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

Did you listen to the radio every Friday Night? So sang Saxon on ‘Denim & Leather’ and it’s without a doubt that the Friday Rock Show and the voice of Tommy Vance is at the centre of the very foundation Iron Fist Magazine is based upon. On the anniversary of his death in 2005, it is fitting that Vintage TV are planning on bringing back the Friday Rock Show with Nicky Horne. Guy Strachan spoke to FRS producer Tony Wilson about this slice of heavy metal history

“The Friday Rock Show was the only education I needed” Shane Embury, Napalm Death

“I knew Tommy from our first album. He helped our career more than people realise. I’ve got many memories of him. He came to see us several times both in the studio and live and was always supportive. The Friday Rock Show was the MTV of the UK – if you were on the show – you’d made it.” Biff Byford, Saxon

It’s been a tough time for the BBC of late, what with scandals, debates about its licence-funded future and costly moves up and down the country, such stories often overshadow just how much of an influence the organisation’s output has had … Read More

We take the rough with the smooth here at Iron Fist – you cannot have one without the other. And with every celebration there is an element of tragedy, or for the optimists there is a cause for celebration in every moment of sadness. We started Issue 5 of Iron Fist in a celebratory mood – one of metal’s most important albums – ‘Holy Diver – was about to turn 30, but in talking to lead guitarist Vivian Campbell we learned how miserable the making of that landmark record made him, spilling the beans of the well-documented fall-out between him and Ronnie James Dio.

We also wanted to celebrate the life and music of one of metal’s most important guitarists, Jeff Hanneman – Reign In Peace!

But most of all we wanted to celebrate tenacity and perseverance, a thread running through interviews with Hungary’s underground cult thrashers, Tormentor and underrated NWOBHM heroes, Pagan Altar, Satan and Virtue. While Tormentor, Pagan Altar and Virtue were noticed long after they’d called it quits, Satan journeyed through the hard times through many guises before reforming under their original name and making one of the albums of their career.

In this issue we also speak to lifelong … Read More