Author: Olivier 'Zoltar' Badin

If you’ve been paying any attention to the bludgeoning South American underground there is a fair chance you’ll be able to name one or two Chilean black or death metal bands such as Pentagram, Death Yell, Force Of Darkness or Unaussprechlichen Kulten. But heavy metal warriors? Okay, we’re stumped. “It’s … Read More

Corsair are a rare treat: a classic hard rock sounding from the US (Charlottesville, Virginia to be precise) who proudly wear their influences on their sleeves – think Thin Lizzy, Iron Maiden and a hell of a lot of vintage progressive rock – yet they have never sounded like a … Read More

If you described Attic as a traditional heavy metal band from the famous Ruhr area (Kreator, Tankard, Sodom), obsessed with occultism and dripping in late 19th century gothic atmosphere, their guitar player and main composer Katte would be chuffed. Always a stronghold for any kind of back-to-basics subgenre, Germany has … Read More

Don’t you dare tell RS that Lie In Ruins and Desolate Shrine, the two bands he’s part of, are alike; “That’s total bullshit. The only link between those two is I’m doing the vocals for both, but I don’t have any lyrical nor musical responsibilities in the latter.” Ask Desolate … Read More

Many bands out there claim to be “fucked up and twisted” but Gothenburg’s Karnarium truly are. Almost as if they wanted to ruin the reputation of the world’s melodeath capital all by themselves, since their inception in 1998 this mob, who shelter various ex-members of Pagan Rites, Devil Lee Rot … Read More

You may not know the name but you know the faces in Necrocurse. If you’ve paid any attention to what happened to the Swedish death metal scene post-‘Storm At The Light’s Bane’ there is a fair chance you have at least one album featuring the multi-talents of one Nicklas ‘Terror’ … Read More

“It’s not something you really sit down and decide,” admits Procession‘s Felipe Plaza Kutzbach when asked why he started playing a solemn and slow form of metal in a country mostly known for its rabid and primitive black and death metal scenes. “When I first heard Candlemass ‘Tales Of Creation’, … Read More

Based on their moniker alone, Lord Fist, who formed in 2011 in Mekkali, Finland, were bound to appear in these pages, right? But our main source of motivation to shine the light on them remains their extremely promising old school, NWOBHM-inspired four-track demo ‘Spark For The Night’, released both on … Read More

When ‘Infernal Blasphemies’, the three track demo (on tape format, obviously), was released in early 2010 on the now defunct Detest Records imprint, it seemed like an elusive project for Michel Jonker, former drummer with Absorbed and Massive Assault, the d-beat war machine from Groningen, Holland. Still, even if he … Read More

“The funny thing is that I’m not even a doom fan at heart! I’ve been playing in bands since 1987 in many different sub-genres but somehow the only ones who really had an impact were in the doom category. But believe me, Satan’s Wrath is a whole different beast!” Indeed, less than … Read More