“Everything’s good, everything’s fine” so sang Ian Gillan in 1971. And everything’s still good if North Carolinian, dark riffing, blue collar, horror novel rockers Demon Eye are anything to go by. Taking their name from that Deep Purple song, Paul Walz (bass), Bill Eagen (drums), Larry Burlison (guitars) and Erik Sugg (guitars, vocals) play laid-back, bluesy hard rock with more than a nod to their forebears, putting them alongside Orchid and Danava in today’s contemporary scene.

“I was playing with a high energy, MC5 inspired band called the Dragstrip Syndicate. After that I played with some similar styled bands, always tending to borrow from ‘60s Detroit rock or heavy psych groups like Blue Cheer,” explains Erik of how Demon Eye came to be. “When I first met Larry and Bill they were playing with Richard Bacchus from the old New York City rock band, D-generation. Demon Eye was born after the four of us got together to play in a ‘70s rock cover band called Corvette Summer. After about a year of playing tunes by groups like Budgie, UFO and Humble Pie we started writing our own music.

“There are many things that attract me to this music,” he continues of why … Read More

With albums from Atlantean Kodex, Argus and Age Of Taurus riding high in our albums of the year lists, and of course the final ever album from the true masters, Cathedral, it seems that traditional doom, steeped in the roots of heavy metal, is, once again, genre du jour, and now Esslingen’s Mountain Throne are joining the ranks with their debut album ‘Stormcoven’ on Cyclone Empire. Forming in 2009 guitarist A tells Iron Fist that he, “always wanted to have a band playing this ancient kind of metal” and had been writing songs in that vein for years. Drummer J joins A in the doom band Mirror Of Deception, while cracking singer F and bassist S are in the power metal band From Beyond, so the cachet is hot for this German four-piece. When asked what attracted them to the traditional doom genre, A says firmly, “It’s the choice of champions really, isn´t it? There is a sense of a tradition… knowing where things came from and how they developed. Real heavy metal and classic hard and heavy rock are incredibly soulful. In real metal you definitely have that spirit. For me, this magic is epitomised in the songs of … Read More

“Keep it simple, keep it old-school” is a pretty simple mantra, but Mausoleum Gate founder and guitarist Count LeFay makes sure his band lives by it. Sure you’ve heard that one a thousand times, but these Finnish worshippers of all things old school and heavy as hell really do mean it. Speaking to Count LeFay, he explains that their sound and approach to music harks back to years gone by; “We bring in quite a different approach to metal. For example, songs on our new 7” ‘Obsessed By Metal’ are pretty much driven by guitars instead of drums and bass. The rhythm section is floating on it, that’s quite uncommon in metal these days. Of course back in the ’70s it was different.” With that 7” out earlier this year with two brand new tracks, what can you expect to come thundering from the speakers? “Old school metal has lot to give and for me it has been a great part of my life”, says LeFay, but this is no straight-laced, by-the-book affair; “Sabbath, Deep Purple and Zeppelin are great influence for me and all the NWOBHM stuff of course. Then there is Mercyful Fate. We have a lot of different … Read More