Iron Maiden has expanded its reach into the Beer and spirits game with a collaboration with BrewDog, maker of awesome beers and beers with metal bands, to create, Iron Maiden “Hellcat” beer. Hellcat is a craft beer and an India Pale Lager, and will release in Fall 2021. BrewDog is a leading global craft brewer and the world’s only carbon-negative beer brand.
With a solo career that is now going over two decades strong, Blaze Bayley shows no signs of slowing down with his tenth full-length album. While War Within Me (Blaze Bayley Records) is an inevitable step back from the Infinite Entanglement trilogy that he released through the late 2010s, this has more to do with the sense of scale than any sort of quality concerns. If anything, the album is essentially a fun look back on everything that Blaze has accomplished thus far.
In a big announcement from The Metal Hall of Fame will induct iconic former Iron Maiden members Paul Di’Anno, Blaze Bayley, and “Eddie” creator Derek Riggs into the Hall with the class of 2021. Paul Di’Anno wrote and sang on Maiden’s first two legendary albums. They are still considered by many Iron Maiden fans to be their favorites. Bayley was hired following the departure of vocalist Bruce Dickinson in the 1990s. Bayley wrote and sang for Iron Maiden for five years and recorded two albums with the band. Blaze-era songs are still concert staples in the band’s setlist today. Derek Riggs is the genius behind the visual side of Iron Maiden. He created the iconic “Eddie” character, one of the most beloved mascots in history. Many can argue that a huge part of the band’s continuous global success is attributed to the sinister, gruesome, shape-shifting Eddie.
It’s been all change in the Orden Ogan camp recently, and while obviously playing it’s part, not all of it due to the current Coronavirus situation. Firstly, because of a hand injury sustained in 2018, frontman Sebastian “Seeb” Levermann was forced to perform a series of summer dates minus his guitar, fronting the band as vocalist only. Realising he actually prefers performing this way, Levermann has chosen to step back from six-string duties, recruiting guitarist Patrick Sperling to take over in his stead.
Prolific world-class concert pianist and YouTuber Gamazda has turned her love of Rck and Heavy Metal and more into a booking YouTube channel with over half a million subscribers. Watch her latest cover of Iron Maiden’s iconic jam, “The Trooper” and give her a Like and subscribe.
Although the brand of epic European power metal that Crystal Viper performs is most definitely up my street, I must preclude this review by admitting that aside from hearing the odd song here and there, I have had no real exposure to them on a studio album level. The Cult, is the Polish act’s eighth full-length release in a legacy that has thus far lasted eighteen years. At face value, a band that maintains that level of consistency would have me assume they have nailed down a singular style and were comfortable releasing records in said style without a whole lot of variation. It is therefore with a great sense of irony that my first review of their noise is of a disc which caught me completely off guard by occupying a different scene entirely. The sweetly epic elements the band is known for are certainly present in The Cult, but the power metal is largely downplayed in favour of a more classic but simultaneously epic style of heavy metal, one that calls back to the days of bands like Accept and Saxon without ever sounding derivative of either.
In a press conference this morning and stating “We Simply Cannot Stay Closed,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced that New York State will open arenas and other large capacity venues to the public with only 10% capacity and assigned seating, on Feb. 23rd, provided they receive a negative (PCR) COVID-19 test within 72 hours before an event. This is meant to open up venus to not only shows and concerts but to continue to grow for use as mass vaccination centers, sports games, and other events. This has been the first ray of light for the concert and touring industry since the pandemic broke out, even though major concert agencies and even the worlds leading infectious disease doctors predicted shows would comeback in fall 2021 or sooner. Declaring New York state’s demonstration with the Buffalo Bills an “unparalleled success,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday he will extend the testing- based program to any large stadium or arena later this month. Barclays Center, the site of concerts from Metallica, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Tool, and others, has been cleared to reopen on that day and has been granted approval to host fans for the Nets game against the Sacramento Kings, Cuomo said, adding, “Anyone else who is interested should let us know.” Watch the video below.
Often criticized by fans for not including enough actual rock and metal bands, The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame has announced their nominees for the class of 2021. Among the included artists and bands are Iron Maiden, Foo Fighters, Rage Against The Machine, Tina Turner, Jay-Z, and New York Dolls, The Go-Gos, Todd Rundgren, LL Cool J and others. The Hall has always been inclusive of other genres of pop music such as Rap and Jazz even. RATM was denied last year after being a finalist and other heavy acts like Judas Priest and Soundgarden, mounted big campaigns, but ultimately fell short. The top vote-getters will be announced in May and inducted in a Cleveland, Ohio, ceremony in the fall. To be eligible for this year’s ballot, each nominee’s first single or album had to have been released in 1995 or earlier.
Translating roughly to “fallen angels”, the eponymously titled seventh album from Spanish thrashers Angelus Apatrida is another brutal barrage of sweat, riffs and fury. Once again, guitarist/vocalist Guillermo Izquierdo and his bass playing brother José J. Izquierdo are joined by second guitarist David G. Álvarez, and Victor Valera on drums, admirably retaining the same stable line-up now for close to twenty years.
Iron Maiden’s legendary frontman Bruce Dickinson will participate in a listening party for Maiden’s 1984 NWOBHM classic album “Powerslave” in the February 12 installment of “Tim’s Twitter Listening Party”. Dickinson will offer up a track-by-track rundown of the record for the 666th edition of Tim Burgess’s show, a virtual listening party and launched during the pandemic. Watch a video message from Bruce about the event!