Tag Archives: Mantar

Mantar – The Modern Art of Setting Ablaze

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Earlier this year, UK-based band, Conjurer released their debut album, displaying a staggering amount of different influences mixed together to create something amazing and new. Germany based, two-piece band Mantar have done just that as well with their sophomore release, The Modern Art of Setting Ablaze (Nuclear Blast).

However, unlike the influence from more prog metal bands like Mastodon and Opeth in Mire (Holy Roar), Mantar have brought together a variety of different worlds that can be shown throughout the album with elements of Metallica, Motörhead and Machine Head combined with animalistic vocals that sound like they belong in a black metal band. The overall effect of this creates a raw, vicious sound; even though there are only 2 members of the band, the sound that they’ve produced is larger than some fully manned bands.Continue reading →


Pound – Pound

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Although hardly a recent phenomenon, duos are still quite the novelty in rock and metal. While often lazily lumped into that category, acts such as Satyricon, Anaal Nathrakh, and Alcest tend to utilise session musicians when it comes time to record or tour, while those who operate strictly within the parameters of two permanent members and nobody else are still pretty much a rarity in the field. However, thanks to the likes of doomsters Mantar, and Eagle Twin, the drone pair of Nadja, synthwave crew Zombi, and space-rockers Black Asteroids, there does seem to be an apparent rise in the number of genuine duos.Continue reading →


Maryland Deathfest 2018 – Baltimore Maryland

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For a metal fan, especially an underground metal fan with a cultured taste, Maryland Deathfest is the holy grail of music festivals. They are metal fans, so they understand metal fans. It has grown by leaps and bounds like a little cottage industry with California Deathfest, Quebec Deathfest, Netherlands Deathfest, Days of Darkness and more to come I’m sure. As I attended my first ever full weekend, I saw incredible bands on my bucket list, met a lot of great people from all over the world, hung out with friends and basically had more fun than I could imagine. It was basically summer camp for die-hard metal fans. No judgments, no fights, no fake kung fu in the mosh pit, just all awesomeness 24/7. Fun for families and even dogs. Plus Natty Bo’s and cheap and delicious street tacos! Continue reading →


True Mortem Added To Maryland Deathfest, Ticket Options Selling Out Fast

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Maryland Deathfest has added True Mortem to the bill to replace Inquisition. The festival is bearing down with a little over six weeks to go and ticket options are running out. The festival has also released its vendor list, which you can see with the entire band lineup below. Continue reading →


Maryland Deathfest Drops Inquisition, Adds Three New Bands

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Maryland Deathfest is now less than two months away. They have announced some lineup changes including Zemial, Chthe’ilist, Blk Ops, and Inquisition now being removed from the festival bill. Now added are Bölzer, Ascended Dead, and Future Terror, as well as Prong who were previously announced. A replacement for Inquisition revealed soon. Due to scheduling conflicts, The Ruins of Beverast has changed the day of their performance to Saturday from Sunday. Many of the ticket options will soon be sold out, so check our list below of current availability. Continue reading →


The 2018 Northwest Terror Fest Will Feature Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Integrity, Panopticon, And More!

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The 2018 Northwest Terror Fest will be taking place at three separate venues in Seattle from May 31st through June 2nd, and the lineup is absolutely insane. Continue reading →


Bloodstock Open Air 2017 – Part 2

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Day 3.

SATURDAY

If you were one of the first hundred people to enter the New Blood tent on Saturday morning, then first band of the day Ward XVI (8/10) would reward you with a goodie bag full of stuff like CDs, stickers and t-shirts etc. I strolled over to the tent a good half an hour before they were due on, only to find that half the festival was already in there. It’s amazing how people, no matter how tired or hungover, will always drag themselves out of bed on the promise of free stuff. Goodie bags aside, Ward XVI were a great way to start the Saturday fun. Eclectic and fun, they combined chuggy metal riffs with bouncy Psychobilly, creepy gothic melodies, and at one point, what appeared to be Russian folk. The band’s costumes and make-up were interesting, but like vocalist Psychoberrie‘s strait-jacketed ballad (Alice Cooper and ‘The Ballad of Dwight Frye’ anyone?) they all felt a little too familiar.Continue reading →


Bloodstock Open Air 2017 – Part 1

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Thursday

For anyone looking for early indicators that Bloodstock 2017 would be as ridiculous and over the top as usual, then surely the sight which would have greeted many – a group of people in the field acting as the event’s main car park, cheering on a Red Power Ranger as he gyrated and danced on top of a car – would have been as good a first sign as any.Continue reading →


FESTIVAL PREVIEW: Bloodstock Open Air 2017

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The time is nigh! The largest and possibly best independent metal festival in the world, Bloodstock Open Air is upon us once again. A year of planning and waiting has come to pass and now the weekend is here, with 1000s of heshers and hesherettes descend on Walton on Trent in Derbyshire, UK ready to celebrate all that is heavy music in the UK over the long weekend. When your motto is “By The Fans For The Fans”, and you can honestly say they have delivered this year in and year out, one needs to show respect. Get hyped with our preview, and check back soon for our full review with photos in case you can’t make it out. Continue reading →


Bloodstock Open Air Day Tickets On Sale Tomorrow, Art Show Confirmed

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Gojira at BOA 2016, photo credit Bloodstock Open Air on Facebook

Bloodstock Open Air continues to close in with day tickets releasing their at 9am tomorrow, 30th June! Weekend tickets are apparently selling faster than ever this year and may well sell out entirely before the festival weekend, so don’t delay if you want to guarantee a spot at the UK’s best metal festival!Continue reading →