In their forty-three year (!) recording career, it isn’t unfair to say UK rock stalwarts Def Leppard are known for a pretty steady formula and approach of, in the main, pristine, polished hard rock songs, centred in an eighties sheen. Most of us could recognise a Def Leppard-style song without too much difficulty, and they aren’t (a few deviations – RetroActive, Slang, Taylor Swift, and Ghostly interactions – aside) known for their musical risk-taking or surprises.
OTTTO is a trio out of Venice Beach that features a style that combines thrash and funk with modern metal. Life is a Game (ORG) is their debut album. Perhaps the most notable member of the band is their bass player, Tye Trujillo, the son of Metallica’s Robert Trujillo.
Darkwave and synth have been seeing a push in popularity thanks to the hugely successful Netflix series, Stranger Things. The television show which is set in the eighties opening theme has acted as a gateway into synthwave with more and more people checking out the dark and ominous blend of electronic sound.
Catton Park, United kingdom, 12 Aug 2022, Behemoth performing on the Ronnie James Dio Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival Credit: Rich Price/Ghost Cult Magazine
Main Stage and Sophie Lancaster Stage
THURSDAY
If there are two things we love doing in the UK, it’s complaining about the weather and queuing for things. Well, this year at Bloodstock Open Air, both are freely available and at no extra charge. Not a moment goes by without a comment on the sweltering heat or about having to wait to cross the road to the festival ground. Yes, not content with spending two hours in the main queue, campers have now invented a brand new line to join before even getting that far. For the first time ever, a line has formed for people pulling trolleys and sack carts. Almost a quarter of a mile of people waiting in a surprisingly orderly queue before joining an even bigger queue. England, never change.
With the heat already playing its part, I finally arrive at the Sophie Lancaster Stage in time to catch Italian nutters Nanowar of Steel who send the audience into hysterics with daft costumes and a “Wall of Love” (a traditional wall of death that climaxes with people hugging each other to George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper’). Preceding the infuriatingly catchy ‘Norwegian Reggaeton’ with Burzum‘s outdoor recipe for roasted salmon (“you place the freshly caught salmon on a rock and burn down the church next to it”) the band then take the opportunity to use the mighty ‘Valhalleluja’ to build an Ikea coffee table, holding it aloft for the elated crowd. Accompanied by an actual goblin for the duration of their set, US act Nekrogoblikon certainly put on an enjoyable show but find it tough following such a display of irreverent insanity.
Metallica has shared a new video for their classic song “Master of Puppets” from the album of the same name. The track and album have risen up the global streaming and sales chats on the power of appearing in the Stranger Things Season 4 finale. The animated clip was made by U.K. design agency ILOVEDUST, which previously worked with Ozzy Osbourne on the artwork for his upcoming studio album “Patient Number 9”, and with Foo Fighters on promotional activity for their “Studio 666” movie.
Metallica’s Master Of Puppets album and its title track has entered the Billboard charts as well as Spotify and Apple Music top rankings, 36 years after its release. This is in just one week following its appearance in the season four finale of Netflix’s hit series “Stranger Things”. The popularity of the 1986 song, used in the series, brought it to the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time ever in the band’s lengthy career. It is also #22 in the Spotify Global Top 50, which includes Pop and Rap music, as well as number one on the Apple Music Rock chart. Continue reading
Stranger Things has dropped a new trailer for their epic penultimate season, coming this October! In addition to the trailer with a ton of new footage, you can hear the classic rock radio staple “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” by Journey in the clip. Check it out!
When Greek innovators Hail Spirit Noir spewed forth in recorded anger eight years ago it was with tones of the Aegean gracing a strange brew of Blackened Prog Metal. Fourth long-player Eden in Reverse (Agonia Records) sees the completion of a gradual metamorphosis into total Prog, with the absorption of the band’s live musicians transforming the unit into a sextet.Continue reading
Listen, guys, this opening statement probably isn’t going to be the most logical thing ever said about a Toxic Holocaust album, but Primal Future: 2019‘s biggest issue may just be that it’s stuck in the 1980s. Yeah, I know that love for Reagan era Thrash Metal is the house that Toxic Holocaust has built and resided in since their inception so save your comments. I mean Primal Future: 2019 has more reverence for that decade than Stranger Things, The Goldbergs and Michael J. Fox combined. Continue reading
If you still haven’t reconciled the fact that Opeth moved away from death metal years ago – that these days they owe more to the likes of Camel and Gentle Giant than to Morbid Angel – then you might as well stop reading now. Uncross your fingers and stay your optimism for an unlikely return to roaring brutality because the Opeth prog train just keeps on rolling and shows no signs of slowing down. However, for those of you happy with the Swedish progsters’ change of direction almost a decade ago, climb back on board, take a window seat and relax. Continue reading