Thursday, May 28, 2015

doom from France: CONVICTION

CONVICTION
doom from France
free recording; with Deep Purple cover "Pictures of Home"
www.convictiondoom.bandcamp.com

thrash from Canada: MUTANK

if you like thrash, check out this thrash from Canada
(tell them that Metal Bulletin Zine sent ya!)
MUTANK
www.mutankthrash.bandcamp.com

Septycal Gorge - Scourge Of The Formless Breed (2014) (FULL)

get ready for the "brutal metal" for the brutal world!



this is Septycal Gorge





Sunday, May 24, 2015

the heavy metal of Mortician (Austria) - Eagle Spy Official Video

Mortician is:
Patrik Lercher – Bass
Thomas Metzler – Guitar
Daniel Khan – Vocals
Alex “Black Cat” – on drums since Oct. 2014
MORTICIAN Biography
In the early eighties, influenced from Kiss, AC/DC, and Judas Priest Thomas Metzler (17, lead guitar and front man from Mortician) and Roland Konzett (17, rhythm guitar), started to play guitar. Some time in 1983 it turned out to be boring, playing alone at home and especially playing acoustic. The next logical step was to get some amplifiers, electric guitars and of course some members to complete a band.
It didn’t take long to find Manfred Stemer (17, drums) with already a basic education on his instrument, and finally Siegfried Burtscher (18, lead vocals, stage name Siegfried Burn), and Patrik Lercher (16, bass) who both started from scratch.
Driven by the dream to become rock stars the five Morticians started to practice in the basement of the textile factory, which belonged to Tom’s uncle. After one year of weekly training they were ready to rock. The first concert took place on the 31st of March1984. Organized by themselves they played the local parish hall, what afterwards brought some feedback because they used the grave crosses from Patrik`s grandparents to lift up the stage setting. The show was excellent! 350 metal maniacs banged their head to songs they have never heard before and some of them even entered the stage to scream and rock. Maybe an early form of stage diving. But at that time nobody would catch them! It was really unusual to see such a show in that part of Austria, which was the reason for Mortician to play several shows in local venues and often on motor bike festivals in their area during the following years.
In 1985 Thomas and Siegfried Burn had different visions of making songs and therefore Thomas left the band. The other guys stayed with Siegfried and practiced under the name No Mercy. But this line-up broke up after hardly a year. Due to the friendship between Thomas and Patrik they found together again and started with the new drummer Rene Bickel and Robert Wilfinger on vocals. With the new, four-piece line-up Mortician got back the spirtit to write new songs.
In January 1987 they were ready to do their first demo tape, which was recorded in Stuttgart (Germany), it included next to the title track “Street Warrior” also “Sacrifice of Sin”, “We Must Get Back” and “Rockin’ the Night”.
Despite they could gain some attention with “Street Warrior”, it was not the big success the guys hoped for. Perhaps Austria was not metal enough at that time. Shortly after releasing Street Warrior singer Robert unexpected left the band and the search for a replacement started.
Maybe due to the fact that Siegfried Burn lived in the neighborhood, still not being a rock star (like he wanted to be ever since), the band and Siegfried came together again. Mortician fans still wanted them to play live and so they were playing gigs in their area and wrote new songs. After reunion with Siegfried, who meanwhile really got an excellent voice, the new songs seemed to top the Street Warrior tape. Hence they collected all their money to enter the studio a second time to do a three-track vinyl album called “NO WAR”.
The recordings were very tough, as there were neither women nor alcohol allowed. However, after the recordings the guys needed some form of recovery, and as there were still no women around, alcohol and videotapes had to amuse them. Mysteriously most of the photos of those days got lost during time.
NO WAR earned some good reviews in Hard Rock magazines and fanzines (e.g. Desaster) and also led to some successful gigs with LIVING DEATH, MAGNUM and MESSIAH. Due to these performances EBONY RECORDS offered MORTICIAN to participate on a metal sampler, which was recorded in England. While Thomas and Patrik traveled ahead of the others to enjoy some days, the great disappointment caught them up. Rene, the drummer, had broken his arm, recording impossible. Another hard backlash for Mortician. Some weeks after that disaster good news came from a national competition in Austria, which was looking for the best ten metal bands in the country. Mortician was invited to play a show in Vienna and “No War” was recorded for the live sampler METAL BATTLE. At the show they had already Alex Grätzner “Rattler” hitting the drums. However, Mortician stayed underground.
Another personal change was pending! Siegfried who meanwhile also played guitar left the band again. Mortician continued with the new singer Thomas Cassan “Cassy” who joined the band in early 1989. In that part of Austria it was extremely difficult to find musicians with the same enthusiasm for heavy metal. But with Cassy and Rattler Mortician got another kick-start and in a few months they had some new songs. Due to the good performance on the Metal Battle Festival the band was engaged to open for SODOM and SEPULTURA in Vienna.
With the new line-up it was time for a new tape. But the band didn’t want to travel long distances to record a demo tape spending all their money, so they decided to record the “Break the Rules” demo in a small studio in Vorarlberg not fare from their homes. The demo tape was of their liking but couldn’t reach the flair of the No War EP. After some gigs with the new line up and working together some months, Patrik lost the power somehow, and Mortician decided to continue without him. Finally in 1990 after unsuccessfully trying to get a new bass player Thomas lost the Mortician spirit and closed the band. That was the end of MORTICIAN. In 1991 Thomas started his new band ART OF FEAR.
In 2009, 20 years after the last show, Thomas and Patrik, who stayed close friends during all the years, start a new era with Mortician. Because not all band members of the eighties had enough motivation to start again, Daniel Khan best known to be the frontman of Art of Fear was hired as singer. On the drums Andreas Peter “Antee” joined the band but he quit end of 2010 because of some other projects. Finally they found Gergely Nagy “Nagy” to hit the drums. With Daniel and Nagy they entered the MP Studios in Poland to produce their new album “Mortician” with Bart Gabriel which was release by Pure Underground Records on the 25th November 2011.
June 2014, Mortician recorded their new Album “Shout for Heavy Metal” at MP Studios in Poland and it will be released at PureUnderground Records on November the 14th 2014.
October 2014, Alex the “Black Cat” joins Mortican as their new drummer. Welcome Alex!
www.facebook.com/MORTICIAN.Austria

Saturday, May 23, 2015

the heavy metal of NITEHAWKS "Into The Wild" (OFFICIAL)

"NITEHAWKS is an Italian Heavy Metal band formed in 2015. Debut album "Vendetta" is coming out on Skol Records on September 30, 2015!"
"Skol Records Announces The Signing Of NITEHAWKS
Italian Heavy Metal outfit NITEHAWKS inked a deal with Skol Records, Polish label known from cooperation with acts such as TITAN FORCE, JAG PANZER, TYGERS OF PAN TANG or SAVAGE MASTER. The band was formed in 2015. Their debut album titled "Vendetta", will be released on September 30, 2015, and will be available as CD and limited edition LP.
NITEHAWKS deal in a style of Heavy Metal which mix up energy of so called "New Wave Of Traditional Heavy Metal" acts, such as ENFORCER or STRIKER, with classic song structures that were immortalized by '80s Metal acts such as ACCEPT, RUNNING WILD or JUDAS PRIEST."
NITEHAWKS "Into The Wild" from the album "Vendetta" - out on September 30, 2015, on Skol Records
www.facebook.com/skolrecords
www.facebook.com/nitehawksmetal

Thursday, May 21, 2015

new from AXEMASTER (U.S.) "Chylde" (PURE STEEL RECORDS)

about AXEMASTER
Axemaster was formed in 1985 by lead guitarist Joe Sims and Drummer Brian Henderson. The project and music has stood the test of time and remains strong after over 25 years.
With the band's original lineup (also including vocalist/bassist Christopher Michael) they recorded their first 4 releases: "Slave to the Blade" (demo EP cassette), "Blessing in the Skies" (full length album), "The Vision" (shaped pictured disc single), and "Crusades" (shaped picture disc single), the last 3 being released by Azra International Records. They were also featured on Azra Record's compilation shaped picture record "Metalgon" and in the comedy/horror movie "Killer Nerd".
Several lineup changes followed as the band recorded their next 2 releases: "Death Before Dishonor" (full length cassette, European-only release) and "5 Demons (Imperative is their Demise)" (self-released EP cassette). Joe Sims was the only original member to remain and play on every release. After this the band altered their musical direction and changed the name to The Awakening. That group did 1 CD before breaking up in 1995.
Four years later, Unisound Records {Greece} re-issued selected songs from 4 of the band’s releases (as well as 3 songs by The Awakening) on a 15 track CD titled "Axemaster & The Awakening, 1985-1995". In 2002 Unisound re-released "Death Before Dishonor" (as well as some unreleased material) on CD. The success of these discs proved that Axemaster's music remained in demand although the band had been inactive for several years.
The band's original lineup briefly re-united in 2007 and re-released "Blessing in the Skies" on disc through Burning Star Records {Greece}. It includes the album in its entirety as well as 3 bonus tracks and a video for the song "Slave to the Blade". The reunion was short-lived however, as Christopher Michael did not stay with the band, and the remaining members then did a studio project with a different vocalist under the name Inner Terror. In 2010, Sims permanently re-launched Axemaster. Henderson quickly joined the project, and while Sims wrote the music for a new album to mark the band's return, they added vocalist (and future rhythm guitarist) Geoff McGraw as well as bassist Jim Curtis to complete the lineup. The first official release of material featuring this new edition of the band was a re-recording of an older Axemaster song that was included on a compilation CD titled "Metallic Commandments Volume 1" which was produced by the German magazine "That's Metal" and released in spring 2013.
In 2014, the band (along with new drummer Denny Archer) signed a worldwide record & publishing deal with Pure Steel Records (Germany), and Sims finished producing, mixing, and mastering their new album (now titled "Overture to Madness"). Pure Steel released "Overture to Madness" in March of 2015, an album which helps to define Axemaster's overall general style as a combination of the dark riffs and feel of doom metal and the energy and aggression of non-speed thrash metal.
With the worldwide exposure & success they have already achieved, the band is in a great position to take the metal world by storm!!!!
www.axemasterofficial.com

Domination - Harder Than Steel (Video Oficial)

DOMINATION (Conceptual Heavy Metal Band from Argentina) has recently finished the DOOM IN NATION WORLD TOUR 2014 and is now working on their third album.
DOMINATION was born in 2011 in the city of Buenos Aires after having shared stage in a tribute to DIO. At 3 months of having started with the original lineup, they decided to enter the recording studio to record the first EP called Testimony that features 3 songs and a cover. After having released several live shows, they started to work on their first LP which was released in October of 2013.
Domination is a conceptual rate band, Ariel, Denis and Pablo want to show some hidden tales of domination, based on world’s revolutions and human evolution – The first tale represented in lyrics and music was named “Doom In Nation”.








https://www.facebook.com/DominationHeavyMetal/timeline

ABADDON INCARNATE - Forever Pessimist [Documentary]

Abaddon Incarnate was formed in Dublin in 1991, playing fast death metal with grindcore elements. Under the name Bereaved the band released two demo cassette tapes, Signs of Death in 1992 and Tortured Souls in 1994. The decision was made to change their name to Abaddon Incarnate on the release of their third demo, When the Demons Come. Since then the band has released two more promos (in 1996 and 2001) and three full-length album releases, namely The Last Supper in 1999, Nadir in 2001, Dark Crusade in 2003 and Cascade in 2009. Additionally a split 7" with US grind band "phobia" was released in 2011.
The band has toured extensively in Europe including Spain, France, Britain, Switzerland, Germany. In South America they were the first extreme Irish metal band to play in Ecuador, Colombia and Peru. Also they have toured in Russia and Australia.
Abaddon Incarnate are currently signed to Candlelight Records (UK) but have previously been signed to the Slovakian label metalage productions French label Season of Mist, to the Irish label Sentinel Records, and to the Spanish label Xtreem Music.
Releases:
"When the Demons Come" demo 1995
"Aeons of us Rising" promo 1997.
"The Last Supper" Seasons of mist records 1999
"Nadir" Sentinel records 2001,
"Dark Crusade" Xtreeme music 2004,
"Cascade" Metal age productions 2009
"Split 7" (with phobia) Underground movement 2011
"Pessimist" candlelight records 2014
Toured all over Europe and Australia, South american and Russia,












https://www.facebook.com/pages/Abaddon-Incarnate/103810186324599?fref=ts

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

The Man of Much Metal reviews the new Helloween

There are some people who are doing some interesting reviews that show quite a bit of thought into the process of writing a review.
An good example is Matt Spall from the UK: "Rock & Metal fan, writer for Powerplay Magazine and The Blog Of Much Metal; ultra-committed to the heavy metal cause." Matt does a blog of reviews and interviews.
This is his review of the new Helloween.
Artist: Helloween
Album Title: My God-Given Right
Label: Nuclear Blast
Year Of Release: 2015
There’s always an exception to the rule. In the case of Helloween, they are the exception to the rule that Germans have no sense of humour. That’s utter nonsense of course, it’s just a silly stereotype and the five musicians that go by the name of Helloween are the proof if proof were needed. Helloween Throughout their career, theirs is an output that has always been laced with more than the occasional joke and self-deprecating good humour. In fact it is their general bonhomie that has endeared them to metal fans the world over who don’t always want their listening experiences to be serious and po-faced. Of a high quality, yes, but ingrained with a sense of the light-hearted and fun. The fact that crowds at their live shows chant ‘happy, happy Helloween’ serves to underline the manner in which they are regarded by the band’s faithful.
My perspective on the self-monikered pumpkinheads is arguably a little different from many others. There are those who go all the way back to the band’s earliest incarnation with Michael Kiske on vocals and consider ‘Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part 1′ and ‘Part 2′ as near God-like classics of the power metal genre. They are indeed very fine albums but I myself came to Helloween a little later and I fail to have such a powerfully-held affinity with these releases from 1987 and 1988 respectively. Instead, I discovered Helloween via their 1994 album ‘The Master Of The Rings’ and promptly took the record and the band to my heart. The choruses were so damn catchy, the songs so memorable and, with tracks like ‘Perfect Gentleman’, ‘Where The Rain Grows’ and the absurdly fun ‘The Game Is On’ that sang the praises of the Nintendo Game Boy and even sampled some of the device’s most famous sound effects, Helloween’s sense of playfulness was underlined.
By discovering Helloween at this stage, I was also unconcerned by the band’s change of singer; indeed I rather enjoyed Andi Deris’ heavily accented, unique approach and still do. For me, he is as much a part of Helloween as his predecessor Kiske; more so if you consider their relative involvement over the years.
Personally, I prefer Helloween when they deliver music that is fast, melodic, catchy and here’s that word again: fun. Over the course of their fourteen previous albums, original members Michael Weikath, Marcus Grosskopf and Co. have toyed with a number of incarnations including more epic and dark themes (‘The Dark Ride’), a more grandiose and symphonic approach (‘Keeper Of The Seven Keys: The Legacy’) and the downright odd (‘Pink Bubbles Go Ape’). With ‘My God-Given Right’, they have chosen to return to their more straight-up power metal anthem territory and as such, I can’t help but enjoy the results.
I’m not meaning to sound disingenuous when I say that album number fifteen, ‘My God-Given Right’ is what I’d refer to as ‘minimal effort enjoyment’, it’s more a statement of fact and one that I believe works in the band’s favour. I refer to my opening paragraph – not everyone wants serious and challenging music all of the time. There are times when I want a blast of classic melodic power metal that offers the kind of music when I can throw back my head and sing along with manly gusto. ‘My God-Given Right’ provides just this kind of tonic and, for the most part it is fantastic.
The album opens strongly with a trio of tracks that are simply brilliant. ‘Heroes’ offers a nicely-crafted melodic and almost soothing verse with a punchy chorus, ‘Battle’s Won’ is a fast-paced double-pedal driven power metal anthem with an overblown, hook-laden chorus and the title track is, if anything, even better. The verse has an understated feel to it that is reminiscent of ‘Master Of The Rings’ era material but it’s the chorus that transcends the song into Godly anthemic realms. Deris belts it out as powerfully as I’ve ever heard him and, coupled with a gorgeously memorable melody and more double-pedal drumming, it is devastatingly infectious. There’s even a moment in the middle where everything quietens down before building inexorably to another rendition of the chorus. Magnificent.
The good news is that even after such a great opening, there are plenty of high points remaining within the album. ‘Stay Crazy’ features some utterly ridiculous lyrics but thanks to a classic 80s metal-meets-melodic hard rock sheen and another breezy carefree chorus, the silliness is easily overlooked. To be honest, silly lyrics are part of the charm of Helloween and would be missed if absent. To underline this point and the humorous element of the band, look no further than the preposterous ‘If God Loves Rock ‘n’ Roll’ and the spoken word segment that suggests that ‘even in heaven you need a bass guitar, a guitar and a second guitar’. The track is not meant to be taken seriously and is saved by another chorus that’s relatively strong and worthy of attention.
As evidenced within ‘A Swing Of A Fallen World’ and closer ‘You, Still Of War’, however, Helloween demonstrate that they have not entirely abandoned their more symphonic and epic attributes. That said, these moments are definitely the exception rather than the rule on this record.
The slightly disappointing news though is that the aforementioned quality is not always maintained throughout the thirteen tracks on the album. Tracks like ‘Claws’ and ‘Russian Roule’ fail to make the same kind of impact and if I wasn’t reviewing the album, I could have been tempted to press the skip button on my stereo. They aren’t necessarily bad tracks but they have a slightly flat feel to them; they strike me as filler fodder, threatening to undermine all the good work elsewhere.
That said, and bearing in mind the awful quality of the mp3 files that were offered for promo purposes, I have to say that ‘My God-Given Right’ is, in my opinion, the most enjoyable album that Helloween have released for quite some time. The good far outweighs the not so good and when all is said and done, when Helloween get it right on this album, they get it very, very right indeed. You want melody, fun and a care-free classic metal listening experience? Then I suggest you unpack your air guitar, warm up the vocal chords and get your ears around ‘My God-Given Right’.
The Score Of Much Metal: 8.0
Read more reviews and interviews by Matt Spall, the Man of Much Metal at the following place:
www.manofmuchmetal.wordpress.com

Saturday, May 16, 2015

interview with Seattle's heavy metal street fighters SKELATOR (part 1)

SKELATOR
Skelator from Seattle is, more or less, what a person means when they say “heavy metal.” Traditional heavy metal by people who are the craziest metalheads that you will ever meet because they are so obsessed with metal they decided that listening to metal every day was not enough, reading about it was not enough, writing and talking about it was not enough. They had to, they just had to form their own fireblazing heavy metal band. That’s Skelator. Man, is Skelator dedicated to metal or what! Well, let me you the story of Skelator. In all began in year 3666 BC during the time of the ancients’ reign of gold and mystique … No, wait, better yet, let the singer & swordmaster Jason Conde-Houston von San Diego tell you the story of Skelator.
Skelator is:
Jason Conde-Houston: air raid siren reification
Rob Steinway: power dive incursions
Robbie Houston: unit distortion projections
Patrick Seick: metronomical calculations
Rah Davis: thunder intonation commander
Hello, Jason. Your new album “King of Fear” sounds perfect for the diehards of traditional heavy metal. Now that the album is completed, what is ahead for the band in 2015 and 2016?
In 2015 we are trying to take it easy in terms of song writing. I think “King of Fear” is a very strong album and should be enjoyed on stage until we get around to writing our new material. I think we will aim to write an EP by the end of the year and maybe we can record in 2016.
As far as playing live goes, we just played to a sold out show with Steel Panther and we are about to embark on our quest to Chicago to play at the Ragnarokkr Festival. Then we will plan a West Coast Tour for late 2015. Let's see what 2016 has in store.
Can you tell us a bit about "King of Fear"? Do you, Jason, feel nervous or have butterflies in your stomach when it is time to do your vocals? How difficult is it to get those high scream right on the first take?!
Personally, I have mixed feelings about recording myself. I'm not nervous exactly; I just can't stand to have my performance dissected. I kinda turn into a bitch sometimes. But luckily my cousin Robbie is at the helm every time and we have a long history of recording together (since the year 2000). So we understand each other’s boundaries not just performancewise but personality as well.
We always tackle one song at a time. We start with the verses in my head voice to get into the spirit and flow of the song. After that, we move on to the choruses and try to get the perfect one that we can copy paste over the song. Then, we do basic backups on the chorus to make it sound meaty. Then, we redo the endings of each chorus so that they are in fact different and they lead into the next part (solo, bridge, ending, etc.). When I needed breaks we would have Patrick do harmony backups on various songs until I was ready again.
Usually we do all the falsettos in one session when my voice is sharp and kicking into high gear. After that I'm basically done. Last but not least we have Grave Digger day when I do my gruff backups just to give the songs more grit. The final thing we do is Battle Choir which is our session of gang vocals like in the song “Test the Metal”. Those are usually recorded to give the audience a chance to join in when they hear their favorite songs live.
Is it correct that Skelator started in 1998 in San Diego, in the ancient kingdom of Kalifornien? Jason, how did you discover that you could sing? Do you remember what albums you used to sing along to when you were a young knight?
In 1998 me and my best friend Max wanted to start a metal band and we started writing lyrics. Basically, we were just getting into Metallica and wanted to emulate them in everyway. But it wasn't until 1999 that we got Patrick to play drums for us and really start the writing process. I went to school with Patrick at San Diego High School and I was always like “Oh man he's that “cool” guy who plays drums in a band.” Later we recruited my cousin Robbie to play lead guitar. I left him a message on his answering machine “Robbie you must SAVE SKELATOR!!!!” On May 19th 2000 we played our first show to a bunch of straight edge hardcore punks. We sucked so much, but we were the only cats trying to play thrash metal back then so they all loved it.
As for my singing, I started off blasting my mom's Led Zeppelin LPs and jumping around the living room screaming my balls off like I was the next incarnation of Robert Plant. Later I head “Blackened” by Metallica and that made me want to listen to metal all day every day. But when I heard “Aces High” by Iron Maiden my mind was fucking blown. From then on I wanted to sing like “that” and write songs like that painting picture in your mind and tell a story at the same time. Then we all got into Manowar and started covering “Hail and Kill”. But Priest is was what taught me how to use my diaphragm. I used to get high and sing along to Priest 8 hours a day when I was 20 working at a local head shop.
My favorite singers:
Dio, Halford, Eric Adams, Ian Gillan, Dickenson, Ralph Scheepers, Glenn Hughes, Kai Hansen, Biff Byford, UDO, Morby, Fabio Leone, James Rivera, Chris Boltendahl, Robert Plant, Peter Gabriel, Prince and the guys from Earth, Wind and Fire.
www.facebook.com/TrueSkelator
www.trueskelator.bandcamp.com
THE END of part 1. More is coming. Don't lower your flag.
Skelator - King of fear


Skelator - Stronger than Steel


Death Pit thrash

"@DeathPitBand: Posted a new song: "Here To Fuck Shit Up" www.reverbnation.com/q/5t590d #music"

Sunday, May 10, 2015

DORO music from 1981: Beast - Satisfied you

DORO is known for her post-80s and the present metal music.



DORO in the 80s was in WARLOCK.






However, before WARLOCK there was BEAST.


Listen.







ATTIC from Oregon, U.S.

listen to
ATTIC from the weird state of Oregon, US
"lands squarely in a tech, death/avant-garde"
www.attic-us.bandcamp.com

take you back in time! Cloven Hoof - Cloven Hoof (Full Album)

CLOVEN HOOF

New Wave of British Heavy Metal



If you like the NWOBHM and 80s heavy metal in general, and you have not listened to them, give it a listen for sure.





Saturday, May 9, 2015

The Dying of the Light Full Album (2015) - Amidst the Withering

AMIDST THE WITHERING



symphonic black doom from Georgia, USA





Metal Bulletin Zine just found out about this band and this is the album.



Listen for yourself!



Cheers





Friday, May 8, 2015

Excuse All the Blood

Excuse All the Blood
heavy metal radio show from the state of Washington, U.S.
listen live right now
www.kaosradio.org

HORROR PAIN GORE DEATH PRODUCTIONS

HORROR PAIN GORE DEATH PRODUCTIONS says: "LISTEN TO ALL OF YOUR FAVORITES HPGD RELEASES FOR FREE! www.hpgd.bandcamp.com "