Whenever the subject of Vikings and Swedish Death Metal arises, Stockholm’s Unleashed invariably find themselves at the forefront of any debate or conversation along with hairy growlers Amon Amarth. Lazy and unnecessary musical comparisons have constantly plagued both sides over the years, but the two remain quite different beasts. Whereas the beardy bunch from Tumba dove straight into Viking folklore, long-ships and battleaxes right from their inception, the more Black Metal influenced Unleashed took their time, remaining just as comfortable tackling different subjects such as war, evil, politics, the media, murder and social injustice, sometimes even evoking the spirit of Manowar by writing songs simply for the glory of METAL. Continue reading →
Now that we have moved into October, it’s time for the Autumn festival and tour soon season. The Full Metal Cruise and Full Metal Mountain Destination Mallorca takes place in a few weeks from the 14th to the 21st of October. Different than typical music cruises, The Full Metal Cruise and Full Metal Mountain Destination Mallorcaoffers the metal a full social programme topped off with a series of stunning live shows each day. The lineup includes Udo Dirkschneider (Ex Accept), Kreator, Ross The Boss (featuring former Manowar guitarist Ross Friedman), Skindred, Life Of Agony and Doro.Packages are available at the link below. Continue reading →
Formed in Lahti, Finland in 2012, melodic Death Metal act Wolfheart was originally created as a solo project by producer and multi-instrumentalist Tuomas Saukkonen after the dissolution of his other musical ventures, Before The Dawn, Black Sun Aeon, Dawn of Solace, and RoutaSielu.Continue reading →
Comedian and musician Jack Black is best known as one half of the duo Tenacious D which has a new album coming soon. As a guest on the Good Mythical MORE vlog hosted by YouTubers Rhett And Link, Jack was asked to choose the most metal album cover of all time from a selection of Amon Amarth, Iron Maiden, Ronnie James Dio, Manowar, Molly Hatchet (?) and Wretched. Watch the video and see where he landed. Tenacious D’s new album, Post-Apocalypto, is coming this November 2nd, 2018,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.
Launching their seventh album in twelve years, with Trust In Rust (Napalm), German a-cappella metal artisans Van Canto are continuing their mission to stretch a novelty idea to the fullest extent.Continue reading →
Inspiration can hit at any time, and for German metal legend Doro Pesch, that time was on her way to the funeral of rock legend Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead in December 2015. Having been friends with Lemmy for many years, Doro felt she needed to pay tribute to the man in the best way she knew, and on the flight over, the lyrics and melody for the song which would become ‘Living Life to the Fullest’ began to form in her head and the long road to this double album began.Continue reading →
Hellfest concluded this past weekend will a rousing success! They have already made their first announcement of bands for the 2019 festival, which includes the final performance ever in France for Slayer. Continue reading →
Although they’ve been around since 1986 (or 1972 if you wish to include their previous incarnation, Cacumen), German act Bonfire have always had to live in the shadow of fellow countrymen and hard rockers Scorpions and Accept. Even with fifteen studio albums to their name, plus numerous compilation and live releases, the band has only ever achieved a limited, but steady amount of success.
With decades of personnel changes, reunions, and legal wranglings behind them, and with only guitarist Hans Ziller remaining as the band’s original member (and even he left the band for seven years after being fired in 1989), Bonfire’s latest line-up still manages to deliver the goods with their new record Temple of Lies (AFM).
Opening with a short, narrated, introduction, the bluesy guitar and neoclassical piano of ‘In the
Beginning’ sounds like something Manowar would come up with if asked to produce a beer commercial. Next up is the title track, a great song powered by a strong riff, dominated by the high pitched wailing vocals of new frontman Alex Staahl, and containing a chorus of which many a European Power Metal band would be proud.
The Dokken-esque ‘On The Wings of an Angel’ and ‘Stand or Fall’ are a little lighter but no less catchy, and with a very eighties title for a very eighties song, ‘Feed the Fire’ is slow, but solid foot-tappy goodness. ‘Comin’ Home’ is standard power ballad material and probably goes on a bit too long, while ‘I’ll Never Be loved By You’ is a slightly heavier ballad with big eighties hooks and a pleasant aroma of Meat Loaf.
“You’ve been down this road before” sings Staahl on the faster paced ‘Fly Away’. Well, yes we have actually. Many times in fact, but it’s still good though. ‘I Help you Hate Me’ is a great little song with a headbangy, foot-stampy riff, but because of its reggae influence, automatically draws comparisons to the Scorpions’ superior ‘Is There Anybody There?’, and closing cut ‘Crazy Over You’ finishes the album in reasonable, but less than stellar fashion.
A worthy addition to the band’s back catalogue, Temple of Lies may not be Heavy Metal heaven, but it contains more than its fair share of highly creditable material and is certainly one of the strongest records the band has put out for many a year.
Launching their seventh album in twelve years, with Trust In Rust (Napalm), German a-cappella metal artisans Van Canto are continuing their mission to stretch a novelty idea to the fullest extent.
