“The funny thing is that I’m not even a doom fan at heart! I’ve been playing in bands since 1987 in many different sub-genres but somehow the only ones who really had an impact were in the doom category. But believe me, Satan’s Wrath is a whole different beast!” Indeed, less than a minute into debut album ‘Galloping Blasphemy’, ‘Show No Mercy’ era Slayer, Bathory and early Celtic Frost spring to mind more than Black Sabbath’s heavy stampede and samples of rainfall and thunder in the distance. But such expectations are understandable, because besides having impressive facial tattoos, it’s with bands falling into that doom category – first, with the short-lived but awesome Great Coven and Eight Hands Of Kali and then with Electric Wizard – that the Greek-born Taz Danazoglou really made a name for himself.

Despite being spawned right after his exit from the Wiz, Satan’s Wrath is not just a way for him to reconnect with his roots though. “I’ve been playing in bands for a quarter of a century so I didn’t even considered stopping now,” Taz says. “I was always first and foremost a heavy and thrash fan so I wanted to pay tribute to the metal from … Read More

It may be a common thing in jazz or blues circles but there’s no precedent for it in heavy metal. We’re talking about a 56 year old musician putting out his debut LP, more than four decades after he first picked up an instrument. Bedemon, which initially started as a Pentagram offshoot in 1973, finally release their first proper album ‘Symphony Of Shadows’ this year and it means much, much more to drummer Geof O’Keefe than simply making his childhood dreams come true. It’s the culmination of ten years of hard work and grief, his way of staying true to a promise he made to a dear friend whose only passions in life were horror movies and playing guitar. Alas, Bedemon’s founder and one-time Pentagram guitarist Randy Palmer died in tragic car accident on August 8, 2002, four months after he, Geof and bass player Mike Matthews recorded the basic tracks of what would become, a decade later, ‘Symphony of Shadows’. Iron Fist talked to Geof about the sadness and the story behind one of metal’s forgotten bands.

Last time we spoke, it was in 2002, to promote Pentagram’s ‘First Daze Here’ compilation. Back then, you revealed that Pentagram’s alter-ego Bedemon … Read More

What, wait, no Jessica? When news of a second Sabbath Assembly album dropped earlier this year you could count the minutes between the moment their fans were psyched and the disappointment when finding out that their vocalist was no where to be heard (or seen). The hot-blooded males among us lamented the therefore lack of further photos of her cavorting in a lake, while the more musical of us cried foul at the omission of her lush vocal divinity. After all, would we, the heavy metal community, have cared for an album of hymns from a long-dead religious cult if it were not for the doomy presence of Jex Thoth’s elfin princess? Maybe not, but we’re glad she got us hooked. 2012’s ‘Restored To One’ may have not been metal, per se, but we were transfixed. Now the cult are back with a new album in ‘Ye Are Gods’ and a new line-up including Throbbing Gristle pioneer Genesis P-orridge, Hammers Of Misfortune and Wolves In The Throne Room collaborator Jamie Myers, “death folk” guitarist Imaad Wasif and Sunn O’s violinist Eyvind Kang. You can’t argue with a line-up like that, chalk us up for another dose of Processian theory please…

For … Read More

It’s time to delve into the mystic realm of the apocalypse, otherwise known as Hellwell’s debut album ‘Beyond The Boundaries Of Sin’. Simplistically catchy yet technically excellent, Manilla Road’s Mark ‘The Shark’ Shelton has created something heavier, more experimental and evil than any other album he has released during his long career. Although Hellwell has traits of the Road, the layered, pulsating keyboards and diverse chord progressions add to the records originality and mystique. The lyrical themes of terror, serial killers and world destruction mix with a classic evil production to invoke a horribly atmospheric masterpiece.

Joining Mr Shelton is old school friend and Manilla Road partner, EC Hellwell (guess where the name is from) on keyboards and bass, ex-Manilla Road member Mark Anderson (also on some bass tracks), Dead Orchestra Fame guitarist Miles Paeday and Johnny ‘Thumper’ Benson on drums. We’re talking super metal; brilliant metal; powerful metal; riff bending insanity and the calling of Valhalla.

“I have most of the Heavy Load LP’s in my collection,” states Mark on his influences. That’s all well and good for any fan of Northern Warriors fighting Polar Bears in the mountains, but here we’re talking about Manilla Road’s evil twin; Hellwell. Mark has already … Read More