Satan have produced another fantastic heavy metal album, packed full of riffs and great songs sung by a wonderful singer. This should come as no surprise to anyone, though- the devil always did have the best tunes.
“Cruel Magic” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1. Into The Mouth Of Eternity 2. Cruel Magic 3. The Doomsday Clock 4. Legions Hellbound 5. Ophidian 6. My Prophetic Soul 7. Death Knell For A King 8. Who Among Us 9. Ghosts Of Monongah 10. Mortality
The Review:
Satan are one of the more revered NWOBHM bands and also, unusually, have gone on to create fantastic albums since reforming. Both “Life Sentence” and “Atom By Atom” are heavy metal greatness in recorded form and the band are excellent live. They occupy a special place in heavy metal heaven, as they define the NWOBHM sound, in terms of what it should sound like when done absolutely right!
Brian Ross' vocals have always been a strong selling point of this Newcastle band and, for those unaware, the city has more metal to offer than Venom alone. This is their third full length in five years and their return has been welcomed by anyone who ever heard “Court In The Act” and loved it. Musically, then, the band sit firmly along the Angel Witch/Di'Anno Maiden era trajectory with hard rock tropes fitting nicely alongside the metal on offer throughout.
The initial fast pacing of “Into the Mouth of Eternity” sets the album roaring out of the gate and by the time a cowbell crops up in the title track, you know what you are getting: heavy metal. Resolutely old school heavy metal of the highest quality. It says a lot about the times we find ourselves in when I am surprised to not find doom-inflections in Satan's latest offering. This is not doom, or thrash or any other sub genre currently in favour. It is traditional heavy metal, that's it.
Most tracks are pacey, of course- “The Doomsday Clock” is rapid, but possessed of fleet-footedness a la Maiden's“Killers” album rather than the leaden foot of retro thrash. Elsewhere the riffs come fast, “Legions Hellbound” is heavy metal heaven for those listeners out there who either were at The Marquee in 1980 or wished they had been.
The weighty “Ophidian” is a change of pace and brings into focus the fact that the band have opted for the traditional ten track format here. That is absolutely the right move as all songs are focused and tight, devoid of filler and don't stretch beyond the six minute mark. That is not to say that they don't sound epic though, as they often do. Satanhave mirrored the trick that Maiden used to do so well, which is to pack in an entire theme into a relatively short space of time and capture the essence of the subject matter (for Maiden, think “The Trooper”). “My Prophetic Soul” sounds like an epic track with its anguish and multiple changes but it packs it all into only four and a half minutes.
Down the backstretch, the album is no less metal, no less accomplished and features material delivered with absolute conviction. “Death Knell For A King” is heavy metal writ large and classic- fantastic track. “Who Among Us” is larger in scale and quintessentially British in its metallic delivery. “Ghosts of Monongah” is another winner; Priest-esque chugging combines with Priest-esque guitar work in general. Excellent stuff.
By the time of closing epic “Mortality”there is no doubt that the band have done it again: Satan have produced another fantastic heavy metal album, packed full of riffs, leads, frenetic bass playing, drums that don't just consist of frantic double kicks and great songs sung by a wonderful singer. This should come as no surprise to anyone, though- the devil always did have the best tunes.
Fans of each era of Immortal will find something that speaks directly to them, and as a beginning for a new era in Immortal’s career, it’s an obviously strong one.
The story surrounding ‘Northern Chaos Gods’, Immortal’s first new album in nearly nine years, is all about what transpired during their long hiatus, and the absence of their longtime and charismatic front man Abbath. It’s a difficult thing, trying to move out from under the shadow of someone whose personality and voice were so intrinsically linked with the band’s very existence. On social media, the announcement of this album was plagued by comments from long time fans deriding the very thought of Immortal continuing without Abbath. It felt like an impossibility to them, like trying to imagine Motörhead without Lemmy.
Heavy metal history is brimming with stories of bands trying to continue on without legendary vocalists: Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and so on. And we know that those stories rarely end with the band continuing to succeed at a similar level once that change is made. But there are exceptions to that rule. The most prominent example of this, at least from an extreme metal perspective, is probably Cannibal Corpse. Corpsegrinder has proven to be a more dynamic vocalist and an equally, if not more engaging live performer. It’s hard to find the basis for an argument that the band’s popularity has suffered without Chris Barnes, as you won’t find any evidence supporting that idea based on comparing sales for last year’s Six Feet Under and Cannibal Corpsealbums.
Making predictions for something like this is never easy, but the Cannibal Corpse analogy may hold water still, even though they and Immortal represent different subgenres. Cannibal Corpse’s first post-Barnes album was ‘Vile’ in 1996, an album that was met with mixed reviews from fans. And while it’s pretty likely that ‘Northern Chaos Gods’will fare somewhat better in its reception, there are some issues with the album that deserve consideration.
The main concern I have with ‘Northern Chaos Gods’ is what I’ll call “going to the same well too many times” with certain compositional choices. In specific, it’s using very similar-sounding triplet-based clean guitar parts in several songs throughout the album. They first appear early on in the song “Gates of Blashyrkh” and show up again and again as the album goes on. Directly related to this is Demonaz’ continued love affair with viking-era Bathory, which in and of itself isn’t a bad thing. But the way that slower, epic sound manifests itself here causes the album to lag somewhat as we get late into the album. By the time “Mighty Ravendark” ends, we’ll have heard the “clean triplet guitar interlude into epic Bathory” device in three separate songs. For those who remember Demonaz’ solo album ‘March of The Norse’, you’ll remember that nearly every song on that album featured the same central rhythm. The man gets a specific musical idea in his mind and isn’t afraid to invest huge chunks of an album to that one idea, exploring it from every possible angle over an album’s duration. The repetition isn’t as difficult to sit through here, but it definitely warrants discussion.
Where ‘Northern Chaos Gods’ shines brightest is when it’s going full speed ahead. The lead single and title track was absolutely the right choice to showcase up front, with its callbacks to the pitch black frenetic energy of ‘Battles in the North’. ‘Into Battle Ride’ is another blast fest, sticking out in particular because it’s the only song on the album in which large sections of it are in straightforward 4/4 time, with the triplet rhythms waiting nearly a full minute before coming into play. “Grim And Dark” is a great combination of the two central styles of the album, with blast beats giving those giant chord progressions some extra energy via Horgh’s blistering speed.
‘Northern Chaos Gods’ is largely a great album. I’ve spent a large section of this review pointing out the album’s faults and hammering Demonaz for dwelling on a certain compositional style, and that’s because I think that’s a valid criticism of what he’s shown us as a composer between his solo album and now this album. But even keeping that criticism in mind, this is still a better album than Abbath’s solo album, which hasn’t held up especially well as time has gone by. Abbath’s album definitely holds the advantage in variety, but ‘Northern Chaos Gods’ is better as a fully realized listening experience. Fans of each era of Immortalwill find something that speaks directly to them, and as a beginning for a new era in Immortal’s career, it’s an obviously strong one.
“Northern Chaos Gods” is available digitally here and on CD/CS/LP here.
By: Richard Maw Album Type: Full Length Date Released: 09/02/2018 Label: Metal Blade Records
Eight tracks, all absolute killers. Superb production, fantastic playing and performances all around. With “The Revenant King”, Visigoth delivered my favourite album of 2015. With “Conqueror's Oath” they have achieved heavy metal perfection.. The best heavy metal album of 2018? Count on it.
“Conqueror's Oath” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1. Steel and Silver 2. Warrior Queen 3. Outlive Them All 4. Hammerforged 5. Traitor’s Gate 6. SaltCity 7. Blades in the Night 8. The Conqueror’s Oath
The Review:
Salt Lake City's most metal export return here with a blazing follow up to their mighty opus “The Revenant King” of 2015. As I noted in that review: this is heavy metal. Proper heavy metal. Think of the sounds of Priest having a sword fight with Maidenwhile Grand Magus referees. In fact, words cannot express the utter heavy-metalness of it all. The band has delivered everything I hoped for with this sophomore full length. The galloping and majestic rhythms, the soaring lead breaks, the powerful and dramatic vocals- all are contained within the opening “Steel and Silver” and the album does not let up from there. It pleases me that there are still bands out there like this; bands that keep to the old gods. Bands that rejoice in the defeat of their enemies and laugh at the four winds from their mountain.
It is not often that there is nothing to fault, but I can't find anything here that is not just right. The mix and production is confident and muscular with every instrument clearly audible. Jake Rogers' vocals are even more self assured than on the debut and he delivers a master class here- a powerful singer in a fairly low register, his voice is perfect for this. The songs clip by at such a rate that the album is a focused and vicious raiding party even after repeated listens. “Warrior Queen”is catchy and joyful, propelled along by a very tight rhythm section and duelling guitars. It is five and a half minutes of heavy metal heaven- or should that be Valhalla?!
The band press the pedal to the metal with more regularity on this album; there were elements of doom to be found on “TRK”, but that has been superseded by the likes of the Highlander-themed “Outlive Them All” which is fast and furious, whilst being full of hooks. Naturally, the band are not flat out all of the time and there is plenty of room for acoustic elements, vocal harmonies and swinging grooves through “Hammerforged”. It also has a fantastic central refrain of the mightiest riffage.
“Traitor's Gate” acts as a centrepiece for the record as Rogersinvokes the spirit of Ronnie Dio in the melodrama and gravitas of his performance. It builds up slowly, but when it rolls in, triplets blazing, once again metal nirvana is reached. The whole band are playing out of their skins on this one; it's superb with all essential metallic elements present and correct.
The band's tribute to their home town follows- “SaltCity” is pure heavy metal rock and roll, expertly delivered and anthemic in the extreme. It provides a burst of carefree enthusiasm with not a revenge plot in sight. There is also great lead playing, as there is throughout the album. “Blades in the Night” follows, with feet pressed to the floor and swords fully unsheathed. Again, it's hooky and powerful in equal measure.
The title track closes this remarkable album in majestic style. It is another slow burning epic with excellent two guitar work and themes that will make your battle jacket be filled with pride. Eight tracks, all absolute killers. Superb production, fantastic playing and performances all around. With “The Revenant King”, Visigoth delivered my favourite album of 2015. With “Conqueror's Oath”they have achieved heavy metal perfection. I have all but run out of superlatives to describe this fantastic record. Iron Maiden are on their way to retirement, Priestare readying themselves forperhaps just one more foray, Manowarare bowing out and the world is just not as receptive to songs about valour and glory any more. Visigoth, though, keep the flame alive and burning brightly, ready to forge sounds of the purest steel- hopefully for years to come. The best heavy metal album of 2018? Count on it.
Fitting in squarely with the likes of Cauldron, this is heavy metal of the old school done correctly and with affection. If you want traditional sounds with a dark edge to the songs, this is most assuredly for you.
“Luminous Eyes” CD//CS//DD//LP
1). Luminous Eyes
2). As Fire Burns
3). No Master
4). Fallen Star
The Review:
Haunt are brought to you by Trevor William Church of Beastmaker fame. This is four tracks of pure NWOBHM (or should that be NWOTHM?!) worship. Expect traditional sounds; solos, raw sounding drums, galloping rhythms and also a fair amount of melancholy. Pitched somewhere between Maiden and Angel Witch, this is straight up heavy metal. The title track is rather slow burning and thoughtful but things heat up appropriately with “As Fire Burns”. The track rocks hard and features a kind of revved up Witchfinder General vibe paired with a victory /vengeance-shall-be-mine theme. Killer.
The quality and energy level is kept right up there with “No Master”, which features the type of riffage which, had this been made by a band in 1981 from, say, Newcastle, would have inspiredMetallica to cover it many years later. The EP closes with the grandiose sounding “Fallen Star”- all widdly leads and riffs, coupled with the loping gallop that the EP exhibits at various times throughout.
Fitting in squarely with the likes of Cauldron, this is heavy metal of the old school done correctly and with affection. If you want traditional sounds with a dark edge to the songs, this is most assuredly for you.
“The Rise of Chaos” is precise, prescient, presented superbly in terms of artwork and production and, more importantly, rocks as hard as anything I have heard this year. A tour de force.
“The Rise of Chaos” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1). Die By the Sword
2). Hole in the Head
3). The Rise of Chaos
4). Koolaid
5). No Regrets
6). Analog Man
7). What’s Done is Done
8). Worlds Colliding
9). Carry the Weight
10). Race to Extinction
The Review:
Accept are back with a new-ish line-up and ten new songs. I'll put this out there straight away: I am a big fan of the Mark Tornillo fronted “new” Accept. “Blood of Nations” and “Stalingrad” were every bit as good as the Udo-fronted band's classics from the early eighties. “Blind Rage” was a very big commercial success for the band, but I found it a touch measured, a little too melodic and, well, just not quite heavy enough for my tastes (although “Stampede” is a true classic opener).
“Restless and Live” followed it as a very fine live 'career best of' and really gave great value for money for the fans. With “The Rise of Chaos”, the band deliver ten tracks over 45 minutes or so... and each track is balls to the wall metal!
No ballads here, and the record itself is a balanced mix of the hardest of hard rock (AC/DCon steroids) and the most Germanic of metal. Opener “Die by the Sword” has all the Accept trademarks in place; sandpaper lead vocals, Teutonic choir vocal backing, razor sharp riffing and rock solid rhythm section. It's a fine statement of intent and the record maintains that momentum throughout. It's a focused and often furious listen.
The song themes range from the dark and dystopian (the title track) to a more light-hearted, if curmudgeonly, view of the world (“Analog Man”). This is not a concept record per se, but as well as looking back to the past for comfort it also references darker events in “Koolaid”, via the Jonestown Massacre. For the most part, though, the record is firmly rooted in the present. The title track is a damning indictment of where the world is in 2017 and this is perhaps one upped by the storming “Carry the Weight”- a fleet of foot hook fest with some very contemporary political references. Is this the first metal album to reference Brexit?! Maybe.
The record is not as relentlessly dark as “Stalingrad”, but perhaps hits a note similar to “Blood of Nations”- but for my money this is a more intense listen. It's so focused and so relevant to the here and the now that I think the band have a real winner on their hands. Instead of pursuing more melodic writing, the band have gone back to their true strengths: riffs as tough as steel and hooks as catchy as anything else out there.
I can't find anything to fault on this album at all; the production is superb and state of the art, the individual performances of old and new members alike are stunning (Wolf Hoffmann is as flawless as ever, Peter Baltesditto, Mark Tornillo excels) and while the band may have lost Hermann Frank and Stefan Schwarzmann (a huge shame- even if we got The German Panzer out of their departure) they have gained Uwe Lulis and Christopher Williams on guitar and drums respectively.
If you happen to be a fan of old school metal in the vein of early Maiden, Dio-Era Sabbath, NWOBHM's best acts, Judas Priest and so on, then Acceptwill be right up your strasse, the band have managed to really breathe life into the latter part of their career and recapture the spark and inspiration that made them Germany's truly classic metal band in the 80's. The band are not thrash, but have the heaviness to appeal to any fan of, say, Overkill. They are not hard rock, but your average AC/DC nut would find much to enjoy here. “The Rise of Chaos” is precise, prescient, presented superbly in terms of artwork and production and, more importantly, rocks as hard as anything I have heard this year. A tour de force.
Following the recent review of “Infinite Entanglement” and “Endure and Survive”, I began thinking that it would be awesome to know a bit more about those albums and Blaze Bayley's plans for album number three in the cycle. The only problem... how to do it?! As it turns out, Blaze's management could not have been more accommodating. An email exchange, a request to interview and then one Friday night I found myself on Skype talking to Blaze himself! A metal legend, live and direct in my kitchen, via the medium of modern technology! What follows is a transcript of the interview, covering everything from recording to quantum physics. Enjoy
Congratulations on the success of the latest instalment of your Sci fi trilogy- “Endure and Survive” That and “Infinite Entanglement” are absolutely superb (“Endure and Survive” is my album of the year so far) and I cannot wait for the third and final part! Can you give us any idea of what is going to be on album number three and what is going to be in store for us on the next record?
Well the first one, “Infinite Entanglement”, was the beginning of a journey of 1000 years and it was the realisation that you are not in a specially designed space suit; you are actually a machine! Your consciousness has been downloaded into a machine body and the very question “are you human?” and to decide “are you human?” is big. The second album, “Endure and Survive”, is the end of the journey of 1000 years and the darkness of that endurance the things that happened to understand that you are just a cog in a machine, you were never meant to reach that new world. That new planet, that fresh start was never meant for you. It was an absolute lie and a seduction.
Part three has to tie up that story. I can't say too much about it, but what I can say is that I am in an absolute blind panic! I never expected anyone to like the second album better than the first one- so that's made it very difficult. I thought the first one was pretty good; I was only trying to make the second one, thinking 'If I could just get it the same standard as the first one then I would be happy....' then people were saying ' Oh, it's much better than part one!' and I thought 'Oh No!' because now the expectations are so high, not only from the fans but from me. My idea is that you have a play list of the three albums and you can listen to the three albums on one playlist start to finish in one story, just like you've listened to a really great, long album. That's the idea, so it has to be interesting, the story has to keep you, has to grip you, and you must be interested in what's going to happen to these people and what's motivated them.
At the moment we have, well, I'm looking at my wall and we have five titles that I am confident will turn into full songs of a good standard, so I am six short of what I really need. I have more musical ideas; we have bits and pieces we're working on. I am just waiting for that three in the morning bit of inspiration that catches you, or that thing that catches me when I am out shopping like 'What's that?! It's mine! I've got an idea and I've got to record it!' so that's it. I know the story, I know where I am going with the story, but musically the journey I want to take you on is different. It's a different path and it will only make sense I think in the context of the three albums. When you get to album three and you get to the end you will think 'oh well that was different, but of course it had to be that way and it makes sense.' I am hoping you will like it. It's a lot of work and it's a lot of nerves. We'll have to see what happens.
Of course. Thanks for that expansive answer. For what it's worth I do listen to the two albums back to back on my commute to work. I'll stick on “Infinite Entanglement” and then “Endure and Survive..”.
That's a long ride!
I live in Leeds (England) and it's a big city; the bus can take a long time! Or I listen to one album on the way there and one on the way back. It's really immersive as a listener to do that. Can you tell us a bit about the studio you are using for these records and the production?
It is a studio in Birmingham called Robanna's. It's completely independent. It is run by Rob, Rob Hoffman, and his sister Anna, I think. I started doing all my guest vocals there. It's a fully professional studio, using pro tools which is the only software I like to use. I would never go back to tape! I hate analogue and all of that. I like digital. In the modern world of computers and the hard drives that we have and the speed of the processors, you can actually make music and it sounds good and it can keep up with you- which it never could in the early days of the eighties and tape. You had to have so much patience and I just haven't got that! I started doing guest vocals there; bands and singer songwriters from around the world ask me to do vocals for them or feature on their album and I thought 'I've worked in a lot of studios, I've spent a lot of time travelling, this is (without traffic) twenty minutes from my house- I'm gonna record there!' And it makes so much sense: you get up, you go to work and at the end of the day, you come back home.
It just makes sense. When you spend perhaps six to nine months of the year away from home, to be able to get up, go to work and come back home after work makes sense. To meet a deadline, I'm not one of these arty farty types who say 'well it will be finished when I feel it's right...' No! It'll be finished on time because it will be right: because I call myself a singer, a songwriter a producer and after thirty years if I can't meet a deadline which I set myself? I shouldn't be doing it! So that's it. I own the record company I am actually the only artist on the record company so I am the boss telling myself what to do. If I can't meet it, I should be ashamed. I'm a working class man, I come from a working class family. That's it for me: the inspiration is important, the passion of the music is important.
The real place that music is formed is in the rehearsal room with the band full blast. We put these ideas together at home and then we take it into the rehearsal room and we start feeling those rhythms, those runs on the bass, the shapes of the chords and the rhythms in the riffs and that is when you know if it is gonna live or if it is going to be cast aside, or if it is going to need major surgery as it doesn't have a heart and you've got to give it one! That's what happens and that is how those first two albums. “Infinite Entanglement”; we had a lot more rehearsal time and a lot more distance from the recording and “Endure and Survive” was a lot more urgent but we had all the time that we needed and we beat the deadline by two days! The next one? I just don't know. I'm very nervous about it, but it's a studio that I like to go to because I know everybody there. I've known everybody there for a long time. You walk in and you feel at home.
Fantastic. Thank you very much. If we can keep with the same records, they are very immersive in terms of the story and themes kind of pull you in. What is it that makes physics and science fiction so appealing to you as a songwriter
Well, a lot of people have asked me this over the last few months...
Apologies!
I've had a think about it and it goes back to... as a boy I watched science fiction with my mother; Space 1999, Dr Who, Blake's Seven, Star Trek Original Series. We watched them together. I also had an interest in how things worked. Any toy that I had which had a battery or an electric motor, I used to take it to pieces to try to learn how it worked. I liked to learn how to fix my bicycle myself. My mother could take the gear box out of a transit van and fit it back on! I had this kind of background.
Quantum Physics, in the end, is how things work. When you look inside the engine of your car, the spark, the small tiny spark is what keeps everything going. This little explosion ignites the petrol. It goes down to something so small: how does it all work?! That's the interest I have: how does it work? Why are we even on this planet? How are we going through space so fast around this giant ball of fire?! An invisible force controls us- you can measure it but you can't see it, you can't touch it. You are a part of it. It acts upon you. You don't act upon it. It is an invisible force and it is the most amazing thing to have this thought in my mind.
That leads me on to my belief in telepathy. Years ago in the eighties, in the scientific community, if you said you were investigating and interested in the merits of telepathy, you would be ostracised, man, you would never get a job. Now, it's becoming almost a legitimate area for research as technology can get rid of all the fake results, all the dummy results. In my story, “Infinite Entanglement”, telepathy plays a big part in that story and it's coming down to this: if two electrons are paired, they always know- instantaneously- what the other one is doing, where it is and how it is. If two electrons can do that- and that is proved scientifically beyond doubt- then, if we're made of electrons, why wouldn't you, telepathically, be connected to the love of your life? Why wouldn''t you feel what that person you love intensely, why wouldn't you know what they are doing. That is the entanglement of two people far across the universe still being connected, entangled and the seeming infinity that there will never be a way for those two people to be physically close.
Fantastic and interesting stuff! A real quick question for you now: will there be a vinyl release of Endure and Survive. If so, when?
Yes! The test pressings have come back and they are all great. The mastering has been done by Ade who did the Maiden remasters. He has his own quirky way of doing things and he basically rebuilds the records for mastering. He did this amazing job where he did this special master for the vinyl. It's just awesome. Our first vinyl for “Infinite Entanglement”, there was a problem with the mastering so by the time we had sorted it, they had so much work on- because vinyl is now becoming more popular- we had missed that Christmas thing, but this one, you will be able to pre-order the “Endure and Survive” Vinyl. It will be just the same as the “Infinite Entanglement” vinyl with two discs, all the art work, big and beautiful! It's coming out very very soon. There will be an announcement by or before October and everybody will, if they want it, will be able to get it before Christmas. It'll be on my web shop.
Brilliant. I'm looking forward to it myself. I've got “Infinite Entanglement” on vinyl and I want to complete the set.
On a more personal note this time: I think it is fantastic that you play in places that are maybe more out of the ordinary for touring bands. Specifically, I want to mention Grimsby. It's my home town and I lived there until, well, I was old enough to move out! I ended up in Leeds, but I have lived down South as well. When I was growing up in Grimsby, Humberside, me and my friends that were into metal there would have found it absolutely unbelievable that any metal band would play there at all. There were no gigs. I know that now Grimsby has this venue, Yardbirds, can you tell me a bit about what it is like to play at Yardbirds and similar venues and what your love for it is?
Well, this is the story of being independent really. Blaze Bayley Recordingsis independent. All the licences I did years ago have all come back to me. All my CDs, everything I have done since Iron Maiden- apart from one live album- I own. It's all on my web shop. My fans buy from me directly and support me. Even though I am the record company, I'm tiny.
It's the same with venues. Yardbirds is a completely independent venue run by enthusiasts and they really don't care who you are: if they like you and you do well, if you play well; they will have you back. That's the same story as all the independent venues throughout the UK, the rest of Europe and the USA. Maybe 90% of the places I play are independent. You will almost never see Blaze Bayley at an O2 or somewhere like that. I always go to independent places. We work in a kind of partnership; we do our best. For me, there is absolutely no prestige attached to a particular city or venue. For me all the prestige is attached to the fan who bought the album and bought the ticket. Where are they? That's where I want to go! I don't want to go to London and everyone has to travel to see me, I want to go to where my fans are. Sometimes I go to London and play to my fans who are from London, but that's it. It's not just about the capital cities and all of that. I go to towns and if it's an independent venue run by independent people then I try to support them as much as they support me by having me at their venue.
Yardbirds is one of the best venues in the UK, from an independent point of view. You always get the most fantastic sound, great PA, great equipment and you are always treated very, very well. They can really show one or two venues around how it's done! We're always treated very well and I have been going there for years. It's fantastic and I always look forward to going there, no matter what day of the week it is. It will always be on my tour schedule; it's a phone call ' Can we come back?' 'Yep, OK what day do you want?' 'We're doing a tour...' Bang, it's done! It might already even be booked for next year! It's the independent venue for me; I really don't care about playing the Albert Hall. My goal- my dream- is to sell out Yardbirds and be able to play two nights there. To me, that is a huge success.
It is genuinely heart-warming to hear that, because not too many people say they are looking forward to going to Grimsby! Next time you play I will try to drive across and see you play there. I wanted to come in March, but we have a daughter who was only three months old at the time (she is six months now) and I couldn't get the time, the evening, to go. Next time I will try to drive across and show a little home town pride!
Blaze we are actually past the twenty minute mark now, have you got time for one more? (*Blaze's management allotted me twenty minutes for the interview)
Yeah. Yeah, you can have another couple!
In that case, I will cut to the chase: you are headlining the tenth anniversary of the SOS Festival in Manchester on Saturday 15th July. I'm going, I'm very much looking forward to it. Can you give us a glimmer of what to expect in the set list?
We're going to have a lot of “Endure and Survive” in the set list, a couple of Maiden ones and a Wolfsbane one as well. I'm really looking forward to the gig. It's the second time they have had the festival in the new venue but it is the first time I've been there. The acoustics and everything are loads better. All the facilities, so they tell me- they just might be trying to get me there!- but they tell me: the venue itself, the facilities, the acoustics are miles ahead of the old venue. I am very excited about it. It is gonna be one of the last UK gigs (this year). It's a big day for me and we have been all around Europe. It's going to be a kind of homecoming. We hope we play well and don't make too many mistakes.
There is going to be a free meet and greet afterwards and we hope to be meeting people and signing things. There has been the reissues of “The X Factor” and “Virtual XI”on vinyl and I have been signing those. People say: “Are you OK signing it?” Well, why not?! I sang on it and it's my songs which I sang on are on there and both albums sold over a million copies! Why wouldn't I be proud as anything to sign an album that I am on, that I wrote songs on and that has sold over a million copies? So if you have bought those albums or bought that vinyl, bring it and I'll sign it for you!
That's brilliant- no charging for meet and greets. That's nice.
The meet and greet is free. People have done enough. People have bought the ticket and got away from the telly! I don't think you can ask any more. In this world, I’m a tiny underground cult artist! In the music business I don't sell thousands and thousands or millions of records. I'm doing my own thing, I'm independent and I am very happy doing it! Why would I need or want to say to somebody that you can meet me but it'll cost you £35. It's not part of it for me, it's not me. It's not why I do it. For me, one of the reasons I am not part of that big machine is because when I was in Wolfsbane and even sometimes in Iron Maiden, I saw such a lack of respect for the fans that supported the band and some of the things that they were asked to buy as fans... their loyalty was put to the test again and again and never rewarded. I thought 'if I ever get my own thing together, that's it: the fan is number one.' That is what we try and do.
With everything we do, we try to do the best quality that we possibly can. We try to make our albums and our artwork just as good everybody else; as Disturbed, Iron Maiden, Sabaton... We do the best that we possibly can and give the best value that we possibly can. We feel that if a fan has bought the album, bought a ticket and come to the gig then you should be saying thank you and you should be grateful that someone who had a choice about what music they listen to has decided that your music is actually worthy of their support and that's how I feel about my fans. I am lucky to have any support at all. People who charge for their meet and greets- some give great value and you get a lot of stuff and a proper photo and its right for them. For me, it's not.
It's a nice ethos and a nice way of going about things. It's a great way of doing things and a great way to say thanks and for the fans to get something signed. We have now gone to nearly half an hour so I won't take up any more of your time! I really appreciate you doing the interview.
OK mate, I hope to see you at SOS and all the best to your little daughter.
I can't wait- one week to go! Thanks for that Blaze. I really appreciate it. All the best for your next record. You are a gent.
Taking their name from one of the darker tracks of the Deep Purple catalogue, Demon Eye consists of four men, two New Yorkers, two Southerners, and one shared love for old school metal, yes Demon Eye are back folks, indeed news of an impending third offering pleases us very much around there parts, having fallowed the upward trajectory of this stellar act since debut “Leave The Light” (review here) hit are decks back in 2014.Be sure to mark the date in your diary because “Prophecies And Lies”will be released on August 11th and that means another superior dose of their classic rock, proto metal and traditional doom.
Demon Eye’sheavy grooves and thunder rhythms channel the doom and crush of Black Sabbath and Pentagram, and the fist banging shred of early ‘Maiden. You could say that Demon Eye represents the flowering of an American take on the spirit of the Scandanavian Retro Rock bands. Combing the warm vibes of 70's jams by Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Mountain and others with a rough and ready smattering of the early metal roar of Pentagram and Pagan Altar thrown in for good measure.
Their story is an odd one. The band that would come to be known as Demon Eye began life as a seventies tribute / cover band Corvette Summer whose "set generally includes the music of: Thin Lizzy, Humble Pie, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Blue Oyster Cult, Kiss, UFO, Alice Cooper, Free, ZZ Top, and many, many more..." (Source). So the ingredients were all there to begin with. Meanwhile, it turns out frontman Erik Sugg has made quite a name as an incredibly popular children's entertainer in the Raleigh, North Carolina area, teaching toddlers how to read through the power of rock & roll, and if you don't dig the hell out ofthis story, you simply have no soul. None of this however, suggests that the band would blast into the doom rock world with an absolute scorcher of a debut E.P., which was released in early Spring of 2013. The eponymous E.P. generated a decent buzz and those with one ear closer to hell didn't fail to notice.
One of those folks was Jorn, owner of Souseller Records. The label who would go on to issue Demon Eye'sfull-length debut, 'Leave the Light'and 2015’s critically lauded sophomore release “Tempora Inferalia” (review here).So with the release date of “Prophecies and Lies” drawing ever closer, it gives us great please to welcome band the onto the pages of TERR0Rwith a brand new and exclusive track “The Redeemer” which you an stream below. Folks new to the band, we envy you and if that describes you, you have to get your hands on this album if you would answer "yes" to any of the following questions:
Do you like the demonic smirk of evil and forbidden good times?
Do you like heavy guitars with shredding leads?
Do you like uptempo doom boogie music with catchy choruses and clean vocals?
Not only that, if the excitement of that new track wasn’t enough, we recently caught up with front man Erik Sugg to talk us through some of the bands own personal favourite albums.Which you can check out below the track stream.Double the dose double the riffs.Demon Eye welcome back, you are truly knights of the sound table, we love you and you should too.
Iron Maiden - "Live After Death"
This is Larry's pick. What is there to say? It's classic. Amazing heavy metal that has stood the test of time for several generations and will continue to do so. Top notch song writing and incredible playing. It was pretty amazing being a kid in the '80s and being exposed to Maiden as contemporary band. They were larger than life and made their music epic for fans of hard rock and metal everywhere.
Queensryche - "The Warning"
Bill, Demon Eye'sdrummer, is a huge fan of this era of Queensryche. It's great classic metal from an early period of the band before they began the more experimental portion of their career during the latter half of the '80s, (the more heavily produced, thematic albums.) A lot of folks in the metal community seem to share pretty strong feelings about Queensryche, but this album stands up. If you slept on it, you should go back and give it a listen.
Deep Purple - "In Rock"
We seem incapable of not discussing Deep Purple during interviews, ha. A huge influence for the band, obviously, and this record is certainly one of the best things they ever did. It slams, through and through. Everything from the heavy opening riffs to "Speed King" to Ian's valkyrie-shrieking in "Child in Time," to the almost MC5-ish "Flight of the Rat." I own three different vinyl copies of this, (my listening copy, my back-up copy, and a picture disc version.) It's one of my favorite records of all time. I was stoked to see a recent interview with Ritchie Blackmore where he stated it was one of his favorite things the band ever did.
Judas Priest - "Sad Wings of Destiny”
Paul chose this one. If it were the only Priest record in existence, they'd still be metal gods. It's really interesting this album was released in 1976 because that's around the time when punk started kicking off, but it still granted the band a huge audience and opened the doors for the pending NWOBHM scene. Generally Sabbathand Deep Purpleare the bands credited in making the musical transformation from heavy blues towards a more classical moding style. That sort of thing ultimately became the blueprint for the traditional heavy metal sound. Tony Iommi and Ritchie Blackmore may have been the first guitarists to introduce that style to heavy rock, but Priestwere the ones who really set that sort of thing into stone with this record. It will always hold up.
Witchcraft - "Witchcraft"
I can't not express enough how much this band means to me. When I heard Witchcraft'sdebut record back in the mid '2000s it stopped me dead in my tracks. It was everything I loved about vintage heavy rock and it was traditional doom metal like Pentagramand Candlemass, but it wasn't over-driven nor downtuned. It was very clean and crisp, but still sounded heavy and evil. I kept Witchcraft's sound and their techniques in my mind when I first started writing songs for Demon Eye. I didn't want to sound like them, but I wanted to achieve the same "less-is-more" kind of power they were achieving. I don't know much about Magnus Pelander as an individual, (he's a bit of a mystery to American fans,) but I will always admire his imagination and his stunning songcraft. I will buy everything he ever releases, Witchcraftand solo releases, for the rest of my life and for as long as he's releasing them.
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