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

We have plenty to thank ROSS ‘THE BOSS’ FRIEDMAN for. In 1973 he formed the metalpunk pioneers THE DICTATORS, in 1980 his band SHAKIN’ STREET were opening for Black Sabbath when Dio introduced him to a bass player looking to start a new band. That opportune meeting paved the way for the one and only MANOWAR but our hero did not stop there. Still killing with power, this time with DEATH DEALER, YIANNIS STEFANIS charts the history of this true King Of Metal

Your first high-profile band, The Dictators, is considered by many to be the ultimate proto-punk band, among the main instigators of the legendary CBGB’s scene. Quite an accolade – what is your take on this?  “You know, that is a good question. I would say that The Dictators are… punk, like the Ramones were not like the safety-pins and torn-jeans Malcolm McLaren type of punk. We, in the United States and especially in New York, were more street punk. We were kids that were growing up in The Bronx and Queens but the same could be said about kids growing up in England, where the economy at the time was bad. For us things were less style-orientated and more … Read More