Articles by Laura Wiebe Taylor

Nechochwen

Azimuths to the Otherworld

PUBLISHED Apr 6, 2010

I was introduced to Nechochwen as a live act: one man, his deft hands and his classical guitar. That encounter revealed only one dimension...

Dark Tranquillity

We Are the Void

PUBLISHED Mar 8, 2010

Dark Tranquillity are like an old standby: they're good at what they do and fans generally know what to expect, even if the band throw in t...

Finntroll

Nifelvind

PUBLISHED Mar 8, 2010

Big and lively, Finntroll's newest folk metal extravaganza should come as no great surprise. The range of instrumentation and the symphonic...

Borknagar

Universal

PUBLISHED Mar 1, 2010

Universal is both laidback and busy, which may be a sign of Borknagar's typically bold intentions here (if the album title wasn't signal en...

Pagan Metal: A Documentary

PUBLISHED Feb 22, 2010

A "documentary" isn't precisely what you get in this lo-fi look at the pagan metal scene. The whole shebang begins not with a menu but with...

Between the Buried and Me / Cynic / Devin Townsend Project / Scale the Summit

Opera House, Toronto ON January 26

PUBLISHED Jan 27, 2010

The scalpers were buying, not selling in front of Toronto's Opera House — clearly, the good buzz about this tour had spread. When Scale th...

Sigh

Scenes from Hell

PUBLISHED Jan 19, 2010

Sigh's eighth album, Scenes from Hell, is a whirlwind of musical chaos, far more lively than I'd ever imagined hell to be. More like a Carn...

Semen Datura

Einsamkeit

PUBLISHED Jan 11, 2010

Semen Datura's third album is a schizophrenic black metal machine. Not content to plough ahead in a straightforward line of blast beats (al...