By the grace of god, Iron Fist #19 has head off to the printers, and while it’s been a bit supershitty to the max to get this magazine into some degree of high visibility, we managed to finish off 100 pages full of the most grande rock, with the usual mix of new bands who will refute the claim that rock ‘n’ roll is dead, and the bands who have been around for years payin’ the dues. Now, we don’t want to be giving any clues as to who’s on the cover but we’ve been giving some hard stereo time to the type of band of late who know that you can’t pull from one limiting genre pool to create musical genius.

If you’re inspired by the three ring rock n roll circus of the ‘head, missed the last bus home like Lynott, live your life on Permanent Vacation, chill out to a bit of jazz, cool down with the blues, rev it up with some sleaze, are born to be wild and walk on the wild side, then you belong in our pages and over the next few days we will be highlighting some of the bands we think will take … Read More

SAXON, FASTWAY & GIRLSCHOOL BRISTOL O2 Academy

There have been a few cynical murmurings regarding this tour package since the announcement that Saxon and Girlschool would take to the road together in the wake of their planned tour with Motorhead not coming to fruition for reasons well known; voices from card-carrying fans of all things NWOBHM and beyond, dismissing it as a nostalgia trip and nothing more. However, we at the Fist, as well as our readership, like to buy the ticket and take the ride before passing judgment. The thought of seeing these stalwarts in the flesh one more time, especially with the return to the live arena of “Fast” Eddie Clarke of Motorhead infamy supporting with his resurrected group Fastway, is more than enough reason to brave the November rain and even an O2 venue. The near-sold out crowd waiting to pass through the turnstiles goes to show that in Bristol at least, it seems the metal crowd isn’t too pessimistic.

Opening proceedings is London’s loud and lairy daughters Girlschool who, though squeezed into an odd formation owing to playing in front of both Saxon and Fastway’s drum kits, ease the growing crowd into the feel of things. … Read More

Leif’s a busy guy. Which is surprising since he promised us all he needed a break from his main vehicle of doom, Candlemass. While he’s stepped away from performing with the three-decade-old gloom godfathers, he still had time to record an EP with them this year (‘Death Thy Lover’, Napalm Records), finish Avatarium‘s second album late last year (‘The Girl With The Raven Mask’, Nuclear Blast) and form a new band, The Doomsday Kingdom.

The band’s demo EP ‘Never Machine’ will be out on November 25 via Nuclear Blast marking Leif’s new reign of doom metal.

“I’m so happy that things are moving in the right direction,” Leif comments. “I’ve been putting my heart and soul into the new EP and album for about two and a half years now. So it’s very relieving to finally see an end to all the work. Soon the world will hear the sound of the catacombs coming to life! “I’m currently doing the final touches to the album. It is recorded, mixed and mastered, and has come out absolutely fantastic! Just a few graphic things left with photos, booklet etc. and then it will be ready. I’m very proud of this album! It sounds so good, therefore the visual aspect … Read More

Forming in 1975 as Painted Lady, GIRLSCHOOL have been together for 40 years and are showing no signs of slowing down. With nothing to lose, KIM MCAULIFFE and ENID WILLIAMS are back in the studio and back to school. KEVIN STEWART-PANKO is asked to see teacher after class

There’s a girl, her name’s Louise and she runs things around here. On any old, average day, she’s charming, delightful and lights up the room with her smile. But today, the ribbons in her hair are fluttering more than usual, her grin is wider than wide and the rainbows she usually shits are blindingly bright. All that because we’ve managed to get the almighty Girl-Fucking-School in Iron Fist and if the emails throughout our exchange on the matter are any indication, to say she’s honoured, happy and tickled to have one of her all-time faves in these pages is like saying Lemmy’s gone a few rounds with a bottle of whiskey.

Guitarist/vocalist Kim McAuliffe and bassist/vocalist Dinah ‘Enid’ Williams originally came together in 1975 under the moniker Painted Lady after growing up alongside one another on the mean streets of Wandsworth while staring down the inhospitable climate that greeted the idea of the “fairer … Read More

It’s been a difficult time for heavy metal of late. We knew he was sick but Ian Fraser Kilmister, with that indomitable spirit, wouldn’t let us, his fans, down. Recording albums and playing live right up until the end, it’s as if we knew the day would come but neither he, nor us, would accept that crushing fate.

For weeks there seemed like an outpouring of collective grief. Even when the godlike Bowie and then the rock of which so much of heavy metal is built, Jimmy Bain, passed away it all got caught up in this exhausting wave of despair.

Doing a new issue of Iron Fist felt meaningless; we were named after a Motörhead song and now Motörhead was no more. While every other magazine poured over the details of Lemmy’s life, we wanted to mourn the band as well as the man and through our haze turned to the only person we could think of, Jase Of Spades from the blog 366 Days Of Motörhead to help us both with our office playlists and tribute. In this issue he reminds us of the many albums, live recordings and rare tracks that the ‘Head have left as their … Read More

Last night was surreal. Watching a funeral in a pub? Cheering, whooping, and laughing (a lot of laughing actually) while glued to a big screen TV. What was supposed to be a sombre affair turned to belly-aching chuckles with every wild story or dad joke but you couldn’t resist the devil’s grip of emotion either. The weirdness of watching a webcast memorial as you would a footie match left me reeling but I was so glad I went. Some of the Iron Fist team opted to watch it at home alone so they could let it sink in privately, some chose to not watch it all believing it to be voyeuristic bordering on the tasteless, and some threw parties in Lemmy’s honour, but Jim Martin and I decided to brave the Holloway Road, London’s less glamorous Sunset Strip. As we gathered in front of the screens at the 12 Bar I realised in that instant what impact Lemmy had on such a cross section of music lovers.

When he passed away on December 28, I couldn’t find the words to write a tribute. But that alone felt irresponsible. Here I am, editor of a magazine named after my favourite Motörhead song and … Read More

“Motörhead will keep on as they are until one of us drops dead” PHIL TAYLOR, 1981

In Issue #2 of Iron Fist we interviewed Motörhead, the inspiration behind our name and most of heavy fucking metal since 1975 if we’re honest. As part of that feature we got veteran journalist Gary Bushell to remember his hedonistic days as one of the road crew. In honour of Philthy’s untimely passing we will re-publish this whole article again on our website and raise a glass to this legendary hellraiser

It’s one the most surreal nights of my life. Iron Fist regularly gets to take over nights at The Alibi, a punk rock dive bar in East London, and tonight is one such night where I’m DJing between hard rock karaoke (it’s more fun than it sounds – promise). But earlier that day we had a phone call from Motörhead’s UK PR asking if we’d like to speak to the man, the legend, the one who gave us our magazine’s name, that night at 10pm. You don’t say no to an opportunity like that. So before I’m set to DJ, while they’re playing the film ‘Robocop’ REALLY LOUD in the bar, I camp … Read More

It’s increasingly hard for this life-long psych-doom obsessive to get excited about new bands, but the new generation is starting to spin some interesting tales. One such act is Sussex space rock three-piece Riddles. There is a definite garage-psych vibe going on with catchy raw fuzz leads cutting through some very British vocal delivery. It’s refreshing stuff. “We are definitely influenced by our own sound,” fills in charismatic mainman Jimi Riddle. “But there are some key bands that brought us to find it, like Hawkwind, Stooges, Motörhead, early Sabbath, Pentagram and Orang-utan. But it doesn’t end there, there are so many great genres and powerful bands to come out of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, it’s almost impossible to list every band that made us create the vibe we have.” The broad range of influences seems to have allowed them to create a distinct sound thus far, but are they part-timers or ambitious chaps? “We all put a lot of time and effort into this band and I think we all believe in it as its own entity. You get back what you put in and so we’re putting a lot into it. It’s like a plant, we’re giving it … Read More

Making it to three decades for any band is a rarity, but when you’ve had to overcome near-death experiences, small-town bullying and worse of all, the grunge boom, 30 years is most definitely something to celebrate. Louise Brown talks to the queen of survival about how there’s 30 more years in her yet

When did you first discover your passion for music? Doro: “I was three-years-old. The first real experience that totally got me hooked was Little Richard’s ‘Lucille’. That song was so high energy. When I listened to it I thought, ‘I want to do that, I want to sing’. Later I had some contact with some older boys. They had posters of Alice Cooper, Sweet, Slade, T-Rex. I was always singing along to their hard rock records and they thought it was very funny. I was screaming my heart out, I could really yell. They were shocked, they said, ‘Wow, how can a little girl make that noise?’. I was fascinated with all the guys with long hair, like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and the glam rock. And then there was Suzi Quatro, the first girl I heard, I loved her. Metal didn’t exist and when I was 15 then … Read More

Pinpointing a certain sound to a geographical place has become almost impossible, mainly thanks to the internet and how it globally manipulates trends. So, it may be with some skepticism that people would meet WHIPSTRIKER, a Brazilian band. If someone told you that some of the most brutally honest metalpunk came from Rio, albeit tinged with the elixir of the metal gods, you’d probably tell them the next classic TNBM record would come from rural Ireland. However, living in Rio seems like living out a Discharge lyrics sheet, and Whipstriker mainman VICTOR took time out from his hectic recording schedule to talk about metal and life in Rio’s favelas. Historians can write what they like in their textbooks, but musicians (usually) tell the truth in their songs…                                                                                                                          

How did you get the name Whipstriker exactly? Victor Whipstriker: “I really don’t remember. I … Read More