Old school death metallers Memoriam (featuring ex and current members of Bolt Thrower and Benediction) are set to unleash their debut album ‘For The Fallen’ on March 24 through Nuclear Blast Records. It will contain eight tracks, including ‘War Rages On’, ‘Resistance’ (both featured on ‘The Hellfire Demos II’) and ‘Surrounded (By Death)’ (featured on ‘The Hellfire Demos II’).

The album’s impressive artwork was created by Dan Seagrave (Benediction, Dismember, Hypocrisy, Suffocation). He said: “[I started] from the band’s thoughts on visualising a kind of funeral procession with a theme of combat, war and in conjunction with the title ‘For the Fallen’. As with all my works, I then attempted to make the information evolve in my mind’s eye, and allow imagination to take over those elements, but retaining the core concept. The painting thus depicts a funeral procession moving through a long war torn cityscape; twisted shards of towers and buildings. A cathedral facade stands defiantly, yet riddled with destruction and decay. At closer inspection the structures all seem to be infected with an element of natural decomposition, as if organically inclined to fade with the demise of the season.

“The season itself lost in a timeless void. The figures appear … 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

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

Drag yourself down into the lightless Vale of Pnath, into the eerie shadow of the fabled peaks of Throk and listen – what do you hear? Deranged howls of the denizens from the Plateau of Leng fill the air and you realise, it is the music of Innsmouth. From the looming fog appears three misshapen heads, likely held together by the turbans perched upon them, and you see it is the cursed ones; those whose rotted and mangled limbs made the sounds that haunted you so. Thick walls of noise, a complete disregard for compression and guitars so dense it makes the ears drip red. Says vocalist and guitarist Nightgaunt; “With tentacles clutching at our very throats and a quagmire in our hearts, how could we sound any other way?” Dwelling in the beautiful but dangerous Blue Mountains of Australia, theirs is a style of blackened death metal that honours not only the Great Old Ones but also those of this world such as Bolt Thrower, Armoured Angel and Grand Belial’s Key. Expect neither technical prowess nor showmanship from this music, rather a steady and hypnotic translation of the horrors found deep within the desolate recesses of consciousness; that ugly place … Read More

Renowned Dutch death metal brigade, Hail Of Bullets, recently completed their third Metal Blade full-length, ‘III The Rommel Chronicles’. According to drummer Ed Warby, “After a half-year period of slightly worrying metal fatigue I finally started writing in June 2012. I had to recover from several years of doing one album after the other: Gorefest, Hail Of Bullets, Demiurg, Star One, 11th Hour, etc, without time to breathe. I needed to recharge the batteries so to speak. But once I had the basis for what would become ‘Farewell To Africa’, the floodgates of inspiration opened wide and with contributions from Stephan [Gebédi – guitars, also of Thanatos] and Paul [Baayens –guitars, also of Thanatos and Asphyx] we soon had a full album.”

Ed explains further, “In the months before I had no desire to even pick up a guitar or play metal, so when that [‘Farewell To Africa’] riff finally came to me it felt like such a relief. It was one of those moments where the song almost writes itself, one riff leading to another until you have a fully-formed song. That gave me such a confidence boost, and even more importantly it put me back in ‘metal’ mode. At … Read More

Italian death merchants Into Darkness are a very young band, teetering on the cusp of releasing their very first demo tape via Unholy Domain Records (which Iron Bonehead will then commit to 12” vinyl) but their sound is rooted firmly in the darkest, dankest corners of the past. Vocalist and axe-slinger Giulia Doomed Warrior asserts, “Into Darkness is for fans of death/doom in the late ’80s/early ’90s vein, like Asphyx, my favourite band, Bolt Thrower, Cianide, Coffins, Thorr’s Hammer, Disembowelment, Paradise Lost, Goatlord, Crypt of Kerberos…” and the list continues, as her passion for the most pestilential of death metal’s doomed offerings is made all too apparent. She’s got the chops to back it up, as well, as Into Darkness’ eponymous demo shows with its merciless onslaught of dirty, sewer-dwelling riffs, ragged howls, and searing solos.

“To be honest my first idea was to have a 100 percent female band in the vein of Derketa, Mythic and November Grief, but to find a skilled female drummer was impossible, and we are absolutely satisfied with Anguicious, both as musician and as person,” she explains. “We started to rehearse some riffs in late 2011, but it wasn’t until Anguicious (Mefitic’s drummer) joined us … Read More