1. DEMON BITCH “Death Is Hanging…” (Dying Victims)
– So far only available on tape.Not that far away from the sound of fellow Detroit-outfit Borrowed Time. Unique vocals and a nod to bands like Mercyful Fate and Helstar too. Four really cool songs!
2. STONE DAGGER “The Siege Of Jerusalem” (Electric Assault)
– With the release of this 7″ inch, finally the tape can get some rest. One of the most promising new epic metal bands for a long time. Believe the hype!
I’ve followed the band that is now called Darkest Era since they were Nemesis and released their self titled demo back in 2006. After a while, a change of bandname became necessary, partly because there were already too many bands peforming under the same monicker. Darkest Era was chosen, and early in 2008 the band’s first release under the name was made available through Germany’s Eyes Like Snow. The title was “The Journey Through Damnation”, an EP containing four songs.
1. DARKEST ERA ”Severance” (Cruz Del Sur)
– Grey and melancholic with more identity than on the first one. Lots of atmosphere and some great melodies too. Interview coming up!
2. THE DAGGER “The Dagger” (Century Media)
– A huge surprise. Very seventies inspired from these (mainly) death metal musicians. Influences ranging from Black Sabbath, via Deep Purple to Judas Priest showing clearly in the material. Interview coming soon.
Albums like Slough Feg’s creative “Digital Resistance”, the melodic bliss of “The Awakening” by Dark Forest or Nocturnal’s relentless ”Storming Evil” are all among the early highlights of 2014, but come April 25th, and they are all surpassed by Battleroar’s new opus, the magnificent “Blood Of Legends”. A more than good enough reason to hook up with guitarist and original member Kostas Tzortzis for a chat about the new album, the new singer and all the latest happenings within and around the band since “To Death And Beyond” was released. Continue reading
1. BATTLEROAR “Blood Of Legends” (Cruz Del Sur)
– With Gerrit singing, this sounds quite different, still very cool. Needs a bit of time.
2. PORTRAIT ”Crossroads” (Metal Blade)
– Can’t stop spinning this one. So many storng songs and exciting parts. Vocals not as upfront as on the last one.
The first part of this feature consists of an interview I conducted with main man Christian Horton in September 2011. I decided to include it for a couple of reasons. It has never been published online before, it covers many aspects of the time around and between the releases of the band’s self titled debut and the follow up “Dawn Of Infinity” and it’s also a damn good read, due to Christians interesting and in depth answers even when my questions turned just a little bit critical. Continue reading
With their blend of seventies hard rock, heavy metal and doom metal, Argus out of Pennsylvanias in the US has established themselves as one of the finest new bands to grace the scene during the last five years.
1. Borrowed Time “Borrowed Time” (High Roller)
– A refreshingly different take on pure heavy metal. Some cool ideas. Lots of identity.
2. In Solitude “Sister” (Metal Blade)
– Great album, but so far I prefer the more metallic approach of the last album.
1. Argus “Beyond The Martyrs” (Cruz Del Sur)
– Early days, but this could very well be their best one so far.
2. Atlantean Kodex “The White Goddess” (Cruz Del Sur)
– Right now, I prefer the debut, but as expected, this is high quality stuff. Continue reading
I really enjoyed Visigoth’s “Final Spell”, released on tape a while ago, but the release uncovered one major problem: My cassette deck sucks! Although Iordan of Stormspell has talked about releasing it, “Final Spell” has so far not been made available on CD. Continue reading
Gerrit P. Mutz, the singer of SACRED STEEL, is surely one of the nicest guys in the business. I first met him in Dublin, it must have been in 2004, while I was at work for Scream, covering the recording of Primordial’s “The Gathering Wilderness”, while Gerrit then was working for their label Metal Blade. My love for the first three albums were great at the time (it still is), and I remember almost feeling a little starstruck back then. Since then, SACRED STEEL has put out three studioalbums, some a little disappointing, while the new one, “The Bloodshed Summoning” is the best they’ve done for quite a while. This long interview covers the new album of course, along with some news on Geritt’s involement in Battleroar. Continue reading
