Articles By Natalie Zina Walschots
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Reviews
Völur Ancestors Published Jun 05, 2017On their debut record, Disir, Toronto-based folk and doom metal band Völur explored the idea of the feminine divine via long, pulsing ambien...
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Reviews
Whores. Gold Published Oct 28, 2016There are lots of different ways that heavy music can be heavy. It can be aggressive, or brutal, or mean; it can be horrifying or sadistic o...
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Dangers The Bend in the Break Published Oct 17, 2016For all of their driving ambition and DIY relentlessness, hardcore punk monsters Dangers have put out precious few full-length records; The...
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Anciients Voice of the Void Published Oct 17, 2016The problem with progressive metal is that it is either transcendent or insufferable, and the line between these two extremes can be razor-t...
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Epica The Holographic Principle Published Sep 30, 2016So Epica finally saw The Matrix, and it blew their fucking minds, you guys. The Holographic Principle is a concept record that revolves...
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Oathbreaker Rheia Published Sep 28, 2016Belgian metallic hardcore outfit Oathbreaker have always struggled deliciously against the shackles of the genre they operate within, prefer...
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Forteresse Thèmes pour la Rébellion Published Jun 22, 2016Black metal is an inherently rebellious genre: against organized religion, against dominant hegemony, against the sanctity of life itself. R...
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Weedeater / Author & Punisher / Today Is the Day / Sierra Hard Luck Bar, Toronto ON, May 20 Published May 21, 2016Kitchener's progressive stoner metal doomsters Sierra kicked off the festivities at the Hard Luck Bar, and impressed everyone with the quali...
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Kvelertak Nattesferd Published May 11, 2016For all their extraordinary success, Norway's eclectic hybrid metal experimenters Kvelertak have found themselves under a great deal of aest...
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Features
Grindmother Started As a Meme, Now She's Here to Kick Your Ass with 'Age of Destruction' Published May 09, 2016Sometimes memes turn into to something more than bits of internet ephemera. Sometimes there's some genuinely good art behind the initial sho...
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Gary Numan: Android in La La Land Directed by Steve Read and Rob Alexander Published Apr 29, 2016Gary Numan: Android in La La Land isn't about music, but about the internal and relational landscape of the person behind it. The film follo...
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Grindmother Age of Destruction Published Apr 29, 2016The origin story of Grindmother has rather more to do with memes that the average band's creation: Corrupt Leaders member Rain Forest invite...
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Lord Mantis NTW (Nice Teeth Whore) Published Apr 27, 2016It's hard to get a handle on what the fuck exactly Lord Mantis think they're doing. After the release of the band's last record, the musical...
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Behemoth / Myrkur Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto ON, April 26 Published Apr 27, 2016Solo black metal projects are strange, nebulous creations, the product of one person's creative imagination but also the culmination of a gr...
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Reviews
Beastwars The Death of All Things Published Apr 22, 2016When they released their self-titled debut in 2011, New Zealand sludge lovers Beastwars began an epic trilogy of post-apocalyptic concept al...
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Reviews
Kvelertak / Torche / Wild Throne Opera House, Toronto ON, April 20 Published Apr 21, 2016Despite the fact that the crowd was still sparse at the Opera House when they took the stage, Wild Throne put on a vibrant and high-energy s...
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Reviews
Napalm Death / The Melvins / Melt Banana The Opera House, Toronto ON, April 19 Published Apr 20, 2016The lineup outside the Opera House was still snaking around the building when Japanese noise demons Melt Banana took the stage, and inside t...
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Features
The Body Make "the Grossest Pop" on 'No One Deserves Happiness' Published Mar 18, 2016As time marches on, something seemingly impossible is happening: the Body are getting weirder, as evidenced by their new album No One Deserv...
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Reviews
The Body No One Deserves Happiness Published Mar 16, 2016It was Julia Kristeva who first explored the idea of abjection, in her book The Powers of Horror, referring to the specific feeling of revul...
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Reviews
Xibalba Ah Tza! Published Mar 01, 2016Mayan black metal band Xibalba, also known as Xibalba Itzaes (and not to be confused with California-based extreme metal band Xibalba, thoug...