It’s been thirty years since beard and battleaxe aficionados Amon Amarth began their quest for world domination. Armed with swords, shields, and drinking horns, the hairy horde has journeyed far and wide, going on to become one of the most popular bands in Swedish metal history. Rarely deviating from their tried and tested formula, each successive album is a reliably thunderous collection of ancient history, myths, and legends told in the loudest, catchiest ways possibleContinue reading
There’s a wonderfully surreal moment in The Simpsons when Abe Simpson inexplicably proclaims, “the Swedish are coming! The Swedish are coming!”. Well, tonight in frosty Birmingham, that’s exactly what’s happening. Hailing from the land of Abba, Ikea, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, three of the finest exponents of melodic death metal have landed in Blighty to bang heads and kick bottom.Continue reading
For metal fans, the subject of Vikings is nothing new. From wondering why no-one seems to like ‘Invaders’ by Iron Maiden, or suddenly bursting into a frighteningly loud rendition of Led Zeppelin‘s ‘Immigrant Song’ at the merest mention of Thor: Ragnarok, those hairy little pillagers have been part and parcel of our music scene for decades.Continue reading
In what is probably the biggest Who’s Who of heavy metal since Jimmy Bain, Vivian Campbell and Ronnie James Dio concocted the idea of Hear’n’Aid back during those halcyon days of hairspray and bulging spandex around 1985, Metal Allegiance continues to add name after name after name to its roster of well-respected contributors.Continue reading
Supergroup Metal Allegiance, featuring David Ellefson (Megadeth), Alex Skolnick (Testament), Mike Portnoy (The Winery Dogs, ex-Dream Theater) and Mark Menghi will release its sophomore album, “Volume II – Power Drunk Majesty”, on September 7 via Nuclear Blast Entertainment. The band released its second single, ‘Voodoo Of The Godsend’, featuring Max Cavalera (Soulfly, Sepultura, Cavalera Conspiracy). A new trailer for the disc in which Cavalera discusses his involvement with the project can be seen below.Continue reading
Inspiration can hit at any time, and for German metal legend Doro Pesch, that time was on her way to the funeral of rock legend Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead in December 2015. Having been friends with Lemmy for many years, Doro felt she needed to pay tribute to the man in the best way she knew, and on the flight over, the lyrics and melody for the song which would become ‘Living Life to the Fullest’ began to form in her head and the long road to this double album began.Continue reading
You have to wonder how Saxon do it. While some bands can take four or five years, or in some cases even longer, to release new music, Saxon have never taken more than three, and the quality rarely dips. They might only be simple songs with simple structures, but it’s not very often you can listen to a Saxon album and not be able to remember the choruses to at least three songs after just one or two listens.Continue reading
Thanks to some appalling traffic, and a queue outside the venue which took nearly ninety minutes to clear, and even though I thought I’d left plenty of time to spare, I still somehow managed to miss opening act, Grand Magus. Grrrrr! Continue reading
As previously reported by Ghost Cult last night the Revolver Music Awards, previously known as the Revolver Golden Gods Awards have made a comeback. Taking place December 13th in New York City, at Webster Hall, the event will be co-hosted by Jose Mangin and Dave Mustaine of Megadeth. The full list of nominees is now announced: Continue reading
