In 1984, as the nascent thrash scene was bursting out of its Bay Area base, north of the border a young guitar virtuoso by the name of JEFF WATERS was discovering heavy metal via KISS, Sweet and… disco. Two years later he would record a demo called ‘Phantasmagoria’ that would launch his band from Vancouver bedroom to Roadrunner Record’s world stage. But Jeff himself would pass the microphone to Randy Rampage and from thereon seven vocalists would shuffle through the ranks. Thirty years later Waters has not only returned to the mic but right back to that life-changing demo for inspiration. It’s been a career of highs and lows but could ‘SUICIDE SOCIETY’ see ANNIHILATOR back on top?

“I have chosen you my friend, you’re mine Locked inside this frightening dream Nowhere to hide Every night my demons you will see An apparition festival, through hell you’ll ride”  ‘Phantasmagoria’ 1986 demo

…On how disco rocked his world “When I was a teenager, even before that, ten-years-old, it was disco and that’s my earliest memory of music. Then out of that there was ‘I Was Made For Loving You’ by KISS and this Rod Stewart song ‘Do You Think I’m Sexy’. I remember these two bands from when I … Read More

As the celebrated Geordie folk song ‘The Lambton Worm’ kicks off; “Whisht! lads, haad yor gobs, I’ll tell ye aal an aaful story”.

Or for those of us who don’t speak Geordie, the awful story we’re asking you to hold your mouths for concerns an early-‘80s period in which the North-East was an epicentre for a shockwave of pulse-racing Heavy Metal whose influence can still be felt in extremis some thirty-five years on. Whereas The Lambton Worm was a mythical beast that rose to terrorise the North-East, a certain strain of terror was spawned in just such territory by three Tyne & Wear lads ripping apart the metal rulebook in search of shocks, horror and glory galore. This band, of course, was VENOM, and in this issue Iron Fist talk to Cronos on a four-decade mission of life as a blasphemous iconoclast and full-throttle Black Metal bezerker.

What’s more, we travel back in time to the dawn of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal to chart the roots of NEAT RECORDS, harking back to an era in which the upstairs of a bingo hall in Wallsend was the launchpad for a strain of supercharged audial aggro that would inspire a generation. … Read More

It was so good to have KING DIAMOND back on British soil this weekend… and it’s good to have the King on the cover of Iron Fist issue 6. When we started this magazine a year ago (yep, we can’t believe it either!) it was always our dream interview and with the 30th anniversary of ‘Melissa’ coming up (we can’t believe that either!) Damien spoke to the man himself about his whole career, from Brainstorm to Bloodstock… he even hinted at a possible Fate reunion… we live in hope!

Putting issue 6 together was carnage, we must admit. It’s festival season, which means that most of our team were lying face down in a field somewhere in Europe rather than tethered to our keyboards, but we managed it – despite insane hangovers from Muskelrock, Metallsvenskan, Bang Your Head or Hell’s Pleasure.

In this issue we’ve tied down some in-depth exclusive interviews with cult Italian masters DEATH SS, British thrash overlords ONSLAUGHT and death dealers EXHUMED. Olivier ‘Zoltar’ Badin also spoke to both Chritus Linderson and Scott Reagers (who NEVER does interviews) about two SAINT VITUS albums that he believes deserve more attention.

We’ve also got interviews from RAMMING SPEED, CAUCHEMAR, GORGUTS, BESTIAL MOCKERY’S … Read More