Evolving with every release, ELECTRIC WIZARD have created another mind-scrambling epic in the guise of ninth opus ‘Wizard Bloody Wizard’. JIM MARTIN talks to frontman JUS OBORN about its creation, celebrating the roots of heavy metal, taking control of his musical destiny and the quest for the ultimate rock ‘n‘ roll excess for Iron Fist issue 20 January 16th, 2018 marks the fiftieth anniversary of Blue Cheer’s ‘Vincebus Eruptum’, arguably the first bona fide heavy metal album of ‘em all. Moreover, somewhere in the subconscious of every metalhead – amidst the destroyed braincells and reckless pandemonium they’ve experienced in the last half-century, lurks a certain sense of this genre’s own big bang – that period from 1968 to 1973 wherein the ‘60s bled into the ‘70s, the idealistic dreams of the hippy generation began to curdle amidst violence and bloodshed from Vietnam, Altamont and the Manson family alike, and horror both real-life and imagined began to influence a feverish lurch into overdrive and dementia – reaching its apotheosis naturally with the first Black Sabbath album in 1970, amidst psychic shockwaves which still resonate well into the next century. “I don’t think there was very much of a template for what heavy music … Read More

With Desertfest London coming up soon we thought we would dredge the archives for some interviews to get you in the mood. Back in Iron Fist #16 SATAN’S SATYRS mastermind CLAYTON BURGESS talked with J. BENNETT about Satanic lesbian films, life as Electric Wizard’s bass player and reluctantly entering the 21st Century

Clayton Burgess doesn’t have a smartphone. The Satan’s Satyrs vocalist, bassist and all-around mastermind explains this while apologising for being all of five minutes late for Iron Fist’s call. “I’m holding out for as long as I can,” he says with a laugh. “The funny thing is, I just got my first iPod in my life yesterday, so I’m still coming to grips with that.”

Anyone who’s heard the Satyrs’ howling retro fuzz rock or seen photos of Burgess stalking the graveyards of his Virginia hometown in black flares and battle vest might not be surprised to learn that our man prefers the pre-cell phone, pre-Internet, pre-mp3 good ol’ days, when land lines, the local library and physical formats were the natural world order. “I do buy a lot of CDs – as well as vinyl, of course – but I got tired of bringing them everywhere I went because I’m … Read More

In a statement echoing Iron Fist’s own sadness and anger toward horrific orders passed by the USA’s newest president in his first week of office, online streaming community Bandcamp have announced that all proceeds from music sold on Friday, February 3 will be donated to the American Civil Liberties Union, who are “working tirelessly to combat these discriminatory and unconstitutional actions”.

Bandcamp founder Ethan Diamond’s letter called out President Trump for his actions, writing, “Last week’s Executive Order barring immigrants and refugees from seven Middle Eastern countries from entering the United States is not simply immoral, it violates the very spirit and foundation of America.”

With its tagline of “Discover new music and the artists who make it”, Bandcamp has become Iron Fist’s go-to source for so many of the bands you read about in our pages, so if you want to support them this Friday (and we urge you do) here a few bands we recommend.

THE ORDER OF THE SOLAR TEMPLE (CANADA) Soundtracking a new era of Satanic Panic, Matt Emery told us in Iron Fist #16 that “All I can say is that I wear my influences on my sleeve. It’s both a blessing and a curse, there’s a lot of ‘70s … Read More

Two decades of doom dealing could easily take its toll on lesser bands, but Dorset’s ELECTRIC WIZARD have taken all that misanthropy, occult leanings and horror fanaticism and weaved it into an eighth album of dreary, but omnipotent intent. Back in 2014 line-up and label woes, paranoia and over-indulgence were been thrown into the cauldron and the result, ‘TIME TO DIE’ made the band never sound more alive. Jim Martin spoke to JUS ORBORN for Iron Fist back in Issue 12 and we’ve dug it out of the archives in time for their headline slot at tomorrow’s DAMNATION FESTIVAL in Leeds…

The tranquil sound of a mountain stream drifting through a forest. Not something one would naturally associate with Electric Wizard, but this is how their new album, the intimidating ‘Time To Die’ kicks off, and in such a fashion that one could be forgiven for assuming they’ve purchased the wrong record. That is, until the distinct strains of a Hammer-style Hammond, ’60s garage drumming, and sampled news reports concerning Satanism drift into view through the ether, and the rural paradise proves short-lived. “On one level it reminds people that we’re from Dorset, just to get people back to our frame of mind … Read More

Back in Iron Fist #11 (Summer 2014) Paul Schwarz met with Bong’s Mike Vest to find out about the beast that was 11 Paranoias. Now back with their latest report from the frontiers of heavy psychedelic rock, the trio of Adam Richardson (Ramesses), Mike Vest (Bong) and Nathan Perrier (Satan’s Wrath) have once more aroused gargantuan riffs from ancient slumber, mustered intangible streams of irradiated noise, and arranged them to form an impressive, overdriven creation that shall see the light of day on October 28 via Ritual Productions. In the run-up to the release of their fourth release ‘Reliquary For A Dreamed Of World’, and with the honour of unveiling a brand new video, we present that interview once again in full.

“When you’re in a band with such inspirational people, you don’t need to tanalyse things too much. Adam and I are always discussing dimensional possibilities, surrealist ideas, music and artwork; out-there concepts and nightmare situations of drug induced states. Our mindset is always strung out beyond the rim.”

Originally a side-project which saw Ramesses bandmates Adam Richardson and Mark Greening team up with guitarist Mike Vest (best known for his work with the droning Bong), 11paranoias have been in flux for two years, have, to date, played five gigs … Read More

Using an asylum as their rehearsal and recording space, and citing influences such as horror movies and Black Sabbath, you can almost imagine what Salem’s Pot are going to sound like before you even hit play. However, there is a rough charm to these Swedes that urges listeners not to dismiss them as just another trend-hopping ’70s garage rock rip-off just yet.

“It all started with just two of us watching old horror movies and listening to ’60 and ’70s music all day and night. We figured that we had to do something creative together since there wasn’t much more to do in a small, doomed town where no one wants to know you”, they explain when elaborating on how it all began. “There was only one of us who could play an instrument [that would be Knate on guitar!] and the other took care of the visuals and artwork. Along the way we stumbled over two freaks that could play bass and drums [that would be Direktörn and Peter] and then we recorded a demo [‘Sweeden’] at the asylum where we rehearse. Eventually the other one picked up an organ and some synthesizers and learned how to use them.”

A lack of … Read More

Initially a part of the Crusher Records (Spiders, Dead Man, Troubled Horse) roster, Horisont were originally perceived as another of those retro-rockers from Sweden, seemingly happy to surf on the nostalgia wave and have an excuse to wear bell-bottomed jeans. Except that there’s always been something a tad weirder and out-there with them and not just due to their occasional Swedish lyrics. Still, many will be surprised by their fourth full-length ‘Odyssey’, a 65-minute tour-de-force that sees them coming out of their shell and heading for the stars with space rock and classic prog influences abound and a solid dose of vintage synthesizers. Blasphemy? No, a simple and very human longing for evolution says their frontman Axel Söderberg.

Two years ago when you promoted your third full-length ‘Time Warriors’, you made no secret that it was style-wise very close to its predecessor and your Rise Above debut, ‘Second Assault’. Yet ‘Odyssey’ doesn’t follows the same pattern does it? “Indeed as the previous two full-lengths were kind of made in a rush. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great as they are but after ‘Time Warriors’ we knew right away that we would need more time for the next one so we could do the … 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

“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

Virginia biker doom punks SATAN’S SATYRS have been one of the standout bands of 2013, espousing the same traditional values and old school spirit as Iron Fist. So, it was no surprise that our boss Will Palmer signed them up for his new label BAD OMEN. With a new album ready to go in early 2014, DAVE SHERWOOD talked to CLAYTHANAS about the creation of a new breed of wild beast

Some of you are probably thinking “Satan’s Satyrs? What? Who?” And rightly so. Well, continue reading and you’ll know more about them than those already in the know. With their second studio album soon to be unleashed by Bad Omen records in early 2014, Satan’s Satyrs are still an unknown force within the heavy metal community. However they go beyond heavy metal, beyond doom, beyond punk. All the elements that in fact create their monster sound. The bringer of evil, Claythanas (or Clayton to his friends), describes the band as “almost like a spectacle.” And this is not far from the reality of things. Fixated on the heavy side of ‘60s and ‘70s rock music and the darker side of NWOBHM, Satan’s Satyrs bring to the table a prestigious element … Read More