Metallian Heavy

Ottawa, Canada-based HATRED REIGNS has issued a demo called Realm: I – Affliction on May 25th.

The Netherlands-based black death metal band TRAGACANTH has issued Death: Journey’s End as a single taken from the band’s upcoming album, The Journey of a Man, which is scheduled for release through Pest Records/Loud Rage in July.

UK-based ALBIONIC HERMETICISM’s Ancient Hermetic Purity is out through Signal Rex on the 27th of July.

Italy-based black metal band HORNWOOD FELL is seeking a label to release its Inferus EP in physical format.

Boersma Records has issued Zwischenwelt, the new album by Germany-based melodic death metallers PENTARIUM. The band was founded in 2006.

EXMORTUS’ The Sound Of Steel album will be released through Prosthetic on June 8th.

UNLEASHED has signed with Napalm Records and is entering the studio to record a new album.

WINTERBLUT’s Seid Furchtbar Und Zerstöret Euch is out through Nihilistische KlangKunst. The band is based in Germany. The label has also issued THE LAST SEED’s Hellboy.

SHED THE SKIN’s We Of Scorn is out through Hells Headbangers on the 27th of July.

GRUESOME’s Twisted Prayers will be released on through Relapse Records this month.

RUNESPELL’s Order Of Vengeance LP/CD is out through Iron Bonehead on the 6th of July.

Portugal-based BLACK HOWLING will issue Return Of Primordial Stillness through Signal Rex on the 27th of July.

Sweden-based VANHELGA has an album called Fredagsmys through Osmose Productions on the 29th of June.

Extreme Metal Music/Rockshots Records has signed Switzerland black metal duo MAJESTY OF SILENCE for the worldwide release of the band’s next album Zu Dunkel Für Das Licht (‘To Darkness For Light’). The band was formed in 1996.

Sweden-based URSKOG has a demo called Evig Vinter.

BLOODBATH’s North American tour was cancelled when the band could not obtain US Visas.

Finland-based black metal band CURSE UPON A PRAYER has an album called The Three Woes out through Saturnal on the 21st of June. The band was formed in 2010.

France-based KHASM’s Trinity was issued through Sliptrick Records on May 15th. The band plays heavy/thrash metal.

DROWNED’s new album will be released on June 15 through Cogumelo Records. The band was founded in 1998.

THE SHIVA HYPOTHESIS’ album Ouroboros Stirs is out through Wormholedeath. The band plays death/black metal.

Black metal band TUJAROT’s Existencialista LP is out through Iron Bonehead on the 6th of July.

Redefining Darkness Records and Raw Skull Recordz have released SUPREME CARNAGE’s latest album Morbid Ways To Die, which is the follow-up to Sentenced By The Cross. The Germany-based band is compared to ASPHYX.

Russia-based SECOND TO SUN has a demo called The Black.

MORGOTH has announced that its show at the Chronical Moshers Open Air on June 8th will be its last for a while as it returns to hibernation. MORGOTH has not been able to generate any momentum.

CARNAL DECAY has a New EP, When Push Comes To Shove. It is out through Rising Nemesis Records this month.

Binge/Purge is a two-song 24-minute EP from Oklahoma City-based DISCHORDIA.

Finland-based CURSE UPON A PRAYER has an EP called The Three Woes through Saturnal on the 21st of June. The band is infamous for attacking the Koran and Islam.

Ukraine-based death metal band MUTANTER will issue an album called The Limit through Kernkraftritter Records on June 22nd.

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions has issued ABSCESS’ Horrorhammer on vinyl. It was originally released on DARKTHRONE‘s imprint Tyrant Syndicate in 2007.

CAVURN’s Rehearsal, which was issued on Bandcamp last year, has been issued on cassette through Blood Harvest.

THRONEUM’s latest album The Tight Deathrope Act Over Rubicon is out through Hells Headbangers on the 29th of June. The band is based in Poland.

Poland-based TEMPLE DESECRATION’s Whirlwinds Of Fathomless Chaos LP/CD is out through Iron Bonehead on the 13th of July.

Kansas City, USA-based death metal band TORN THE FUCK APART has a full-length album, called A Genetic Predisposition To Violence, through Gore House Productions this month.

So it is not a demo then! BLOOD RITES, which is a Greece-based black metal group, has had its Demo 1 issued through Caverna Abismal Records.

Spain-based grinders NASTY SURGEONS have an album called Infectious Stench through Xtreem Music next month.

THE EVIL’s self-titled album is out through Osmose Productions this month.

After 14 years since the last line-up change BLACK ALTAR is no longer a one-man project. Shadow (bass, vocals) was joined by M.A. (guitar, vocals), E.R. (drums) – both from ONDSKAPT, and T.R. (guitar) from SPIRITS WAY. After a split with BEASTCRAFT the new line-up has begun work on a mini-album called Nekromantic Revelations.

Canada-based DÉLÉTÈRE’s De Horae Leprae is out through Sepulchral Productions this month. The name of the art is black metal.

“Reunion 2020”? DEW-SCENTED has joined SCORPIONS, KISS, OZZY OSBOURNE and JUDAS PRIEST in announcing its final shows. The band states the band will split up in 2018. The band is touring Europe with PRONG for now.

California-based WURM FLESH has signed to Comatose Music. An album is due this year.

HORNWOOD FELL’s Inferus demo is out now.

Czech Republic-based SELF-HATRED’s Hlubiny is out through Solitude Productions. The band is described as doom/death.

Tennessee-based melodic black/death metal outfit OUBLIETTE has announced July 13th as the release date for its full-length, The Passage. The album will see release through The Artisan Era. OUBLIETTE came to life in 2011 as a studio project started by husband and wife duo, Mike Low (INFERI) and Emily Low.

PA VESH EN’s A Ghost 7″ EP is out through Iron Bonehead on the 13th of July.

The Artisan Era will issue MORDANT RAPTURE’s The Abnegation debut EP this July. The band is described as symphonic death metal.

Transcending Records has re-issued the Solar Lovers by CELESTIAL SEASON. It was originally released by Displeased Records in 1995. The band called it quits in 2002, but reformed in 2011 and played Solar Lovers live in its entirety and released a re-recorded version of Decamerone as well.

ASSASSIN has signed with Massacre Records. An album is expected in 2019.

SIEGE COLUMN’s Inferno Deathpassion LP/CD is out through Nuclear War Now! Productions on the 1st of August 2018.

India-based APARTHIVA RAKTADHARA’s Agyat Ishvar 7″ EP is out through Iron Bonehead on the 21st of July.

Canada-based MALSANCTUM’s Malsanctum LP/CD is out through Iron Bonehead on the 13th of July.

Like every other band their label called them “prog”: Death and thrash metal band 6TH COUNTED MURDER has signed with Sliptrick. An album is due in September.

FAITHXTRACTOR’s Proverbial Lambs To The Ultimate Slaughter is out through Hells Headbangers on the 27th of July.

Romania-based black metallers ORDINUL NEGRU have an album called Faustian Nights. The artwork is once again done by Romanian artist and close friend of the band, Alexandru Das.

MOENEN OF XEZBETH’s Ancient Spells Of Darkness… is out through Nuclear War Now! Productions on 1st of August.

Peru-based TUNJUM’s Deidades Del inframundo is out through Dunkelheit Produktionen on 23rd of July.

France-based ATAVISMA’s The Chthonic Rituals is out through Memento Mori next month.

VENOM INC. guitarist Jeff “Mantas” Dunn, who is formerly of VENOM, underwent an unscheduled open-heart surgery in May following severe chest pains.

ARCHAIC TOMB’s Congregations For Ancient Rituals is out through Caverna Abismal on the 9th of June.

SLUDGEHAMMER has announced the Hammering Westward Tour of Canada. The band is covering Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.

HALLIG’s A Distant Reflection Of The Void is out through Talheim Records this month.


Metallian Hard

Canada-based CAULDRON will release a new album, called New Gods, through Dissonance Productions in September.

France-based VULCAIN has signed to Season Of Mist.

SAXON singer Biff Byford is working on a solo album, which may be entitled School Of Hard Knocks.

DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen has left the band's tour with JOURNEY in order to handle a family emergency. TRIXTER's Steve Brown stepped in as a replacement in late May.

UK-based glam metal band INDYA has released a music video for Tha Final Line featuring Johnny Doom of Kerrang! Radio. The song is taken from the new album Rebel Music due out through Holier Than Thou Records in the summer of 2018.

USA-based heavy metal Band ASHES OF ARES, featuring Matt Barlow (ex-ICED EARTH), has signed with ROAR! Rock Of Angels Records. The band is currently working on its second album which will be released in 2018.

BRITISH LION, which features Steve Harris, will tour Canada in November.

HEAVY GENERATION’s The Spirit Lives On will be out through Sliptrick Records soon.

HIGH COUNCIL’s Held In Contempt is out through Via Nocturna Records.

FIFTH ANGEL has signed with Nuclear Blast Records and shall issue an album called The Third Secret in September.

Another month another project: George Lynch has a new band called ULTRAPHONIX. Involved is Corey Glover of LIVING COLOUR.

Shadow Kingdom Records has issued IRON VOID's Excalibur. The band is part of the UK doom metal scene.

IRON HUNTER’s Mankind Resistance is out through Fighter Records on the 13th of July.

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM will release a new album, called The End Of Chaos, through AFM Records in November.

Hard rock band DECIBEL DEMON’s Declassified is out through Brutal Records on the 7th of July.

The Los Angeles-based BLADE KILLER has finished recording its debut full-length High Risk with Allen Falcon again at Birdcage Studio. It is due out through M-Theory Audio in 2018.

DEAD SEASON’s Prophecies is out through Dissonance.

DIMMU BORGIR has recruited bassist Victor Brandt (ENTOMBED A.D.) to the group's ranks in advance of the world tour in support of the Eonian album.

Jari Behm is the new bass player of STUD. Jari's prior duties as a bass player include bands such as STRATOVARIUS and TUNNEL VISION.

Sliptrick has signed SIMPLEFAST. The Greece-based band shall issue an album in 2019.

Greece-based heavy metal band NULL'O'ZERO shall release an album called Instructions To Dominate through ROAR! Rock Of Angles Records in July.

MATALOBOS’ Until Time Has Lost All Meaning is out through Concerto Records.

THE SOUL EXCHANGE (a.k.a. SOUL EXCHANGE) has an album called Edge Of Sanity through Pride & Joy Music on the 15th of June.

Producer and former GRIP INC. guitarist Waldemar Sorychta has joined yet another project. Cornelia Schmitt (THE HEROINES) and drummer Vic Chains (THE SPOOK) and Waldemar are in a new band called MANDRAH.

CHICKENFOOT reunited for one show at the Fillmore in San Francisco on May 15th for the fifth annual Acoustic-4-A-Cure benefit concert.

It is not that the Starbucks called the police on black people. It is that the police arrested the black people.


Metallian Demos

IVORY KNIGHT - UNITY
These four Canadians originate from the '80s and all those years ago featured Paul Malek on drums. Malek featured on Annihilator's 1986 demos. Unity is only the band's third full-length. Intro is the album's intro! Just over one minute providing a taste of what's to come. Rejected follows with solid heavy metal riffs befitting the band's '80s beginnings. Poor drum sound aside the song is loosely reminiscent of US thrash metal bands of that era. A Million Miles Away downgrades to a hard rock tune. It is more in line with a catchy hard rock song that dominated MTV's rock programming for a few short years. Fight tries to carry on the mid-tempo thrashy sounds but seems to decide to move past that and remain less heavy. It includes a competent solo or two. Behind These Eyes and Reign Of Fear are not fear inducing. John Devadasan Perinbam's vocals do not add as much as a heavy metal presence as a listener might expect. Conman is a social commentary song, as its title suggests. A Winter's Day is the mandatory ballad, a no frills one at that. Waiting For Tomorrow is a 2017 version of a song that first appeared on 2004's Unconscience. That sophomore effort was mixed by Jeff Waters. The song takes a break midway but picks up the pace before Unity ends. Agree to head over to www.ivoryknight.net. – Anna Tergel

MADSTONE – SAME
MADSTONE – SAME (II)
MADSTONE – HEAVY THUNDER

The Madstone CD by the band Madstone stems from 2013. What does one think of when someone says Texas? Gun nuts? Cowboy hats? A desert perhaps? The Dallas series maybe. How about Madstone? The band calls itself “Texas Rock N Roll” and hey why not? It sounds appropriate. Think of the band as touching on classic rock, southern rock with a good touch of boogie a la AC/DC, ZZ Top and Rhino Bucket especially in the guitar tone department. These guys could be playing the Double Deuce. The band sure does incorporate a bluesy feel into the proceedings as well. What else? Tight guitar leads and backing vocals. My favourite tune here is When It’s Time, which the band reckons is “almost folk rock.” It sure does have emotion wrapped into it. By now it should be obvious that this is not Metallian material. Most metal fans will take to this CD like Donald Trump takes to truth and honesty. Madstone II stems from 2016 and is much more bluesy. The band is jamming for itself and for its feelings. It never made sense that bands issue demos and include cover versions on it, but Madstone does not one, but two here. Madstone, the track, could be a GNR ballad. By the by, these gents have had quite a lot of experience with women of assorted variety (but all crazy) apparently. The third review here belongs to the band’s 2017 disc, which is its latest. With a name like heavy Thunder and the image of a lightning on the cover one would reasonable expect something harder and gets it too. The band’s leader is a sales VP so either sales have been tight or stellar in 2017. Either way, this disc is of the most appeal to hard rockers. The guitars are loud and big and the drummer is thinking of all the loot the ex-wife took with herself when she met a man from across the border. There is some Rush to begin this disc, some Triumph and a lot more of the band’s Texas Rock N Roll. Special mention goes to the track She Said No, which is about a woman who rejects a man on his knees. The man was obviously leading with his feelings and not his wallet! Angel’s Blade closes this disc and is the band’s best. This one is catchy, hard and big. Check out this band here: www.madstoneband.com. - Ali “The Metallian”

SECONDHAND HABIT - FROM THE ASHES
The Victoria, Canada-based quartet were formed in 2010. From The Ashes is a five song EP starting with Get My Fill. It sounds like the band is influenced by the '90s grunge era. The opener is low key and relatively calm with the new vocalist Jesse Turner having an almost wailing style which is not too far off from Eddie Vedder's and others most associated with that era. The second song is Give Me All You've Got. The song is a more energetic version of the opener, there is more anger and rock in the song. The title track starts promising more hard rock and switches back and forth between somewhat grungy and somewhat up tempo. There is a measure of catchiness. Evil Twin should satisfy those who like Alice In Chains et al. It is a ballad of sorts. The closing song is called Defcon, it features heavier and thicker riffs and a good solo too. Head over to www.secondhandhabit.com to check the band. – Anna Tergel

FALLEN LEGION - DOWNFALL
Oshawa, Canada's Fallen Legion has been around as Fallen Angel since 2008 and to date have had three EPs to their name. Downfall follows Screams From The Dungeons and Infinite Archive. After a brief, odd and unusual intro Escapegoat (sic) sounds like an odd metalcore version of Primus' My Name Is Mud. It is a bit of a mish mash of sounds and a loud bass to match Les Claypool's style. Injection features all manners of vocals, clean, screaming and more. There is a melody buried deep in the chaos and even something of a bluesy guitar solo. Way Out keeps trying to do a lot without any meaningful structure. Chaos for chaos' sake. The 'for fans of' section of the bio names Between The Buried And Me as one of bands to compare to Fallen Legion. The comparison here is valid in the variations within songs but the Americans are perhaps less all over the place. Monster Reborn is as crazy as the rest and Downfall closes with New Skin. It features Cradle Of Filth's Lindsay Matheson aka Lindsay Schoolcraft who happens to hail from the same city as the quartet. Her contribution does not change the song and the EP's direction all that much. Check www.fallenlegionband.com to hear the band. – Anna Tergel

5 RAND – SACRED/SCARED
It took a little bit of thinking to get it. There were a few moments of pensiveness spent pondering this band and album. It was after a few Metallian Towers serfs were killed and maimed out of sheer boredom that it dawned on us. The parents of 5 Rand’s members are faucet suppliers. Yes. They sell faucets. Either that or the band members are dating the chick from Spinal Tap. That has to be it. There is no way else to explain this. As you know the chick ends up singing for Spinal Tap, managing them, playing the triangle and… in the process… boring and shooing away the band’s audience.
How does one know all this? 5 Rand has a powerful sound, capable musicianship, razor sharp riffs, impressive lead work like on Fuck – Simile and… the female singer switches from a respectable snarl to utterly silly folk rock crooning. Then there is the drum machine. Oh Sweet Satan!
There is an edge and originality to 5 Rand that straddles the border between metal and accessibility. The rough vocals are desperate and agonized and should be the sum total of the singing. Then the singer whining and being emotional in a PMS-induced bout of moaning interrupts the guttural vocals. Listening to the crazy chord progressions on the album take one back to Anacrusis or the beginning of Preacher Of Lies that is Carcass’ Corporal Jigsore Quandary indicate the potential for the band that is not to be.
5 Rand could be Carcass, Anacrusis or Arch Enemy and instead chooses to be Spinal Tap - or a supplier of cold showers shocking the listener after a whole lot of warm promises. – Ali “The Metallian”