HARD ROCK HELL NWOBHM 02 ACADEMY SHEFFIELD

It’s clear that the inaugural HRH NWOBHM festival has piggy-backed on or at least benefited from Brofest’s ability to persuade long-defunct bands to reform. Of the army of acts on the two-day line-up, many have already trodden the Brofest boards. But a good idea is a good idea, and the bands themselves are unlikely to care whether they’re revisiting their glory years in Newcastle, Nuneaton, Newport or – for the next 48 hours – right here in Sheffield. While London has a proud NWOBHM history of its own, it’s somehow fitting to witness this particular event taking place beyond the rapacious event horizon of the Capital. Even during the winter of discontent from which the NWOBHM sprang, the regions – in this case the former mining and heavy industrial hub of South Yorkshire – laboured under an investment and infrastructure deficit when compared to London and the South East in general. Sheffield may have come a long way since 1979, and avoided being nuked a la ‘Threads’, but in the frozen half-light of a December dusk, it’s all too easy for the mind to time-hop back to the bleaker days of Saxon’s ‘Hungry Years’.

As … Read More

London’s SEVEN SISTERS have been kicking around since 2014, steadily building a fanbase and receiving no small share of critical acclaim for their high-energy, NWOBHM-inspired heavy metal. After extensive gigging both in the UK and across Europe, the band have finally released their much anticipated eponymous debut album on High Roller Records.

The album is an extremely polished piece of work, paying homage to early Iron Maiden, amongst others, while avoiding the trap of derivation or the tiresome “tribute” sound. IRON FIST sat down with guitarist GRAEME FARMER to get the skinny on the origin of the band, what inspires them and why the hell they’re named after a nondescript tube station in North London.

Tell us how Seven Sisters got started. How did you all come together as band? Graeme: Me and Kyle had been talking about working on a project together for quite a while, but never really got around to doing anything about it until late 2013/early 2014. I went round his for a jam, and we ended up writing ‘The Warden’ and ‘No Guts, No Glory’ in the space of a few hours. After that, the rest of what became our demo tape came together pretty quickly and we recorded … Read More

German doom rockers Naevus came back this summer with a new album via Bandcamp (and Meta Matter Records), their first since their debut album ‘Sun Meditation’ was released on Lee Dorrian’s Rise Above Records 17 years ago. We got in touch with frontman Uwe Groebel to find out about the new album and what happened to cause the band to split up soon after the release of the debut.

Hi Uwe, Naevus is back with a new album, please tell the readers a bit about your new recording? “Since the release in August we’ve been very pleased with reactions. People seem to like it a lot. It’s a very strong doom metal/rock album, maybe with a slight pop appeal, if I might say that. Some times very melodic. Each song is different in structure and we tried to be creative on this. All in all, it felt so good to write and record as four friends who were together again after so many years. We had a lot of fun.”

This is your first album since the 1998 debut, what are your feelings about that album looking back? “On my side I couldn’t listen to the album for a very long … Read More

On tour in the UK right now, Chicago thrashers OOZING WOUND like to take their metal seriously, but it still oozes fun

“This music is fun and we don’t try to over think it,” states Zack Weil, one third of Chicago’s raddest, anti-bullshit thrash band Oozing Wound. “Most bands don’t understand how cheesy they are, but we do understand how cheesy we are on a base level. You’ve got to be a little Diamond Dave, you can’t be all Glenn Danzig all the time. I mean, we’re not firemen, we’re not saving people’s lives! Sure we are serious about rocking, but why should we posture with arms folded and furrowed brows? You’ve got to keep it in perspective that being in a band is cool! It sure keeps us sane, at least. Outside of the band, everything is serious and a drag. So why not have a good time with music?  That’s why we embrace weird humour and puns in our song titles so much” he explains. 

A perfect example of this is ‘You Owe Me, Iommi’ – which is the title they gave to their “slow Black Sabbath rip off song on the new album ‘Whatever Forever’.” Couple this clever word play with a … Read More

We’ve been enjoying our recent C90 series. Okay, fair enough, it’s hardly original. What music magazine has not, in one form or another, asked musicians to create a playlist of bands rarely off their turntables? It’s a classic and we have no shame. But this one is especially exciting as it’s actually happening. This is not a fictitious mixtape of songs and bands that inspired the artist, this is a list of songs and bands that the artist – none only than King Fowley of the mighty Deceased – has covered and gathered together on the aptly-titled ‘Metal Massacre 31’ with his equally mighty band October 31. Out on November 25 via Hells Headbangers King kindly explained his reasons behind each cover and offered us the first full stream of the album to get your teeth into. If you’re a sucker for those early Metal Blade compilations and love early American heavy metal from Hallows Eve to Omen then this will get your engines revving. All hail King Fowley. All hail ‘Metal Massacre’ compilations. All hail propa ‘eavy metal.

STREAM ‘METAL MASSACRE 31‘

Metal Massacre 31 by OCTOBER 31

1. ‘Cross My Way’ by DEATH DEALER “This is track 2 from ‘Metal Massacre 4’. A killer French Canadian … Read More

It may seem like aeons since our last issue but we’re back and raring to go and continue our indulgence in all things denim, leather and everything in between! Heavy metal will never die! Patience is a virtue and we hope you’ll be rewarded with the enjoyment everything in these 100 pages will bring.

The Queen of metal, Doro graces our cover to celebrate her 30th anniversary in service. And as well as our chat with Ms Pesch, this issue features some of the most revered bands including the ultimate power trio Budgie, the UK’s longest serving thrash band Onslaught, a retrospective look at one of Germany’s best metal labels, Noise Records and a welcome return to Aussie underdog Hobbs Angel Of Death. Staying Down Under, we talk to the notorious Destroyer 666 about how wildfire is needed to create a new underground and Annick Giroux heads beneath the Southern Cross in her regular World Downfall column. We also launch a brand new regular section, Pictured Life, that casts a well -deserved spotlight on some of the great cover art artists from the world of heavy metal, kicking off with a close look at the latest coffee table book featuring art from Timo … Read More

Two decades of doom dealing could easily take its toll on lesser bands, but Dorset’s ELECTRIC WIZARD have taken all that misanthropy, occult leanings and horror fanaticism and weaved it into an eighth album of dreary, but omnipotent intent. Back in 2014 line-up and label woes, paranoia and over-indulgence were been thrown into the cauldron and the result, ‘TIME TO DIE’ made the band never sound more alive. Jim Martin spoke to JUS ORBORN for Iron Fist back in Issue 12 and we’ve dug it out of the archives in time for their headline slot at tomorrow’s DAMNATION FESTIVAL in Leeds…

The tranquil sound of a mountain stream drifting through a forest. Not something one would naturally associate with Electric Wizard, but this is how their new album, the intimidating ‘Time To Die’ kicks off, and in such a fashion that one could be forgiven for assuming they’ve purchased the wrong record. That is, until the distinct strains of a Hammer-style Hammond, ’60s garage drumming, and sampled news reports concerning Satanism drift into view through the ether, and the rural paradise proves short-lived. “On one level it reminds people that we’re from Dorset, just to get people back to our frame of mind … Read More

SAXON, FASTWAY & GIRLSCHOOL BRISTOL O2 Academy

There have been a few cynical murmurings regarding this tour package since the announcement that Saxon and Girlschool would take to the road together in the wake of their planned tour with Motorhead not coming to fruition for reasons well known; voices from card-carrying fans of all things NWOBHM and beyond, dismissing it as a nostalgia trip and nothing more. However, we at the Fist, as well as our readership, like to buy the ticket and take the ride before passing judgment. The thought of seeing these stalwarts in the flesh one more time, especially with the return to the live arena of “Fast” Eddie Clarke of Motorhead infamy supporting with his resurrected group Fastway, is more than enough reason to brave the November rain and even an O2 venue. The near-sold out crowd waiting to pass through the turnstiles goes to show that in Bristol at least, it seems the metal crowd isn’t too pessimistic.

Opening proceedings is London’s loud and lairy daughters Girlschool who, though squeezed into an odd formation owing to playing in front of both Saxon and Fastway’s drum kits, ease the growing crowd into the feel of things. … Read More

Spitting black fire since 2000, Vornth have followed their self-titled 2013 debut with a second album of Venom-ous filth. ‘Black Pyres’ is out today as a Samhain offering, with lashings of Teutonic thrash fury, blackened ire and traditional heavy metal speed. Hailing from Sweden, the band have returned to the Iron Tyrant family – home of Profanal, Mortuary Drape and Culte Des Ghoules – and feature Janne Rimmerfors on battery, Ewil Johansson on bass and Erik Blackflexer on guitars. 

Citing “our own Electric Blood” as their only influence (despite hearing Kreator, Destruction, Mercyful Fate and even early Candlemass proudly in their sound) they say of today’s heavy metal scene that “Rock ‘n’ roll should be strong and alive. Metal should be more strong and more alive.”

We couldn’t agree more. “We chose Iron Tyrant and they chose us,” Erik continues of working with such an eminent underground heavy metal stable. “It’s a brotherhood if you like. You always see who and which bands are going strong when times get rough; that is the real difference between illusion and the definitive. We feel part of a community of hard working musicians and artists that fight with integrity no matter what. We are Vornth which we have proven a long time … Read More

NYC noise duo Uniform have gotten into the Halloween spirit by trick or treating (depending on where you stand on their take on the Gods) us with a cover of Sabbath’s ‘Symptom Of The Universe’. Taken from their brand new 12″ ‘Ghosthouse’, out via Sacred Bones Records, their version is a tad more bleaker than the “summer skies of love” of the lyrics. 

Sabbath are no strangers to having their catalogue covered; it’s a standard go-to for almost all burgeoning bands jamming in garages around the world, and most covers tend to stick pretty close to the original. We here at Iron Fist want to tip our cap to the brave and downright blasphemous, like Uniform, who take the blueprint laid down by Iommi and co, and fuck with it. Here are a few of our favourite shocking takes on the Sabs from over the years…

LISTEN TO UNIFORM’S ‘SYMPTOM OF THE UNIVERSE’:

Ghosthouse by Uniform

GONGA – BLACK SABBETH – FEATURING BETH GIBBONS Black Sabbeth by GONGA This one came out of the leftfield, as who knew trip hop chanteuse Beth Gibbons from Portishead would lend her ethereal charm to Sabbath’s self-titled classic so flawlessly. But back in 2014, Bristol-based doom trio Gonga not only … Read More