Veteran and legendary heavy metal act QUIET RIOT has released a new song, “Freak Flag” from their upcoming new album “Road Rage“, soon to be out onAugust 4, 2017 via Frontiers Music Srl. This is the first ever track featuring the new vocalist James Durbin, who also happens to be from the 2011 season of American Idol who made news singing hits like “Living After Midnight” and “Breaking The Law” of JUDAS PRIEST. The record was originally meant to be out by spring 2017 and to be sung by former short lived singer Seann Nicols, but after his exit QUIET RIOT decided to re-record with the newly formed line up. Continue reading →
Comments Off on METAL CHURCH Release New Music Video And Begin Summer Tour This Week
American heavy metal veterans METAL CHURCH who formed back in the 1980s and considered a vital influence on the genesis of thrash metal have been going strong with the occasional hiccups down the years in between. They released their latest album titled rightly as, ‘XI‘ in 2016. The five piece outfit has released a new music video of the song called ‘Reset‘, from their ‘XI‘ album. This album is also the first recording where you can treat your ears to Mike Howe’s epic high screeching vocals, as he makes a return to the group after a long time since 1995, 20 years after leaving the same band. You can watch the official music video attached below, directed by Jamie Brown. Continue reading →
Comments Off on REVIEW: STEVE GRIMMETT – ‘Personal Crisis’ [Live Performance Video]
If there is anyone who could ever get close to the moniker of ‘The Human Siren’ like Bruce Dickinson, then it is the legendary singer of NWOBHM heavy weights GRIM REAPER, STEVE GRIMMET, who also sang for LIONSHEART and also sang for a brief period for one of my favourites, ONSLAUGHT. All classic british heavy metal bands. Despite being 57 years old and over 30 years of musical prowess and experience under his belt he still manages to defy his age and hit those high notes and octaves like as if it were his heydays. He is surely like a fine old wine, he can’t help but only keep getting flawless with every passing year. It’s interesting to see so many British vocalists have this thing in common, like Bruce, Rob Halford whose voice remains undeterred. Is there some kind of secret secluded only to British singers? I guess so. STEVE GRIMMET recently hurdled across a major event that rendered all his fans to feel sorry for him, ‘taking away’ considerably a significant part of him. Continue reading →
Comments Off on RAGE Release New Music Video From Forthcoming Album [Official Music Video]
German heavy weights RAGE have come a long way from their inception. They ushered in the early to mid-1980s, along with bands such as Helloween, Running Wild, Blind Guardian and Grave Digger. That’s a long long time and it really reflects on their discography, which is a massive 23 album one taking in the new to be released album as well. For a band that has been doing music for more than 30 years, it is a commendable effort to put out a humongous discography of 23 odd records, that is just mental. Surviving some notable line up changes RAGE has been a constant dominance in not only the German Heavy/Power Metal scene but also all around the globe, playing a blend of heavy and power metal with a lot of classical influence RAGE has announced their forthcoming album to be released this summer. Can this summer get any more exciting!?
Comments Off on ACCEPT Reveal New Album Artwork And Japan Tour 2017
In today’s universe of metal, with so many new age bands breaking into the scene, pushing genres and breaking old ones to create new ones, very few classic old school metal bands receive the limelight and keep the strength to survive and move forward. Apart from the ever green Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, one such classic hard rock/heavy metal band that has managed to row through the giant waves of inevitable change is the German classic metal act, ACCEPT. Almost on the verge of turning 40, ACCEPT has belted out undiluted classic German metal one after the other. They are one of my favourite and have always been excellent. As they say a fine old wine tastes better with age. ACCEPT has revealed yet another upcoming album and it’s details, to be out this summer.
Comments Off on Review: CUSTOM BLACK – ‘Smoke Shall Rise’ [Album Stream]
Custom Black is a heavy doom rock trio from the plains of Kansas City. One thing that instantly let’s you know a band is good is when artist David Paul Seymour is involved. The renowned artist created the bands logo. He has done album art or logos for various bands like Wofat, Bastard Lord, Clouds Taste Satanic, and Stone Machine Electric. This of course puts their artwork in competition with some well known bands in the realm of stoner and doom music. Although often times the artwork is enough to entice you to purchase the album, Custom Black have something much greater inside the packaging. On February 21st the band released their debut album ‘Smoke Shall Rise’. The album which was self-released was recorded and mixed by Justin Mantooth at Westend Recording Studios and mastered by Mike Nolte at Eureka Mastering. Their style is full of mouth watering riffs, copiousness amounts of groove and classic breathtaking doom vocal tones. Continue reading →
Comments Off on Review: GRAVE DIGGER – ‘Healed By Metal’
Artwork by Gyula Havancsák
After 36 years of touring and writing new music, Grave Digger is still at it putting out fantastic power metal anthems. Their new album, ‘Healed By Metal’ dropped on January 13th, 2017 on Napalm Records. It is their fourth release with the label and their 18th album overall. ‘Healed By Metal’ lives up to the big expectations following their previous, stellar release, ‘Return of the Reaper’ (2014). This record also features the debut of new keyboardist, Marcus Kniep. The rest of the band remains the same from the last album including Chris “Reaper” Boltendahl on the vocals, Stefan Arnold on drums, Jens Becker on bass, and Axel “Ironfinger” Ritt on the guitars. The German power metal band continues to put out strong material consistently almost every 2 years. You can buy ‘Healed By Metal’ on Amazon or you can get it on iTunes. Continue reading →
Comments Off on Review/Stream: AITTALA – ‘American Nightmare’
On December 6th, 2016, Aittala unleashed their 4th full length LP: ‘American Nightmare’. The band was formed by Eric Aittala in 1992 in Raleigh, North Carolina and released a short EP, but then remained dormant for many years. After a long break, the project was brought back when Aittala released their first full length album in 2009, ‘Bed of Thorns’. The band went on to release two more LPs in 2011 and in 2014 (‘Haunt Your Flesh’ and ‘Effigy’). After various lineup changes, there has been a stable, strong lineup consisting of Eric Aittala on the lead guitar and vocals, Gary Smith on drums, and Andrew Sullivan on the bass. The new album was recorded at Incognito Studios, Raleigh NC. It was mixed and mastered by Mike Schaefer at Schaefer Sound Productions. Continue reading →
*This is part of our State Of The Arts series, showcasing bands every Monday from the state of the month*
The month’s state is Michigan!
Everyone has memories of the old days. The band Blue Snaggletooth reminds me of the last day of high school. They are that band that makes you want to roll your windows down and crank that shit as loud as possible. They are from present day Michigan, but sound more like they are from the 70’s. They are this big mesh of psychedelic classic rock and fuzzed out heavy metal. Most of the lyrical content of the band is “far out”. They have quite the sci-fi theme, even down to their name. The band is named after an obscure character in the Star Wars universe. Lead singer and guitarist Chris Taylor was previously in the bands Mazinga, and Powertrane. Chris formed the band in 2009 and he is the sole original member of the band. They currently have two albums out. The debut album “Dimension Thule” that was released in 2011. They then spent some time playing shows around Michigan and quickly built a fan base. They have this sound that makes listeners both young and old love them. Songs like “Star Flight” from the debut album are throwbacks to the early 70’s. The songs are so clean and classic, but it still has that grunge and grit that makes it stand out. The second and most recent release is entitled “Beyond Thule”. It came out in November 2014. There has been some progression from the rookie release, but it’s still that mash up of great sounds that they have truly honed and made their own. Its bands like this that prove continuously over and over that rock and roll is still alive and kicking ass. Gene Simmons (Kiss) famously said months ago that rock n roll was dead, if he would take the time to listen to bands like this he would be eating his words. Music is no longer the lazy man’s game, you have to search for the really good stuff. The harder they are to find the greater the reward. Blue Snaggletooth is currently in the process of booking an upcoming tour. Tell your local venue they need to book these guys… Give these guys a listen and bang your head to the sweet reward!
