“Rule them all/feel the grip of an iron hand/take command Rule them/to make it last and to remain/never let confusion reign” ‘Iron Hand’ from ‘The Hunt’

Earlier this year the steely Swedes in Grand Magus unleashed a sixth dose of heavy metal fury on new label Nuclear Blast. ‘The Hunt’ was a triumphant antidote to the musical ennui dominating the release schedules and put them out there as firm contenders on many an end-of-year list, including ours. A dash of old Europe, Saxon, Bathory, even WASP, ‘The Hunt’ became the soundtrack to the fertilisation of Iron Fist, its lyrics of courage, self-preservation and determination giving us the drive to get this magazine off the ground, so it made sense to check in with the Grand Magus himself, JB Christofferson, to thank him.

“Most of our albums and songs and lyrics are about power in some sense; trying or searching for the power within to make yourself stronger and overcome strife and struggle,” he told us, on his way back from his own personal daily grind, travelling home from work on a commuter ferry across his hometown of Stockholm. “That’s also something that I want to project with our music, that I want the listener … Read More

Accurately labelling themselves “Old Metal”, that broad but effective term came when Natur overheard an old rocker trying to describe their sound to a friend. The New York via Rhode Island four-piece formed in the dark days of 2008 when only a valiant few were playing unapologetic straight ahead heavy metal in the US. On top of the band, two of the guys run a weekly classic metal radio show called the Metal Inquisition and you can safely predict that they will spend any spare cash on vinyl, you can certainly hear in the music that the band have a broad knowledge of heavy rocking history.

The band’s charmingly raw and heavy self-released CD demo stood out immediately from the increasingly genre specific metal world. Darkthrone’s Fenriz noticed and gave his seal of approval early, which led to a slot at London’s Live Evil Festival supporting Ghost and Angel Witch back in 2010. Featuring the highly entertaining Tooth Log on drums, main axe attack from Dino Destroyer and lead bass now coming from recent addition, Henry Yuan, aka Sound Mound, who replaced the brilliantly-named Damien The Mexicutioner. Singer/guitarist Ryan Weibust adds a natural, cool vibe and a fittingly underpowered NWOBHM-style vocal. The eponymous … Read More