UK

Featured, Headline, Reviews, Reviews - Live May 12, 2010

Porcupine Tree @ Sound Academy, Toronto, ON, May 8, 2010

Were this simply an auditory barrage (which I am more than familiar with), I might have had more resistance. But it was much more than that. This show was a carefully orchestrated, beautifully curated performance. The video accompaniment interesting and tasteful, and varied enough that I was never able to settle fully into it or anticipate what was coming next…

Natalie Zed reviews the Saturday, May 8th performance by UK prog rock veterans Porcupine Tree at Toronto’s Sound Academy. Concert photography by Adam Wills.

Featured, Reviews, Reviews - Audio May 12, 2010

Sectioned – Purulent Reality

Purulent Reality is best compared to an unstoppable force that can take a great deal of abuse, simply shedding off its damaged layers while continuing the charge. The album makes no apologies about the fact that it demands to be played from start to finish and allowed to burn itself out.

Featured, Reviews, Reviews - Audio May 10, 2010

Uriah Heep – Celebration

Despite having only one original member, the band’s brand new album Celebration delivers to all their fans a fourteen track collection with an absolutely crushing set list. This celebration of forty years of rock is an album that has it all!

Featured, Reviews, Reviews - Audio April 22, 2010

The Pineapple Thief – 3000 Days

For those who are not familiar with The Pineapple Thief, this UK band is classified as a crossover progressive rock band. The four piece band’s most recent release is 3000 days, which is a double CD compilation which collects tracks off of The Pineapple Thief’s first few albums

Featured, Reviews, Reviews - Audio April 19, 2010

Cathedral – The Guessing Game

Modestly experimental and incredibly grandiose by their standards, this double album (their first ever) clocks in at an ungodly 80-plus minutes, way more than it should but, hey, it’s Cathedral. You know the fuzz-pedals were particularly gritty one day and writing got out of hand.

Headline, Reviews, Reviews - Live March 12, 2010

Kreator, Voivod, Nachtmystium, Evile @ Opera House, Toronto, ON, March 9, 2010

KREATOR, of course, positively destroyed The Opera House. “Hordes of Chaos” raised the energy level in the room to near-riot level early on, and “Enemy of God” and “Extreme Aggression” kept it there. Whatever chilliness I’d initially felt evaporated almost immediately, and there was rarely a moment when my fist wasn’t in the air and my neck muscles weren’t burning.

Natalie Zed reviews the recent Toronto stop of the Kreator, Voivod, Nachtmystium tour, which happened Tuesday night at the Opera House.

Articles, Features, Headline March 4, 2010

MARILLION? D.I.Y. KINGS? YOU BETCHA!

I was surprised as shit to find out that one of the two bands currently ruling the world of DIY (since Fugazi broke up, anyway) is Marillion. Portland, OR’s grind-punk heroes Tragedy are the other, but since they seem to love their privacy and isolation as much as I love their music, let’s focus on Marillion. Plus, the story of how they came to be where they are today is pretty fascinating.

Kevin Stewart-Panko says Marillion are the current Kings of D.I.Y. in rock music right now and explains why in this article.

Featured, Reviews, Reviews - Audio March 2, 2010

Wolfbane – s/t

Shadow Kingdom Records is like the Energizer Bunny. It keeps going and going and going with great releases one after another. One of their newest gems is this compilation by Wolfbane.