Headline

Blasphemous Meals #6 | At The Heart of Winter’s End

“This installment of Blasphemous Meals brings you the very best of winter’s warmth from Hellbent for Cooking. These dishes are hearty and fire the soul. Just because winter is over doesn’t mean that heavy food should be eliminated with heavy metal.

Enjoy the following foodie ventures from the Blasphemy Blog test kitchen. Winter may be grim in a headbanger’s world, but spring is pretty cool, so prepare for the season as you warm up to multicultural fare from Sir Lord Baltimore, Trouble and Abigail.”

Cooking and writing by Ola Mazzuca

Turisas

Paganfest Tour @ Tremont Music Hall, Charlotte NC, April 8, 2012

“Although I did see the inaugural version of Paganfest, I’ve missed the rest throughout the past few years due to whatever reason. Sometimes the tour date didn’t come quite close enough and sometimes it was a job issue. But with the lineup for this year’s show being pretty awesome and the measly one hour drive requirement to get to the show, I felt the only choice was to go and get my metal on.”

Live review and photos by Justin Richardson

Behemoth

Decibel Magazine Tour @ Rickshaw Theatre, Vancouver BC, April 21, 2012

“Decibel Magazine’s inaugural tour was a much-anticipated treat, bringing together as it did four well-respected bands from the darker side of the metal spectrum – something for the li’l devil in everyone, from the dark trad-metal stylings of In Solitude, the blood-and-‘70s-drenched occult rock of The Devil’s Blood, to the christkilling riproar of Watain and the triumphant return of the mighty Nergal and his unstoppable blackened-death machine Behemoth.”

Live review by Kyle Harcott; Concert photography by Ted Reckoning

Mama Gold

David Gold Memorial Show @ Annex Wreckroom, Toronto ON, April 5, 2012

On Thursday, April 5th, Inertia Entertainment and the Annex Wreckroom hosted a memorial show dedicated to David Gold. The sudden death of Gold, a major player in the Canadian metal scene and main man behind the band Woods of Ypres, was a sobering moment in metal scenes across the country and beyond. The evening’s theme, “love the living while they’re still alive,” a lyrical reference to one of Gold’s last songs, became a mantra repeated several times by Gold’s mother, Esther. It suited the night’s ambiguous mood well. The event was a celebration of Gold’s life and music, a chance to be with old and new friends still here, but the evening could not help but feel bittersweet given the lingering grief of those who were still mourning and missing him.

Show recap by Jonathan Millard-Smith; Live photos by Adam Wills.

Alex Webster of Cannibal Corpse: The Hellbound Interview

Prominent American senators and presidential hopefuls have pointed their fingers at Cannibal Corpse, implying the band is partially responsible for society falling apart. Murder victim family members have also done the same. Censorship has reared its ugly head in Germany, a nation where the band has been legally prohibited from playing certain songs. And yet through it all, the Florida-based death metal machine continues to march on, hacking away at everything in sight—musically, that is—nearly a quarter of a century after its inception.

Jay H. Gorania interviews Alex Webster, bassist and founding member of death metal legends Cannibal Corpse.

Thérèse Lanz of Mares of Thrace: The Hellbound Audio interview

I had the opportunity to chat with Thérèse Lanz about Mexican food, video games, being interviewed, stupid questions she is asked, Chicago (and what to eat late night), U.S. Politics and a little bit about music a few weeks prior to the release of The Pilgrimage (Sonic Unyon Metal) and the cross Canada tour that will probably be bringing Mares of Thrace close to your town. Regardless of how many times you speak to Thérèse, she is always entertaining and has a lot of very informed things to say on pretty much any topic. But mostly on tacos and video games…

Interview by Jason Wellwood.

Heritage Hunter Snacks

Opeth / Mastodon / Ghost @ Sony Centre, Toronto ON, April 7, 2012

“Most readers of Hellbound are probably familiar with the typical metal venue – sticky floors, questionable washrooms, a dimly lit stage, and a sound system that only the most experienced sound engineers can master. But every once in awhile, we get treated to a special show, where a venue has as much to do with the atmosphere as the performance itself. Saturday’s Heritage Hunter Tour stop in Toronto, which took place at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, was one of these rare occurrences, and believe me, this was indeed something special.”

Live review and photos by Adam Wills.

Ancients

Ancients / Burning Ghats / Nylithia / Cathar / Graves @ Rickshaw Theatre, Vancouver BC, March 23, 2012

“It promised to be an epic night. With a good portion of Hellbound West (Rob Hughes/Cara Cross/yours truly) in the house, plus Mr. Palmerston representing the eastern faction, there was a definite buzz in the air for this showcase gig from local faves Ancients. On the cusp of putting out their reportedly-megalithic debut full-length, Ancients rented the Rickshaw for the night, brought a few friends’ bands along for the ride, and drew a pretty good crowd for their showcase.”

Live review by Kyle Harcott, except where noted. Concert photography by Ted Reckoning