Craven Idol return with a crash of thunder after almost four years of deadly silence. Not only do the London Black metallers have a killer new release, ‘Shackles Of Mammon’ (Via Dark Descent on April 14), they will also open for Nifelheim at the Underworld on May 26. All this with a brand new line-up, as guitarist Scourger and drummer Volgard, have been replaced by Obscenitor (also of Crom Dubh) and Heretic Blades.

“We entered Greg Chandler’s Priory Studios last year and emerged a week later with around 40 minutes of old school extreme metal swearing by the legacy of the first god.” That’s how frontman Wrath starts his epic story about their latest album, which the band launch with a gig at The Black Heart, Camden, this Saturday April 8.

“Our new album ‘The Shackles Of Mammon’ is more varied and way more aggressive than its predecessor ‘Towards Eschaton’,” he continues. “It is a ‘complete’ album with significantly better song-writing and a rawer, old school production. Greg Chandler, from Esoteric, is a brilliant producer and we spoke to him at length during the run-up to the session, and we had a clear vision for the sound. I had in mind the first wave … Read More

You may not know the name but you know the faces in Necrocurse. If you’ve paid any attention to what happened to the Swedish death metal scene post-‘Storm At The Light’s Bane’ there is a fair chance you have at least one album featuring the multi-talents of one Nicklas ‘Terror’ Rudolfsson. A man of many facets, while his first weapon of choice is the drums, he also plays guitar and bass and is handy with a microphone. And while his first big break came after joining Dissection wannabes Sacramentum, in time to record their classic debut ‘Far Away From The Sun’ at Dan Swanö’s Unisound studio in July ‘95, the second half of the ’90s saw him going into hyperdrive as between 1995 and 2000 he took part in no less than 12 full-lengths and various EPs under four different banners. But fast-forward a few years and his source of inspiration seemed to show traces of exhaustion. Nicklas had become focused on his main project Runemagick, a mostly studio outlet for him and his bass playing wife Emma. Ultimately, in 2008 after an impressive outcome of no less than 11 full-lengths, a laconic message on the band’s webpage simply stated … Read More