My HeadBangers please welcome from South Auckland, New Zealand, the Metal/Hard Rock Band:

SHEPHERDS REIGN

“AIGA”

“Le Manu”

Let’s look at some bio on these tribal warriors, give to me by the band:

Tribal. Supremely talented. Fiercely noble. Richly proud.  Shepherds Reign are bringing their house to your ears, mind and heart, their power and passion unequivocal, their musical voices luminescent and majestic.  You’d do well to start paying attention…

Hailing from South Auckland New Zealand, and thus Polynesian by birth and blood, Filiva’a James (vocals and keytar), Gideon Voon (guitar), Oliver Leupolu (guitar/production), Shaymen Rameka (drums) and Joseph Oti-George (bass) are not playing games. Shepherds Reign is life, Shepherds Reign is survival, Shepherds Reign is mental and physical health and Shepherds Reign is what they are on this planet to do.  Their voice is their mighty, fearsome music and their vocation is to share with the world every aspect of lives and cultures deserve the international ear. Whether unleashing the raw, guttural tribal roar of “Aiga” or the biker-rough riffery which is “End of The Trial”, there is a special passion and power in every single note Shepherds reign share with the world, a rare presence which demands the world stage.

Shepherds Reign carry a motivation and execution which defies logic. Their videos have become a thing of independent heavy metal/hard rock legend, with narratives and production values which embarrass many an established international act, and in a covid19 era, they have managed to amass 2 million+ YouTube views with the video for “Le Manu”, whilst “Aiga”, released on December 5th 2020, has already amassed over 150,000 views.

As for their live show, Shepherds Reign are famous in Australia for their primal performance, one which evokes many aspects of their cultural heritage and fierce Polynesian pride. There’s the enormous intimidating presence of James, a towering hulk of humanity adorned with the shark tooth necklace (as are all the band members) who demands your full attention and gets it. Then there’s the gargantuan riffs and twisting dual melodies of Voon and Leupolu, whose virulent virtuosity is undeniable. Rounding out the sound is the crushing, bombastic Rameka/George rhythm section, which gives Shepherds Reign their propulsive, dynamic metal sound.

Here’s the truth.
Whether you choose to engage or not, Shepherds Reign’s raw passion, determination and sheer goddamn talent is going to be bringing them to major international stages worldwide as covid19 is wrangled.  Theirs’ is an inevitable journey.  You’d be doing yourself a favour to get on-board now before the train’s left the station and you’re kicking yourself black and blue…

“LEGEND”

Let’s meet the band:

Filiva’a James – Vocals and Keytar

Shaymen Rameka – Drums

Oliver Leupolu – Guitar/Production

Gideon Voon – Guitar

Joseph Oti-George – Bass

My Thoughts:

I have been looking at this band for awhile now and I finally had an open week and emailed them.  I was so happy when Oliver got back with me.  First, these guys met in High School and some at Music School.  The name Shepherds Reign to them is like a metaphor for each of them being a Shepherd that leads their flock whomever that may be.  You know I love to know how a band picks their name.  Thanks again to Oliver for getting back with me, I’m so glad you did.

As I said something kept drawing me back to this band.  I think my love of Nordic Folk Metal had peaked my interest because Shepherds Reign has kept the Tribal look and in their own words primal performance, cultural heritage and fierce Polynesian pride, that they carry into their music and gigs.  When I was in Finland, lucky enough to see the last Tuska Festival in 2019 before Covid, those Nordic bands just had me heart and soul and still do to this day.  That’s why I am always so interested in bands all over this planet that add their heritage to their music and Shepherds Reign does that.  Such a strong, hard performance.  You can see it in their videos, and feel it when the perform.  This Covid as really stopped bands from touring and it sucks.  I would love to see these guys in person and I have no doubt that when the world gets back to normal they will be touring.  Check them out on FB, Twitter, Instagram, they are everywhere.  You won’t be sorry, their music is killer…..

That’s it for this week my HeadBangers.  Join me next week for another band and another song.  In the meantime don’t stand to close to the fire if you can’t handle the burn…..

 

• Week 147 – Oct 22 – Shepherds Reign – Metal/Hard Rock – South Auckland, New Zealand
• Week 146 – Oct 15 – Shadow of Intent – Deathcore – Hartford, Connecticut
• Week 145 – Oct 8  –  Darzamat – Atmospheric Black Metal – Katowice, Poland
• Week 144 – Oct 1  –  Jungle Rot – Thrash/Death Metal – Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA
• Week 143 – Sep 24 – Lifechanger – Melodic Rock – Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Week 142 – Sep 17 – Testament – Thrash Metal – Berkeley, California
• Week 141 – Sep 10 – Bleed From Within – Heavy Metal – Glasgow, Scotland
• Week 140 – Sept 3  – At The Gates – Death Metal & More – Gothenburg, Sweden
• Week 139 – Aug 27 – The Soul Of Bushido – Thrash Metalcore – Lorraine, France
• Week 138 – Aug 20 – WoR – Aggressive Groove Metal – North Carolina, USA
• Week 137 – July 3 – Wolves In The Throne Room – Atmospheric Black Metal – Olympia, Washington
• Week 136 -June  26 – Deathbale – Postapocalyptic Viking Death Metal  – Germany
• Week 135 – June 19 – Repaid in Blood – Pure Fking Geek Metal Revisited – San Jose, Calif
• Week 134 –  June 5 – Wardruna – Dark Folk Metal – Bergen, Norway
• Week 133 – May 28 – Rotting Christ – Black Metal – Athens, Greece
• Week 132 – May 21 – Carmilla – Metal – Sverige, Sweden
• Week 131 – May 14 – Wake Up Frankie – Thrash/Rock/Metal – Helsinki, Finland
• Week 130 – May 7  – Disquiet – Melodic Death/Thrash – Utrecht, Netherlands
• Week 129 – Apr 30 – Thanatos – Extreme Thrash/Death Metal – Rotterdam, Netherlands
• Week 128 – Apr 23  – Arched Fire – Heavy Speed Metal – Lapland, Finland
• Week 127 – Apr 16 – The Haunted – Heavy/Melodic Death Metal – Gothenburg, Sweden
• Week 126 – Apr 9 –  Updates 
• Week 125 – Apr 2  –  All Taken – Hard Rock with a little Grunge – Los Angeles, California
• Week 124 – Mar 26 – Aeon Of Awareness – Melodic Death Metal – Germany (Song Review)
• Week 124 – Mar 25 – Scythian Fate – Dark Prog Thrash – Sydney/Melbourne – Australia
• Week 124 – Mar 24 – Hate & Deceit – Danish Melodic Death Metal – Slagelse, Denmark
• Week 123 – Mar 21 – Beyond the Pale – Dutch Metal – Utrecht, Netherlands
• Week 122 – Mar 12 – Thy Kingdom Will Burn – Melodic Death Metal – Kouvola, Suomi
• Week 121 – Mar 5 –  H.E.A.T. –  Hard Rock/Heavy Metal – Uppsland Väsby, Sweden              
• Week 120 – Feb 26 – Temple Balls – Hard Rock – Finland
• Week 119 – Feb 19 – Aeon of Awareness – Melodic Death Metal – Germany
• Week 118 – Feb 12 – Vreid – Black Metal / Black n Roll – Sogndal, Norway
• Week 117 – Feb 5 – Artilharia – Heavy/Melodic/Speed/Thrash Metal – Brazil
• Week 116 – Jan 29 – This week was for Alexi, COB, Rip my dear HeadBanger
• Week 115 – Jan 22 – Paradise Lost – Death/Doom/Gothic Metal – Halifax, West Yorkshire
• Week 114 – Jan 15 – Wintersun – Power/Folk/Melodic Death Metal – Helsinki, Finland
• Week 113 – Jan 1 – Dark Tranquillity – Melodic Death Metal – Gothenburg, Sweden
• Week 112 – Dec 25 – SepticFlesh – Greek Symphonic Metal – Athens, Greece
• Week 111 – Dec 18 – Die From Sorrow – Melodic Death Metal – Beijing, China
• Week 110 – Dec 11 – Fireproven – Progressive Metal – Finland
• Week 109 – Dec 4 – Wolfheart – Winter Metal – Myrskylä, Finland
• Week 108 – Nov 27 – Angelus Apatrida – Thrash – Albacete, Spain
• Week 107 – Nov 20 – Gojira – Heavy Metal – Bayonne, France
• Week 106 – Nov 13 – Enslaved – Prog/Black/Viking Metal – Sveio, Norway
• Week 105 – Nov 6 –  Like A Storm – Metal – Auckland, New Zealand

• Week 104 – Oct 30 – Firewind – Power/Heavy Metal – Thessaloniki, Greece
• Week 103 – Oct 23 – Shiraz Lane – Rock – Vantaa, Finland
• Week 102 – Oct 16 – The Agonist – Metal – Montreal, Canada

• Week 101 – Oct 9 – Butcher Babies – Heavy Metal – Los Angeles, CA
• Week 100 – Oct 3 – BaYaT – Alternative Rock – Novi Sad, Serbia 
• Week 98 –  Sept 25 – Dirt – Rock – Heksinki, Finland
• Week 98 –  Sept 18 – Unearth – MetalCore – Boston, Massachusetts
• Week 97 –  Sept 11 – Stratovarius – Power Metal – Finland
• Week 96 –  Sept 4 – SynlakrosS – Mel Death Metal – Valencia, Spain

• Week 95 – Aug 28 – Striker – New Wave Heavy Metal , Canada
• Week 94 – Aug 21 – Turisas – Metal –  Hämeenlinna, Finland
• Week 93 – Aug 14 – Tyr – Metal – Faroe Islands (Part of Denmark)
• Week 92 – Aug 7 –  After Release of EP – Interview with WuF, Kasperi Merilainen
• Week 91 – July 24 – Review of EP – Wake Up Frankie – Helsinki, Finland
• Week 90 – July 17 –  SPECIAL ON THRASH METAL BANDS
• Week 89 – July 13 – SPECIAL ON MELODIC DEATH METAL BANDS
• Week 88 – July 10 –  Hinayana Band – Melodic Death/Doom – Austin, Texas
• Week 87 –  July 3 –   Viikate – Rock/Metal – Kouvola, Finland
• Week 86 – June 26 – Lumberhead – Metal – Leipzig, Saxony (Germany)
• Week 85 – June 19 – Nidhoeggr – Pagan Death Metal – Bern, Switzerland
• Week 84 – June 12 – Aetherian – Dark Melodic Death Metal – Athens, Greece
• Week 83 – June 5 – Frosttide – Epic Dark Folk Metal – Jyväskylä, Finland
• Week 82 – May 29 – Amthrya – Advantgarde Death Black Metal – Italy
• Week 81 – May 22 – Suicidal Angels – Trash – Athens, Greece
• Week 80 – May 15 – Heart of Jordan – Alter Metal – Lansing, Michigan
• Week 79 – May 8 – Parasite, Inc. – Melodic Death Metal – Aalen, Germany
• Week 78 – May 1 – Wake Up Frankie – Grove/Trash/Rock – Helsinki, Finland
• Week 77 – Apr 24 – Abbath – Black Metal – Bergen, Norway
• Week 76 – Apr 17 – Entombed – Dark/Rock Death/Metal – Stockholm, Sweden
• Week 75 – Apr 10 – Cruish-Nir – Gothic/Doom – Romania
• Week 74 – Apr 3 – [Amatory] – MetalCore – St. Petersburg, Russia
• Week 73 – Mar 27 – Njord – Viking Rock – Sandviken, Sweden
• Week 72 – Mar 20 – Mystic Prophecy – Metal – Dortmund, Germany
• Week 71 – Mar 13 – Astralborne  – Melodic Death Metal – Toledo, Ohio
• Week 70 – Mar 6 –  Shakra – HardRock/Metal – Trub, Switzerland
• Week 69 – Feb 28 –  The Browning – Metal – Kansas City, Missouri
• Week 68 – Feb 21 –  Tempting Fate – Hard Rock/Metal – Los Angeles, California
• Week 67 – Feb 14 –  Dynazty – Hard Rock/Metal – Stockholm, Sweden
• Week 66 – Feb 7  –  Dreyelands – Melodic Progressive Metal – Budapest, Hungary
• Week 65 – Jan 31 – HoundWolf – Heavy Metal – Witten, Germany
• Week 64 – Jan 24 – Shadecrown – Melodic Death/Doom/Thrash Metal – Finland
• Week 63 – Jan 17 – Sea of Treachery – Heavy Metal – Cincinnati, OH
• Week 62 – Dec 21 – Immersed in Darkness – Black Metal – Brownsville, Texas
• Week 61 – Dec 14 – Skälmöld – Metal – Reykjavík, Iceland
• Week 60 – Dec 7  –  The Local Band – Rock – Helsinki, Finland
• Week 59 – Nov 30 – Re-Armed – Melodic Death/Thrash Metal – Kerava, Finland
• Week 58 – Nov 23 – Ashen Crown – Metal – West Midlands, UK
• Week 57 – Nov 16 – FEJD –  Swedish Folk – Trollhattan, Sweden
• Week 56 – Nov 9 – Forever Still – Hard Rock/Metal – Copenhagen, Denmark – This is where it all started.  ONE YEAR AGO, THEY WERE THE FIRST LET’S REVISIT
• Week 55 – Nov 2  –  Krigere Wolf – Black Death Metal – Catania, Sicily
• Week 54 – Oct 26 – Aephanemer – Melodic Death Metal – Toulouse, France
• Week 53 – Oct 19 – Infected Rain – Nu Metal/Nu Metalcore – Chișinău, Moldova
• Week 52 – Oct 12 – The Veer Union – Hard Rock/NuMetal – Vancouver, BC
• Week 51 – Oct 5 – Ligature Marks – Metal – Portland, Oregon
• Week 50 – Sept 28 – AEolian – Metal – Palma, Spain
• Week 49 – Sept 21 – Smorrah – Thrash/Death Metal – Gelsenkirchen, Germany
• Week 48 – Sept 14 – Beyond the Styx – Hardcore Metal – Tours, France
• Week 47 – Sept 7 – Brackish Tide –  Metal – Somerset County, MD
• Week 46 –  August 31 – Kryptos – Old School Heavy Metal – Bangalore, India
• Week 45 – August 24 – Spyder Volt – Alternative Rock – Laredo, Texas
• Week 44 –  August 17 – Descent of The ArchAngel – Underground Metalcore – US
• Week 43 –  August 10 – Dark Messiah – Heavy Metal – Winnipeg, Canada
• Week 42 –   August 3 – Arcsin -Modern Melodic Progressive Metal – Miami, FL 
• Week 41 –  July 27 –  Methane Metal – Southern Thrash Metal – Sweden/Jersey
• Week 40 –  July 20 –  Bloodred Hourglass – Melodic Death/Thrash – Mikkeli, FI
• Week 39 –  July 13 –  Atarka – Metal – Birmingham, UK. 
• Week 38 –  July 6   –  Silverbullet Band – Symp Heavy Metal – Riihimaki, Suomi
• Week 37 –  June 29 –  Hammer Down Hard – New Age Hard Rock/Metal
• Week 36 – June 22 –  Syth Glasgow – Old School Metal – Glasgow, Scotland
• Week 35 –  June 15  – Virtues – Metalcore – Brisbane, Australia
• Week 34 –  June 8  –  Vovkulaka  – Dark Angry Evil Metal – Odessa, Ukraine
• Week 33 –  June 1  –  Executioner  – Hardcore Thrash – San Antonio, Texas
• Week 32 – May 25 – Night Shadow – Power/Speed Metal – San Diego, California
• Week 31 – May 18 – Primitive Machine – Rock, Dublin City, Ireland
• Week 30 – May 11 – Daggerplay – Punk, R&R, Power Pop, Helsinki, Finland
• Week 29 – May 4 –  Kalmo – Finnish Doom Metal – Kerava, Finland
• Week 28 – April 27 – Repaid in Blood – Pure Fucking Geek Metal – San Jose, CA     

• Week 27 – April 20 – Arch Enemy – Melodic Death Metal – Halmstad, Sweden 
• Week 26 – April 13 – Falling Into Red – Hard Alter Rock – Pittsburg, PA
• Week 25 – April 6 – Tulsadoom – Evil Barbaric Heavy Thrash – Vienna, Austria 
• Week 24 – March 30 – Dream Troll – Old School Rock – Leeds, England
• Week 23 – March 23 – The 69 Eyes – Goth & Roll – Helsinki Finland
• Week 22 – March 16 – Ghost Season – Alternative Metal – Athens, Greece
• Week 21 – March 9 – Vane – Pirate Melodeath Metal – Poland
• Week 20 – March 2 – Ravenscroft – Rock – Orange, California
• Week 19 – Feb 23 –  Love Machine – Heavy Rock – Milano, Italy
• Week 18 – Feb 16 – Children of Bodom – Melodic Death Metal – Espoo, Finland
• Week 17 – Feb 9 – 10 Gauge – Hard Rock – England, UK
• Week 16 – Feb 2 – Everlit – Hard Rock – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Week 15 – Jan 26 – Victim of Illusion – Progressive Rock – Turin, Italy
• Week 14 – Jan 19 – September Sky – Alternative Metal – Indianapolis, Indiana
• Week 13 – Jan 12 – The Edge of Reason – Post Hardcore – Regensburg, Germany
• Week 12 – January 1, 2019 New Years Day – The HU BAND – MONGOLIA
• Week 11 – Dec 29 – Apocalyptica – Rock/Metal – Helsinki, Finland
• Week 10 – Dec 22 – Hidden Scars – Prog/Indus Metal – Las Vegas, Nevada
• Week  9 –  Dec 15 – In Hell – Black Death Metal – Lille, France
• Week  8 –  Dec 08 – Fireproven – Prog Death Metal – Tampere, Finland
• Week  7 – Nov 30 – Amon Amarth – Death Metal – Tumba, Sweden
• Week  6 – Nov 23 – Chernobyls Uterus – Grindcore Metal – Pripyat, Ukraine
• Week  5 – Nov 17 – Five Finger Death Punch – Metal – Las Vegas, Nevada
• Week  4 – Nov 10 – Universal Theory – Gothic Metal – Madrid, Spain
• Week  3 – Nov 03 – Mawcore – Hard Rock/Metal – Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
• Week  2 – Oct 27 – Sin7 Band – Heavy Metal – Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Week  1 – Oct 20 – Forever Still – Hard Rock/Metal – Copenhagen, Denmark

 

My HeadBangers please welcome the Deathcore Band from Hartford, Connecticut:

SHADOW OF INTENT

“From Ruin…We Rise”

“Intensified Genocide”

Well my HeadBangers what do you think?  I’m not saying anything right now cause if I start I’ll keep going and I want you to hear about these guys from my home state.  Let’s look at some bio:

In 2013 Ben Duerr and guitarist Chris Wiseman met playing in separate bands at a local concert. The group was initially formed as a studio project. They were inspired by Halo and the name “Shadow of Intent” came from a ship in the game series bearing the same name. Duerr describes himself as a Halo nerd and stated that their music follows the storyline of the Halo novels.  They are not signed to a label and have released their albums independently. They have released three studio albums to date, along with two instrumental versions of previous releases.

The group released their EP Inferi Sententia on July 18, 2014 and debut album Primordial on January 10, 2016. The tracks on both albums were produced via homemade recordings. All of the tracks on Inferi Sententia were re-recorded and featured on Primordial. The drum tracks are programmed on both releases. Keyboard and orchestral samples are also present on these releases.

Duerr was responsible solely for writing and performing the lead vocals during the production process while Wiseman was responsible for all of the remaining songwriting.

On September 19, 2016 they announced the addition of Matt Kohanowski on drums, marking the end of the group’s time as a two-man project. On March 31, 2017 they announced the addition of new members Federico Zuccarelli on guitar and Keith Kohlhepp on bass. This brought the total members of the group to five.

On April 28, 2017 Shadow of Intent released Reclaimer, their first album without programmed drum tracks and the first album to feature a unique player on each instrument. It reached #4 on the iTunes metal chart at debut. It was described by MetalSucks as “nothing short of a triumph of symphonic deathcore”.

The band released The Instrumentals on October 20, 2017. The album contained instrumental versions of all of the songs from both of the preceding albums.

“Malediction”

In December 2017, Shadow of Intent began touring with their now four-man lineup. They played their first live shows at the Webster Theater in Hartford CT and at the Gramercy Theater in New York City.

On March 30, 2018, they released their first single ‘Underneath a Sullen Moon’. This was the first track which was not Halo-themed and their second released track which did not begin with the word ‘The.’ The band went on their first major tour in the Spring of 2018 supporting Carnifex on their Chaos & Carnage tour headliner. Oceano, Winds of Plague, Archspire, Spite, Widowmaker and Buried Above Ground accompanied Shadow of Intent on this tour. In the Summer of 2018, the band toured alongside Whitechapel, The Black Dahlia Murder, Fleshgod Apocalypse, and Aversions Crown.

On December 14, 2018, the group announced that Anthony Barone would be joining the group as their drummer.

On August 16, 2019 Shadow of Intent released Melancholy which included a remastered version of the aforementioned single as one of the tracks on the album. Francesco Ferrini of Fleshgod Apocalypse contributed to the orchestral work on this album. Melancholy has been described as a concept album depicting mass suicides orchestrated by a demonic goddess. This album marked a departure from writing strictly Halo-themed music. An instrumental version of Melancholy was also released on November 22, 2019.

In the Winter of 2020, the band performed on their first major headlining tour throughout the United States accompanied by Inferi, Signs of the Swarm, and Brand of Sacrifice.

On November 8, 2020 the group announced they were parting ways with Anthony Barone and that Bryce Butler would be replacing him.

In October, The band announced their fourth studio album, Elegy, for a January 2022 release.

Let’s meet the band:

Ben Duerr – Lead Vocals (2013-present)

Chris Wiseman – Guitars, Backing Vocals, Programming (2013-present)

Andrew Monias – Bass, Backing Vocals (2018-present)

Bryce Butler – Drums (2020-present)

My Thoughts:

Never in a million years did I think I would hear growl vocals like this from an American Band, and I am still in shock.  This band has everything you look for in a Metal Band.  It has the rough, fast sound of the instruments and those vocals.  I’ve never heard a voice that leaves me speechless, lol, and that says a lot.  I have see some of the best growl vocalist, Tomi Joutsen of Amorphis, Jarkko Koukonen of Bloodred Hourglass and Mathias”Vreth” Lillmåns of Finntroll.  Ben Duerr, has these vocals that draw me like a moth to the flame.  They are so deep, but yet so clear, how he can hold that sound is amazing, and not to be taken for granted.  Just to maintain that voice and keep it in shape is not easy.  It is something that must be taken care of if it’s to last.  Growl vocals date back to 800 BC, I am 100 into my growl vocals.  This band has impressed me so much with their songs and the energy they bring to the stage.  I hope they tour my way, I would love to see them at a gig.  There are bands and then there are great bands.  I know this band is meant for greater things.  I know this year with Covid and now the Variant and Flu, and the list goes on, but to all the Metal Bands, do not give up, keep doing your thing, trust me the best has yet to come…..

That’s it for this week my HeadBangers.  Join me next week for another band and another song, until then don’t stand to close to the fire if you can’t handle the burn…..

 

My HeadBangers please welcome from Katowice, Poland the Atmospheric Black Metal Band:

DARZAMAT

“The Sleeping Prophet”

“The Great Blaze”

My HeadBangers there is nothing that stirs my blood more than the sound of the guitar and bass that is part of European bands.  It is such a different sound, I have tried to explain it so many times but if you can’t hear it my explaining it falls on deft ears.  Some people have “the ear”, I have been told I have it.  Basically what it means is that a person can tell where a band comes from by the sound of their instruments.  To me it is plain as day, to others they can’t tell the difference.  When I hear my European, Nordic Bands it just makes me come alive.  It is such a rush, like water to a person dying of thirst.  That may sound dramatic but that is how it makes me feel.  There’s nothing else that can compare to it for me.

Let’s look at some bio on this incredibly talented band:

Darzamat is a Polish atmospheric black metal band, founded in 1995. After a few initial releases the founding member Flauros (vocals) managed to gather musicians who have since been identified as the band’s core: guitar players Chris and Daamr, female vocalist Nera and keyboard player Spectre. The album Semidevilish, released in 2004, established the sound of the newly consolidated band and gave it strength to start appearing more regularly on stage.

The following year saw the release of Transkarpatia. The album, produced by Andy LaRocque, the guitar force behind King Diamond. As a result, the name Darzamat started to be featured on posters for such European festivals as Rock Hard Open, Wave Gothic Treffen, Hard Rock Laager, S-Hammer Festival, Last Night on Earth, Dong Open Festival, Moscow After Midnight and Metal Head Mission. At that time, the band found themselves performing for an ever widening circle of audiences in Balkan states, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Belgium, Holland, Italy, France and Germany. Also around that time Darzamat embarked on tours supporting Sabaton in Benelux countries and Moonspell in Poland.

The year 2007 saw the band perform on Winternachtstraum Festival and on the 21st edition of the venerable Polish Metalmania Festival, organized since the 1980s. This performance was documented on the DVD album Live Profanity (Visiting the Graves of the Heretics) was released internationally.

In the 2009 Darzamat landed a worldwide record deal with Massacre Records, a German label, and delivered the fifth album of its career, Solfernus’ Path, also made available in Japan. This  marked the first time the band ever ventured into a concept album territory. Andy LaRocque moved from the production seat to the guest-musician spot and contributed a solo on ‘The King of the Burning Anthems’. The song, along with two other ones—’Pain Collector’ and ‘Chimera’—was selected to promote the album and all three were made into videos. Darzamat toured in Poland, Mexico, France, Czech Republic, Ukraine and Belgium, then returned to Poland to make an appearance at the Castle Party Festival.

In 2011 the band took a long break. Nera used her time away to focus on her solo project, NeraNature, which features gentler, atmospheric rock laced with electronics. She delivered three albums, with the latest one, MagJa, released in 2018. Flauros, on the other hand, decided to bring back the black metal act Mastiphal. In 2011 Parvzya (Witching Hour) was released, the first new full-length since the 1995 debut For a Glory of All Evil Spirits.

In 2019 Darzamat announced a new album “The Burning Kingdom”. The fans can expect another concept album, picking up the story right where its predecessor left off. Flauros, the main creative force behind the work, has revealed that this chapter takes place in London and that the lyrics for the album were penned by him and a long-time friend and writer, Jesion Kowal. Musically, the album opens a new era in Darzamat’s history: gone are the keyboards, up till now characteristically prominent. In their place the band inserts more diversified and complex guitar sounds. Pre-production and recording sessions for The Burning Kingdom were overseen by Maurycy Stefanowicz of Vader fame; production and mixing were handled by one of the most talented Polish producers, Jaroslaw Baran. The record was due for release in 2020.

Let’s meet the band:

Rafal “Flauros” Góral – Vocals (1995-present)

Agnieszka “Nera” Górecka – Vocals (2003-present)

Krzysztof “Chris” Michalak – Guitar (2001-present)

Marek “Markus” Tkocz – Bass (2009-present)

My Thoughts:

As I said at the beginning, the sound of this band stirs my blood and calls to me.  As one that has had the pleasure to hear many European/Nordic Bands live, unless you can experience it you don’t know what you are missing.   Don’t get me wrong American Bands always bring their game as you can see by the ones that are on the blog.  As a metal blogger I’m not supposed to be partial to one type of metal, band, or country they hail from, however, it maybe because one side of my grandparents were from Belgium the other side from Canada, maybe just something in the blood.  Either way  Euro/Nordic Bands just play and I follow, that’s just how it is.  As with Darzamat, there is something in the sound, in the words, that gets me on another level.  Music is not just music to me.  It’s so many things, it’s the bigger part of my life.  It keeps me sane in this time of confusion, the mess this planet is in.  The one thing that is always there, any day and any time is the music.  I can close my eyes and let it take me where ever it wants, like I said it’s more than just music, more than just sound.  It’s life to me, it’s the most important thing….. 

That’s it for this week my HeadBangers.  Join me next week for another band and another song.  In the meantime don’t stand to close to the fire if you can’t handle the burn…..

 

My HeadBangers please welcome from Kenosha, Wisconsin USA the Thrash/Death Metal Band:

JUNGLE ROT

“A Burning Cinder”

“Terror Regime”

Well my HeadBangers what do you think of these guys???!!!  Again I found another band that’s been around a long time, but as usual I didn’t know about them.  So with that being said let’s look at some bio on this fine oiled machine called Jungle Rot, gotta love it:

Jungle Rot was founded in 1992 as a side project by Jim Harte and Joe Thomas, members of the Illinois thrash metal act, Prisoner. The band’s name refers to Jungle Rot, an infection of the skin that occurs in tropical climates. The band recorded their first demo Rip Off Your Face, a fun offering of immature death metal heavily influenced by the likes of S.O.D. and Celtic Frost. Then, they acquired Kenosha-based guitarist Dave Matrise (Num Skull, Nocturnal, Fatal Violence) in 1993. It was not until 1994 when Matrise took over that the band got serious and started to take off. The band refined their style and released their second demo Skin The Living in 1995, which is the year Matrise acknowledges the band began.

After their first two demos, the band was signed to the American independent label Pure Death Records, owned at the time by Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed, where they released their first album, a repackaging of their second demo Skin The Living, in 1996. In late 1997, their second album, Slaughter the Weak was released on independent label Pulverizer Records.

The EP Darkness Foretold was released in 1998 by the small label S.O.D. Records, which was spearheaded by the creator of the underground music magazine Sounds of Death, and featured covers of Slayer’s “Fight Til Death” and Carnivore’s “Jesus Hitler”. The initial pressing of Darkness Foretold came with a limited edition Jungle Rot Comic Book. The next two full-length studio albums, 2001’s Dead And Buried and 2004’s Fueled By Hate were released by Olympic Recordings in partnership with Century Media Records.

In 2005, the current core of Jungle Rot came together when Matrise enlisted the talents of Chicago native James Genenz (Fleshgrind, Avernus, Dead For Days, Reign Inferno, God Dementia) on bass guitar and Geoff Bub (Destiss, Putrid Dissentary) on guitar.  With songwriting duties now shared between the three members, and the bulk of the lyrics being forthwith written by Genenz, Matrise was now able to take his band to the next level.

“Paralyzed Prey”

Touring ensued with bands like Deicide, Goatwhore, Cattle Decapitation, Krisiun, The Black Dahlia Murder, 25 Ta Life, Hate Eternal, Incantation and Vital Remains. In mid-2006, the band released the album Warzone on Crash Music. This recording marked the first album to feature the now current Jungle Rot core of Matrise, Genenz, and Bub. In 2008, they headlined a European tour with support from Warmaster, Downswitch, and Walking Corpse.

The band signed with Napalm Records in January 2009 and released What Horrors Await in June 2009. A European tour with Six Feet Under followed shortly thereafter along with a headlining run across the United States. In April 2011, the band signed with Victory Records and released Kill on Command on June 21, 2011.  On March 19, 2013, Jungle Rot released their eighth album through Victory Records, titled Terror Regime. The band went on tour to support the album with metal groups including Suffocation, Obituary, Broken Hope and Decrepit Birth.

On April 14, 2015 it was announced that Jungle Rot would be playing the entirety of the 2015 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, and performing on the Victory Records stage.

In early 2015 the band played the prestigious 70000 Tons of Metal cruise, and announced via their social media that they were working on their ninth studio album, Order Shall Prevail, to be released later in the year on Victory Records. Pre-orders for the album were announced on May 26, along with the album’s track listing, release date of June 30, and a stream for the single “Paralyzed Prey.” On May 27, 2015 it was revealed that Max Cavalera (Sepultura, Soulfly, Conspiracy) would be lending his vocals on the track “Fight Where You Stand”. On June 29 the official music video for the single “Paralyzed Prey” premiered on Vevo.

On March 7, 2016 Jungle Rot released a video for the track “Doomsday” via Victory Records. The band was also announced as part of the 2016 edition of the Metal Alliance Tour alongside Dying Fetus and The Acacia Strain.

In the summer of 2017, Jungle Rot completed a successful US and Canada tour with legendary German thrash band Destruction and California’s Warbringer, performed in Central America, headlining shows in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Mexico; and announced that they would be entering the studio in January 2018 to record their 10th studio album to be released in mid-2018. It was also revealed that former drummer Jesse Beahler would perform the drums on this new album.

On June 8, 2018, the band announced the upcoming release of their self-titled tenth album. Two singles were released in June 2018: “A Burning Cinder” and “Fearmonger”, the latter featuring guest vocal contributions from Destruction frontman Schmier. The album was released on Digipak CD, vinyl, and limited cassette on July 20, 2018.

June 2018, bassist/lyricist James Genenz was assaulted by a group of individuals during the late night hours outside his place of employment which left him with multiple injuries including a shattered ankle. After 2 surgeries, James was forced to sit out of the entirety of touring for the remainder of 2018 which included a North American jaunt with Havok and Extinction AD.  In the spring of 2019, James regrouped with the band and they hit the road starting in Europe with a headlining tour with openers Ultra-Violence, where the band played through Austria, Slovakia, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Great Britain and Holland. Jungle Rot returned to the states and immediately hit the road with Deicide, Origin, and The Absence for another month before turning around and heading back to Europe for a few weeks. During this run Jungle Rot performed headlining shows in Holland, Sweden, Poland, Germany, France, Hungary, Czech Republic and made appearances at the metal festivals Brutal Assault, Party San Open Air, Stonehenge Festival, and Poet Fest. Jungle Rot returned home and performed at the Full Terror Assault Festival in Illinois and a hometown show before beginning to work on their next album.

Spenser Syphers was announced as the new permanent drummer for Jungle Rot in June 2019.

Due to the Covid pandemic, much of the live activities for Jungle Rot have been cancelled this year. The band has instead finished writing their 10th studio album with plans to record in October and November, to be released by an undisclosed label in 2021.

They have a long history, but I felt I should tell all of it because they earned every fking year of it.  So now are we ready to meet these guys, who play an aggressive style of thrash influenced death metal and are known to slow stomp melodies into their speed-thrash style. Most of the lyrical subjects deal with war, torture, murder, death, and corruption.  Hey what more could we ask for?

Spenser Syphers – Drums (2019-present)

Dave Matrise – Guitars, Vocals (1994-present)

Geoff Bub – Guitars (2005-present)

James Genenz – Bass (2005-present) and Guitars (2004-2005)

 

My Thoughts:

My HeadBangers know I love a band with history and Jungle Rot has history.  I also love a band that sings about problems on this planet with a side order of darker things that plague this world.  Jungle Rot is all that and more. Their videos are excellent, check them out on UTube. Without question love those vocals and when I watch Dave, that face with those vocals I have to admit he’s got them down, oh did I mention the hair yep you all know how I am with the hair, the longer the better.  It does get cold up there in Wisconsin and winter is coming.  Someone please tell me how they came up with this name, it’s driving me crazy.  My hope and wish is that Covid and all its variants will become manageable, I don’t believe that it will ever totally go away.  To many bands, and other jobs, have been affected and we all feel the need to be free again.  To go to that first gig and hear the band and the MetalHeads going wild, I miss it, we all miss it, but it will come.  Some places are already starting to open up and allowing gigs.  The world is in turmoil, an I ask Jungle Rot to keep singing guys, help us get through this mess. You have just added another fan.  

Well my HeadBangers that’s it for this week.  Join me next week for another band and another song.  In the meantime don’t stand to close to the fire if you can’t handle the burn.

 

My HeadBangers welcome from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, the Melodic/Hard Rock Band:

Lifechanger

“Information Overload”

Let’s take a look at how this band started given to me by Wouter Smit:

Lifechanger started in 2017 as a music project by Wouter Smit (main composer and lead guitarist) and Peter Moltmaker (lead vocalist).

Wouter had been a guitarist in several local hardrock bands (Overlord, Wild Vinx) and wrote several songs.  Wouter: “As a writer, composer and guitar player I am influenced by different bands like Thin Lizzy, Queensryche, Whitesnake, Symphony X, Threshold, and guitar players like Eddie van Halen, Gary Moore, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Sykes, Tony MacAlpine, Vito Bratta, Greg Howe, Nuno Bettencourt, and Dan Huff, among others.”

Peter had starred in several musical theater productions and had worked with Arjen Lucassen of Ayreon on the Theater Equation project, starring James Labrie (Dream Theater), Marcela Bovio (stream of Passion), Irene Jansen (Star One) Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering), Joost van den Broek (After Forever), Marcel Coenen ( Sun Caged)  and many others.

Together they started recording the songs Wouter had written and also wrote some songs together, resulting in the first Lifechanger Album, that was released in 2017. The album got great reviews on the debut CD like this one: https://www.decibelgeek.com/lifechanger-lifechanger-album-review/  where they had a lot of great remarks, quote: ” The opening track “Information Overload” immediately hits you with this incredible piercing guitar tone that highlights the awesome production.  Great vocal overall, but would be a radio hit if it had those big Def Leppard backing vocals.  Excellent epic sounding opener.”

The band got great reactions of melodic rock and hardrock fans, and in 2019 they recorded their first music video for the song “Sara”.

“Sara”

Because the song “Information Overload” got a lot of reactions from fans, a video was created for that song too in 2020:
https://youtu.be/uWE3RwJH3us

Meanwhile the band began writing new songs for a follow-up album, with more metal-style songs, some epic songs and some songs leaning more towards melodic hardrock.

But then in 2020 the pandemic started, which was the cause of gigs being cancelled, and of several band members getting other priorities.  At this moment (September 2021) the songwriting is mainly done by founder Wouter Smit, and he will also write new songs together with Peter Moltmaker in the near future.  Songs are currently recorded as demo versions.

Let’s meet the band:

Peter Moltmaker is the lead singer of the Lifechanger Band. Peter gained his experience as a singer in several theater productions, among which “The Theater Equation” by Ayreon.  Peter’s own words: “I began singing at an early age. My family stimulated me to follow singing lessons at the age of 17. As a classically trained singer, I have participated in many opera productions. As a former member of a musical group, I have given a number of solo performances in the theater. My musical interest however is broader. As a singer I am mostly influenced by (progressive) metal singers like Russel Allen, Jorn Lande, Geoff Tate and James Labrie, among others.”

Wouter Smit is guitarist in the Lifechanger Band. Together with Peter Moltmaker he wrote the songs for the first Lifechanger CD, producing and recording the band’s first demo’s in the process. Wouter’s own words: “After I got classical guitar lessons at age 11, my first live performances were as a guitarist in punk rock bands at age 16. Soon I started playing different hardrock and metal styles. After several years playing in different hardrock bands and doing some studio work, I wanted to create my own songs and compositions. As a writer, composer and guitar player I am influenced by different bands like Thin Lizzy, Queensryche, Whitespace, Symphony X, Threshold, and guitar players like Eddie van Halen, Gary Moore, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Sykes, Tony MacAlpine, Vito Bratta, Greg Howe, Nuno Bettencourt, and Dan Huff, among others.”

Daan van Zelm is guitarist in the Lifechanger Band. Before Lifechanger he has played with several bands and projects like Avalanche, Anne Groen and InPetto. With this he has gained a lot of live experience in various rooms including the Milky Way, P3 Purmerend and Patronaat Haarlem. Furthermore, his band Avalanche has an EP and a number of self-recorded demos with works written largely by Daan. Music he is listening to is 80’s rock bands like Iron Maiden, Queensryche and Bon Jovi. Also, records from Tool, Gojira and Pink Floyd are played gray. With Lifechanger, Daan has found a new band for extensive live performances, and to contribute his own musical stuff to any new work of Lifechanger.

Miguel Corrales is the bass guitar player in Lifechanger. Miguel picked bass inspired by his brother in law and joined some friends to form a band called Herejes when he was 17 in Southern Spain. After a long break due to course of life came back to music scene in Amsterdam where he played original music of Herr Blitz and T.U.B.T. alongside 90’s Rock cover projects like Sunday Eve of The Conservatives.  By joining Lifechanger he has renewed his love for Hard Rock and Heavy Metal and rejoined the inspiration of his earlier influences like Iron Maiden, Dio, Whitesnake and of course Barón Rojo (Volumen Brutal is a must-know album to understand Heavy Rock in Spain in the 80’s).

Arjen van Alphen is the drummer of Lifechanger.

My Thoughts:

I love the story of how this band started, unlike guys that start in the garage at 16, they were in the adult world at jobs like most of us.  Two people meet and with the love of the music and some hard work have made a band.  Then bam 2020 and Covid, the world as we know it stops, everything changes, bands have no gigs.  But with this down time most bands have retreated to their inspirational places and begin to write new songs.  When gigs start back up totally again we my HeadBangers will be in for a world of new music.  Until then we wait and listen to everything we can, and some old favorites.  In the meantime, my job is to find bands you haven’t heard of and bring them to you.  So here we are, listen and enjoy.  I’ll keep you updated with any news or new music I hear.

That’s it for this week my HeadBangers.  Join me next week for another band and another song.  Until then don’t stand to close to the fire if you can’t handle the burn…..

 

My HeadBangers welcome from Oakland, California; the Thrash Metal Band:

TESTAMENT

“Rockpalast”

“Pol’and’Rock Festival 2019

OMG another band that I just found out about, yes I know sacrilege, for a band that’s been around since 1983, well we live and learn don’t we my HeadBangers.  That’s why I’m here, finding my way through all the bands this planet has to offer.  This Thrash Band has really gotten my attention.  38 years on the stage and I am totally captured by this band and the high energy performances they continue to give.  These are some hard core men my HeadBangers.  And I love my men hard core and rough around the edges, please what else is there FFS.  Now let’s look at some bio on these guys.

Testament is an American Thrash band from Oakland, California.   The band was formed in 1983 under the name Legacy, the band’s current lineup comprises guitarists Eric Peterson and Alex Skolnick, lead vocalist Chuck Billy, drummer Gene Hoglan, and bassist Steve Di Giorgio. Testament has experienced many lineup changes over the years, with Peterson being the only remaining original member, though they have since been rejoined by one of its songwriters Skolnick, who was out of the band from 1992 to 2005. Billy replaced original singer Steve Souza who left the band in 1986, prior to the recording of their first studio album, The Legacy, and has been a member of the band since. He and Peterson are the only members to appear on all of Testament’s studio albums, with the latter being the only constant member overall.

Labeled as one of the “big six” of the 1980s Bay Area thrash metal scene,  Testament is often credited as one of the most popular and influential bands of the thrash metal scene, as well as one of the leaders of the second wave of the genre in the late 1980s. They have also been referred to as one of the “big eight” of thrash metal, along with Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, Exodus, Overkill and Death Angel.

The band has sold over 1.4 million albums in the United States since the beginning of the SoundScan era and over 14 million copies worldwide. To date, Testament has released thirteen studio albums (one of which is a Collection of re-recorded songs), four live albums, five compilation albums, twelve singles and three DVDs. After signing to Atlantic Records in 1986, and changing their name from Legacy to Testament, they released their debut album The Legacy in 1987, followed a year later by The New Order (1988); both albums were acclaimed by critics and the press, including heavy metal-related publications. The band achieved mainstream popularity with its third album Practice What You Preach (1989), which was Testament’s first album to climb up the Top 100 on the Billboard 200 chart.

A string of more successful albums were released during the early-to-mid-1990s, including Souls of Black (1990),  The Ritual (1992) and Low (1994), with the first two also entering the Top 100 on the Billboard 200 chart. After Atlantic dropped the band in 1995, Testament (who had at this point had begun to experiment with a death metal-influenced sound) continued to record and perform until their temporary hiatus in 2001, when Billy was diagnosed with cancer. By 2005, his cancer was in remission and Testament had resumed activity, which briefly saw a reunion of The Legacy lineup and member changes in the interim.

Since Skolnick’s return to the band, Testament has experienced a resurgence of popularity, with two of their studio albums—Dark Roots of Earth (2012) and Brotherhood of the Snake (2016)—entering the Top 20 on the Billboard 200, and they have continued to tour consistently.  The band released their latest studio album, Titans of Creation, on April 3, 2020. They are working on new material for their next studio album as of 2021.

The band, along with Exodus and Death Angel, took part in The Bay Strikes Back tour of Europe in February and March 2020. Following the tour, Chuck Billy and his wife Tiffany tested positive for COVID-19, making him the third person to have contracted the virus during the tour following Will Carroll of Death Angel and Gary Holt of Exodus. Bassist Steve Di Giorgio was later diagnosed with COVID-19, becoming the second member of Testament to have tested positive for the condition.

So as you can see Covid can get anyone at anytime, and it is everywhere.

“Practice What You Preach – 1989”

Let’s meet the band:

 

Eric Peterson – guitars, backing vocals (1983-present)

Chuck Billy – lead vocals (1986-present)

Alex Skolnick – guitars, backing vocals (1983-1992, 2005-present)

Gene Hoglan – drums (1996-1997, 2011-present)

Steve Di Giorgio – bass (1998-2005, 2014-present), backing vocals (2014-present)

My Thoughts:

As a true metalhead, headbanger, hardrocker, do you ever hear a band for the first time and ask yourself “How the hell have I never heard this band before??”  That’s how I feel about these guys.  In my defense there’s no way I could listen to every band at once.  Every band on the blog gets a week of my life, I breathe, eat, and sleep them.  This is why I do what I do.  It’s so interesting looking behind the scenes of a band.  There’s always so much more than just the music, even though that’s all most people care about.  There are good times, bad times, times they struggle with that one song to make it right, band mates leaving and new ones coming, struggles with money, and personalities just like the rest of us.  However, they have the talent, drive, and desire to put all that emotion into a sound that sends us HeadBangers into the fire!  That’s what this band does to me, I’m standing really close to the fire.    The vocals, the energy and pure excitement on all their faces when they are on stage doing their thing, you can feel it.  I’m so glad they have stuck with it over almost 4 decades, and they are still tearing that stage up.  They really are the heart of Thrash and I absolutely love it.  Keep banging it out guys and I’ll be listening.

That’s it for this week my HeadBangers.  Join me next week for another band and another song.  Until then don’t stand to close to the fire if you can’t handle the burn…..

 

My HeadBangers, welcome from Glasgow, Scotland the Heavy Metal Band:

BLEED FROM WITHIN

“Into Nothing”

“Crown Of Misery”

Let’s look at some bio on these guys, 

Bleed from Within is a Scottish Heavy Metal band from Glasgow, Scotland, formed in 2005. The band has released five studio albums and three EPs, with their latest “Fracture” released on 29 May 2020 through Century Media Records.

That’s the short version, but you know I like to dig a little into the back ground from the beginning so here we go.

The band formed in Glasgow where they met at a youth club where they would cover Lamb of God songs.^] The first tour that brought them large scale exposure was in 2010 when they supported Sylosis and While She Sleeps on the Metal Hammer Razor Tour.  Early in their career, Bleed from Within also toured with  Soilwork, All That Remains, Suicide Silence and Rise to Remain, among others.

In August 2012, the band signed to Century Media Records. Their talks with the label started when they were approached after their performance at the 2011 Graspop festival in Belgium, where they were called up as a replacement.  After its announcement Bleed From Within issued a very positive statement about their opportunity to join the label’s roster: “Century Media have always been a powerhouse in bringing cutting edge new music to the world and we will endeavor to live up to the name.” Between September and November 2012, the band supported While She Sleeps across the UK and co-headlined a tour around Europe with Bury Tomorrow. They supported Moss May I,  on their UK tour in November/December, before starting their studio sessions.

In March 2013, the band completed their first tour of the year, supporting Testament in mainland Europe. Singer Scott Kennedy commented on the difficulty of performing to Testament’s crowd citing the older average age of the audience and their lack of familiarity with Bleed from Within’s music, but also stated that he felt the band had won over the crowd eventually.

Well we will take a look at TESTAMENT, next week.  Every band has it’s hardcore fans.  I can see where a newer band would feel like this.  So come back next week and we will see the difference in these 2 bands.

On 25 March 2013, Bleed from Within’s third studio album “Uprising” was released on Century Media. Kennedy, when commenting on the album, said that “While it’s angry, it’s still positive. It’s about looking to the light and realizing that you’re the only person who can make a difference in your life.” The drums and vocals were recorded with producer Romesh Dodangoda and guitars and bass with Adam Getgood of Periphery. Uprising had two music videos; one for the album’s lead single “It Lives in Me” and another for the title track. The album was later made available as a stream prior to its release. It also charted in the United Kingdom at number 13 on the UK Rock Chart. Critically, the album was well received and praised for its improved production and improved songwriting but was also criticized for offering very little in the way of innovation. To promote the album, the band embarked on a headlining tour of the UK.

In June 2013, Bleed from Within supported “Megadeth” on their four date tour of the United Kingdom. The band stated their excitement about the opportunity to support Megadeth, with Kennedy commenting “As a metal band, to go and support any of the Big 4 is something I never, ever though would happen”.  Their performances with Megadeth were met with widespread critical acclaim despite reports of ambivalent crowd reactions with English music journalist Malcolm Dome commenting that “You have to feel sorry for Bleed From Within, they get no more than polite attention from the crowd, and they deserve more”. Later in the month, the band was awarded British publication ‘Metal Hammer’s Golden Gods Awards for ‘Best New Band’.

See people really just piss me off.  All bands have to go through being the “new band”.  They gain experience on the road and from bands that have been in the game for awhile.  Then see what happens they get an award for being “Best New Band”.  You grow as a band and with that comes change.  Change in techniques, vocals, and members.

In November 2013, Bleed from Within were one of four acts alongside Amon Amarth, Hell and Carcass for Metal Hammer’s Defenders Of The Faith IV tour.

See what I mean HeadBangers.

In 2017 it was announced that Steven Jones would join the band as a new guitarist, replacing Martyn Evans. It was later announced in December that Bleed from Within had finished working on a new studio album set for release in early 2018 and that the first single would be released in January 2018.

The band’s fourth album Era was released on 6 April 2018. The first single from the album, “Alive”, was released on 19 January 2018.

On 29 November 2019, the band released a new single “The End of All We Know” and also confirmed that the band was working on a new album, which was later titled Fracture and released on 29 May 2020 through Century Media Records.  Matt Heafy from Trivium performs a guest solo on “Night Crossing” from Fracture.

“Night Crossing feat. Matt Heafy”

Let’s meet the band:

 

Scott Kennedy – lead vocals (2005 – Present)

Ali Richardson – drums (2005 – Present)

Craig “Goonzi” Gowans – bass (2005-2009) ; lead guitar(2009 – Present) 

Davie Provan – bass (2009 – Present)

Steven “Snev” Jones – rhythm guitar, clean vocals (2017 – Present)

“The End Of All We Know”

My Thoughts:

I had to add that last song “The End Of All We Know”, what a great frontman, I love the interaction between singer and fans.  Let’s not forget that accent either…..  You know whether at a live concert or watching on UTube one thing that I love is there is no censoring in language, whether in the song or spoken word.  People may think that’s not a big deal but my HeadBangers it is, it so is.  Watching the news this week and everything that has happened in  Afghanistan, and hell we are still dealing with COVID.   But stop and think, do you think this song could be sung live there?  Hell women can’t even walk down the street alone.  I would be the first one to get my head chopped off, there’s no way my mouth could exist there.  Now the music, one thing great about the music, it will always live, whether played live or inside a room behind locked doors. No one can censor music.  People have tried before, remember in the US, years ago “Tipper Gore,” led a successful fight to have parental warning labels affixed to record albums that contained sexually explicit lyrics, portrayed excessive violence, or glorified drugs.  But still the labels did not stop the music.   One thing about us HeadBangers and our music, we cannot be silenced, or censored.  It is our nature to speak and sing what we feel.  Most bands have a message in their music, most pertain to things that are happening in our world today.  Bands have a power to influence us with their messages, let’s hope they never stop.  We need it, the world needs it…..

That’s it for this week my HeadBangers.  Join me next week for another band and another song.  Until then don’t stand to close to the fire if you can’t handle the burn…..

My HeadBangers welcome from Gothenburg, Sweden:

AT THE GATES

“Spectre Of Extinction”

“The Paradox”

My HeadBangers, ahh my ears are happy as that nordic sound flows into me, in 5 seconds I can tell where it comes from, it’s a sound that cannot be duplicated by any other part of the world.  It is distinct to me, it gives me a rush, goosebumps and makes me just want to not stop talking, but I know I have to lmfao.  Ok this band is more than just a Gothenburg black metal band check it:

At the Gates’ musical style has been described as melodic death metal and death metal. The band’s early work invented a “progressive, complex way of crafting songs of dextrous melodic fluidity and variation”, which would influence progressive death metal, but also the black metal of e.g. Darkthrone’s Transylvanian Hunger. Most of this material was composed by former member, Alf Svensson, who, according to guitarist Anders Björler, a former member,  fused the Swedish melancholy of Nordic folk music with death metal and classical music. 

What a combination of genres, but it truly works, and I love it.

Time for some bio on this band:

At the Gates were formed in late 1990 by former members of the death and black metal band Grotesque. They recorded a debut EP, “Gardens of Grief”, for the Dolores record label. The EP led the label Peaceville Records to sign the band, and they released their debut album, The Red in the Sky Is Ours in 1992.

After the recording of their second studio album, “With Fear I kiss the Burning Darkness”, founding member and guitarist Alf Svensson left the band in 1993, to pursue tattoo artistry, graphic novel illustration and his solo electronic-opera-black metal project, Oxiplegatz. He was soon replaced by former House of Usher guitarist Martin Larsson, who the band knew from underground tape trading. The band continued touring Europe, and were filmed for a Headbangers Ball special feature in Nottingham, England in July 1993.

In 1994, At the Gates released their third album, “Terminal Spirit Disease”, which was hailed as a breakthrough album.

The band continued touring and in 1995 released their most commercially and critically successful album: “Slaughter of the Soul”.  The album is regarded as their strongest death metal effort, compared to previous albums. This album firmly rooted the band as one of the leaders of the Swedish metal scene, the “Gothenburg sound” of melodic death metal. The band received international attention for the album, gaining them several U.S. tours and heavy rotation of the music video for “Blinded by Fear” on MTV in America, but despite this international success, the Björler brothers departed in 1996.  The remaining members decided it would be impossible to continue without them, so the band broke up.

“Blinded by Fear”

On 18 October 2007, At the Gates announced several reunion shows for mid-2008, including Getafe Electric Festival, Roskilde Festival, Wacken Open Air, Graspop Metal Meeting, Sweden Rock Festival, Gods of Metal, Hellfest Summer Open Air and Bloodstock Open Air, as well as a tour of Japan with The Dillinger Escape Plan, Into Eternity, Pig Destroyer, and Mayhem in May 2008. Throughout July 2008, they toured the US and Canada on what was dubbed the “Suicidal Final Tour”, and played their final UK show at Bloodstock Open Air on Sunday on 17 August 2008. They finished their last show in Athens, Greece, with guest The Ocean on 21 September 2008. The band’s performance at Wacken Open Air in 2008 is available on The Flames of the End DVD boxed set, which also includes clips of songs from other venues and a documentary that covers the history of the band in its entirety.

On 21 January 2014, At the Gates released a video on YouTube showing a distorted video with lines of text on it, followed by text saying “2014”, possibly hinting toward possible lyrics for an upcoming album. On 27 January, the band revealed on Facebook via a new cover photo and profile picture, that their confirmed fifth record would be titled At War With Reality and would be released in the fall of 2014 through Century Media.

When asked whether At War with Reality is At the Gates’ final album or if the band will continue recording, Tomas Lindberg replied, “We can’t say really. We have no plans of stopping but we’ve broken promises before so it’s best not to say anything.” In numerous recent interviews members of the band have expressed interest in doing a follow-up album. At the Gates concluded the touring cycle for At War with Reality in August 2016 with a festival appearance at Elb Riot in Hamburg, Germany.

On 8 March 2017, in an official statement released by the band, they announced that Anders Björler had departed from the band. Despite Anders’ departure, they went on to confirm that they were working on a follow-up to 2014’s At War with Reality, which they were aiming to record and release in 2018. In September 2017, Jonas Stålhammar was announced as the new guitarist to take the place of Björler on a permanent basis, but he had joined too late to be involved in the writing process of the new album. They entered the studio to begin recording the album in November 2017, titled “To Drink from the Night Itself”, which was released through Century Media Records on 18 May 2018.

At the Gates released their seventh studio album, “The Nightmare of Being”, on 2 July 2021. While the album remains rooted in the Gothenburg metal tradition, it also features a wider range of musical styles, influences, and instrumentation. The ideas in the album are influenced by the writings of horror philosophers such as Thomas Ligotti and Eugene Thacker.

At the Gates were nominated for a Swedish Grammy  for “Slaughter of the Soul in 1996, but didn’t win. They won the Swedish Grammy in February 2015 for the 2014 comeback album “At War With Reality. The band were also awarded the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Inspiration Award in June 2015.

So much life and changes in this band, and still they play on.  Let’s meet these Swedish Metal Men!!!

Tomas Lindberg – Vocals (1990-96, 2007-08, 2010-present)

Adrian Erlandsson – Drums (1990-96, 2007-08, 2010-present)

Jonas Bjöler – Bass (1990-92, 1993-96, 2007-08, 2010-present), Drums-1990

Martin Larsson – Rhythm Guitar (1993-96, 2007-08, 2010-present)

Jonas Stålhammar – Lead Guitar (2017-present)

And one more thing we don’t want to forget:

My Thoughts:

My HeadBangers, so much to read, so much to hear from this band.  Where do I start with all the feelings I feel right now?  I have nothing but respect for this band, to go through extreme highs and lows and back to highs, what a ride they have had, and still going, even have their own Scotch from Scotland!  It’s bands like these that keep me doing what I do.  There are times I feel like giving up, but then I look at the stories of these bands and realize we all go through things that can make or break us, never surrender never give up is my motto.  Really how could you we are all metal family.  Think if this band had just stopped, we would be missing some of the best music Sweden has to offer.  Since doing the blog I have had several band that quit and then come back, this shows you that the human spirit in those truly devoted to their music doesn’t go away, it comes back and when it does it’s stronger, louder, and cannot be stopped.  I bow my head to AT THE GATES, keep going never stop…..

That’s it for this week my HeadBangers.  Join me next week for another band and another song.  In the meantime don’t stand to close to the fire if you can’t handle the burn…..

My HeadBangers please welcome from Lorraine, France, the Trash Metalcore Band:

THE SOUL OF BUSHIDO

“Aftermath”

I can’t wait to tell you their story, in their words, so let’s just jump in:

About 1 year ago,  2019, I was going to see my friend Steph (guitar) to offer him to start a hardcore band. We hadn’t played in a band for over 10 years each. But now, quarantine is approaching and we have decided to have our crisis before!

Our goal: to get back on stage, to have fun, to feel emotions that we had forgotten … but not only! We realized that we needed to get together … I mean, between people sharing the same passions, the same tastes! Spending evenings together … getting out of the daily grind that is bit by bit gnawing at us.

So we started looking for a bass player and a drummer. We found Myk, who volunteered for the bass. Myk was a friend and a former reggae bassist … ahah Not really our style but hey, his personality is so great. This guy has a huge heart. So bingo, we’ll see what it will give!

Then we made an ad for a drummer, and after an interesting but inconclusive interview with a drummer, Vince was the second to answer us. Despite his young age, we found him to have quite an interesting potential! And after a very nice restaurant we decided to adopt it! (good on the other hand he hardly drinks alcohol … what is this sanitized generation!)

There were four of us, the machine was on, the rehearsals followed one another slowly but surely in search of a style of our own. Alcohol flowed freely, (except for one) between two rounds of Pro-Pain and Hatebreed.

Then, around July, we decided to take on a second guitarist. More more impact, more power, more fun !! (and especially because Steph doesn’t like to do solos and that I really like). As luck does things well, Steph met JM at work … and when 2 guitarists discuss between them … the chemistry took hold.

Here we are now in November … it’s been a little over a year now that I proposed to Steph to create a band. Where are we? 3 covers, 1 finished composition, 7 compositions to work on, to structure … it is progressing slowly but surely.

It’s gone for a second year, which we hope will be productive and allow us to go on stage !!

2020 HERE WE COME

This year is an important year for us because we had a lot of change at the end of 2019. We had to part with Myk, our bassist. Life is made up of unforeseen events, hardships, choices … Myk has made his own. He had no more time to devote to the group because there were too many projects on the side.  So we actively sought, and surprise: an old acquaintance!

Manu, the former bassist of seb in the group “Darwin’s Théory” was obvious to us. Indeed, Manu is the weight of age! manu is the experience of life, the experience of metal … more than 30 years in the service of metal. But it’s also the very kindness (well, you don’t have to heat it too much, eh!), Good humor, and the spirit of camaraderie! All we are looking for! Friends, sik, beers!  So here we are complete!   So here we are in January, 2 finished compositions, 2 in tweaking, 3 covers….

We can therefore hope to go on stage this year for possible first parts, and if all goes well the recording of an EP and the shooting of a clip why not!  

Our only enemy: time! Family life and our respective jobs prevent us from seeing each other regularly … but once the machine is on, it should be fine.

2020 FUCKING COVID

It all started so well this year, we were complete, we were chaining the compositions … and bim! In our ass the covid!

4 months without seeing each other, tried to compose each on our side … Some continuing to work in contact with the virus, others trapped at home without being able to go out … it hurt us. So much so that during the de-containment, we had more news from our lead guitarist. total nothingness!

Apparently his priorities have changed, and the group is no longer one of them.  We will therefore recruit a new guitarist, more motivated, more present!

But especially someone who has the same conception as us of what is called “a group”. We are therefore looking for a new member to complete our family! We’ll keep you posted!

2020 NO MORE FREEDOM

Fucking covid! fucking country! fucking government! Once again we are ruled by incompetent people …

Anyway, it makes you wonder if all this is not calculated. We are too many on earth … no more significant war … so a good purge by a virus! why not! in short, let’s not debate it.  Still, between confinement and curfew nothing is moving forward.

Festivals canceled, concerts canceled, we can’t even repeat. We’re just good at going to work (with the metro, the buses full of people … but the government doesn’t mind that!), Get home and above all shut up! In short, like all the other groups we are working at home on our album, we are moving slowly but surely, we record when possible …

We really have to be ready when all this bullshit is over.

Besides, I forgot to introduce you to our new guitarist Tiziano!

Welcome to you my friend. I’m writing this text but it’s been a long time since you arrived among us … and frankly it does it well! We can say it now, my brothers … The family is complete!

We have never advanced so far, we get along well, we really have a lot of fun playing together and I think it will get along on our lines. We finally find a musical identity that is unique to us.  We will therefore see what the future holds for us!

2021 Again And Again

Here we are, we are in 2021 … time does not stop, even during a period of confinement. Happy New Year everyone, good health to you and all your loved ones. Hoping one day to find freedom.

We are moving forward … Recordings of the first compositions, mastering, then the 1st in-house clip (covid obliges), a 2nd clip in preparation … that’s it, things are moving. We have a lot of projects and surprises in the works … including streaming interviews with our new compositions for you to discover. We can’t wait to hear from you. 

Currently we are ready for the first parts, but by the time the concerts resume we will surely have released our album like many other bands. The competition is going to be tough!

The next step will therefore be the conclusion of our album as well as the search for a label.  We keep you up to speed, friends!  Stay Strong!

Let’s meet the band:

These are the best pics I could get, but there are pics on FB, Instagram, their website check them all out.

I do have info on all the guys so here we go:

Tiziano – Guitarist – joined 2020 – 20 years old

Manu – Bass – joined 2019 – 53 years old

Steph – Guitarist – joined 2018 – 39 years old

Vince – Drums – joined 2019 – 18 years old

Seb – Vocals – joined 2018 – 38 years old

“Bushido Code”

My Thoughts:

My HeadBangers there are times when I am looking for a band to put on the blog, that I run across one that just grabs me and no matter how long or short amount of time they have been in the business I have to bring them into our metal family.  So it is with “The Soul Of Bushido”.  Hearing this band and looking at the members, well, as I have said before this band spoke to me.  The one thing that really got to me was their ages.  I usually do not put that info on here, but this time I had to.  If only to prove a point that music unites us no matter our age or where we are from.  I love Thrash, well really I love all metal, but we all have our favorites don’t we.  I love Bushido’s sound, and like the rest of the world they have been caught up with COVID, which has really affected the music industry as far as live gigs.  Hopefully, fingers crossed, at some point gigs can resume.  Our human spirit will not accept sitting on our hands for very much longer.  We all do what we have to just to survive, but music, Covid can never stop the music.  It will go on even though there are bumps in the road one way or another it will be heard.  I also love the name they have chosen.   Years ago I read a book called:

Bushido: The Way of the Samurai 

It was written in the 18th century by Tsunetomo Yamamoto.  He created the Hagakure, a document that served as the basis for samurai warrior behavior.  There are 7 virtues of Bushido, they are:

GI – Justice or Integrity

YU – Courage

JIN – Mercy or Benevolence

REI – Respect

MAKOTO – Honesty

MEIYO – Honor

CHUGI – Loyalty

If only we all lived by these 7 virtues.  I have always admired warriors, whether Samurai, Viking, Indian, Roman Gladiators and this band I definitely would put in this category.  Oh and of course the growl vocals, whether English or French, it makes no difference to me, they are dark, deep, and a powerful sound that the singer pulls from his soul to bring a song to life.  What more can you expect from a metal band, nothing can stop us, we continue and always will.

That’s it for this week my HeadBangers.  Join me next week for another band and another song.  Who knows what I’ll find next.  In the mean time, don’t stand to close to the fire if you can’t handle the burn…..