FESTIVAL REVIEW: Bloodstock Festival 2023 – Part 1


 

A lot has changed in the twenty years since my first Bloodstock. What began as a relatively small indoor gathering in the middle of Derby city centre now welcomes around fifteen thousand metal fans from around the world annually. From two days, two halls, a signing room, and a “Metal Market” to four days, four stages, a signing tent, art gallery, gaming zone, and curiosities such as Viking battles and even early morning Heavy Metal Aerobics sessions, the changes to Bloodstock have been gradual but necessary.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Nita Strauss – The Call Of The Void


 

She came, she saw, she conquered. “VIC-TOR-IOUS.” The Call Of The Void (Sumerian Records) is two albums in one – a superior instrumental guitar album, full of class and charisma, setting off sparks of shredded steel and nickel – and an above average, rock/blues rock/modern metal album, with one foot in the past and two eyes looking to the future, graced by some fine guest stars, including Alice Cooper, David Draiman, and Anders Friden

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ALBUM REVIEW: In Flames – Foregone


 

“My momma always said life was like a new In Flames album. You never know what you’re going to get”. Okay, so opening with a paraphrased Forrest Gump quote might seem a little harsh but, considering the Swedish melodeath act’s somewhat less than consistent form since the early 2000s, not entirely without cause. Without a single original left member to their name and being unable to keep a steady line-up since 2008, it’s not entirely surprising to find In Flames has gone from the brink of global domination to struggling to keep themselves near the top of the pile.

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Watch Lamb of God Perform with Guest Singers (Chimaira, Trivium, In Flames) in Place of Randy Blythe


Lamb of God had to perform without their frontman D. Randall “Randy” Blythe on “The Metal Tour of The Year” with Megadeth, Trivium and In Flames for the band’s concert Tuesday night (April 19) in Grand Rapids, Michigan after testing positive for COVID-19.  Fill-ins for Randy included Trivium’s Matthew K. Heafy and In Flames‘ Anders Fridén, as well as Mark Hunter of Chimaira, who toured with LoG back in that bands’ heyday. Blythe reported on social media he is already feeling better and hopes to rejoin the group this week.  Watch footage of the performances, uploaded by the Brewtally Speaking podcast. 

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From Ashes To New Shares New Version of “Scars That I’m Hiding”, ft Anders Friden of In Flames


Modern Nu-Metal band From Ashes To New has shared a new version of their track “Scars That I’m Hiding”, ft Anders Friden of In Flames. The song was re-created for the soundtrack for the Better Noise Films release, The Retaliators (out on-demand in late October 2020). A version without Fridén’s vocals will be included on the band’s upcoming release entitled Panic, due out 8/28/2020. Continue reading


In Flames Announces 20th Anniversary Edition of “Clayman”, New Lyric Video for Title Track


 

In Flames are celebrating two major milestones in 2020 with their 30th anniversary as a band, and 20th anniversary of their seminal, critically acclaimed album, Clayman. In honor of this monumental occasion, Nuclear Blast Records presents a special 20th Anniversary Edition of Clayman, to be released on August 28th. Now available for pre-order at the link below. Preceding the physical release of Clayman 20th Anniversary Edition,  In Flames will digitally release the Clayman 2020 EP on July 24th, which features the 2020 versions of “Only For The Weak”, “Bullet Ride”, “Pinball Map”, “Clayman” and a new instrumental track, “Themes and Variations in D-Minor”. In further celebration of the anniversary, the band has teamed up with KNOTFEST to stream their Wacken 2018 headline performance and will be offering an exclusive, limited edition t-shirt during the stream. The show will air today @ 11am PST/ 2pm EST/ 8pm CET @ www.Knotfest.com for 72 hours. Today, the band releases the lyric video for the first single, “Clayman (Re-Recorded)” here:Continue reading


In Flames – Norma Jean – Light the Torch: Live at O2 Ritz Manchester (UK)


For the past decade or so, melodeath heavyweights In Flames have divided the worldwide metal community. After beginning humbly as a melodic side-project to Jesper Strömblad’s traditional death metal band Ceremonial Oath, the Gothenburg group went on to release a string of innovative albums throughout the mid to late 90s that earned them unanimous acclaim for pioneering a much cleaner, more NWOBHM inspired style of death metal. Alongside the likes of bands such as Dark Tranquility and At the Gates, this fresh approach took the metal world by absolute storm. However, the turn of the decade has seen the Swedes popularity tower to heights not often reached without musical compromise, a notion that most bands of their genre would never dare to entertain. In the case of Anders Fridén and co, they boldly made the decision to incorporate friendly grooves and alternative metal riffs into a core sound that was always considered to be its best when abrasive, off-putting and relentless.

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Sharon den Adel of Within Temptation Talks ‘Resist’, The Evolution of their Sound, and More


Ghost Cult spent some time in New York City recently with Sharon den Adel of Within Temptation before their sold-out show at The Playstation Theater in Times Square, The band recently released their smash album Resist (Spinefarm) and came back to tour the US for the first time in five years. Sharon chatted with us backstage in a candid conversation about the new album, changes in the sound of Within Temptation over the years, working with collaborators like Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach and Anders Friden of In Flames, her 2018 solo album My Indigo, maintaining good vocal health on the road, and plans for the next Within Temptation release, honoring the legacy of the band, and a lot more! Videography by Omar Cordy of OJC photography.Continue reading


In Flames – I, The Mask


 

In Flames is a band, much like most of the daring few whoever made ground-breaking original art, that seems to be judged forever for their earliest success. While it’s true that that have departed from their original pioneering “Gottenburg sound” of melodic death metal, they are certainly never dull and always capable of solid releases with memorable songs. The chorus of angry, arms-crossed dudes that say “I don’t listen to those guys anymore” will always get drowned out by the die-hards, many whom the band picked up as they exploded in popularity. Once you get past the old narrative of the band that escaped beyond what was narrow sub-genre with four good bands, you can appreciate their entire career arc, which is still evolving on their new album, I, The Mask (Eleven Seven Music Group). Continue reading


Within Temptation – Resist


Suffering from writers’ block after an exhausting touring cycle, Within Temptation singer Sharon den Adel found herself devoid of inspiration and worrying that she might not be able to write again. Eventually, she did begin composing once more, but on a smaller scale and for a more personal solo project released earlier this year.Continue reading