Swedish rockers Electric Boys had a bit of success in the late eighties and early nineties when their boisterous Funk Metal track “All Hips n’ Lips” caught the eye of MTV and their first two albums, Funk O Metal Carpet Ride and Groovus Maximus, caught the eye of the public. Things fizzled out in 1994 but they reunited fifteen years later and have been steadily releasing new material since.
Part of San Francisco’s famous Bay Area thrash scene, Blind Illusion may have only produced one full-length studio album during their initial eleven-year existence but that record, The Sane Asylum (Combat Records) still remains an undisputed classic of its time. Not only famous for adding more technicality, diversity, and flavour to a scene that ran predominantly on speed and aggression, Blind Illusion also ended up being responsible for the creation of alternative funk metal act Primus, the band at the time featuring former Possessed guitarist Larry LaLonde and batshit bass wizard Les Claypool.
They might have only shone for a brief time, but the impact San Franciscan act Possessed left on metal is undeniable. Regarded by many as the originators of Death Metal, between 1985 and 1987, the Californian four-piece released two full-length albums and an EP, their now legendary debut, Seven Churches (Relativity/Combat) gaining deserved recognition as one of the benchmarks of mid-eighties Speed/Thrash.Continue reading
He was so deeply huddled under a blanket that it took a while to locate the source of the voice hollering my name. Eytan Wineapple, curator of the rumbling beast that was the NOIZ All-Dayer, initially celebrated its second incarnation looking like death warmed up. After a long couple of days, with Wineapple escorting eventual headliners Dukatalon to Sheffield and back, they eventually bedded down in today’s venue. “They got here around 3 a.m., and I tucked them all in!” joked Rebellion manager and event collaborator Hayley. Five minutes later, the flat-capped Wineapple was bounding around like a madman: putting to serious shame Ghost Cult’s scribe who, twelve hours later, and still nearly three hours from the denouement, interviewed said host in a rather weary and addled fashion…
NOIZ is not your average festival. Displays of album-style art and guitars in various stages of completion (one of which is raffled off later in the day) stand beside the S.O.P.H.I.E. merch stall in the upper level of the club-style venue. A dedicated handful, meanwhile, witness the pulverising Industria of openers Khost: looking for all the world like a couple of local scallies bumbling about on a stage, yet laying waste with a mystical power which deserved a better slot and much more attention. The Birmingham duo’s ambient, crushing set, its implosive chords and guttural scours blending with a wonderful and passionate line in Middle-Eastern vocal samples, ended bang on time: a courtesy that some of the festival’s other performers could have tried harder to match.