Iron Fist Magazine

ACCEPT INTERVIEW: “WE WERE LITERALLY FREEZING OUR BALLS OFF”

With the Germany heavy metal titans coming to London tonight for an incredible show at The Kentish Town Forum with the mighty NWOBHM survivors Hell, we dug up this snippet of an interview from Iron Fist #8 where we celebrated 30 years of being ‘Balls To The Wall’

There’s a moment near the end of the post-apocalyptic video for Accept’s breakthrough hit ‘Balls To The Wall’, right at the moment the song’s climactic bridge kicks in, when suddenly a massive gust of wind whips the hair of the band and rain starts pelting the camera lens. For a song already so thunderous, it’s a perfect moment, so much so that one could be led to believe it was choreographed, but as it happens, it was all just a stroke of luck. Frigid, frigid luck. “It was miserably cold,” says guitarist Wolf Hoffmann, speaking on the phone from his home in Nashville, chuckling about the lengths the German band would go to make an impression on the public. “It was in the fall, might have been November, that time of year when it’s wicked cold. Of course we had to wear all the cool outfits on the stage, the leather pants. And we … Read More

LIVE REVIEW: JUDAS PRIEST IN THEIR HOMETOWN

Any Judas Priest gig is special but when the defenders of the faith announce a show in their native county of the West Midlands, England, you know the air is going to be charged that wee bit more. Tonight, Wolverhampton Civic Hall gets the honour of hosting the Metal Gods, and there’s a lot to live up to with the memory of 2011’s stellar appearance in the same venue still fresh in this scribe’s mind. However, we have to question how long the old gods can realistically rage on, but while they are still here they continue to bring new meaning to Halford’s own words: “You realise you’re getting old and no one seems to care”. The fans are out in force tonight and they are certainly not put off by the fact that Halford and co. are pushing nearly 70 years old. Priest are sharing the road with Michael Schenker’s Temple Of Rock on this tour, and even though the group is made up of Scorpions/UFO alumni they appear at first to serve as a backdrop to chatting and beer-ordering with little interaction or even acknowledgment from the crowd. But as their set rolls on and as the sound improves, … Read More

BLACK TRIP INTERVIEW: “I WANT TO BE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE ROAD TO DARKNESS”

Back in 2012, when working on the very first issue of Iron Fist, we interviewed Peter Stjarnvind about his then new band Black Trip. Now having just released their second full-length ‘Shadowline’ we thought we would re-print the entire article as his passion for his band and for heavy metal has not changed. Vocalist Joseph Tholl is interviewed in the latest issue of the magazine, out on December 7

 

“You can laugh at me but don’t you ever make jokes about heavy metal. It’s my religion.” Peter Stjarnvind is deadly serious. You can hear it in his voice as he spits his manifesto down the crackly phone line. The former Entombed, Krux and Nifelheim drummer has a passion and it’s that word that sums up our 50 minute conversation. And it’s a passion for traditional, true, authentic heavy metal, so much so that it’s lead to new band, Black Trip. Don’t for one second presume that in the wake of the Swedish revivalists (Enforcer, Portrait, In Solitude et al) that our gallant stickmaster decided to jump on a bandwagon. Peter’s been an advocate of heavy metal since the late ’70s, and while his erstwhile Nifelheim bandmates have morphed into the comedic brothers of Maiden fandom, … Read More

Track by Track: Iron Maiden’s ‘The Book Of Souls’

Bruce Dickinson tells This Is Rock that it was Steve Harris who came up with the idea of basing the next Iron Maiden opus on the Mayans but it was Dickinson himself who wrote the opening track ‘If Eternity Should Fail’. In fact, he’d written it for an upcoming solo album, but when Harry heard it he knew he wanted it to open ‘The Book Of Souls’. And it’s so perfect, because if ‘The Book Of Souls’ is Maiden marching upon the Mayan ruins of Mexico, then it’s this opening number that will take them there with its eerie introduction, luring you once more to “Speak with the Shaman again”, travelling down a desert path to the Mexican border, through desolate Texan ghost towns, followed by a supernatural mariachi band. This is Iron Maiden perhaps at their bluesiest, this is their crossroads, this is where they swap their souls for passage to their next great achievement (of which there have already been so many). When the guitars kick in and that infamous galloping rhythm takes control you are immediately entranced by the Shamanistic Eddie of the album’s front cover. Iron Maiden have always been magical, possessing the voodoo to make … Read More

INTO BATTLE: NIGHT DEMON

“I may lose a lot of underground cred and some hipster points here, but I believe in being completely honest.” Jarvis Leatherby isn’t kidding about honesty. Corresponding with us by email from the three-piece’s 60-date headlining tour of the US, Night Demon‘s bassist and vocalist is big enough to admit that they played to 20 people in New Orleans. But fuck credibility: we’re just plain surprised they didn’t take their name from the classic cut ‘Night Of The Demon’.

“We didn’t even know about Demon until after we started this band,” he reveals. “We were Googling our own band name and found their stuff through that. They quickly became one of my new/old favourite bands. Especially the first three albums.”

Turns out that Night Demon just wanted a name that was also a song: ‘Night Demon’, featured on their much-touted debut EP, was the first song they wrote. “We were surprised that nobody had taken the name. It’s difficult to find cool band names that are out there for the taking, so we just ran with it.” Formed in 2011 in Southern California, the band’s debut full-length has just dropped – and ‘Curse Of The Damned’, released by SPV/Steamhammer earlier this year, is a stone-cold … Read More

HELL INTERVIEW: “WE NEVER LOOKED TO BE THIS RETRO BAND”

Formed in 1982, HELL were the ultimate ‘could’ve been’ band, until their biggest fan plucked them from obscurity and put them back where they belonged – on stage and on top of their game. LOUISE BROWN speaks to KEVIN BOWER and ANDY SNEAP about triumphing over the curses and disappointing chapters of their career

 

When we started Iron Fist, the idea behind the ‘Under The Influence’ series was to celebrate the bands that changed the face of extreme music and inspired countless new metal maniacs to pick up a guitar and raise fucking hell; Sodom, Incantation, Raven, Emperor etc. But this issue’s feature is different. Different in that Hell never really made the impact that should have when they first began in 1982. Misfortune and mis-timing resigned the Midlands-based four-piece to the depths of obscurity and despite being groundbreaking and pioneering for their time were stuck between that NWOBHM heyday and the mid to late ‘80s when heavy metal really started to get exciting. By 1987 the band had imploded and they watched as newer bands did what they had been doing for years in terms of theatrics and musical experimentation.

However, while their name vanished from the heavy metal hallowed halls, bar … Read More

INTO BATTLE: ELIMINATOR

“Don’t be worried, new material is on the way.” Phew! That’s in response to our constant harassing of Jack MacMichael, lead guitarist with Lancaster bombers, Eliminator, who have only put out one single and a split since their EP ‘We Rule The Night’ in 2011. The five-piece are set to rule the night once again, as they’ve been hand-picked by Brofest to represent the UK’s new tribe of traditional heavy metal heathens. “We’re currently putting the finishing touches to an album’s worth of new songs, which we’re currently rehearsing with a view to record as soon as possible! We’ve been taking a lot of time with this, as we had a line up change early in 2013. It’s been tricky finding the time to get the new material penned, we also don’t want to release a load of crap just for the sake of getting a release out quickly. We require your patience, the end result will be worth it. You’ll hear a few of these new numbers at Brofest.

“We’re happy to be playing Brofest,” Jack continues of the golden ticket he was handed by Stu Bartlett and the Bro boys. “A couple of us attended last year’s edition and … Read More

INTO BATTLE: WITCHTOWER

Formed only a year ago by singer/guitarist Víctor M de la Chica of melodic metallers Moonlight Fear, this Andalusian powerhouse strip things back to an early heavy metal vibe on their recent EP ‘Return To The Witches Castle’ so it’s no surprise that Brofest came a-calling to book them to represent the new breed at a fest dominated by reunions and special one-off performances from the veterans of the old school. Telling us the band was the result of “an idea rattling round in my head for a few years”, Witchtower, who also feature Jesus on bass, Edu on drums and Chinchilla on guitars, are “totally influenced” by heavy metal from the late ’70s and early ’80s, with a strong influence from Angel Witch, Diamond Head and Tygers Of Pang Tang

Victor can’t wait to touch down on British soil, especially playing alongside his heroes. “This is a really big chance for us,” he says. “We are very glad for this opportunity, from here we say ‘thank you’ to all the Brofest crew. I did Witchtower based in that classic sound, most of the bands on the bill influenced my rock ‘n’ roll way.”

He goes on to reveal that, “we are … Read More

INTO BATTLE: NOCTUM

Hitting us with a last minute contender for album of the year, the latest offering from Uppsala hard rock legion Noctum, ‘Final Sacrifice’, has been the soundtrack to this issue. It’s way more Mercyful Fate than people accuse their neighbours In Solitude of, but with their own twist of classic heavy metal and doom intricately weaved into addictive and masterfully crafted songs. If you’re lamenting Ghost’s move away from the classic rock template and into disco territory then here’s your salvation. So we’re surprised when bassist Tobias Rosén admits that before the band started in 2009 he didn’t play any instrument. “We all went to the same school and since I wanted to start my first band I asked David [Indelöf, guitars] if he was up to it and well, here we are,” he says. Five years on he’s mastered the four strings, telling Iron Fist that, “The dedication, desire and danger that heavy metal brings fuels me in a way that I’ve never experienced in any other aspect in my life.”

About the new album, he also admits that, “I was sitting down listening to ‘The Wall’ by Pink Floyd and read ‘Black Cat’ by [Edgar Allan] Poe and just … Read More

INTO BATTLE: MAGIC CIRCLE

Magic Circle possess the kind of unpolished charm and fathomless sincerity that most traditional doom bands would chop the sleeves off their favourite Solitude Aeturnus hoodie for. Their love for Pagan Altar and NWOBHM’s heavier moments runs deep, and the Massachusetts four-piece have released a self-titled debut album that worships Trouble, gives Pallbearer a run for their weed money, and is essentially everything that Hour Of 13 could have been if they’d managed to get their shit together. Not bad for a bunch of Boston hardcore dudes. Er, wait – what?

“We all got into playing music through hardcore and punk bands because it’s accessible and there’s historically been a big scene for it in Massachusetts,” guitarist Chris Corry explains. His other bands Mind Eraser and Death Evocation (amongst numerous others) seem like the polar opposite of Magic Circle’s masterfully melodic songwriting, and yet, it’s crystal clear that the riffs he writes comes straight from the heart. “Having known everyone in the band at least 10 years, this is a group of people who’ve always listened to a lot of old heavy metal and album oriented rock. We’ve listened to bands like Sabbath and Rainbow and Trouble for a long time, and … Read More

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