Although this horde of black metal brothers have existed as a unit for 13 years, OCCVLTA have two short recordings to their name, the 2010 ‘We Command The Wolves’ demo and a 2012 split 7” with the UK snarlers Salute. Having existed mostly as a live unit, with legendarily primal, in-your-face appearances at Live Evil, Muskelrock and Metal Magic, the time has finally come for Occvlta’s first full-length to surface from the depths of the German underground. Iron Fist have been given an exclusive stream of ‘Merciless Hammer’ so we caught up with vocalist Hord to find out more about the song and upcoming album ‘Night Without End’…

“‘Merciless Hammer’ was our first attempt at writing a d-beat song. Most of the album comes in at a much slower pace. None of us were ever into d-beat punk bands but we are all big Motörhead fans, so when Torm [drums, brother of Hord] came up with the main riff we decided to write a whole song in that punk style. It just felt right. It gave some sort of primal satisfaction. I had the title in my head for a while and wanted it to be primitive and brutal. Occvlta is evil … Read More

Twin innovators who forged metal in their own wayward images with nary a thought for either compromise or common sense, BUDGIE and DIAMOND HEAD were enormous influences on the early days of Metallica, with Dave Mustaine even claiming that it was his love of the former that sealed the deal when it came to his gig with the Four Horsemen. Yet, as Diamond Head’s Brian Tatler confirms, they both might have been forgotten had it been for the aforementioned San Fran saviours. Never fear; interviews with both Tatler – who takes us back to the making of the debut ‘Lightning To The Nations’ – and Budgie frontman Burke Shelley in our second anniversary issue mark the perfect reminder of a maverick spirit that embodies why we started Iron Fist in the first place.

Acrimoniously ejected from Metallica in 1983, it didn’t take long for guitarist Dave Mustaine to saddle up and form MEGADETH with a glint of revenge in his eye. By May 1985 he had delivered the ultimate comeback in the form of ‘Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good’, with more spite, more speed and more “state of the art heavy metal”than the majority of that era’s rivetheads could believe. With the album reissued this month, Jim Martin talks to Dave Mustaine, Dave Ellefson and man-on-the-scene Brian … Read More

“I met Bill through mutual friends getting wasted at various metal fests in 2010 and we resolved to be mates and start a band.” As the current Internet meme goes, no good story starts with “we had a salad” and in the tale of Amulet, London’s enfant terribles of heavy metal worship, it begins with some serious drinking. Heathen Steven, along with bassist Bill Dozer, Dave Sherwood On Drums, Jamie Elton and Daragh Markham have just nailed their first 7” on Mordgrimm and have already flown to Oslo to ply their British Steel to the Northmen. “It was very easy from the start and very easy it remains. Good wholesome heavy metal is the name of the game,” Heathen continues. “ Bill Dozer is the cool guy and the beating heart of the band. He came up with names and song titles and he does all our artwork and comes up with a lot of the key riffs,” he admits. “Jamie runs Amulet, writes the lyrics and comes up with lot of additional riffs and ideas. Unusually for a singer he is completely unflappable in any situation. Dave is our mascot and provides the ultimate heavy metal opinion whenever needed. … Read More