From the primitive scars carved out of early material Secrets Of The Moon have flourished and blossomed, never stagnating and always exploring new ground. One thing that was probably never expected though was the German troupe going conceptually in search of the sun. After all their last opus ‘Seven Bells’ was full of obsidian blackness owing not a small amount to the comparable nightmarish visions of Lars Van Trier’s ‘Antichrist’. Rest assured though, there is no case of lazy sunbathing going on here. Founding member sG illuminates us on the origins of the album and explains it comes from a very dark place indeed. “When we finished the ‘Seven Bells’ album/touring cycle our former bass player and close relative [LSK] committed suicide, our long-time drummer Thelemnar left the band and my mother died of cancer only one month before my daughter was born. I experienced the mysteries of farewell, death, life and birth to an extent I haven’t ever done before. That’s why the album was such a relief to write because I was unable to speak for a long period of time. It showed me how much I needed to make music to survive. The actual title ‘SUN’ is taken … Read More

Better by name and better by nature, the occult clergy known as GHOST are back with their new album ‘MELIORA’, but have they left their underground spirit behind on album number three? The NAMELESS GHOUL doesn’t think so, and tells LOUISE BROWN that their rebellion against religion, society and the constraints of the scene that birthed them inspires them even more than ever

When we put Ghost on our cover of issue #4, two years ago, we already talked about them in terms of being “our band”, but “not for long”. The mysterious entity, who began their mission in 2010 with a 7” on the cult underground doom label, Iron Pegasus were quickly signed to Rise Above for their debut, ‘Opus Eponymous’ and the rest, as the cliché goes, is history. Going from strength to strength the band were hailed as a favourite of members of Metallica and Foo Fighters and signed onto Slayer’s management company. They left the underground in their dust, but not its ethos, not its attitude and certainly not its rebellious heart.

With a third album ‘Meliora’ (latin for “better”, an apt name indeed) out this summer, sounding more avant garde tinged AOR than true doom, we met … Read More

So, here we are, issue 7, a whole year survived, and in a certain respect we’re back where we begun. Erik Danielsson of Watain is back on the cover, marking the completion of a circle that begun when he and I first discussed the idea of Iron Fist back in June 2012. When Erik moved back to his hometown of Uppsala earlier this year our awesome photographer Ester Segarra and I were invited to hang out and meet the bands of the Uppsala Metal Of Death circle, including Degial, Reveal and the incredible In Solitude, who just served up an album of the year contender in ‘Sister’. We got a chance to talk to Erik and Pelle and Gottfrid Ahman about creating both the new Watain and In Solitude albums at the same time and how it helped cast in stone two vital slabs of contemporary heavy metal.

Motörhead, the band that gave us our name, are also back within our pages, this time thanks to Paul Schwarz’s fantastic interview with Phil Campbell about their new album ‘Aftershock’. Hell, even Kim pulled off an amazing coup in interviewing Mystifier, something she told me she wanted to do when I asked her … Read More

It’s apt that issue 4 of Iron Fist came out in that twilight zone between the beginning of Spring and Easter, a time of death and rebirth.

Because that’s what this issue feels like. When we came up with the idea for Iron Fist we knew we would give it a shot at three issues, see what the reaction was and who knew? We might not have even made it this far. But you, the readers, have been so supportive and it’s thanks to you that there is an issue 4, and will be an issue 5 and beyond. We owe you. Remember this is as much your zine as ours so get yourself onto our Facebook page and tell us what bands you want to see interviewed in future tomes.

This is also the most personal issue of the mag so far. On January 22, The Devil’s Blood announced they were calling it a day, and as one of my favourite modern bands I was obviously crushed by the news. But after talking to their founder and architect Selim Lemouchi, he offered the opportunity to give Iron Fist the most definitive interview about their split and give us some hope about … Read More

In fair Sweden is where we set our scene. Two cities, both alike in dignity… you know the story. You’re either Stockholm or you’re Gothenburg, and this isn’t an article about football. Sweden may have taken the crown (no Johan Lindstrand related puns please!) when it came to Europe’s burgeoning death metal scene but the line was drawn depending on if you preferred the melodic thrash of Dark Tranquillity and At The Gates (in the red corner… Gothenburg) or the buzzsaw, Sunlight sound creeping out of the darkness in Stockholm thanks to bands like Entombed, Dismember and Treblinka.

But 45 miles north from the Swedish capital lies a previously untapped pool of death metal nihilism. In a university town of 140,000, Uppsala is the religious capital of Sweden so it’s unsurprising that it gave us early progenitors of Swedeath in Sarcasm and black metal bastards Unpure and later Watain. But the spotlight has turned away from the old guards of the major cities and is glaring on this unassuming hub of metal mania. Invidious, Graveless and Degial have put Uppsala on the death metal map and it’s showing the big boys of Stockholm and Gothenburg that the sounds of the suburbs … Read More

HEADBANGERS OPEN AIR BRANDE-HORNERKIRCHEN Arriving on Thursday afternoon to the “the biggest garden party in the world” there is one hour to spare before the first band of the weekend unleashes hell upon us all. Swedish Mercyful Fate fanclub presidents Portrait open proceedings in true old school heavy metal style. They hype up the crowd, get the maniacs to the front and get the beer flowing. Following them are US thrashers Warbringer who bring a different vibe to the stage. Although energetic, powerful and insane, they are perhaps a little aggressive in the lovely daytime sunshine. However, Jaguar nail it. Vocalist Jamie Manton gets into the party spirit by swinging around a broomstick in the air in a slightly booze-fuelled manor, whilst Garry Peppered proves the NWOBHM era is far from forgotten as he riffs through some mighty classics including ‘Run For Your Life’, ‘Warmachine’ and ‘Axe Crazy’. Headlining the night is the incredible Lizzy Borden. Despite prior speculation, the shock-rock glammers are great! Lizzy himself shows one hundred percent showmanship with costume and mask changes, magic and the blood-splattering neck gnawing of an innocent lass during ‘We Only Come Out At Night’. Other hits played during their two-hour set include ‘Red Rum’, ‘Me Against … Read More