Tag Archives: old-school punk

Former Manowar and The Dictators Guitarist Ross “The Boss” Friedman Has Died

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Ross “The Boss” Friedman, a founding member of both Manowar and The Dictators, a massive influence in Heavy Metal and early Punk Rock, and later Power Metal has died. He was 72 years old and just recently was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Ross also has his own solo band, Ross The Boss, which put out an album, Born of Fire in 2020, on Frontiers SRL, and Death Dealer. We met and interviewed Ross a few times and covered him many times, the world over live, and he was humble and classy. RIP. 

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ALBUM REVIEW: Iron Lung – Adapting – Crawling

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When I was much, much, much younger, I went to a talent show at a girlfriend’s high school. Most of the acts were musical, so they set up a stage in the gym rather than using the auditorium. About four or five of those bands were hardcore punk fronted by the same kid, and every song exploded in a sub-two-minute speed-punk rage blast. Continue reading →


INTERVIEW: Mark Scondotto of Shutdown Talks About Their New “By Your Side” EP

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I’ll never forget hearing Shutdown for the first time many years ago and being blown away by the high energy and sense of purpose in the then-young upstart band’s fiery brand of driven NYHC. In very exciting news, the band continue their hot streak with Equal Vision Records and a new EP By Your Side! Learning from the ups and downs in life and building community is what this band has always been about. It was a lot of fun to catch up with singer Mark Scondotto about Shutdown these days. Continue reading →