FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
There is no denying the sheer amount of energy that Blackguard bring to the album, as there is hardly a slow moment. The sounds heard here are not new, as almost all the tricks have been heard before with regard to other folk and pagan metal acts. However, judging from both their sound and their image, this doesn’t seem something that the band would deny.
This is huge sounding, well done goth metal in the vein of Within Temptation – which is no wonder as so may ex members occupy the band. I believe this dutch outfit has reached the top tier of this style with this release.
What a gift Denis D’Amour has left us. When the guitarist affectionately known as “Piggy” was diagnosed with cancer, he could have easily rested on his laurels, with every reason to be immensely proud of the 20-odd years of music he created as a member of Voivod. Instead, he dove straight into his art during his final months, writing songs, arranging music with his bandmates, and recording guitar tracks in a burst of creativity that we could only wish to experience when we’re healthy.
Play My Game comes across as a series of tracks inspired by Judas Priest’s Demolition and Beyond Fear’s eponymous debut, with the occasional nod to Dio. This should come as no surprise, given that two of the songs were Ripper-penned tunes which were originally rejected by Priest.
There are three indisputable facts of life: death, taxes and that Graf Orlock is the greatest cinema-grind band of all. Granted, they may be the only cinema-grind band, but if there is such a micro-genre, they top it based on merit, not by default.
No, this isn’t a review of the cool Eddie’s Archives that came out a few years ago, I was never lucky enough to be able to find one of those to buy for myself, instead this is a collection of stuff that I have written on Iron Maiden over the years for various publications…
Our fearless editor reminisces on last summer’s fantastic inaugural HEAVY MTL festival, which happened exactly one year ago from this weekend at Parc Jean Drapeau. Sean wrote reviews for two different publications, which have been collected here for your viewing pleasure.
The Hellbound staff wax poetic about their favourite Maiden album.
Brutal, crushing, epic metal to the march of Roman legions! With their debut Romulus, Ex Deo establishes a unique middle ground between the fierce brutality of Kataklysm and the storming pagan metal of Blackguard, Moonsorrow and Tyr.
UFO have now been in business in one form or another for forty years and The Visitor is UFO’s 20th studio album. Unfortunately however, this album is nothing like the classic UFO albums Lights Out, Obsession or No Heavy Petting.