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Headline, Reviews, Reviews - Audio August 31, 2009

Ophthalamia: A Journey in Darkness (reissue)

A Journey in Darkness is a truly singular work within the realm of Swedish metal. There really is nothing else like it. Recorded in 1993 at Unisound Studios, the pseudonymically-inclined all-star lineup consisted of It (aka. Tony Särkkä of Abruptum and Vondur), Mourning (aka. Robert Ivarsson of Pan Thy Monium), Winter (aka. Benny Larsson of Edge of Sanity and Pan Thy Monium) and, most famously, Shadow (aka. Jon Nödtveidt of Dissection).

Tate Bengston reviews the new Peaceville reissue of this long lost Swedish metal classic.

Articles, Features, Headline August 28, 2009

Megadeth: From Vic’s Garage To Endgame With Shawn Drover

The words “Megadeth” and “Dave Mustaine” are pretty much synonymous. In fact, we’d be willing to wager substantial sums of money that we don’t actually have that “Megadeth” and “Dave Mustaine” are far and away more synonymous with each other than “megadeath” and “Herman Kahn,” the gentleman who just happens to be the RAND military strategist who devised and first used the term in 1953 to describe one million deaths as a result of a thermonuclear war.

Kevin Stewart-Panko speaks to Megadeth’s Shawn Drover about their new studio, new guitarist and upcoming new album.

Headline, Reviews, Reviews - Classics August 24, 2009

Classic Album Revisited: Sleep’s Holy Mountain

Now, Sleep is perhaps best known for Dopesmoker, the posthumous reissue of their Jerusalem record, with a more stoner-friendly title. Whether you
call it Jerusalem or Dopesmoker, the single-track, 52-minute platter is a noteworthy album. But Holy Mountain isn’t just an album, it’s a collection of SONGS, man!

Articles, Features, Headline August 21, 2009

The Gathering: The Next Chapter

When Anneke van Giersbergen announced her departure from The Gathering it was a shock – for many fans but for her bandmates as well. But shock doesn’t have to lead to death or paralysis, and in a sense The Gathering had been down this road before. Reinvention is a familiar enterprise for the Dutch alt rockers, who started out as a doomy metal band with male vocals in the early nineties. Van Giersbergen’s entry on lead vocals was merely one shift, the eventual transition from aggression to shoegazing another. Though Anneke was the voice and forward face of The Gathering for well over a decade, her decision to leave meant another change, not the end.

Headline, Reviews - Live August 19, 2009

Bloody Panda @ Smiling Buddha, Toronto, ON, August 13, 2009

As New York’s Bloody Panda concluded their final note, and began to pack up, the small crowd, who had gathered for their awe-inspiring performance, wasn’t sure how to react to the intensity that was just laid out before them. So instead of applause, cheering, or even conversation, the room filled with an eerie silence that couldn’t have been more fitting.

Adam Wills documents the recent Toronto performance by NYC doom collective Bloody Panda.

Headline, Reviews, Reviews - Live August 17, 2009

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.

Headline, Reviews, Reviews - Audio August 14, 2009

Divine Heresy: Bringer of Plagues

For all the hype it received in 2007, Divine Heresy’s debut Bleed the Fifth was a major disappointment. Somewhere along the way, though, band leader Dino Cazares righted the ship, for the follow-up Bringer of Plagues turns out to be one of the more pleasant surprises of the summer.

Adrien Begrand reviews the new sophomore release by Dino Cazares’s new band Divine Heresy and, much to the surprise of many of us over here at Hellbound HQ, he digs it.

Headline, Reviews - Live August 12, 2009

Melissa Auf der Maur @ Anticipation, WorldCon 67, Montreal QC, August 6,2009

Besides being metal junkies, we’re also science fiction geeks (if you’ve glanced at our Hellbound playlists, you might know this already). Turns out Melissa Auf der Maur (Hole, Smashing Pumpkins, MAdM) has a soft spot for sf as well, which her new multimedia project, Out of Our Minds makes blatantly clear. Auf der Maur appeared as a special guest at the 67th World Science Fiction Convention, held in Montreal this past weekend, where she was promoting her new multimedia project, Out of Our Minds.

Laura Wiebe Taylor and Jonathan Smith discuss the Montreal premiere of Melissa Auf der Maur’s new project Out of Our Minds.

Headline, Reviews, Reviews - Live August 10, 2009

Hammers Of Misfortune, Ludicra, Crux Of Aux, Slaughter Strike @ Casbah, Hamilton ON, August 8, 2009

Truth be told, it has been a pretty shitty summer weather-wise here in Southern Ontario so far. Instead of our usual hot, humid summers it has been the kind where you can count the truly sticky days on one hand. This Saturday was another drab, dreary one here in the Hammer, with rain coming and going all day making for a generally blah day. Thankfully, the evening’s entertainment inside at the Casbah did more than make up for the crappy weather outside. In comparison, the four bands that played the venerable King Street West venue left those in attendance positively steamy.