Review: Woods of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light (Metal as Fuck)

Tom Valcanis

30 January 2012

The Grey Skies are wet with tears; the last recording made with David Gold (RIP) takes on a new, powerful Romantic dimension while still retaining their bitter cynicism and expert musicianship.

There’s a particular twinge of grief that threads itself through this record – of course, the untimely passing of David Gold was as saddening as it was sudden. As he mournfully and sonorously rattled off his desperate words, screaming “Only death is real!” one’s eyes feel pregnant with tears and almost nothing can stem the flow. The heinous crime the Earth has committed in prematurely claiming our dark dreamer only serves to intensify this monochromatic vista of doom metal, like a portrait washed in rivers of hatred and modern bile, dripping with venomous, jarring guitar lines.

Read the review over at Metal as Fuck.

Tom Valcanis

26 January 2012

Writing: Australia Day - And What it Means to Us (Onya Magazine)

Tom Valcanis

26 January 2012

(By Editor Sandi Sieger with contributions from the Onya Team)

I’m in the business of celebrating Australia every day. Being Editor-In-Chief of this magazine means I see, do, taste and feel so much of this great land every day of the week. So when I sat down to think about the meaning of Australia Day, I was a little stuck. It’s just another day, after all.

Sure, there’ll be a lot of stereos beating to the sound of Triple J’s Hottest 100. There’ll be a lot of barbeques sizzling with snags and steaks, and tops being twisted off bottles, and corks being popped. There’ll be Australian flags emblazoned on windows and cars and tattooed on the shoulders and backs of the citizens of this country. But what about it should matter?

Podcast: The "Lost" Devin Townsend Interview

Tom Valcanis

18 January 2012

The long lost interview has finally been found! Conducted in Feburary 2012 for Metal As Fuck, it was once thought perished in the rusty innards of a fried HDD, this interview with the incredible Devin Townsend turned up in the most unlikeliest of places much to my surprise and delight. So here's my gift to you - a rare, earnest insight into the always entertaining and thought-provoking mind of Heavy Devy!

Listen to it in full on SoundCloud.