BL’AST! – Blood
Hellbound Metal: “A long-lost recording from the California hardcore crew with the new guy from Alice in Chains, remastered by Dave Grohl himself? OK, so you’ve piqued my interest.”
hardcore
Soooo, if I drag my butt down to Baltimore, I get free beers? Bonus!
The hardcore show of the summer takes place in Baltimore next month as the 25th anniversary tour of Eyehategod and the 30th anniversary tour of Agnostic Front collide at the Ottobar September 13th. But wait, there’s more…
Harangue – Battle Not With Monsters
Harangue has delivered a concise EP filled with a sense of controlled anarchy. The energy level flogs the listener into submission and begs for repeated spins. It’s also that energy that’s sure to make their live performance a bruising affair. Battle not with moshers?
Iron Maple Volume II: Robert Zemeckis, Tapout, Orchid’s Curse (and more Abriosis and some Thrawsunblat too!)
Well, here we are with week two’s Iron Maple column. With any luck there won’t need to be a name change this week or anyone crying ‘conflict of interest’ with my reviews! It’s been an interesting week for me here in Iron Maple land, racking up plenty of interviews as well as a whole lot of listening. There hasn’t been a lot of new stuff coming in to Iron Maple headquarters the last two weeks, but that’s perfectly fine as I’m so back logged right now, it’s a little mind blowing.
Harangue – Feeding The Wolf EP
As an introduction to the band, the two tracks are an intense six minutes. In that short time, Harangue demonstrate a multi-faceted approach to their songcraft. Abrupt yet timely transitions from hardcore chug to frenetic freakout riffs or absolute slamming breakdowns betrays any notions of this outfit being a one-trick pony.
Cancer Bats – Dead Set On Living
While Cancer Bats have never released a record that anyone could call a failure, this album should be a widespread, runaway success – it deserves to be, it is absolutely their best, most accessible album to date.
Converge/ Burning Love/ Loma Prieta/ Vilipend @ the Mod Club, Toronto ON, April 6th 2012
“Converge are an overwhelming band to see live, vicious, visceral and breathtaking. The set quickly settled into a hard, driving rhythm, and the entire audience was carried along by it, compelled, possessed – taken. It can be difficult to talk about music and sexuality in a way that isn’t sensationalizing or reductive, but there is no question that the sheer aural force of Converge is an intense experience that borders on the erotic.”
Natalie Zed reviews the April 6th Toronto performance by Converge, Burning Love, Loma Prieta and Vilipend
In Memory of Siege vocalist Kevin Mahoney (September 6, 1965 – October 14, 2011)
Earlier this month SIEGE vocalist Kevin Mahoney died at the age of 46. And although his tenure in this legendary US fast hardcore band was short, their Drop Dead demo pretty much started grindcore and powerviolience. Hellbound’s Jay H. Gorania has collected the thoughts of some of the leaders in grindcore and sludge, including members of NAPALM DEATH, EYEHATEGOD, EXIT-13, KILL THE CLIENT, SOILENT GREEN and more to get their reactions on the sudden passing of Kevin and the impact that his created art has had on their scene.
All Else Fails – The Oracle, What Was, Is and Could Have Been
The Oracle is a solid, if occasionally jarring album and a terrific next step for All Else Fails.
Arson Anthem – Insecure Notoriety
Make no mistake, this is not a metal album, this is early, dirty underground hardcore for folks who loved it and miss it, and a lesson for those who have no idea what hardcore is but are open minded enough to check it out. Start here then, go find the bands that influenced Arson Anthem you won’t be disappointed.