Metallian Heavy


GOD AMONG INSECTS has quit all activity following a year or so of inactivity. Fans can catch the band’s last show at the House Of Metal festival in Sweden in February 2008...Norway’s AETERNUS has a new drummer called Terris…Italy’s HATEWORK has split up right after the release of ...The Actual Worst Has Come compilation CD…DARK FUNERAL vocalist Emperor Magus Caligula has replaced THERION's Christofer Johnsson in DEMONOID…Drummer Dave Chedrick of DREAMS OF DAMNATION and HIRAX has joined ANGER AS ART. In the meanwhile, HIRAX’s next album has been named El Rostro De La Muerte/The Face Of Death…GORGOROTH is at Grieghallen Studio with producer Pytten working on a live album, Live In Grieghallen 2007. Expect it in the winter. In the meantime, the band has lost guitarist Infernus who is threatening the remaining two members against the use of the band’s monicker in the future. Gaahl and King Ov Hell have gone ahead and recruited DIMMU BORGIR’s Hellhammer on drums for 2008. Former DIMMU BORGIR man Nick barker will tour with the band immediately…AEON which is working on its album Rise To Dominate has permanently lost drummer Nils Fjellström to DARK FUNERAL. The drummer had joined DARK FUNERAL initially for its recent tour…Metal Blade Records has signed Knoxville band WHITECHAPEL…AT THE GATES has announced its plans to reform for several festival appearances next summer, including Wacken Open Air and UK’s Bloodstock… OMNIUM GATHERUM has lost bassist Janne Markkanen due to a lack of motivation and instead recruited Eerik Purdon who played live with the band last year…Germany’s DISBELIEF has parted ways with guitarist Tommy Fritsch "due to private and musical reasons," A replacement by the name of Witali Weber is already onboard. The band hit the live circuit with GRAVEWORM, IN SLUMBER and DEADBORN last month…DARKANE has picked Jens Broman (CONSTRUCDEAD and THE DEFACED) as its new singer…Unique Leader Records has announced February 23rd, 2008 as the release date for the new album for HOUR OF PENANCE. The album is entitled The Vile Conception…In a recent stunt staged by the music industry ENSLAVED members allegedly stole a sheep belonging to the leader of the Norwegian Liberal party, Lars Sponheim…LENG TCH'E is seeking a bassist following Nicolas switching to the guitarist position. Any budding bassists may e-mail info@razorgrind.com...Bassist Francois Mongrain of MARTYR will tour with KATAKLYSM during its tour with mallcore band CHIMAIRA as the band’s own bass player, Stephane Barbe, has to stay home with his wife who is expecting a baby…Drummer Jeramie Kling has been forced to leave THE ABSENCE due to personal differences with the rest of the band…DÉTENTE has been confirmed for next year's Headbangers Open Air festival, which will take place July 24-26th, 2008 in Brande-Hörnerkirchen, Germany…GRIND INC. has signed a deal with Twilight Vertrieb and will issue its third album, Sudden State Of Hate, in early 2008…ABYSMAL DAWN has left Crash Music and is looking for a new label. The band is recording a new album…FACE DOWN has parted ways with guitarist Joacim Carlsson. The man had lost his motivation…DECAPITATED drummer Witold 'Vitek' Kieltyka was killed in October when the band’s tour bus was involved in a serious accident while on tour on the border of Russia and Belarus.


Metallian Hard



Doom metal band IRON MAN has just issued a demo called Submission…Metal Blade Records has signed SOILENT GREEN. The band is recording its fifth album at Mana Studios in Tampa with producer Erik Rutan. The new album is due in 2008…Singer Wade Black of LEATHERWOLF, CRIMSON GLORY, SEVEN WITCHES, BLACK REIGN, etc. and former KING DIAMOND guitarist Pete Blakk, bassist Chris Baylor and drummer Jesse Martillo of CRIMSON GLORY have banded together to form DISASTERPEACE. The collaboration stemmed from Pete Blakk joining Wade Black on stage a recent BLACK REIGN show…W.A.S.P. will conduct The Crimson Idol 15th anniversary tour, which will begin this month. The album will be performed in its entirety in Europe…BROCAS HELM played a show to celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary on October 1 in San Francisco…FUNNY MONEY and DIRTY LOOKS have signed with Perris Records. The latter’s Gasoline release will now be issued by the label, while FUNNY MONEY’s catalogue will get the Perris treatment…AXXIS will release a new album, Doom Of Destiny, on November 19th through AFM Records. It features new guitarist Marco Wreidt…BAL-SAGOTH has parted ways with drummer Dan Mullins and replaced him with Paul "Wak" Jackson, of EXTREME MAGGOT INFESTATION and DECIMATION OF TRUTH…LEATHERWOLF has been rejoined by bassist Paul Carman for its European tour in November…BREAKER will reunite with its original vocalist Jim Hamar to play at the Bang Your Head!!! festival at Messegelände in Balingen, Germany. The festival will take place on June 27-28, 2008…DON DOKKEN has been confirmed as the support band for QUEENSRŸCHE on its U.S. tour next January... TROUBLE will its Unplugged CD in November through its website...ABIGAIL WILLIAMS has resurfaced after disbanding in the spring. The band will be touring as an opening act this year…Thilo Herrmann (formerly of RISK, its predecessor band FAITHFUL BREATH, HOLY MOSES and RUNNING WILD) has joined GRAVE DIGGER…CRYSTAL BALL will release its sixth album, Secrets, on November 16th through AFM Records. The album was produced by Michael Bormann…BYFIST’s new album Preserving The Past will be released in Europe through Rock It Up Records…EDENBRIDGE has picked MyEarthDream as the title for its next album, which is due in April 2008 through Napalm Records…Soundhouse Records, which is owned by, TANK’s Cliff Evans, has issued a TANK CD called Live And Rare…SCORPIONS' Live At Wacken Open Air 2006: A Night To Remember - A Journey Through Time DVD is due this month. The disc features the band's performance at the festival in 2006 and appearances by Uli Jon Roth, Michael Schenker and Herman Rarebell…WOLF has picked up bassist Anders "Tornado" Modd. The band is playing at the Uppsala Thrashfest on November 23rd at Ungdomens Hus in Uppsala, Sweden…KAYSER has announced the cancellation of its previously announced European tour dates due to "logistical problems."… TYGERS OF PAN TANG has a five-track demo called Back & Beyond. The EP has two new songs, Live For Today and Bury The Hatchet as well as three reworked song, Hellbound, Take It and Rock And Roll Man...AC/DC’s DVD collection Plug Me In has amassed sales of 600,000 units in less than a month…In advance of The Scarecrow full-length which is due in January, AVANTASIA will issue two mini-CDs, Lost In Space Part 1 and Lost In Space Part 2 this month. Both releases will feature separate songs plus videos, a poster, studio reports, and other materials…BUDGIE has recruited guitarist and solo artist Andy James…DESTINY drummer Birger Löfman has sustained a knee injury thus suspending the recording of a new album…White metal band CAGE will soon issue a DVD called Live In Switzerland…CATAMENIA’s projected tour of the USA for 2008 has fallen through due to logistical problems…BULLETBOYS are conducting a 20th anniversary U.S. tour this and next month…CREMATORY will release a new album, called Pray, on February 1st through Massacre Records…KALEDON has parted ways with singer Claudio Conti due to "personal differences" and is seeking a replacement…LED ZEPPELIN’s November 26th reunion concert in honour of Atlantic Records’ founder Ahmet Ertegun has been postponed to December 10th because guitarist Jimmy Page has fractured his finger. The injury makes it unadvisable for him to play guitar for the next three weeks…Texas-based AXE has reformed and playing shows.



Metallian Demos


CURIMUS – Same
Judging by the cover of this demo Curimus is a socially conscious band that has channelled its anger into its music. The band has a gruff hardcore vocalist and a deathrashy music, which backs him up with a good amount of aggression. The disc features a mere two songs – Fatal Belief and Break Of The Human Race – but has augmented its disc with a video. The more one hears it the more one wants. Pity that there are only two songs and no lyrics are inserted in the demo. This is only five minutes of music but the band is asking for four Euros for it. Contact them via jmhelmi@suomi24.fi or visit www.curimus.com. – Anna Tergel

TOROK – ADDICTION OF FOOLS
Is Torok suggesting playing this style of ‘70s-based hard and heavy rock is an addiction for fools? Perhaps. Is the band deeply rooted in the sounds espoused by Led Zeppelin, Rainbow, Foreigner, Van Halen and others? Absolutely.
Torok is a Minnesota-based band featuring former and current members of shock metal band Impaler whose singer Bryan Erickson distinctly reminds one of Graham Bonnet. Addiction Of Fools has guitars a la Van Halen and a tone like Jeff Healey, but the main comparison belongs to Alcatraz. The ten tracks on this independent release take one back to 1982 and the Bonnet-fronted Los Angeles band Alcatraz. Much like its fellow veteran band The Lizards Torok holds little hope of ever breaking it big given the prevailing musical headwinds, but nonetheless has several great tracks here. The song Y though has a real soul vibe further establishing the band’s original roots. Get in contact with the band through this e-mail address: torok@torokmusic.com. - Anna Tergel

IRONWOOD – Same
Half of the music on this three-song disc could be played as new age and folk atmospheric music at a spa. Imagine the staff and guests’ surprise then when the harsh noisy sections kick in all of a sudden. Australia’s Ironwood features both pagan sounding new age hymns and harsh grating rock. The contrast between the ‘beautiful’ musical segments embellished with acoustic guitars, soft vocals and voices from nature and Borknagar-like climatic harshness is interesting and something that is deliberately embedded in Ironwood. The band hails from Australia but the influences are firmly rooted in pagan Europe. The three songs last over twenty-three minutes with Veer going over eleven. Ironwood has no interest in convention or heavy metal for that matter. The lead guitar on Song Of The Dane is as fascinating as it is short. The band is reportedly working on a “full-length” album that might be, what, four hours long! – The band’s e-mail address is henry@ironwoodsound.com.au. - Anna Tergel

GMT – BITTER & TWISTED
The fact that former Gillan band members Bernie Tormé and John McCoy are well-known and respected personalities on the hard rock scene is not in question. Aside from their achievements in Gillan/Ian Gillan Band the two have individually cranked out hard rock in bands like Desperado, Ozzy Osbourne and Samson among many others. The M and the T have banded together with drummer Robin Guy to form GMT. The latter man has pounded the drums for the likes of Bruce Dickinson and Faith No More.
The full-length CD at hand has been published courtesy of the band’s Retrowrek imprint and features eleven tracks in fifty minutes. The rockers, the ballads, the punkers and the bluesers are all here, although a definitive cut fails the band. It is as if the group is missing a producer or a manager to chop the material and give it the final nudge. None of the material on Bitter & Twisted is bad, but it is as if a tad too much space is given to the indulgences at the expense of the urgency and the hook. A touch of Gary Moore musically, Danzig vocally, Motörhead’s softer moments and loads of heavy rock is what one gets. The guitar sounds raw and the whole recording has a live vibe. Kudos to the band for doing what its heart desires and, in that sense, keeping the spirit of the ‘70s jam alive. The band will hopefully stick with it and serve more material because the potential and talent is obviously there. – Ali “The Metallian”

RESURRECTION – 4-SONG EP
Tampa’s Resurrection is one of Florida death metal’s less known bands despite issuing an album called Embalmed Existence through Nuclear Blast Records in the mid-‘90s. The band is back – is anyone not back? – with a four-song demo while claiming to be in negotiations for a new record deal and a 2008 full-length. The band’s new biography claims that, “Resurrection was officially Resurrected to continue where they left off, delivering a hellish crossfire of blistering, brutal, gut-ripping death metal…” In fact, the band was done in partly because of the odd samples in-between its songs and a silly cover of Kiss the debut album, but more importantly by how it drastically changed its style to a far less brutal style for its recorded and proposed second album for Nuclear Blast. This fact contradicts the new biography.
The new album, however, is replete with heaviness, brutality and death metal hallmarks. Unfortunately, and quite surprising for a band of this age, is that the four songs clone Obituary’s signature style without shame. As fun and pleasurable as listening to this material is the derivative nature of the assault is surely detrimental to Resurrection’s future. The vocals of Paul Degolyer literally scream Tardy. Is he positioning himself for something perhaps? The music is well produced, thick and advanced. The patented Obituary riffs are everywhere. The drumming is perhaps the weakest link coming across as one-handed beats rather than rhythmic playing. The solos on the songs are quite welcome however. Should Resurrection be appearing live as promised in 2008 and issuing an album we will be hearing a lot more of this bunch next year. In the meanwhile, head over to resurrectionmetal.com or e-mail the band through johnastl@yahoo.com. - Ali “The Metallian”



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