With albums from Atlantean Kodex, Argus and Age Of Taurus riding high in our albums of the year lists, and of course the final ever album from the true masters, Cathedral, it seems that traditional doom, steeped in the roots of heavy metal, is, once again, genre du jour, and now Esslingen’s Mountain Throne are joining the ranks with their debut album ‘Stormcoven’ on Cyclone Empire. Forming in 2009 guitarist A tells Iron Fist that he, “always wanted to have a band playing this ancient kind of metal” and had been writing songs in that vein for years. Drummer J joins A in the doom band Mirror Of Deception, while cracking singer F and bassist S are in the power metal band From Beyond, so the cachet is hot for this German four-piece. When asked what attracted them to the traditional doom genre, A says firmly, “It’s the choice of champions really, isn´t it? There is a sense of a tradition… knowing where things came from and how they developed. Real heavy metal and classic hard and heavy rock are incredibly soulful. In real metal you definitely have that spirit. For me, this magic is epitomised in the songs of … Read More

Welcome to the “difficult third issue” – difficult only because we put this magazine to bed with serious post-festive hangovers – not doing that again in a hurry!!!!

This issue of Iron Fist ended up being actually the most fun to make – and not just because we were still pissed. It had a real spirit of the blitz vibe to it, as our editor Louise and her trusted sidekick Kim knuckled down to some serious pizza eating and sub-editing all-nighters, while our designer Adam told us were we dickheads for keeping him up all night – but the dude is a legend – look at that SAXON cover! The guy’s a genius. I’ve been editing magazines for years and reading them for even longer and that’s seriously the best-looking magazine cover I’ve ever seen.

It was also a bit of a fluke that all the articles in this issue kinda follow the same theme – we didn’t plan it, promise! You got the men that brought us all together on the cover and without knowing Ms Kelly opened her article about the METALPUNK crossover scene with that very sentiment, citing Mr Byford for opening the gates for the myriad heavy metal … Read More

“This album has been a long time coming and it’s very fulfilling to see a project, which was started a long time ago, finally nearing completion,” says a very relieved Age Of Taurus guitarist Toby Wright, fresh from the studio. We’re relieved too – it’s been three years since the then London-based doom mob released their demo ‘In The Days Of The Taurean Empire’. Part Candlemass, part Pentagram, part Sabbath and part Trouble, Age Of Taurus were doing doom the right way, but the demo was rough and ready and we at Iron Fist were eager to see what Toby, along with ex-Mourn guitarist Alastair Riddell, drummer Darius Claydon and bassist Richard Bruce could come up with once they had time, and a record deal, on their side. The wait is almost over with ‘Desperate Souls Of Tortured Times’ due out this Spring on Rise Above.

“The delay was mostly down to my relocation from London to Oslo in 2011,” Toby admits. “It definitely took me some time to readjust and also to find the best way for a pan-European AOT to work.” Three years is more than enough time for the band to hone their chops and find their sound, so … Read More