Two band names, three studio albums, one EP, a live album, and a change of vocalists. A lot has happened in the last few years for Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons. From beginning life as a side project for the former Motörhead guitarist, performing covers under the somewhat less than attention-grabbing moniker of Phil Campbell’s All Starr Band, the band announced a much-needed name change the following year and the improvement was both noticeable and immediate.
Kvelertak (Norwegian for ‘Stranglehold’) are one of the more unique offerings hailing from the land of mystical forests and flowing fjords, and are anything but your typical Black Metal band from the region. In fact any hints of the sound are very few and far between on their fifth album Endling (Rise Records), with the influence used sparingly.
SATURDAY
With the weather nothing like the crispy oven-cooked hellfire of last year’s Summerpocalypse, Bloodstock is a much happier place this year, and not even the first downpour of the weekend can dampen the spirits. Especially as today is Corpse-paint Day where everyone is invited to daub themselves in black and white make-up and become angry badgers for the next few hours.
Any rational, working seventy-five-year-old would probably be thinking very seriously about winding down by now. Come on now, old man. That’s enough. It’s time for your pipe and slippers. But as we are all fully aware, Alice Cooper is not your average seventy-five-year-old. In fact, it’s becoming increasingly apparent with each passing year that he is, in all likelihood, an actual vampire. Yes, much like Keith Richards, Alice cannot be killed by conventional weapons.Continue reading
“Niiiiiice”, says Louis Balfour – you know, the jazz critic in The Fast Show comedy sketches. Well, Soen’s Memorial (Silver Lining Music) is niiiiiice – a decidedly serious sandwich full of delights, earworms, and all-around expertise.
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.
Photo 185910839 | Ozzy © Fabio Diena | Dreamstime.com
TidalWave Comics is proud to announce the addition of the English rock band Black Sabbath to its popular “Orbit” comic book series focused on personalities who impact the world. “Orbit: Black Sabbath” is released on August 23, 2023.
Wizard Tattoo are ostensibly a solo outfit from Indianapolis led by multi-instrumentalist Bram the Bard who released a four-track self-titled EP last year which has now been followed up with the Fables of the Damned (Self-Released) full-length debut which I currently have in my possession and am about to review.
Nearly thirty years of diving headfirst into the void, and Church of Misery are back with Tatsu Mikami once more giving worship to the Blackest of Sabbath’s, acolyte to ‘The Riff’ and servant to the retro groove once more on Born Under A Mad Sign (Rise Above). Joined once again after a twenty-five-year absence by original vocalist Kazuhiro Asaeda, there is a fine sense of anticipation about the Japanese doom merchants seventh full-length.
For a band named after one of ‘tallica’s finest songs from their early vintage period, you might be forgiven for thinking that Boundless Domain (MNRK Heavy) is a record full of modern Thrash Metal bangers … but you’d be wrong. Creeping Death purvey pure and unadulterated Death Metal, taking in all forms of the gory art with splashes of old-school, blackened, and doom thrown in the mixer.