It would be redundant to label End Reign an angry band. Metal tends to breed a dime a dozen of those. And metallic hardcore isn’t a previously untapped subgenre. Besides, the two have probably worked in tandem long before we subdivided every possible combination for the sake of clarity.
Wide-eyed confusion and general bewilderment are the most common reactions after laying eyes upon Las Vegas act Spiritworld for the first time. Slayer in Stetsons is usually the next. Yes, the unlikely looking Nevadans might look like the founder members of a Billy Ray Cyrus and Garth Brooks cosplay fan club but their music is a very different beast indeed.
Iconic artist Stephen Kasner who came out of the underground scene to create horror-themed art for films, books, and avant-garde and metal artists’ albums, died on Christmas Day. He was just 48. In addition to painting, art and other mixed media, Kasner also made music under the Blood Fountains moniker. He created art for albums from a variety of artists such as Khlyst, Sunn O))), Integrity, Lotus Eaters, Skullflower, Justin Broadrick, Subarachnoid Space, and Martin Grech among others. Kasner released the book Stephen Kasner Works: 1993 – 2006 (Scapegoat Publishing, 2007), a lavish career retrospective with text by various artistic luminaries and collaborations with Seldon Hunt, David D’Andrea, Dwid Hellion, Steven Leyba, and Steven Cerio. Dwid’s Integrity band posted a remembrance of Kasner on Social Media. Continue reading