Rämlord from Finland deliver a very eclectic mix of styles with their recently released EP ‘We Are The Night’. Featuring veterans of the Finnish metal scene including Jarno Anttila, former guitarist in black metal pioneers Impaled Nazarene and underground black/death cultists Belial (the latter being no strangers to mixing diverse influences), that bravery comes across strongly in the music of his latest band. Combining a memorable mix of deathrock, ’80s heavy metal, Amorphis style folk, hard rock and black metal, the result is a versatile recording, which transcends any basic genre boundaries. Jarno answered our questions about the EP and their latest 7″.

Hi Jarno please give us a brief history of the band… what instigated the initial idea to form Rämlord? “After I left Impaled Nazarene I started to warm-up an idea about a old school metal band. I have been listening to that stuff since I was kid, but never really played in a heavy metal/hard rock band. I really wanted to finally play the music I love the most and Rämlord was born out of that idea. I joined forces with my old partner-in-crime, drummer Janne Mannonen, with whom I played in a rock band in late-’90s. After that I … Read More

Formed in 2014, from a mutual appreciation of NWOBHM and ’80s heavy metal, Lucifer’s Chalice is comprised of Iron Fist’s very own KShevil (also of Winds Of Genocide and Uncoffined) on drums, CW on rhythm guitar and vocals, SRM on lead guitar and DH on bass. Following a couple of live shows, the band are now ready to release debut album ‘The Pact’ via Bandcamp, which was recorded in July 2016. KShevil describes it as “35 minutes of heavy metal darkness”.

Speaking of the band’s sound, she tells us “From the day the idea for the band was conceived, it was to pay homage to NWOBHM and old US heavy metal circa 1979 – 1984, and write and play songs in the vein of Angel Witch, early Iron Maiden, Witchfinder General, early Judas Priest, early Omen, early Metallica (’82-’84 period), Diamond Head and early Mercyful Fate. Nothing more, nothing less; just create some good old ’80s sounding heavy metal with dark and sinister lyrics. So we definitely had a very specific sound in mind from the start.”

Despite the band’s collective love of all things ’80s, as individuals, they all come from completely different backgrounds with an eclectic mix of tastes. KShevil and … 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

KING DIAMOND + ANGEL WITCH THE FORUM, LONDON JUNE 2016

It’s been a long time since since King Diamond played a theatre show in London. The last time was a sweltering night in June 2006, yet almost a decade to the day he’s back and this time he’s not some cult, underground curiosity. Years of touring the big international festivals and a surging interest in traditional heavy metal has meant the corpse-painted, baby-wielding, ghost-believing raconteur has become a Danish cultural icon on a par with moody gothic crime dramas, bacon baps and controversial doodles of religious prophets.

The King, as he’s affectionately known in Iron Fist circles, does not elicit the kind of fair-weather fan merely intrigued by his kitsch theatrics and soaring voice, they are devotees and tonight, The Forum, a grand proscenium arched arena worthy of the Mercyful Fate mainman, has gathered the familiar and the frenzied into its halls. What is so great about intimate theatre shows is that while festivals are 30,000 strong, the few – in comparison – that are here tonight are the dedicated ones and you can feel the energy brewing in the queue snaking around the venue.

In the run up to the concert the rumours of … Read More

King Diamond will return to the UK next year, on Tuesday 21st June at London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town. And as part of their live set, they will perform the ‘Abigail’ album in its entirety for the first and possibly last time ever in the UK. The band have promised that “This will be the most ambitious theatrical horror production by King Diamond to date. Both sonically and visually this will take the band to a whole new level.”

For a taste of what to expect check out this performance from last summer’s American tour: 

Tickets are on sale now at www.seetickets.com

And just if you thought you were getting no presents for Christmas Metal Blade have just re-issued ‘The Spider’s Lullabye’ on CD and vinyl, so you can treat yourself. The CD will be released as a double-Digi-CD featuring a bonus-CD that includes the rare and previously unreleased demos for the album. The LP comes as a double gatefold vinyl including all the bonus tracks as well. Get your copies of “The Spider’s Lullabye” and “House Of God” from Omerch

Without something of a misty-eyed perspective on metal in the ’80s, it’s quite possible this publication you hold in your hands wouldn’t exist. Yet even amidst the blizzard of tassles, battle-jackets and Nike hi-tops that oft constitutes a vision of the decade, it’s quite possible to lose sight of the original spirit – the true, bloody-minded essence of steel that battled against adversity throughout that often tricky era. At a time in which Bryan Adams’ ‘Reckless’ was voted Kerrang!’s album of the year, in which Bon Jovi headlined Donington, and in which Candlemass were dropped by Black Dragon Records due to lack of sales, the racket we now cherish often was forced to maintain its strident and overblown demeanour in the face of indifference and hostility. The indomitable elixir that led it to survive is a thing of vainglory, a thing of Cecil B. De Mille-esque grandeur (often on a tight budget) and frequently a thing of sheer foolhardy hubris. Moreover, true rivetheads wouldn’t have it any other way.

One suspects that Below, Nykoping, Sweden’s relatively fresh-faced troupe, understand all this only too well. Arriving in the wake of an EP that gained them considerable plaudits for their refreshingly epic take … Read More

It was so good to have KING DIAMOND back on British soil this weekend… and it’s good to have the King on the cover of Iron Fist issue 6. When we started this magazine a year ago (yep, we can’t believe it either!) it was always our dream interview and with the 30th anniversary of ‘Melissa’ coming up (we can’t believe that either!) Damien spoke to the man himself about his whole career, from Brainstorm to Bloodstock… he even hinted at a possible Fate reunion… we live in hope!

Putting issue 6 together was carnage, we must admit. It’s festival season, which means that most of our team were lying face down in a field somewhere in Europe rather than tethered to our keyboards, but we managed it – despite insane hangovers from Muskelrock, Metallsvenskan, Bang Your Head or Hell’s Pleasure.

In this issue we’ve tied down some in-depth exclusive interviews with cult Italian masters DEATH SS, British thrash overlords ONSLAUGHT and death dealers EXHUMED. Olivier ‘Zoltar’ Badin also spoke to both Chritus Linderson and Scott Reagers (who NEVER does interviews) about two SAINT VITUS albums that he believes deserve more attention.

We’ve also got interviews from RAMMING SPEED, CAUCHEMAR, GORGUTS, BESTIAL MOCKERY’S … Read More

With our friends in Sweden and Belgium tantalising us with tales of KING DIAMOND‘s recent European Festival tour and the fact that ‘MELISSA’ is rarely off our stereo in the run up to its 30th Anniversary this Autumn, we knew that we wanted to interview the King of all evil. We sent GREG MOFFITT off for a dangerous meeting with the man himself to talk about his whole career from BLACK ROSE to BLOODSTOCK and most importantly the fate of MERCYFUL FATE…

How and when did you first get into music? “I had a little transistor radio with a cassette deck built in and I used to listen to rock programmes in the afternoon and record some of the songs. Then I saved up from my allowance and eventually got a reel to reel tape machine, which was great because I could even record from the TV with that! Then in ’71 I got my first turntable, which I could plug into the reel to reel machine. That was stereo and that was a big deal! The first three vinyl albums I bought were Deep Purple’s ‘Fireball’, Black Sabbath’s ‘Master Of Reality’ and Jethro Tull’s ‘Aqualung’. Obviously I’d already heard ‘Paranoid’ and ‘Black … Read More

“Keep it simple, keep it old-school” is a pretty simple mantra, but Mausoleum Gate founder and guitarist Count LeFay makes sure his band lives by it. Sure you’ve heard that one a thousand times, but these Finnish worshippers of all things old school and heavy as hell really do mean it. Speaking to Count LeFay, he explains that their sound and approach to music harks back to years gone by; “We bring in quite a different approach to metal. For example, songs on our new 7” ‘Obsessed By Metal’ are pretty much driven by guitars instead of drums and bass. The rhythm section is floating on it, that’s quite uncommon in metal these days. Of course back in the ’70s it was different.” With that 7” out earlier this year with two brand new tracks, what can you expect to come thundering from the speakers? “Old school metal has lot to give and for me it has been a great part of my life”, says LeFay, but this is no straight-laced, by-the-book affair; “Sabbath, Deep Purple and Zeppelin are great influence for me and all the NWOBHM stuff of course. Then there is Mercyful Fate. We have a lot of different … Read More

From the mean streets of West London come Hundred, a band with a passion for balls out NWOBHM and a love of the old gods. With a style influenced by Iron Maiden, Manilla Road Mercyful Fate and Bathory, Hundred are right up Iron Fist’s street. While they might still be in college, they’re clearly no slouches with regular gigs happening in Kingston and beyond. Guitarist David Pike gave us the details; “We formed in 2006 as Gravstead, just Adam, Patrick and Myself, with no real direction – we just wanted to get a band together to play metal!” explains David. “We had difficulty finding a committed drummer and vocalist. After a couple of years we had some luck, we hooked up with Eddy Knight through the Kingston Youth Service! He isn’t into metal, but he’s a great Drummer and he’s passionate about any projects he’s involved in.” It was a triumph of the internet that gave Hundred their distinctive vocals. “An ad we’d placed on the Gumtree website yielded a response from Alex Storrsson, very talented and reliable; our line-up was now complete and we became Hundred! Having brought together all of the elements, our direction was clear. Fast-paced, riff-based heavy … Read More