Saturday’s main event kicks off with Pijn, whose darkly atmospheric set is characterised by long cello-endowed instrumental passages that build with a slow burn towards intense climaxes.Continue reading
Tag Archives: Discharge
FESTIVAL REVIEW: Damnation Festival 2024 Part 1- A Night of Salvation 2024 Live at Bowlers Exhibition Centre
Damnation Festival, now into its third year at the venue of Bowlers Exhibition Centre, Manchester, has become a staple of the UK metal calendar and is apparently now the largest indoor metal festival in Europe.Continue reading
FESTIVAL PREVIEW: Damnation Festival Kicks off Today with Cradle of Filth, Bleeding Through, Russian Circles, Nails, Decapitated, The Ocean, Employed To Serve, Morne, Mizmor, and More
Ghost Cult is once again honored to cover Damnation Festival this year, kicking off with A Night of Salvation pre-party, and tomorrow proper all-dayer. The fest has been around almost as long as Ghost Cult has, and we love supporting this music and staff! Taking place at Manchester, UK’s BEC Arena once again, our expert team will bring you the coverage of some of the best underground Metal and metal-adjacent bands in the world in a curated setting with many unique one-of-a-kind shows. The usually sold-out event still has tickets on sale at the links below, and they even have a great app (we tested it). Let’s delve into a quick preview of the fest for those attending or curious about one of the best metal festivals we have covered (check out our 2023 coverage here)! Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Wolfbrigade – Life Knife Death
Sweden’s Wolfbrigade occupies a very specific place in hard-core. The band’s 11th album Life Knife Death might be their first for Metal Blade Records, but it does not venture far from the sonic ground they covered on the previous ten albums. This aligns them closely to Motorhead in a few ways, the first being they are steadfast in their dedication to burly hardcore champs. It charges at you with all the Punk and rocking fury you might expect from this band who infuses Entombed’s dense guitar tone with Motorhead’s reckless energy. The raw-throated vocals are more Lemmy-influenced than metal. There is a scant trace of the stomping sections you might expect from hardcore, though this is way heavier than punk, thus making it hardcore. Ten albums in they know what they are doing.Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: False Fed – Let Them Eat Fake
To say that a line-up which features Discharge vocalist Jeff (JJ) Janiak, guitarist Stig Miller (Amebix), drummer Roy Mayorga (Nausea/Amebix) and bassist JP Parsons is an enticing prospect would be an understatement. This type of musical pedigree promises us that something special looms on the horizon in the form of Let Them Eat Fake (Neurot Recordings).
FESTIVAL REVIEW: Bloodstock Open Air 2022 Part 2
Catton Park, United kingdom, 14 Aug 2022, Lamb of God performing on the Ronnie James Dio Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival Credit: Rich Price/Ghost Cult Magazine
SATURDAY
Considering most people are already feeling like overcooked baked potatoes wrapped in tin foil, the fact that today is meant to be the hottest day of the festival really isn’t the best news. Still, that certainly doesn’t deter a healthy crowd from shaking off the hangovers and getting on with the business at hand, Baest and Lost Society both grabbing the main stage by the scruff of the neck while Sister Shotgun and Mastiff do the same on the Sophie stage.Continue reading
FESTIVAL REVIEW: Bloodstock Open Air 2022 Part 1
Catton Park, United kingdom, 12 Aug 2022, Behemoth performing on the Ronnie James Dio Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival Credit: Rich Price/Ghost Cult Magazine
Main Stage and Sophie Lancaster Stage
THURSDAY
If there are two things we love doing in the UK, it’s complaining about the weather and queuing for things. Well, this year at Bloodstock Open Air, both are freely available and at no extra charge. Not a moment goes by without a comment on the sweltering heat or about having to wait to cross the road to the festival ground. Yes, not content with spending two hours in the main queue, campers have now invented a brand new line to join before even getting that far. For the first time ever, a line has formed for people pulling trolleys and sack carts. Almost a quarter of a mile of people waiting in a surprisingly orderly queue before joining an even bigger queue. England, never change.
With the heat already playing its part, I finally arrive at the Sophie Lancaster Stage in time to catch Italian nutters Nanowar of Steel who send the audience into hysterics with daft costumes and a “Wall of Love” (a traditional wall of death that climaxes with people hugging each other to George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper’). Preceding the infuriatingly catchy ‘Norwegian Reggaeton’ with Burzum‘s outdoor recipe for roasted salmon (“you place the freshly caught salmon on a rock and burn down the church next to it”) the band then take the opportunity to use the mighty ‘Valhalleluja’ to build an Ikea coffee table, holding it aloft for the elated crowd. Accompanied by an actual goblin for the duration of their set, US act Nekrogoblikon certainly put on an enjoyable show but find it tough following such a display of irreverent insanity.
FESTIVAL PREVIEW: BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR 2022
Bloodstock Open Air (BOA) 2022 is almost upon us. Kicking off on Thursday the 11th of August, this most metal of all festivals runs until Sunday the 14th, damaging necks, air guitar strings, and bank accounts along the way. After Covid put paid to the 2020 festival, an admirably safety-conscious BOA returned with a five day bang last year! (read our review of BOA 2021 review here), selling out weekend passes well in advance and things promise to be just as busy this time.
Super7 Toys Releases a ReAction Figure of Cal Morris of Discharge
Super7 Toys has released a Cal Morris of Discharge ReAction Figure! Icons of old-school Hardcore Punk that left a mark on Metallica, Slayer and others, this is a must have for fans of heavy music! The Cal figure comes in his classic leather jacket and microphone, with an awesome die-cut cardboard back with the full jacket image. In addition to the ReAction figures, Super7 has released a Slayer Live Undead playset as well as figures based on other music, movies, toy lines, and other pop culture icons. Other reaction figures in the line include Ozzy Osbourne, Cliff Burton of Metallica, Johnny Cash, Misfits, Alice Cooper, several versions of Papa Emeritus, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Agnostic Front, Anthrax, Motörhead, Venom, Circle Jerks, Gorilla Biscuits, King Diamond, Megadeth, Rancid, Judas Priest, Napalm Death, Paul Baloff of Exodus and many more! Order right now since these usually sell out.Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Soulfly – The Soul Remains Insane The Studio Albums 1998 – 2004
Whenever an established act loses its frontman, especially one as talismanic as Max Cavalera, fans are usually left choosing sides. Do you go with the musician striking out on their own or do your allegiances remain with the band? Largely dependent on the situation, an amicable split can leave listeners happily following both parties down separate paths to the promise of glory but when open hostility is at the heart of the separation, loyalties are often put to the test.Continue reading