FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
It has been a Godsmack trademark to toss out allusions to material that is more interesting and more ambitious than their commercial hits would seem to suggest. As The Oracle offers up its share of such material, it will be interesting to see where the band continues to take things from here.
As this is essentially a workmanlike album from a workhorse band, it is hard to conjure much excitement for To The Metal. It commits few misdeeds. It offers even fewer triumphs.
The thing about Omen is that it feels like Soulfly is running through the motions in a lot of ways. The clue to that lies (again) in the Jeffrey Dahmer referencing; the cannibal was arrested and tossed in the can in 1992. He died in ’94; this was the best the band could do?
By Adrien Begrand Although there aren’t many metal side projects that are actually worth getting very excited about, without question, every time Witchery puts…
Wow, what an absolute scorcher of an album this is after the so-so Kolossus release of a few years back
Like many pioneers, Hellhammer took their lumps from everyone, including its own members. They were hobbled by geography and underdeveloped talent, but they built a great mystique around themselves as they toiled to spread their malodorous gospel, only to be sent back to the drawing board after every recording session and demo release. This unlikely but glorious book celebrates their restless existence and enduring influence. It all goes to prove that history—this little slice of history, anyway—is written by the victors.
Rob Hughes reviews the new Hellhammer photo/history book, Only Death Is Real, released recently by Bazillion Points.
While those burnt out on their black metal will probably want to stay away for now, sub-genre aficionados will find things they enjoy in Antithesis of All Flesh. It’s the bigger black metal fans, in all likelihood, that Triumfall are aiming to attract in the first place.
16 Volt is the project of Eric Powell. The tour included KMFDM’s Steve White. For a group that included some borrowed musicians due to the inability for some of the regular players to cross the border, the sound was quite cohesive. While Powell may not be personable with the crowd as Louche he still knew how to engage the audience in what he was doing. It does help to be playing well written songs that people couldn’t help but start moving along too.
Addicts is one of the most diverse albums to be released in a long while and one that would be a crying shame to miss. Nachtmystium have become masters at pushing their genre to new and unexplored limits. Expect imitators, but don’t accept imitations.
There is something solid, straightforward, almost wholesome about 3 Inches of Blood’s brand of traditional heavy metal that is particularly satisfying. Cam Pipes sang about orcs and hammers while unleashing a series of throaty old-school wails—what was there not to love?
Natalie Zed reviews the May 13th Toronto performance by 3 Inches of Blood and Goatwhore at the Mod Club