Promoting metal as art and culture
‘I’m a Soppy Romantic’ They’re back! With a five year ‘hiatus’ 36 Crazyfists are rested and as excited as a puppy with a squeaky toy. The new album is a scorcher. But for a while, it looked like there might not be another album, with the departure of two band members and three family deaths…
Drummer and last original member, Robert Ortiz, talks about adversity and success with HMA Despite a series of sudden lineup changes and controversy, American post-hardcore legends, Escape the Fate have managed to put out four studio albums, tour the world and scale high on the charts. It sounds inspiring to the ear but more often…
A pre-show chat with Italian Gothmother, Cristina Scabbia Lacuna Coil is one of the most famous gothic metal and alternative bands in the world. During their career they have recorded seven studio albums and sold over 2 million records worldwide. Perhaps one of the most appealing aspects of the band’s sound is the dual male…
1. Introduction There are various means of deciding what is true. Not all give the same answer. Therefore, a society must put more faith in one approach than another. The order in which various approaches are accepted determines the pattern of thought of the society. Shifts in the order provide us with the basic paradigm…
Death to me means stagnation, the death of imagination Born in Athens, Greece and also known as the lead guitarist of the dark metal band W.E.B. Even though my childhood had nothing to do with the visual arts, I think that everything started at that point in time. I was not the kid who drew…
1 Behemoth – The Satanist Cover artist: Denis ForkasFrom the amazing album artwork to sinister and anthemic songwriting this record will become a black metal classic to future generations. In my humble opinion ‘The Satanist’ will be remembered as a milestone of black metal and it stands side by side with Venom’s ‘Black Metal’. I…
Wyrd is the underlying fabric in the Northern/Germanic cosmology. The laws of Wyrd supercede the will of the Gods, of men and all creatures. Wyrd provides the basic structure for the Nine Worlds, and manifests itself in Yggdrasil and the Well of Urdr. One can compare Wyrd to a song, there are many differnt ways…
In Times is the title of the thirteenth studio album by Norwegian extreme metallers, ENSLAVED. The hand-painted artwork for the new album was created by long time collaborator and the ‘sixth member of ENSLAVED’, Truls Espedal. The band has just released the first album trailer detailing the development of the artwork. Truls Espedal states:“Working with…
Entombed A.D.: Back in motion Entombed is a band that needs no introduction at all, they definitely shaped metal music especially death metal and have been since the very first amazing album “Left Hand Path” in 1990. It is now been 7 years between their late “Serpent Saints-The ten Amendments” in 2007 and their new…
Revocation: Art & Music are Deathless Since they formed back in 2000 in Boston, Massachusetts, Revocation have released five impressing records including the last one “Deathless”. Revocation’s music is not in any way predictable or common, it is in fact very diverse, intense and fascinating. It is death metal at the core but it is…
Pro-Show chat with Aeon’s guitarist Zeb Nillson Aeon has formed in Sweden and been together since 1999. They are becoming progressively bigger and a respected name in death metal. Alex Webster from Cannibal Corpse said about the band: “Aeon musicianship is among the best in death metal, but their songwriting is what truly sets them…
Blake Armstrong: Space Boy Charm I grew up in very a small town in Southern Illinois called Metropolis. I always loved to draw and paint in school – I wasn’t any good at sports so this was the only way to really get people’s attention. In High school I had my first real art teacher…
Central Pennsylvania-based retro rockers CROBOT worked with the producer Machine (CLUTCH, LAMB OF GOD, COBRA STARSHIP, GYM CLASS HEROES) on their new album Something Supernatural but the task of creating the artwork was left ‘in house’ as guitarist Chris Bishop happens to be a dab hand at art. We interviewed Chris and the guys recently…
This collection of essays, written between 1988-95, deals with aspects of the practice of magical evocation. My first lengthy foray into this much-misunderstood aspect of magic was a personal magical retirement inspired by accounts of magicians working the Abra-melin system, but perhaps more influenced in execution by the work of Austin Osman Spare and the…
Ryan Begley: Creativity made of soil, sun and water Born 1979 in Tisbury Massachusetts. The son of a Carpenter and a Nurse, owner and art director for two companies; Shirts & Destroy Inc. which produces limited edition T-shirts and merchandise for tattoo artists, Hardcore / Metal bands and Illustrators and his most recent endeavor ‘TrueBlack’…
SYLOSIS are set to release their fourth studio album Dormant Heart on the 12th of January 2015 and in anticipation of the release, we recorded a series of official album interviews with front man Josh Middleton. The second trailer is now online and sees Josh explaining the artwork for the new album, including where the…
Metal industrial machine Formed in Duesseldorf, Germany in 1980 by Juergen Engler and Ralf Dörper. Over the years they have produced krautrock-tinged metal-bashing industrial, old-school EBM, industrial electro and, most recently, industrial metal/Neue Deutsche härte. The band’s name comes from the Krupp dynasty – one of pre-war Germany´s main industrial families. This name was apparently…
Felipe Machado Franco: Fire & Fantasy Felipe Machado Franco has been the singer of Colombian bands like Thunderblast and Vorpal Nomad. However, the world of Metal music mainly knows him as the man behind striking cover artworks for Blind Guardian, Rage, Iced Earth, among many others. Through his digital brush he has created unique fantasy-based scenarios that have…
Earlier this month Belgian epic black metallers Saille revealed details of their forthcoming record ‘Eldritch’ which will be released on 10th November via Code666 Records. The band has since released a teaser video and offered some further insight into the album, discussing the writing, recording and artwork. “‘Eldritch’ differs quite a bit from our two…
The Osiris Club Sets the World on fire With their debut fresh on the shelves, this London outfit aims to blaze prog back into the spotlight. Multiple years after the original conception, The Osiris Club have finally arrived on the scene with their debut album Blazing World. Fusing elements from progressive rock and post punk…