean Palmerston reviews the recent Toronto stop of this year’s traveling Progressive Nation festival.
Korpiklaani: Karkelo
Another year, another Korpiklaani album. Depending on how you feel about these fun-loving Finns, they’re either showing tremendous resilience in putting out six albums in fewer than six years, or they’re continuing to inundate listeners with their repetitive music.
November’s Doom: Into Night’s Requiem Infernal
By Melissa Andrews Into Night’s Requiem Infernal is the latest offering from November’s Doom. I loved the band’s previous release The Novella Reservoir so…
Burnt By The Sun: Heart Of Darkness
Burnt By The Sun has never been one to leave out groove and melody laced with absolutely fury and heaviness in an intelligent way and this continues on Heart of Darkness. As always the groove is driven by Dave Witte on drums, a man of many bands but never short on talent and ability to hold any style of music together. The drums sound huge and really pound out those heavy head banging riffs like Lexington Steele pounding a chick into submission.
Death Angel: Sonic German Beatdown DVD
Germany is famous for its beer drinking, festival loving rabid heavy metal fans. This is where Bay Area thrash giants Death Angel filmed their very first live DVD showcasing two energetic sets in which the band perform their most mosh-worthy classics.
Gorania: GOATWHORE is Great (Hellbound’s letter of the day is “G”)
Goatwhore is one of those bands that lights a fire under my ass. Though generally regarded as a black metal band, they’re actually so much more. There’s a rugged punk attitude, the dirge ’n sludge inherent to Louisiana metal bands is certainly present—offering some definite doom sensibilities—and never before has their thrash influence emerged as prominently as it has now with the release of Carving Out The Eyes of God, easily their career’s highlight thus far.
Death Angel: Sonic German Beatdown CD
Upon first listen, you might think this fifteen track offering is one of the greatest live albums of all time; it’s definitely one of the best to see release this year. This CD is what Death Angel is all about: heavy, thrashy, tight live playing that is highlighted by great guitar work.
Ahab: The Divinity Of Oceans
Doom purists may be put off by some of the softer more melodic fare on here but I find Ahab’s diversity refreshing and adventurous in what can sometimes be a rather monochromatic genre. Like waves that swell and then recede, Ahab seems to have adopted a similar approach to their song craft and for the most part it works admirably.