We end the year on a chaser episode. Who are the Big Four of Death Metal? If Death Metal had a Mount Rushmore, what bands would be on it? Nik and Keefy rank the best Death Metal bands of all time, checking down from a list of about 30 bands!
#thebigfourofdeathmetal
Ghost Cult caught up with Maurizio Iacono of Kataklysm and Ex Deo about his new band Invictus! They released their debut album this year, “Unstoppable” – out now via MNRK Heavy! In addition to his bands, he owns Hard Impact Artist Management, is the founder of Distortion Music Group, and is co-owner of hard-and-heavy booking agency Continental Touring, the man is busy all the time. Invictus is a different kind of heavy band for Maurizio, and he discussed the genesis of the band, using melodic parts for the first time ever, picking a band name, shopping a new project to another label, music industry pitfalls, a track-by-track breakdown of the album, and more!
Some people just aren’t happy unless they’re busy, and with two established bands occupying his time Canadian vocalist Maurizio Iacono is certainly that. Not content with already fronting two well known and established bands, the Ex Deo and Kataklysm singer now spearheads Invictus.
The temperature was almost in the single digits last Saturday evening when Dark Tranquility brought their Moment tour to Detroit’s northern suburbs. The poorly plowed roads and the negative degree wind chill did not deter Michigan metalheads from witnessing the trailblazers of Gothenburg’s Melodic Death Metal Scene. Everyone briskly trotted into Pontiac’s acclaimed music hall to catch the two opening acts of the evening. Nailed to Obscurity and Kataklysm were invited along on this tour which made for a deliciously stacked bill. Built in 1830, the Crofoot building is a historic phenomenon and local treasure. The large building contains three venues in one and is known for catering to heavier bands. This prized entertainment complex was a fair choice for a night of big, blistering, music.
Four years after regaling us with stories of Carthaginian General Hannibal on The Immortal Wars (Napalm Records) Canadian/Italian death metal act Ex Deo return with more tales of ancient Rome on fourth full length release The Thirteen Years of Nero (also Napalm). As its title suggests, the central theme this time is the reign of Imperator Nero Cladius Divi Claudius filius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (or plain old Emperor Nero to his friends) and the matricide, uxoricide, blood, fire and death which followed him.
Canadian Power Metal champs Unleash The Archers took home the JUNO Awards (the Canadian Grammys) statue for “Metal/Hard Music Album Of The Year” for their 2020 album Abyss, released via Napalm Records. They beat out a tremendous field of competition including albums from Annihilator – Ballistic, Sadistic (Silver Lining/Warner), Kataklysm – Unconquered (Nuclear Blast/AEC/Believe), Protest The Hero – Palimpsest (Independent), and Vile Creature – Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm! (Prosthetic/The Orchard). All the nominees were deserving and congrats to UTA and the entire team at Napalm Records, as well as their publicity teams worldwide!
Extreme Metal band Begat The Nephilim has suffered a bad loss as their van caught on fire and was destroyed. Although no one was harmed, their drummer Josh was living out of the van and lost many personal items. This terrible news comes on the heels of the band landing the coveted spot opening for the much-anticipated tour from Death Metal legends Deicide, Kataklysm, and Internal Bleeding. Begat is one of the better bands in the New England scene and even better people too. A friend has launched a GoFundMe to help them recover from this loss, so please donate if you can.
Annihilator, Ktaklysym, Vile Creature, Unleash The Archers, and Protest The Hero have been nominated in the best metal album of the Year category for the 2021 Juno Awards. The Juno Awards are the annual award show celebrating excellence across all musical genres and often called The Canadian Grammy Awards.” Last year’s winner for The Metal AOTY was Striker for their album Play To Win (Record Breaking Records/Independent). In the Rock AOTY category Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Silverstein, JJ Wilde, Crown Lands, and Sam Roberts are fighting it out in that category. The 50th Annual Junos will take place on May 16th, 2021.
2020..What can I say? A year where Poppy releases a metal album and Glenn Danzig does an album of Elvis covers (for real go look it up)! Seriously though I think it was a bad year for everyone. Luckily there was some killer music to help us all get through. So, I’ve compiled a list of what helped me. This list was a lot harder to make than I first thought it was going to be so much good stuff out there. To be clear though, this isn’t a “best of” it’s just a list of my personal fav’s this year. So, enough bullshittin’ I present to you Torbjorn‘s 13.
Ghost Cult continues our “End of Year Guest Post Extravaganza” with a slew of posts from bands, industry, PR pros, and more! We’ll be sharing lists, memories, and other shenanigans from our favorite bands, partners, music industry peers, and other folks we respect across the globe. Today’s post brings released an “ORChestrated” version of his classic track “Goblin Death March” as a lyric video. The track is from his upcoming album “Fully ORChestrated” which remakes many of his classic tracks.