Keefy of Ghost Cult chatted with Nige and Heather of UK Thrash Metal upstarts Chupacabra! They just released their debut EP Fortified With Ashes! We chatted about the formation of the band, the folklore around the name and some mutual love for The X-Files, their connection to Slayer book author DX Ferris and his new podcast, influences, good advice from Gary Holt, feminism and religion, the current crop of great UK metal bands right now, and their next musical adventure already in the works!
Well, look out guys, we’re in for another brutal outing. See, a band usually lets you know they mean fucking business when they have one of them thesaurus type names. Hence Arborescence of Wrath with the surprisingly tame album name Inferno (Transcending Obscurity Records).
Alongside Integrity, Ringworm are one of Cleveland, Ohio’s premiere Hardcore outfits. Formed in 1989 the band’s original run lasted until 1994 and yielded the classic The Promise debut album. Since their 1999 reunion, the band have been prolific with Seeing Through Fire being their ninth release and first since 2019’s Death Becomes My Voice.
Chupacabra is an interesting name for a Thrash/Death Metal band. I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t been taken for a band already. Perhaps the band may tour with Thrashsqatch in the future, perhaps call it; Into the Crypt with the Cryptids.
“Drinking beer, smoking marijuana, listening to Judas Priest…” stems from a shoddy news report detailing the Judas Priest lawsuit trial from 1990. But for those in the know, the sample from the said report was the awesome opening touch that Nails went with on the Among the Arches of Intolerance/In Pain single from 2015. If you don’t own the Decibel Magazine flexi, do yourself a favor and give it a listen on your preferred streaming platform. The same beer-swilling, reefer madness slogan would make perfect sense paired with another Oxnard, California standout in Dead Heat.
Perhaps the noticeable increase in crossover thrash coming out this year is intended to fill the void left by bands like Power Trip and Slayer. Rather than jump on this bandwagon, British thrashers Evile are slowing things down on The Unknown (Napalm Records) to focus on songwriting.
Okay, so it was decided that Bestial Devastation and Morbid Visions (Nuclear Blast) were to be plucked from the Sepultura catalog for re-recording by founding members Max and Igor Cavalera. Can we all agree on that? Great. Now legions of fans will pound and holler about “we already have those available on CD and on streaming.” Then the other side of the audience moans about the Cavalera siblings being greedy or some such shit.
Setting what surely must be some sort of record, Texan metalcore merchants Lockjaw finally release their full-length studio debut twenty-five years after coming into existence. Formed in 1998, the band garnered a decent live reputation but disappeared shortly into the 2000s. Reactivated with a little tweaking in the personnel department, the independently released ‘Deadlights’ single appeared in 2018 followed by four more songs released over 2021 and 2022. Always moving towards a full-length album, Lockjaw 2.0 now deliver on that promise with Relentless (AISAUS/The Orchard), a record sure to please many a groove metal enthusiast.
Super7 Toys has released Jimi Hendrix and MF Doom ReAction Figures for the very first time! You can buy them at the link below! In addition to the ReAction figures, Super7 has released a Slayer Live Undead playset as well as figures based on other music, movies, toy lines, and other pop culture icons. Other reaction figures in the line include Ozzy Osbourne, Cliff Burton of Metallica, Johnny Cash, Misfits, Alice Cooper, several versions of Papa Emeritus and Nameless Ghouls, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Agnostic Front, Anthrax, Lemmy of Motörhead, Beastie Boys, Venom, Circle Jerks, Gorilla Biscuits, King Diamond, Megadeth, Rancid, Judas Priest, Napalm Death, The Sex Pistols, Discharge, Alice Cooper, Run DMC, Doctor Teeth and The Electric Mayhem, Paul Baloff of Exodus and many more! Order right now since these usually sell out.Continue reading
Seventeen years ago, on 6/6/06, Jeff Tandy launched the National Day of Slayer site, which recognized and celebrated the uncompromising, loud, and defiant music of the iconic thrash/punk/metal band Slayer. The site became so popular it was renamed the International Day of Slayer. Today, we honor the IDoS’s 17th year and the band for which it was named. As we move into year four without one of the best Metal bands ever, let’s take a second to praise the dark forces for giving us this band. Not only is the 6th Day of the 6th month Slayer Day, but examine some of the facts that make today even more perfect: two members of Slayer were born in June – Kerry King and Tom Araya (Happy Birthday today, Tom, born on Slayer Day), the band has two great releases in June – the Haunting The Chapel EP and Diabolus in Musica, and the band kicked off their farewell tour in June as well. So the month is meaningful to the band for a variety of reasons. We had covered the band dozens of times, documented their final moments as a band, and our Chief Editor Keefy personally saw Slayer 32 times! We wrote not one, but two retrospective pieces about the band calling it quits which you can read here and here. Things have been quiet on the band news front, other than some merch collabs, tribute albums, and tons of bands playing Slayer-inspired riffs. Throw the Devil horns for Slayer today! Continue reading