If you’ve been paying any attention to the bludgeoning South American underground there is a fair chance you’ll be able to name one or two Chilean black or death metal bands such as Pentagram, Death Yell, Force Of Darkness or Unaussprechlichen Kulten. But heavy metal warriors? Okay, we’re stumped. “It’s true that the genre has always been under-represented over here,” agrees Metal Grave‘s bass player Christopher Falk. “In the ’80s there was only Tumulto, Feedback, Panzer or Vastator to speak of. Then later on Inquisicion, but that’s about it. But, even though there are few of us, each one is unique and very dedicated!”

Formed in 2010 by the two guitar players of local thrash heroes Sacrilegio and influenced by “Mercyful Fate, Iron Maiden and Running Wild”, but also more obscure doom outfits, after two demos in 2011 and 2012, they’re about to release their debut full-length ‘The Eternal Flame Of Deception’, a seven tracker that includes a re-recording of their nearly ten minute epic ‘Journey Into The Unknown’. A conceptual album inspired by Dante’s ‘Inferno’, it tells the story of “one crusader knight, led by Richard Lionheart, who dies on the battlefield. However, unlike all his beliefs, he wakes up … Read More

Imagine if your job was to travel around Europe, drinking beer and playing heavy metal? They might mow Geddy Lee’s lawn and work in a pig-themed toy shop [true stories] when they’re at home but for two months CAULDRON quit life and hit the road – and remembered all the gory details for Iron Fist

BRITISH STEEL Myles [Deck, drums – the new boy!]: “A six week European tour?! Yes please! Having only done a handful of DIY tours in Eastern Canada – not to mention having never set foot on European soil before – I was very eager to hit the road as the new Cauldron drummer and prove my metal to the band and its fans. Spanning from the end of November to the first week of January, I gladly informed my family that they’d have to suffer the holidays without me and set off on a wet and wild, 35 date adventure of heavy metal bliss. When we landed, we met up with our driver and grindcore enthusiast, Luuk and friend Inti who worked the merchandise table for us all tour. Inti is the star of our ‘Nitebreaker’ video and goes by a number of aliases such as Merch … Read More

If you described Attic as a traditional heavy metal band from the famous Ruhr area (Kreator, Tankard, Sodom), obsessed with occultism and dripping in late 19th century gothic atmosphere, their guitar player and main composer Katte would be chuffed. Always a stronghold for any kind of back-to-basics subgenre, Germany has lately had an extremely healthy underground scene, where black/thrash (Desaster, Nocturnal, Cruel Force) and heavy metal (Iron Kobra, Alpha Tiger, Serpent) collide. But no matter how hard he tries to defend himself in the wake of their first European tour, opening for The Devil’s Blood, he knows too damn well about that gigantic elephant in the room.

The man knows all about the business of living in someone’s shadow: in 2006, he founded Erazor, which owed more than a large debt to Dissection. Around the same time, he briefly played in Warhammer, Germany’s answer to Hellhammer. Still, it seems impossible now not to have the names Attic and Mercyful Fate in the same sentence and Katte acknowledges it, even if he says that he’s always been more into “obscure heavy metal” the whole time and that he had a secret plan to form an occult band in this vein for a … Read More