When we came up with the idea of doing a Mix Tape idea for the Iron Fist website there were three people we knew we needed to ask. Jason Decay and Ian Chains from Cauldron were a given, at least one of them were bound to put Bleak House on there, and the other was Ryan Waste. Now the latter has a brand new album out for his snotty speed metal punks BAT, we knew the time was right to hit him up. Ryan has spent the summer driving a taxi (seriously, read the latest Livin’ Fast column in Iron Fist #17) and on the tarmac in Europe with his thrash comrades Municipal Waste so we know his ear is gonna be trained to the right songs for the right road so we asked him to gather together some of the songs that inspired BAT’s latest album, ‘Wings Of Chains‘. It was through MW that we first met Ryan and got to know just how vast, and how perfect for the party, his music taste is. Buckle up and hit play!

SIDE A:

SLANDER ‘Lonely Nights’ Let’s set the mood here. I feed off the sound of desperation in music, so what better way to … Read More

KING DIAMOND + ANGEL WITCH THE FORUM, LONDON JUNE 2016

It’s been a long time since since King Diamond played a theatre show in London. The last time was a sweltering night in June 2006, yet almost a decade to the day he’s back and this time he’s not some cult, underground curiosity. Years of touring the big international festivals and a surging interest in traditional heavy metal has meant the corpse-painted, baby-wielding, ghost-believing raconteur has become a Danish cultural icon on a par with moody gothic crime dramas, bacon baps and controversial doodles of religious prophets.

The King, as he’s affectionately known in Iron Fist circles, does not elicit the kind of fair-weather fan merely intrigued by his kitsch theatrics and soaring voice, they are devotees and tonight, The Forum, a grand proscenium arched arena worthy of the Mercyful Fate mainman, has gathered the familiar and the frenzied into its halls. What is so great about intimate theatre shows is that while festivals are 30,000 strong, the few – in comparison – that are here tonight are the dedicated ones and you can feel the energy brewing in the queue snaking around the venue.

In the run up to the concert the rumours of … Read More

BLITZKRIEG LIVE AT THE PENNY GILL, SPENNYMOOR JUNE 18 2016

It’s not very often you see a legendary NWOBHM band play in the back room of a small pub, in a small town, in North East England. Especially one that had such a notable and huge influence on the likes of Metallica, undeniably one of the biggest metal bands ever and even covered and recorded a cover of their self-titled classic anthem on their ‘Creeping Death’ EP way back in the early ’80s, playing it live well into the touring cycle for ‘Master Of Puppets’.

Along with bands such as Angel Witch, Diamond Head, Raven and Venom, Blitzkrieg were at the forefront of the early ’80s burgeoning heavy metal movement and have been recording albums, playing live and touring ever since. This was the second time the band played The Penny Gill, a small lively rock/biker pub in Spennymoor a small ex-mining community in County Durham. This was a no airs, no graces affair, as close and personal as you can get; no stage, barriers or security separating the band from the fans.

There was no support band either, this was merely an intimate warm-up show for the Garage Days Revisited festival in London … Read More

Gothenburg-based heavy metal maniacs Night Viper are the one of the latest heavy metal exports to come out of Sweden and have released a debut album that is an energetic affair. The up-tempo ’80s heavy metal of early Maiden and Priest collides with the galloping speed metal of ‘Kill ‘Em All’-era Metallica and a duelling twin guitar attack that features the ever-productive Tom Sutton (The Order Of Israfel, Horisont, ex-Church Of Misery). We caught up with Tom to find out more about this exciting new band.

When did the idea for Night Viper first come about? “I have often wished that Metallica and Slayer could have held off from maturing for just one album more each. I love their second albums and what came later too, but I love the freshness of that almost rock ‘n’ roll style of thrash metal that they both had in the beginning. I’d often thought I’d like to do something with that kind of vibe, although I doubted I’d ever get around to it. At one point I was going to ask Sven, the drummer from Antichrist, to just do a single with me so I could get it out of my system. I couldn’t be … Read More

New wave of British heavy metal legends Diamond Head have announced their first album of new material in eight years to be released on Dissonance Productions, a label founded earlier this year by PlasticHead Distribution’s Steve Beatty and former Motörhead manager Tom Doherty.

In 2014 Diamond Head invited London based, Danish-born Ras Bom Andersen to join the band, which saw the group head out on a European tour that included appearances at Hard Rock Hell and Head Bangers Open Air in Germany. This spark of creativity led the band to start working on the new album in January 2015. Brian Tatler, founder of Diamond Head, said: “When we began talking with Ras about making a new record he said we should write the songs as a band just like Diamond Head did at the beginning of our career. There’s no substitute for writing together in the same room, we spark each other off and create something far bigger than we could have done individually.”

Brian continued, “Ras has certainly renewed the energy within the band. I had no interest in doing another record but after working with Ras on the European tour that all suddenly changed. I wanted to make a record … Read More

A celebration of all things NWOBHM, BroFest has been one of the significant heavy metal success stories of the last few years. Started back in 2013, initially as a one-off, its overwhelming popularity has seen it return each and every year since. Staged in the well-appointed students’ union building of Northumbria University in Newcastle, it’s a fanatically purist pilgrimage taking place in one of the historical engine rooms of British heavy metal.

Although Malc MacMillan’s go-to bible The NWOBHM Encyclopedia includes entries for over 500 bands, most of them split up half a lifetime ago, many of their members either resolutely retired or long since graduated to the great gig in the sky. The inaugural BroFest, however, clearly demonstrated that there were enough NWOBHM acts still plugging away in pubs and clubs to populate a modest festival bill in a similarly modest venue. And so it was that BroFest #1 brought together the likes of Holocaust, Avenger, Spartan Warrior, Black Rose, Tysondog and many more for a joyous weekend of neck-snapping nostalgia. From the get-go, the organizers also showed an uncanny knack for persuading long-defunct bands to reform specially for the event, some of whom have since stayed reformed and even … Read More

Did you listen to the radio every Friday Night? So sang Saxon on ‘Denim & Leather’ and it’s without a doubt that the Friday Rock Show and the voice of Tommy Vance is at the centre of the very foundation Iron Fist Magazine is based upon. On the anniversary of his death in 2005, it is fitting that Vintage TV are planning on bringing back the Friday Rock Show with Nicky Horne. Guy Strachan spoke to FRS producer Tony Wilson about this slice of heavy metal history

“The Friday Rock Show was the only education I needed” Shane Embury, Napalm Death

“I knew Tommy from our first album. He helped our career more than people realise. I’ve got many memories of him. He came to see us several times both in the studio and live and was always supportive. The Friday Rock Show was the MTV of the UK – if you were on the show – you’d made it.” Biff Byford, Saxon

It’s been a tough time for the BBC of late, what with scandals, debates about its licence-funded future and costly moves up and down the country, such stories often overshadow just how much of an influence the organisation’s output has had … Read More

IRON MAIDEN FORT LAUDERDALE BB&T CENTER Sometimes it’s easy to forget that the members of Iron Maiden are in their late 50s-early 60s. However, compared to the majority of their contemporaries, the band still has plenty of energy, which is especially evident here, on the first show of their massive The Book Of Souls World tour. The band get the audience pumped up by playing AC/DC’s ‘Powerage’ over the PA, but when the ‘Strangers In The Night’ cut of ‘Doctor Doctor’ starts up fans know exactly what’s coming. A new CGI animation that sees Ed Force One marooned in a Mayan desert, only to be rescued by the hand of Eddie, is followed by the opening strains of ‘If Eternity Should Fail’. The excitement gets the blood boiling; you might recall how ‘Satellite 15’ had the same vibe when the ‘Final Frontier’ tour begun. From the moment the band comes on stage they command it. Each of the guitarists nail their parts, and share that famous chemistry with each other, and the rhythm section is still heavy metal’s finest. Steve Harris’ gallops rarely steal from the shredding, but he always holds his place, as Nicko hammers every beat down perfectly. Bruce Dickinson is undoubtably the night’s VIP. He allows a quick joke with … Read More

Ultimate heavy metal tribute act, The Iron Maidens have been forced to change venue for their debut London show on April 14 to the 02 Islington Academy as the Shepherds Bush Empire remains closed for further roof works, it has been reported.

Following the closure of O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in December 2015 and further inspections, structural engineers have advised that works to the roof structure will extend into April 2016. All shows will be moved to other venues in London or rescheduled as necessary.

The world’s only all-female Iron Maiden tribute band The Iron Maidens will now play their one-off London show at the O2 Islington Academy on April 14. Tickets for the Shepherd’s Bush Empire show are valid for the new venue

Singer Kirsten Chickinson said: ‘For years people have been asking when we’re coming to the UK so it feels almost surreal that it’s finally happening. To play London – the city where Iron Maiden actually began in 1975 – is thrilling and also daunting; I expect the ‘home’ fans to be the most discerning but we are definitely up for the challenge! To see where it all began, this is hallowed ground.”

Formed in 2001 in Southern California, the Iron Maidens … Read More

With their recent self-titled album hitting the shops earlier this year, the British rock legends Def Leppard are enjoying an “indian summer” according to guitarist, Phil Collen.

The band who formed in 1977, right at the beginning of the burgeoning post-punk/new wave of British heavy metal movement, are currently on tour around the UK and headline Wembley Arena in London with Whitesnake and Black Star Riders this Friday.

Iron Fist spoke to Hackney-born guitarist Phil, who joined the band in 1982, about their “unnecessary” new album, sounding like Michael Jackson and how music needs a much needed boot in the backside if it’s going to produce future arena-filling headline acts.

Before ‘Def Leppard’, the album, was released singer Joe Elliot said that “It doesn’t sound like any one specific era of Def Leppard. It’s got everything. You’ll listen and go ‘Oh that sounds like Led Zeppelin or Queen’, and he’s right, this is a massively diverse album and sounds like you had so much fun making it. What expectations did you have going in to do this new record?

“You don’t really have to make albums anymore, not in this day and age. They don’t really serve a purpose. A … Read More