When we came up with the idea of doing a Mix Tape idea for the Iron Fist website there were three people we knew we needed to ask. Jason Decay and Ian Chains from Cauldron were a given, at least one of them were bound to put Bleak House on there, and the other was Ryan Waste. Now the latter has a brand new album out for his snotty speed metal punks BAT, we knew the time was right to hit him up. Ryan has spent the summer driving a taxi (seriously, read the latest Livin’ Fast column in Iron Fist #17) and on the tarmac in Europe with his thrash comrades Municipal Waste so we know his ear is gonna be trained to the right songs for the right road so we asked him to gather together some of the songs that inspired BAT’s latest album, ‘Wings Of Chains‘. It was through MW that we first met Ryan and got to know just how vast, and how perfect for the party, his music taste is. Buckle up and hit play!

SIDE A:

SLANDER ‘Lonely Nights’ Let’s set the mood here. I feed off the sound of desperation in music, so what better way to … Read More

Last week, Black Country heavy metal minstrels Dark Forest unveiled their fourth album ‘Beyond The Veil’ (Cruz Del Sur). Whipping up stirring paeans to nature, the seasons and the mighty, gallant genre of power metal, these Brits deservedly took their place among the great and the good who are putting the traditional metal values at the heart of their song-craft.

Falling in love with each and every song on the album, we cornered main song-writer, lyricist, guitarist and all-round English eccentric to find out what was on the Walkman on those long meanders through the woods to inspire such an collection of heavy metal anthems. Here is the tape he made for us, if you need us we’ll be in the forest…

Side A

Isen Torr – ‘Mighty & Superior’ This is heavy, thundering metal at its best from the genius that is Rich Walker (Solstice). Full of energy and power!

Blind Guardian – ‘The Soulforged’ I always loved the way Blind Guardian infuse elements of medieval and folk melodies into their music, great example here.

Forefather – ‘Miri It Is’ A brilliant take on a Middle English poem written in 1225.

Iron Maiden – ‘Dance Of Death’ Maiden always has to be in there! I chose ‘Dance Of Death’ … Read More

When it comes to new bands who stand head and shoulders above the metal warrior brigade, Finland’s Mausoleum Gate are one of the first names that comes to mind. Their 2014 eponymous debut album was a shock to the system and of the best albums of that year. Now the band is back with a brand new 7” single (‘Metal And The Might’) so we took the chance to have a catch up with Count L.F. (guitars), Wicked Ischanius (bass so far, keyboards from now and on) and Oscar Razanez (drums)…

Two years after your debut album, how do you reflect back to those days and is there is something you might have changed? Count: I am very satisfied with the response. Absolutely better than we could expect. Our way of doing things is so different that one must be amazed at this response. I am also glad that we didn’t have to please anyone.We had basically a freedom to do what we like. Ischanius: I am still very very satisfied with the end product. It’s testimony of what Mausoleum Gate had been so far! Like with every release, it’s a product of its time and all the factors surrounding it. I personally always have a feeling … Read More

It’s no surprise that we love CAUCHEMAR here at Iron Fist. The Montreal metal machine are fronted by the one and only Annick Giroux, author of our World Downfall column. But nepotism be damned, even if Annick wasn’t part of the family we’d still be a sucker of their Sabbath meets Mercyful Fate meets Sortilege meets Blue Oyster Cult vibes. With a new album ‘Chappelle Ardente’ out now we look back to Iron Fist #6 (Summer 2013) when Dave Sherwood had a dangerous meeting with the band around the release of their Nuclear War Now! Productions debut ‘Tenebrario’

We know you as our world correspondent, but not for your own music – tell us about Cauchemar Annick: “Cauchemar started as a doom metal project between myself and the guitarist, François [Patry]. At first, I wanted to play bass, but we couldn’t find a vocalist so I decided to sing instead. We were aiming to play ‘trad’ doom but our heavy metal influences took over and it ended up being some sort of bastard mix of heavy/doom. We recorded and released our mini-album ‘La Vierge Noire’ in 2010, and did our first three gigs in Canada afterwards. In January, 2011, myself and the guitarist … Read More

We love a mixtape here at Iron Fist. The ritual of choosing the track, pressing play and record at the same time, perfectly timing songs to fit on one side of a C-90, doodling your own hand-written cover. Days were endlessly passed doing this in our youth. Bringing back the tradition we ask some of our favourite musicians to make us a tape and let you know, via the magic of YouTube, what they picked for us.

In the first instalment, JB Christoffersson of Iron Willed warriors GRAND MAGUS picks twelve songs that inspired his band’s latest album ‘SWORD SONGS’ in a mixtape called ‘SWEDISH STEEL’.

1. BATHORY – ‘Shores In Flames’ This is the opening song on BATHORY’s masterpiece ‘Hammerheart’ and one of my favourite songs ever. No one combines atmosphere with power like Quorthon did.

2. DISSECTION – ‘Xeper-i-Set’ The Reinkaos album was very controversial when it came out. Personally I think it’s a fantastic album with brilliant playing and songwriting. This is probably the fastest and most aggressive track on that album and it’s ferocious.

3. WOLF – ‘The Bite’ When it comes to proper heavy metal in the modern age, I think that WOLF is one of the best bands … Read More

Napalm Records have signed heavy metal warriors HammerFall, it has just been announced. Stating that “A new era in the history of Napalm Records has begun, and this is it! The signing of the mighty HammerFall is now official – signed, sealed and inked in blood! The saviours of heavy metal and one of the most influential and best metal bands on the globe are now under the wings of the double-headed eagle! A band which is not only a house-hold name worldwide, guaranteed for delivering high-quality music and furious live shows for the past two decades, HammerFall have been the undisputed masters of ground-breaking anthems since the start of their remarkable career in 1993!  What’s most exciting about HammerFall is that the band are still on the rise and hungry for even more and now have a label partner by their side that is willing to go above and beyond to make this happen. This partnership is set to conquer the music world!”

One of the favourites of the Iron Fist stereo and saviours of the steel in the low late ’90s and early 2000s, this is great news for the future of the ‘Fall. Their singer Joacim Cans said: “After two exciting decades in the … Read More

Grand Magus have announced their new studio album will be titled ‘Sword Songs’. The Swedish heavy metal trio with release their eighth studio album on May 13th through Nuclear Blast. The epic cover artwork was created by acclaimed artist Anthony Roberts (No, not our photographer!).

Frontman JB said: “We put all of our sweat, blood and tears into this new album and I think that you can hear that. For me, ‘Sword Songs’ is the best Grand Magus album ever! The new songs are faster and more aggressive than on ‘Triumph And Power’ and we have also included some more extreme and harder stuff. I’m convinced that there are some future classics on the disc!”

‘Sword Songs’ was produced by Nico Elgstrand at Studio Supa in Stockholm, Sweden with Roberto Laghi at Top Floor Studios in Gothenburg taking care of recording Ludwig Witt’s drums. The album was mixed by Roberto and mastered by Svante Forsbäck in Helsinki.

We can also reveal that the tracklist is as mythical and steeped in Norse lore as we would expect from the wolfpack: 1. Freja’s Choice 2. Varangian 3. Forged In Iron – Crowned In Steel 4. Born For Battle (Black Dog Of Brocéliande) 5. Master Of The Land 6. Last One To … Read More

Cloven Altar formed in 2012 from their previous band Spellbinder, in which Dustin Altar played guitar and composed the songs. Based in California, Spellbinder had a female singer Lauren Malechek and drums were handled by Michael McNally, but the band never had a complete line-up and only did one demo recording. After that, the band disbanded due to schedule conflicts and lack of motivation. Cloven Altar was the result of Dustin taking some of the Spellbinder material and writing some new songs while also assuming the lead vocal position. Michael McNally came up with the name Cloven Altar (an obvious but cool rip-off of Cloven Hoof and Pagan Altar). Dustin liked the name so much that he hired his friend Chris Horst to design the logo and recorded a bedroom demo under the name. After showing the demo to Cederick Forsberg (Rocka Rollas, Blazon Stone, Breitenhold, Mortyr, etc.) the two agreed to collaborate on a short EP where Ced ended up playing all of the instruments as well as recording/mixing/mastering the final version, while Dustin handled all of the vocals. Danny K of Stormspell Records expressed interest in the project after Dustin emailed him, and has supported Cloven Altar from the … Read More

Lace, chocolate, canals and beer-brewing-monks; Bruges has never been known as a hive of heavy metal activity, yet some 35 years ago a band came crashing through its medieval walls. Rubbing shoulders with Motörhead, Maiden and Manowar along the way, the quintet lived what some might consider to be the ultimate early ’80s hard rock fantasy, yet real success proved elusive and just five short years later, the group disbanded and added themselves to the endless list of metal’s might-have-beens. Now, three decades since their departure, all of ACIDs recorded output is being reissued again, proving that interest in the band is arguably stronger than ever. TOBY WRIGHT was fortunate enough to talk with singer KATE DE LOMBAERT and drummer GEERT ‘ANVILL’ RICQUIER about the pleasures and pitfalls of being in the wrong place at the right time.

“I think it was something magic,” says Kate thoughtfully, as we begin to discuss what gave Acid such cult status. “I don’t know what it was,” she continues, hesitating a little. “When we played together it was like a wall of sound. It was very, very special.” Geert, seemingly jovial at this evening’s trip down memory lane, is quick to confirm the vocalist’s … Read More

One of our favourite bands of 2015 – who just offered us the release of ‘The Warrior’s Spell’, compiling their three EP cassette tracks and two new songs – Tarot have completed their first full-length album entitled ‘Reflections’. The band – who hail from Hobart, Tasmania – capture the mystical atmosphere created by bands like Rainbow, Uriah Heep and Wishbone Ash, while putting their own spin on things, creating a unique sound.

The track list for ‘Reflections’ is ‘Autumn Conjuration’, ‘Heed the Call’, ‘Strange Dimensions’, ‘Cloak and Dagger’, ‘Reflections’, ‘Mountain Throne’ and ‘Living For Today’.

Cover artwork was designed by Karmazid and the pre-order of the CD will start on January 25 via frontman The Hermit’s label, Heavy Chains Records. The pre-order package will include a poster of the artwork and an A3 size fold out lyric sheet.

‘Reflections’ will be released on vinyl later in 2016 by Ván Records.