It’s been twenty-one years since John Schaffer of Iced Earth and Hansi Kursch from Blind Guardian joined forces to create Demons and Wizards. It’s been nineteen long years since they released their self-titled debut album, and it’s been fourteen years since its successor, Touched By The Crimson King (Steamhammer), but after one of the longest prick-teases in metal, the Iced Guardian supergroup has finally arrived to play their first ever show in the UK. Continue reading
For metal fans, the subject of Vikings is nothing new. From wondering why no-one seems to like ‘Invaders’ by Iron Maiden, or suddenly bursting into a frighteningly loud rendition of Led Zeppelin‘s ‘Immigrant Song’ at the merest mention of Thor: Ragnarok, those hairy little pillagers have been part and parcel of our music scene for decades. Continue reading
Season three of Netflix’s Marvel Television series Daredevil, based on the popular Marvel comic book character debuted this past weekend. In a cool origin story episode for one starring character, there was a lot of early 2000’s nostalgia such as a Korn shirt, hemp-bead chokers on dudes, the first time Lil John screamed “Yeeeah” on a track, and Trapt’s ubiquitous anthem ‘Headstrong’ was heard too. It was a massive hit in the era of Nu Metal, although it’s a lot more rock than it’s contemporaries looking back. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock (one week on July 26, 2003) and Modern Rock (five weeks on May 31, 2003) charts and No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as No. 1 on the singles recurrent charts. It crossed over to mainstream pop radio, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40. Continue reading