With “Eyes Of The Demon”, their fourth full lenght release, Mortalicum from Sundsvall in Sweden confirms their position as one of the more reliable doom/heavy rock outfits out there. We got in contact with bass player Patrick Backlund to get all the lastest on the Swedes who had their last album released on Metal On Metal towards the end of last year. We also managed to get a small update on Patrick’s other band, Quicksand Dream. Continue reading
Towards the end of last year I got the chance to listen to “Rising”, the debut demo from Vultures Vengeance, an Italian band dealing in surprisingly heavy, obscure and dark metal. A really nice surprise, and something different from all the retro acts occupied by trying to replicate the sound and feeling of the NWOBHM as perfect as possible. More or less the whole band got together to answer my questions, for what is one of the first (if not the first) attempt at an in depth interview with the Italians. Continue reading
Just like they did last year, with Trial, High Roller is once again supplying us with one of the early highlights of the new year. This time the band in question is Lethal Steel, and the album is called “Legion Of The Night”. Even though the band has existed for something like five years now, this is the debut album from the Swedes. Metal Squadron spoke to guitarist Johan Frick to get all the background info on what is yet another very promising heavy metal act from Sweden.
Warlok who? you might ask. If it was spelled with a “c”, I am pretty sure everyone would have known that we were in for a piece on the now defunct German act fronted by Doro, but Warlok is something completely different. As it is now, this one man project has released a demo, available on tape only so far, through Swords And Chains. As a writer you’ll often wonder which band member will turn up to answer your questions, in this case it was no other choice than let Matt Edwards do the talking.
Most of the time I try to help the bands by having the interview published when their new album is released, but when it comes to Belgium’s Horacle, things turned out a bit differently. An agreement to do this piece was in place several months ago, but I really struggled to find the time to finish my questions. Luckily, everything came together in the end, and singer Terry Fire as well as bass player L. Sabathan did a pretty good job by answering my questions. Continue reading
After a flying start with the debut album ”Lord Of The Wasteland” and a chance to perform at Keep It True in 2010, things looked really bright for Steelwing. Unfortunately, the follow up, “Zone Of Alienation” wasn’t as strong, and things seemed slow down a bit for the young Swedes. I hooked up with guitarist Alex Vega, and ask him if he feels things took off a bit too fast with the debut… Continue reading
With their self titled debut, Magic Circle from Massachusetts in the US, managed to gain a lot of interest in doom and traditional heavy metal-circles almost three years ago. It didnt make things less interesting when three of the same musicans released the brilliant Stone Dagger-demotape later the same year. Metal Squadron hooked up with with Magic Circle’s Chris Corry to discuss the band’s mighty fine new opus “Journey Blind. Continue reading
1. BLACK OATH ”To Below And Beyond” (Doomentia)
– Fellow Italians challenge Adramelch for most beautiful album of the year. Magic doom metal!
2. MAGIC CIRCLE “Journey Blind” (20 Buck Spin)
– Different from the debut. Has an early nineties Trouble-vibe. Some killer riffs here! Continue reading
I had a long chat with RAMs singer Oscar Carlquist around the release of “Death”, back in early 2012. One year later, RAM was on a hiatus and the future of the band was in doubt. After some serious thinking, the members decided to continue, and the new album “Svbversvm”, out through Metal Blade at the end of October, is the result of what the Swedes have been up to since. Oscar is once again the one picking up the phone when I call to get all the necessary info about what seems like a turbulent period in the history of the band. Continue reading
Black Trip turned a lot of people’s heads with their awesome debut album, “Going Under”. In this lengthy interview with main man Peter Stjärnvind you’ll get most of the details on the material that constituted the first album, songs that Peter had been working on for years on his own, before he had a real band to play with. Of course you’ll also get all the essential details on the brand new album “Shadowline”, which is more of a band effort, with most of the members involved in the songwriting.
Heavy Chains is one of my favorite labels. Tarot, Dracula, Outcast and Eldorado are just some of the excellent acts associated with this label, but it doesn’t stop there. A few of you might be familiar with Australia’s Zodiac through their 2013 demo tape, but if not, this is your chance to get to know this Brisbane-based act. Will from Heavy Chains was kind enough to let me stream the band’s forthcoming EP. Check out these excellent songs for yourself, and remember to grab a copy of the tape when it’s out.
Continue reading
Two songs might be all we’ve heard so far, but when they’re so damn good as “The Horror” and “Satan’s Hallow” are, the expectations are immediately raised. So far, the two tracks are only available through Bandcamp, but they are soon to be released both on tape and 7” through Sword & Chains and Underground Power respectively.
Continue reading
Sorcerer is a band whose name brings tears of sentimentality to many the eyes of many fans of underground doom metal from the late eighties and early nineties. The band released a couple of demo tapes that left its mark on the scene and has been kept alive by rereleases and new and upcoming acts namedropping the band. In 2010 the band reunited, with singer Anders Engberg and bass player Johnny Hagel on board to the Hammer Of Doom-festival in Germany. Continue reading
So, yet another year has passed, and it’s time to look back and reflect on what was. In this first of two parts where I look back at 2014, I will focus on Metal Squadron. Part 2 will dwell around the year in metal, with of course, my top 15 list for the year that is soon coming to an end. Continue reading
When you listen to the band’s first demo and compare it to the new album, “Vessel” set to be released in January, it’s easy to hear that the band has improved massively over the course of four or five years. The band has a much stronger identity these days, and the songwriting is so improved that I sometimes have a hard time understanding we’re talking about the same band. Even though 2015 hasn’t started yet, I am pretty sure “Vessel” will end up in my top 15 when it’s time to make that list again in a year’s time.
Dear all!
I have a lot of people visiting Metal Squadron without signing up for future updates either on Facebook or via mail. If you came here by accident, and this is simply not what you are looking for, please ignore this message, but if you found the site useful and think you might visit the page again, please sign up.
I also strongly encourage people to comment on the reviews and the interviews. It doesn’t take long to leave a few words, either positive or negative. All this will help me a lot during my work to have regular updates and generally improve the site.
You’ll find all the details to the right in your screen, or you could go here:
Dear all!
I have a lot of people visiting Metal Squadron without signing up for future updates either on Facebook or via mail. If you came here by accident, and this is simply not what you are looking for, please ignore this message, but if you found the site useful and think you might visit the page again, please sign up.
I also strongly encourage people to comment on the reviews and the interviews. It doesn’t take long to leave a few words, either positive or negative. All this will help me a lot during my work to have regular updates and generally improve the site.
You’ll find all the details to the right in your screen, or you could go here:
http://www.facebook.com/metalsquadron
Thank you!
I have a lot of people visiting the site without signing up for future updates either on Facebook or via mail. If you came here by accident, and this is simply not what you are looking for, please ignore this message, but if you found the information you were looking for and think you might visit the page again, please sign up. I also strongly encourage people to comment on the reviews and the interviews. All this will help me a lot during my work to improve the site.
You’ll find all the details to the right in your screen, or you could go here:
http://www.facebook.com/metalsquadron
Thank you!
Leif
Metal Squadron 