Following the release of their debut album The Language Of Injury in 2019, Ithaca quite rightly found themselves labelled as one of the new up and coming buzz bands in the UK’s Metal scene. The album was a furious slice of post-hardcore / metalcore, full of great riffs and powerful vocals delivered by singer Djamilla Boden Azzouz, which saw them saw them gain comparisons with the likes of other heavy, strong bands including Svalbard and Employed To Serve. Continue reading
Megadeth has released a new single, “Night Stalkers”, the second from their upcoming new album. The track featured Hip-=Hop and Metal legend Ice-T of Body Count and can be streamed below and on all DSPs. The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!, which will arrive on September 2 via UMe. UPDATED: Watch the music video now! Continue reading
I’ve never seen GWAR before, I’ve heard about their shows over the years. Now I finally get to experience it myself! Just as I was starting to shoot the second song of GWAR’s set, I took a shot of some fake blood to my right eye. I laughed as I noticed the camera condom took the brunt of it and my contact lens the rest. Continue reading
Openly born from adverse circumstances, Seattle’s Opponent is the brainchild of guitarist and vocalist Andy Maier. Following the news of Maier’s father’s cancer diagnosis, Maier set the precedent to make Opponent a full-time endeavour and set work on their sophomore full-length Sentinel (Solid State Records), a title which knowing the circumstances offers arguably two contrasting meanings. Whichever is meant, the album itself is one that is meant to deliver a positive, uplifting message.Continue reading
ONI – Loathing Light (Ironshore Records)
The development and progression from Jake Oni’s 2016 debut, the tech metal minded Ironshore to second offering Loathing Light is something quite notable. Always technically proficient, Oni has made the most of his exposure to a host of successful musical others (for one, he worked with Mark Morton on the latter’s solo record), and their class has rubbed off. That isn’t to say that ONI is reliant on the guest interventions and mentorship and guidance of others, more to say that the eponymous mastermind has become the proverbial sponge, moving on his ability to write engaging, memorable metal tunes, with the emphasis on energy, and setting a series of barbed aural traps to ensnare both the willing victims and the unwitting.
The artwork that emblazons Municipal Waste’s Electrified Brain (Nuclear Blast) sets the scene as strongly as anything else could have: a Flying-V guitar violently piercing the left cheek of a skeletal head that’s also being shocked. That’s precisely what the nearly thirty-four-minute attack feels like. It’s a pummeling marathon of fun-loving ire, of bodacious violence. Continue reading
While Georgian five-piece Vatican may name-check Meshuggah and Dillinger Escape Plan, their roots are firmly planted in (the original type of) metalcore, owing as much to Earth Crisis and Vision of Disorder (et al) as the latter-day spearheads of discordant “popular” heavy music. Ultra (UNFD) may be the band’s second full-length overall, however with a focus on the sound and style, and with the smooth integration of new vocalist Mike Sugars, it feels like a milestone moment in the definition of what Vatican is as a band, and who they are as an artist.
An interesting release from Killswitch Engage, metalcore royalty who at the beginning of 2020 had just commenced touring their latest album Atonement. But found themselves heading home as the pandemic struck, licking their wounds and unable to take one of their strongest records out on the road, for shows that included support from former vocalist Howard Jones’s band Light The Torch; Atonement featuring the crushing track (‘The Signal Fire’) which saw Jones trading vocals with current (and original) singer Jesse Leach, and the tour providing the perfect opportunity for both frontmen to hit the stage together. Continue reading
Portland Progressive Trad Metal band Sleepless just released their new album – Host Desecration on the Metal Warrior Records label. The album is chock full of crunching riffs, shifty time signatures, great grooves, and killer vocals! Ghost Cult is teaming up with the band to give away two (2) CD’s or a vinyl (1) to three lucky winners! The vinyl is due out in June! Enter on our post on Instagram! US residents only. Details to win here:
Jeff Hanneman, legendary guitarist of Slayer passed away on May 2nd, 2013, nine years ago today. Ghost Cult continues to fly the flag of Slayer high, and customarily we celebrate the life of Jeff, the music he made and the stages he left scorched. His legacy as a riff maker, songwriter, soloist, and metal personality has not been dampened since his death. In the time since he passed, Ghost Cult covered Slayer just as heavily in Jeff’s life, as they released a final studio album with Jeff’s contributions (Repentless), had a legend and friend hold down his spot live (Gary Holt of Exodus), released a comic book with Jeff’s likeness, completed their final world tour ever of two years, released an incredible film/music video trilogy (The Repentless Killogy), former bandmate DaveLombardo wrote a loving tribute to his fallen friend, and we have created two career-spanning retrospectives (read them here and here) on the end of the band. From the time Jeff passed and every night on that final world tour, Slayer honored Jeff during ‘Raining Blood’ with the “still reigning” banner. As we say every year at this time: Hail Jeff and hail Slayer!