SINDROME… the lost thrash band of Illinois… who despite featuring members of Terminal Death, Death Strike, Master and Devastation hit brick wall after brick wall in their quest for thrash metal mania. Now unlocked from the crypt these underdogs of the first wave thrash movement have a second chance…

It seems hard to believe in this day and age of bands and labels apparently releasing every last recording known to mankind, where even the most rudimentary efforts get pressed up onto limited, multiple-versioned formats, that there was a time when putting out a proper record often (but not always) meant paying your dues in the form of demo recordings, gigging and building up a fan base. The metal world has thrown up a long list of groups whose demo and live recordings have gone on to be held up in high esteem, but also served as the only documents of that band’s existence.

One such band, revered from the release of their debut demo in 1987 to this very day, to the point that Century Media has pulled together a compilation of the band’s two demo recordings is Sindrome. Hailing from Chicago, Illinois, the band members already had a pedigree prior to … Read More

…MORBID SAINT are back and Century Media have dusted off their arsenal of thrash classics for all you vinyl fiends. With debut album ‘SPECTRUM OF DEATH’ on wax again and a deluxe CD reissue that includes unreleased demos and the remastered version of lost album ‘DESTRUCTION SYSTEM’, GUY STRACHAN tracked down guitarist JAY VISSER to find out how it feels to be Morbid again…

“It truly is incredible that after all these years this band is where it is. We never played or wrote these songs with the intent that 25 plus years later we’d still be playing them, talking about them, or performing them live all over the world. We were just a bunch of kids hanging out that sucked at playing our instruments, without any direction or too much thought about what we were doing other than we were having a lot of fun doing it.”

Despite their stated lack of knowledge about what they were doing, Morbid Saint would go on to become one of the thrash underground’s best-kept secrets for many years after their initial tenure. Formed in the small town of Sheboyhan, Wisconsin in November 1984, the quartet of guitarists Jay Visser and Jim Fergades, drummer Lee … Read More

Italian masters of occult horror doom metal Abysmal Grief, who formed in 1996, have reissued their latest album ‘Strange Rites Of Evil’ on cassette via Horror Records and after seeing them at Roadburn Festival where they stole the crown “band of the weekend” (according to our editor, Louise) we needed to interrogate them about the album and their future plans. Known for their dark, occult imagery and lyrics, Kat Gillham caught up with guitarist Regen Graves to get his take on the band’s themes and the state of modern doom. 

Your excellent new album ‘Strange Rites Of Evil’ was unleashed upon mankind recently, please tell the readers what they can expect from it in your words.  The new album was released on digipack CD by Terror From Hell Records on November 2, while the LP was unleashed by Horror Records on Christmas eve and just now on cassette. Yes, we’re satisfied with the whole work, and I can say this is exactly what Abysmal Grief look like today: a punch in the face of positiveness and life.

Please tell us a bit about the lyrical concepts on this album, what initially made you so interested in such dark and esoteric subjects? This album is quite different … Read More

Okay, back up a bit. Let me explain how this interview came to be. This is the first in a new series of conversations between LA heavy maiden, Joanna Marie Beaumont. Jo is a full-on heavy metal queen but never would I thought to have asked her to write for Iron Fist, until one drunken taxi ride from our hotel to Brofest back in 2014. There we are, in the back of this cab and she’s chatting away to the driver. But the end of the ride she knows his whole fucking life story, the names of his kids, how he ended up pushing pedal for a living and I just had a lightbulb moment. Fast-forward a few months, a move to LA and we finally convinced Jo to hit the phone and chat to stiletto queen, edge-dancing, dressed to kill, lady-killer LITA FORD 

Long Beach Jailbait to Hollywood Heartbreaker, nothing’s gonna stop Lita, not even a flat on her Dodge Ram. Leather on Lace, she continues to hold her title as the ultimate Hard Rock Queen and OH yes, she’s still Out for Blood with her New(old) album ‘Time Capsule’.

Awarded ‘Certified Legend’ in 2014 by Guitar Player Magazine, Lita plays … Read More

Speaking to RAM in Iron Fist issue #16, who formed in 1999, it’s clear that they were teenage fans of heavy metal but came of age – and started a band – when it was the unwanted guest at the table of the fickle music industry. Their frustrations were enough but spare a thought for the bands who had found fame and success at heavy metal’s height and soon found themselves floundering as the hours counted down toward the end of the century. Many of these bands played catch-up, reinventing themselves to adapt to the ever-changing trends. Many packed away their gear for good (or until big budget festivals goaded them out of retirement). But some, like New Jersey’s thrash titans Overkill, did only what they could; carry on regardless.

Their debut full-length ‘Feel The Fire’ came out in 1985 and subsequent albums ‘Taking Over’ [1987] and ‘Under The Influence’ [1988] helped lay down the thrash metal template. They may not have been Big Four but they were influential none the less. When thrash metal started to enjoy a resurgence in the mid-2000s thanks to younger bands obsessed with the speed and aggression of these elder statesmen, the rock music magazines … Read More

One of our favourite new bands (well, they formed in 2006), Black Oath perfectly meet at the cursed crossroads of misanthropic Peaceville death/doom, ancient NWOBHM and, of course, their Italian homeland’s rich history of occult rock. Obsessed with their latest album, ‘To Below And Beyond’ (just released on cassette by Equinox Discos), we sent Kat Gillham to get the skinny on why and how it’s so fucking perfect from frontman A.th.  Hails! Your excellent third album ‘To Below And Beyond’ was unleashed upon mankind recently, how would you describe it for those who perhaps haven’t heard of you… yet… Thank you for appreciation! I would recommend the album for those into old heavy/rock with a strong passion for occultism and a touch of black metal atmosphere. Most describe us as a typical doom band (due to lack of knowledge about music) but we call it Cursed Rock Musick! We are extremely glad how the album turned out as it represents 100 percent of the band and our feelings.

What formats is it currently available on? As of now it is out on CD but soon we will have both LP and tape. We like all kinds of formats and take care of every … Read More

Born out of the West Coast thrash metal scene of the ’80s, Metal Church quickly became one of the standout talents of US metal. The journey started in 1982 and after all these years, countless line-up changes and some of the best US metal albums, singer Mike Howe (1988 – 1995) returns to the Church with new album ‘XI’ and some unmissable live shows. Iron Fist grabs the chance to speak both to Mike Howe (vocals) and Kurdt Vanderhoof (guitars) about the new album, almost hiring Lars Ulrich and going back to being DIY

Welcome back, Mike! When did this famous phone call happen that brought you back to the fray? Mike: “I received a phone call from Kurdt in the fall of 2014. It took many conversations about how we would approach the new album before I would agree to do it and I am very happy that it has worked out and we are incredibly happy with the end result of our collaboration. I hope the fans agree.”

What have you been doing all these years? Mike: “Living a happy life with my wife raising two boys.”

When and why did you decide that you should rejoin Metal Church? Mike: “After Kurdt and I … Read More

Memoriam are a new death metal band from Birmingham, England but the various members involved are no newcomers to the scene. Formed in the wake of Bolt Thrower going on a hiatus after the sudden passing of their long-time drummer Martin “Kiddie” Kearns, Memoriam sees Bolt Thrower vocalist Karl Willetts team up once again with his ex-bandmate and original Bolt Thrower drummer Andy Whale along with Benediction/Sacrilege bassist Frank Healy and live Benediction guitarist Scott Fairfax. According to Karl they’re on a mission to put the old back into old school death metal. 

When did the idea for Memoriam come about? Who instigated the forming of the band? Karl Willetts: “Memoriam was primarily developed to fill the void that was left following the tragic death of Martin ‘Kiddie’ Kearns, the drummer from Bolt Thrower back in September 2015. Bolt Thrower subsequently placed all activity on hold for the foreseeable future which gave me an opportunity to develop a new project with friends that had expressed interest in forming a band for some time. “The intent of forming Memoriam was to rekindle old friendships and reclaim the flame of inspiration that fired us up back in the day. This is happening now at a … Read More

A celebration of all things NWOBHM, BroFest has been one of the significant heavy metal success stories of the last few years. Started back in 2013, initially as a one-off, its overwhelming popularity has seen it return each and every year since. Staged in the well-appointed students’ union building of Northumbria University in Newcastle, it’s a fanatically purist pilgrimage taking place in one of the historical engine rooms of British heavy metal.

Although Malc MacMillan’s go-to bible The NWOBHM Encyclopedia includes entries for over 500 bands, most of them split up half a lifetime ago, many of their members either resolutely retired or long since graduated to the great gig in the sky. The inaugural BroFest, however, clearly demonstrated that there were enough NWOBHM acts still plugging away in pubs and clubs to populate a modest festival bill in a similarly modest venue. And so it was that BroFest #1 brought together the likes of Holocaust, Avenger, Spartan Warrior, Black Rose, Tysondog and many more for a joyous weekend of neck-snapping nostalgia. From the get-go, the organizers also showed an uncanny knack for persuading long-defunct bands to reform specially for the event, some of whom have since stayed reformed and even … Read More

Oscar Karlsson 1976 – 2016

On March 4 the Swedish death metal band Gates Of Ishtar posted on their Facebook page: “It is with much sadness and regret that we have learned that our drummer and friend Oscar Karlsson has passed away at the age of 39. Words cannot express how we feel. Oscar was a fantastic human being and a great friend and he will be dearly missed.”

It is currently unclear and undisclosed what happened but the extreme music scene has lost a great drumming talent at such a young age. Oscar first came onto the worldwide album scene as a teenager with Gates Of Ishtar and played on two of their three albums that were released very close together in the mid to late ’90s; the 1996 debut ‘A Bloodred Path’ and the band’s third and final album before they prematurely broke up, 1998’s ‘At Dusk And Forever’. The band’s debut is regarded by many as one of the finest examples of melodic Swedeath, mixing the razor sharp riffing and melodies much like their countrymen Dissection, At The Gates and Unanimated with the galloping heavy metal and harmonies of classic Maiden with Oscar’s impressive drumming driving the songs along. All … Read More