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

It starts with a catchy riff that immediately brings to mind the opening section from ‘Hells Bells’. ‘Full Pull’ salutes those about to rock and before you know it ‘All Fired Up’ has you just that; fired up for the Växjö, Sweden quintet who are most definitely on their highway to hell.

To be fair, Bullet were heading to the top (every pun intended) back in 2004 when Hell Hofer (the evolutionary link between Bon Scott and Brian Johnson), Gustav Hjortsjö (drums) plus guitarists Hampus Klang and Erik Almström released their debut album. Their first album made the top 40 in the Swedish charts, saw them open for their Aussie idols and it’s been rumoured that the five Swedes (who at the time included bass player Lenny Blade) inspired a similarly-minded group of DC fanatics down under who formed a band called Airbourne.

But while Airbourne have been touring the world and touted by the likes of Lady Gaga as the greatest band out of Australia since Young, Young and co, Bullet have been quietly chugging along on the rock ‘n’ roll train. When Blade upped sticks and moved to Thailand, gun for hire Adam Hector was called in to man the … Read More