When listening to Pounder’s second album, Breaking The World, one immediately notices an improvement in lead singer/guitarist Matt Harvey’s (Exhumed/Gruesome) vocal performance. His voice still has the husky, untrained timbre that was an unfortunate liability on 2019’s Uncivilized, but also has more conviction and grit behind it this time around. It may still be a dealbreaker for some listeners, but at least they didn’t attempt to put a power ballad on here…
Seven years after their last (original) studio release, the irrepressible Manowar returns to the hall (well, two original members and two new guys anyway) atop their mighty steeds, gripping a new EP firmly in their gloves of Metal, and celebrating their latest epic touring adventure.Continue reading
The biggest underground metal festival in the world, Bloodstock Open Air kicks off today. Headlined by titans of metal like Judas Priest, Nightwish, and Gojira, the festival has grown over the years from a small cottage enterprise to a huge undertaking. One of the lynchpins of the operation is Vicky Hungerford, as one of the four directors of the festival. She is directly responsible for booking the bands on the fest and attracting world-class talent every year. Thus, she helps to shape rock and metal history in the process year in and year out. We chatted with Vicky by phone a few days ago to get her take on BOA 2018, the challenges of planning such a big festival, and much more.