heavy metal
CD: Iron Maiden – Book of SoulsSaturday, 05 September 2015
It’s nearly 40 years since bassist Steve Harris formed Iron Maiden and much has changed since then. Singer Bruce Dickinson has learned to fence, fly and kick cancer in the cock, and the band have continued to release albums – albums which, though... Read more... |
CD: Bullet For My Valentine - VenomSaturday, 08 August 2015
Bullet For My Valentine retain their fury. Last time round, on 2013’s aptly named Temper Temper, frontman Matt Tuck was snarling about substance abuse affecting his band. This time, on their fifth studio album, he claims his enraged microphone... Read more... |
CD: Scorpions - Return to ForeverSaturday, 21 February 2015
The past few years have seen a glut of successful rock comebacks – in fact, acts like Judas Priest, Kiss and Saxon are rocking as hard now as they ever did. Unfortunately, for every group that has defied the years, there’s another who should have... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: MotorpsychoSunday, 01 February 2015
Motorpsycho: Demon BoxAfter a burst of guitar feedback, heavy, snail’s-pace drums pound. A massive, churning riff kicks in. The agitated singer tells of bad dreams and blisters on his skin. It’s heavy, lumbering and could define the most... Read more... |
CD: Napalm Death – Apex Predator – Easy MeatWednesday, 21 January 2015
To say that the music industry’s response to the ongoing world financial crisis has been pitiful is an understatement. There’s been no “Ghost Town”, no “Step down Margaret” and no “Holiday in Cambodia”. However, Napalm Death have come to remedy this... Read more... |
CD: AC/DC – Rock or BustSaturday, 29 November 2014
The future's uncertain and the end is always near, as Jim Morrison put it, and you wonder how long Oz's antique rockers can keep cranking it up. After 41 years, most of them vastly successful, they're now missing guitarist and riff-creator Malcolm... Read more... |
CD: Scott Walker + Sunn O))) - SousedMonday, 20 October 2014
As tough-going as expected, the eagerly anticipated collaboration between Scott Walker and deconstructed metallers Sunn O))) is 48 minutes of deliberately ugly darkness. On the opening track “Brando”, in his now-familiar strangulated tenor, Walker... Read more... |
CD: Slipknot - .5: The Gray ChapterSunday, 19 October 2014
In a week packed with releases from music industry veterans including Neil Diamond, Chris De Burgh and Status Quo, it’s actually the new one from Slipknot that’s the most interesting. .5: The Gray Chapter is the mask-wearing Iowan metallers’ first... Read more... |
theartsdesk at Glastonbury Festival 2014Thursday, 03 July 2014
PrologueOn Thursday 26 June I arrive at a cloudy but warm Glastonbury Festival, set up camp, eat sausages, chase after DJ Richie Hawtin for an interview that never happens, then acclimatise, settle, let this hedonist Mecca do its work on me…Friday... Read more... |
Celebrating Jon Lord, Royal Albert HallSaturday, 05 April 2014
Jon Lord may have tickled his last ivory in 2012, but last night his spirit lived defiantly on. The great and the good from both heavy and contemporary music gathered in his memory. It was for a serious purpose - to raise funds for pancreatic cancer... Read more... |
10 Questions for Phil Campbell of MotörheadWednesday, 23 October 2013
Phil Campbell (b 1961) has been guitarist with Motörhead since 1983. That’s four fifths of the band’s 38 year existence. His have been the dirty great riffs at the core of classics such as “Killed by Death”, “Flying to Brazil”, “Eat the Rich", “... Read more... |
Deep Purple, NIA, BirminghamWednesday, 16 October 2013
Read anything about rock music in the Seventies - about British hard rock music in particular - and three bands are pushed forward as titans: Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. However, while both Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin have gone... Read more... |
