Prophecy Productions

Alcest – Shelter

The Prophecy Productions write-up for Alcest’s fourth full-length album, Shelter, states that the record is “about the concept of shelter as a safe place that allows everybody to escape reality for an instant, to reunite with what we really are, deep down.” For myself, Shelter is like a vacation. At first it’s exciting and enthralling to be in a carefully curated hotel in a new place, but the longer you’re away, the more you’re reminded that a vacation is really just a temporary, transitional state towards a return to some other place.

STAFF PLAYLISTS: September 2010

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!

Find out what HELLBOUND’s contributors have been listening to during the month of September. Almost every writer has submitted their Top 5 list and have an option to list a book and a film they are into right now too

Lantlôs – .neon

While this is indeed a different vibe from the more nostalgic, fantastical vibe given off by Alcest’s albums, Lantlôs remains very similar in feel. This fact alone should be enough to help one decide whether or not .neon is worth pursuing.

Alcest/ Monarque/ Thantifaxath @ Hard Luck Bar, Toronto ON, April 23, 2010

For the first time in a great many shows, I actually sat down during a performance. I sat not because I was bored, not even because I was tired. I sat because the energy it took to operate my legs felt like energy I could be directing towards my ears. I sat on a table top with my eyes closed, rocking back and forth unconsciously, entirely consumed.

Natalie Zed reviews the April 23rd Toronto debut of France’s Alcest. Also sharing the bill were Quebec black metallers Monarque and Thantifaxath.

Various Artists:Swedish Death Metal

This massive three-disc compilation gives the listener a sonic taster of all the flowery praise thrown around Daniel Ekeroth’s book and if that listener is a seasoned Sverige-phile, then Swedish Death Metal Compilation acts as a 3+ hour trip down the left hand path of memory lane. It’s all here, the good, bad, ugly, awesome, marginal and downright terrible