WEEK 228 – HROTHGAR

Well my HeadBangers while waiting to get interviews back from bands, a lot are touring so I understand, but the blog must go on so here we are. While looking around the globe at metal bands I happen to come across this band from France. The name of their band is: HROTHGAR . Hrothgar was was a semi-legendary Danish King living around the early sixth century AD. I don’t know if that’s where they take their name from but I bet it has something to do with it. That’s not a very common name. However their music kicks ass and the vocals, just kill me, you know how I am about my vocals. So let’s check these guys out…

“Dawn of Midgard”

“For Gods And North”

Do you hear that, omfg, those vocals kill me, sorry but you know how I am with my vocals. On their FB page it says:

The new Kings of Melodic death metal! Sailing across Death Metal and Traditional Heavy Metal.

Well I don’t know about the King part, but Melodic Death Metal, ah, I’m not sure, but I hear a little of everything with these guys and it all works. Metal has been broken down into so many sub genres that when I listen all I hear is metal, so Thrash, Speed, Power, it’s all there, and it all works. Every band has their own little twist but in the end it’s all metal.

The band started in 2013 going by the name of “Esteliath”, then officially became Hrothgar in June of 2017. I couldn’t find any bio on this band and you know that really gets to me. Every band should have a bio, hell I will do it for you, lmao. There are people like me out here that want to know about the band, that’s why I do written interviews guys. Anyway, so this will be a short one this week for lack of info but not for lack of music. Let’s meet the band…

Bertrand Paradis – Bass (2017-present)

Tristan Vatrain – Guitars & Vocals (2017-present)

Quentin Peyrouse – Vocals (2017-present)

Sébastien Couriol – Drums (2018-present)

My Thoughts:

I think this is the shortest band week I’ve done in a very long time, but like I said tours, gotta make that money. Anyway see that pic on the right side with the kid. Isn’t that what I always say, metal is familia. It is up to us to teach the next generation what metal is all about and I think we are all doing a great job. Look at the young bands, who they grew up listening to, yep, the older bands that are still around. Metal is all just one big METAL FAMILIA. Check these guys out, they really are good. They are on FB and Instagram. Till Hump Day my HeadBangers, have a great weekend and see you Wednesday for Hump Day and next Saturday for the weekly band, hopefully I’ll have an interview for you. Until then don’t stand to close to the fire if you can’t handle the burn…

September 30, 2023 0

WEEKLY BAND LIST

Week 228 – Hrothgar – Melodic Death/ Heavy Metal – France
Week 227 – Mur.Doc 104 – Old School Thrash, Malta
Week 226 – Persevera – Metal – Sumaré, SP, Brazil
Week 225 – Wake Up Frankie – Thrash – Helsinki, Finland
Week 224 – Legion Of The Damned – Thrash/Death Metal – The Netherlands
Week 223 – GREH – Part 2 – The Interview – Karlsruhe, Germany
Week 223 – GREH – Sludgy Death – Doom Metal – Karlsruhe, Germany
Week 222 – Soilwork – Melodic Death Metal – Sweden
Week 221 – Carbon Black – Metal/Hard Rock – New South Wales, Australia
Week 220 – Stormruler – Black Metal – St. Louis, Missouri USA
Week 219 – Arkona – Pagan Metal – Russia
Week 218 – Let It All Burn – Darkwave Metal – Helsinki, Finland
Week 217 – Horse of Troja – Rock & Roll – Sweden
Week 216 – Kvelertak – Metal and a little more – Norway
Week 215 – Eternal Drak – Metal – Canada/Columbia
Week 214 – Before The Dawn – Melodic/Gothic Death Metal – Finland
Week 213 – Triddana – Celtic Power Folk Metal – Buenos Aires, Argentina
Week 212 – Caregah – Heavy Metal – Southeast of Sweden
Week 211 – Destruction – Thrash Metal – Germany
Week 210 – Black Rabbit – Death/Thrash Metal – Apeldoorn, Netherlands
Week 209 – Eldfaerd – Folk Metal – Östersund in the Northland of Sweden
Week 208 – Vomitory – Brutal Swedish Death Metal – Sweden
Week 207 – Arched Fire – Speed/Thrash Metal – Lapland, Finland
Week 206 – Lord of the Lost – Industrial Metal – Hamburg, Germany
Week 205 – Mar 17 – Primordial – Metal – Dublin, Ireland
Week 204 – Mar 10 – Ciemra – Black Metal – Belarus
Week 203 – Mar 3 – Suotana – Melodic Death Metal – The Coldest Part of Finland
Week 202 – Feb 24 – Lost Society – Thrash – Jyväskyla, Finland
Week 201 – Feb 10 – Crypta – Death Metal – Brazil
Week 200 – Feb 3 – Thyrfing – Swedish Viking Metal – Sweden
Week 199 – Jan 27 – Methane Metal – Thrash Metal- Järfälla, Sweden
Week 198 – Jan 20 – Disempath – Heavy Alternative Metal – New Jersey USA
Week 197 – Jan 13 – Krilloan – Power Metal – Ålmhult, Sweden
Week 196 – Jan 6 – Silent Skies – Pop (with something more) – Sweden
Week 195 – Dec 16 – VOLA – Progressive/Djent – Denmark
Week 194 – Dec 9 – Cruachan – Folk/Celtic/Black Metal – Dublin, Ireland
Week 193 – Dec 2 – Heidevolk – Folk/Pagan/Viking Metal – The Netherlands
Week 192 – Nov 18 – Venom Prison – Death Metal – South Wales, UK
Week 191 – Nov 11 – Nothing New In Heaven – French Melodic Death Metal – France
Week 190 – Nov 4 – Dragonland – Symphonic/Power Metal – Gothenburg, Sweden
Week 189 – Oct 21 – Kallfront – Swedish Fucking Metal – The coldest part of Sweden
Week 188 – Oct 14 – Mindistry – Industrial Thrash Metal – Gothenburg, Sweden
Week 187 – Oct 7 – Bornholm – Hungarian Black/Pagan Metal – Hungary
Week 186 – Sep 30 – Saltatio Mortis – Medieval Metal – Germany
Week 185 – Sep 9 – Evil Invaders – Metal/Thrash – Belgium
Week 184 – Sept 2 – Sur Austru – Atmospheric Folk/Black Metal – Romania
Week 183 – Aug 26 – POP EVIL – Hard Rock/Alternative Metal – Muskegon, Michigan
Week 182 – Aug 18 (early, this is release date) – Kalmo – Doom Metal – Kerava, Finland
Week 181 – Aug 12 – TEOR – Post/Hardcore – Regensburg, Germany
Week 180 – Aug 5 – Jericho Six – Rock – US
Week 179 – July 22 – Bloodywood – Metal – India
Week 178 – July 15 – Turmion Kätilöt – Industrial Metal – Kuopio, Finland
Week 177 – July 8 – ViadukT – Hard Rock – Gefle, Sweden
Week 176 – June 24 – Until I Wake – Metalcore – Buffalo, New York
Week 175 – June 17 – Archspire – Technical Death Metal – Vancouver, Canada
Week 174 – June 10 – MONO INC – Gothic Rock – Hamburg, Germany
Week 173 – June 3 – Battlecross – Thrash/Classic American Heavy Metal – Detroit, MI
Week 172 – May 27 – Baest – Classic Death Metal – Aarhus, Denmark
Week 171 – May 20 – Darkest Oath – Symphonic Black Metal – Greece
Week 170 – May 13 – The Halo Effect – Melodic Death/Heavy Metal – Gothenburg, Sweden
Week 169 – May 6 – Kalmah – Melodic Death/Power Metal, Oulu, Finland
Week 168 – Apr 29 – Wind Rose – Power/Folk Metal – Pisa, Tuscany, Italy
Week 167 – Apr 22 – Northlane – Metalcore – Sydney, Australia
Week 166 – Apr 15 – 2 Shadows – Metalcore/Altmetal – Vancouver, Canada
Week 165 – Apr 8 – Bury Tomorrow – Metalcore – Southampton, England
Week 164 – Apr 1 – The Failsafe – Hard Rock – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Week 163 – Mar 25 – Rhapsody of Fire – Symphonic Power Metal – Trieste, Italy
Week 162 – Mar 18 – Diablo – Melodic Death Metal – Kalajoki, Finland
Week 161 – Mar 11 – Evergrey – Progressive Power Metal – Gothenburg, Sweden
Week 160 – Mar 4 – Analepsy – Slamming Brutal Death Metal – Lisbon, Portugal
Week 159 – Feb 25 – Insomnium – Melodic Death Metal – Joensuu, Finland
Week 158 – Feb 18 – Shady Glimpse – Thrash – Shizuoka, Japan
Week 157 – Feb 11 – Nailed To Obscurity – Melancholic Melodic Death Metal – Germany
Week 156 – Feb 4 – Beyond The Styx – Metallic Hardcore Metal – Tours, France
Week 155 – Jan 28 – Mors Principium Est – Melodic Death Metal – Pori, Finland
Week 154 – Jan 21 – Becoming – Inspirational Metal – San Jose, California
Week 153 – Jan 14 – Affection – Modern Rock/Alternative Metal – Helsinki, Finland

Week 152 – Jan 7 – Wythersake – Symphonic Black/Death Metal, Washington, DC
Week 151 – Dec 31 – Wrap up of 2021
Week 150 – Nov 12 – The Raven Age – Heavy Metal – London, England
Week 149 – Nov 5 – Penny Billionaires – Hard Rock/Electronica – Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Week 148 – Oct 29 – Blood Red Throne – Death Metal – Kristiansand, Norway
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

September 30, 2023 35

HUMP DAY – WE’RE ALMOST THERE…

Well my HeadBangers, I missed the weekly post Saturday. Sorry about that, I have the crud but I am not going to miss today. I think all this constant weather changing and it doesn’t help when someone at work is spreading the shit around. So here we go 3 that I hope will get you through the rest of your week. It’s the last week in September, where did the month go. Winter is coming…

STABBED – HUNGARY

“Sleeper”

Well I’m really liking this band, they play Existential Dread Metal from Budapest, Hungary. I learn something new everyday. Those vocals are killing me….

KAUNIS KUOLEMATON – FINLAND

“Elävältä Haudattu”

Finnish Melodic Doom, this is what I needed today. That will take the crud right out of me. Listen to those vocals omfg. You know I love my vocals.

ASINHELL – DENMARK

“Fall of the Loyal Warrior”

Man this was a surprise for me. Asinhell features volbeat’s (who I love) Michael Poulsen, Marc Grewe (Insidious Disease, Ex-Morgoth) and Morten Toft Hansen (Raunchy). Their Debut Album Impii Hora comes out September 29. Check it out my HeadBangers.

Well I feel better already. Guess I just needed a good dose of some of the hard stuff. Join me Saturday for the weekly band, again accept my apologies, and next Wednesday for the weekly band. Hey wait till the snow flies, we are going to have some fun then…

September 27, 2023 0

HUMP DAY – WE’RE ALMOST THERE…

Here we go my HeadBangers already half way through September, man time flies. Here are my 3 picks for you this week…

DRAGONFORCE – LONDON, ENGLAND

“The Last Dragonborn”

As a lover of everything dragon this Power Metal band is always on my radar.

GRYMHEART – HUNGARY

“Ignis Fatuus”

I am loving this band. Grymheart is a new Melodic Power Death metal band founded in 2022. You know I’m going to try to get an interview with this band.

Stam1na – Finland

“Muistipalatsi”

This band is what got me into blogging. When I first heard them it was immediate fire to the heart. They have been around since 1996. Antti Hyyrynen, has the best vocals and can go in any direction with them. I love them and it doesn’t hurt that they are some of the best hair moshers around.

My HeadBangers I hope this helps you get through the rest of your week. Join me Saturday for the weekly band and next Wednesday for another Hump Day…

September 20, 2023 0

WEEK 227 – Mur.Doc 104

My HeadBangers another week and another band, with interview coming your way. This band is from Malta. For those of you who can’t google it Malta is an archipelago in the central Mediterranean between Sicily and the North African coast. From what I saw it is so full of history, and you all know I’m all about the history. Please welcome Mur.Doc 104…

“The Undying”

“Insolenza”

I love this song, I think it’s going to be my favorite, not to mention this band had attitude and I like that!

Ok on with the interview, as always mine in blue and the his in black. I would like to thank him for taking time to answer some questions. I really appreciate it and so do my HeadBangers. On with the show…

The band started in 2017, is that correct? Who started the band and what made you want to start one?

The band was originally started in 2015, it was founded by guitarists Joseph Marmara and Steven Azzopardi, with Oliver Farrugia (aka Perez) joining soon after on drums and Andrew Galea on bass. In 2017, Luke Debono joined the band as frontman to complete the line-up.

In 2019, the band parted ways with founding member Steven, later to be replaced by Shaun Farrugia on guitars in 2020, then in 2022, Sean took over bass duties instead of Andrew, thus being what we are today.

See my HeadBangers everything we read on the net is not always correct. How did the band come together? Did you know each other before starting the band?

Joseph and Steven worked together whereas Oliver was a longtime friend of Joseph. Since they were teenagers, Oliver and Joseph always said that one day they would form a thrash metal band together. It only took about 18 years haha but it finally happened.

I think most bands start that way, as a teenage dream, some of us actually do it and some of us blog lmao.

Most of us play in other bands:

Luke (vocals) – Killerwitch (Heavy Metal)

Oliver (drums) – A Black White Satellite (stoner doom)

Shaun (guitars) – Rankin (sludge)

Sean (bass) -Psycopath (black-thrash) & Zabbeth (Pure Bathory worship haha)

You know I have never heard of Stoner Doom, but I’m sure going to look for it lol. This one is killing me, I always have to ask what does the name Mur.Doc 104 mean to the band? Who came up with the name?

It’s a bit of a secret lol. There’s two main stories about it. One of them is related to Oliver’s love for DareDevil (whose civilian name is Matthew Murdock). The other is tied to a number of tracks we wrote as a trilogy (the undying, mur.doc 104 and a third that has not yet been released) that tell a story of a serial killer and Mur.Doc 104 stands for the Murder Document #104, a fictional case file that contains the details of the case. In reality, the 104 was our rehearsal space door number which in actual fact was 103 but they had mixed up the numbers and wrote 104 with red paint on ours.

I love hearing how bands pick their names, I think it is fantastic and it does show thought went into it. Just like my cat’s name is Snake, people look at me crazy, but he’s a big black and gray maine coon with an attitude. He is the metal cat! But that’s another story.

What is your process for creating you songs?

Everyone pitches in with the song writing but it is mainly brainstorming between Joe and Oliver. Since Sean joined he has given a massive contribution to our writing though. Sean’s other projects are all one-man bands so he tends to have a more complete perspective of what the different instruments should do from the get go.

With that said, a lot of the riffs start off with either Joe trying out stuff in the garage or Oliver senselessly trying to hum a melody for Joe to play it(Oliver is completely atonal vocally so deciphering what he is trying to convey is a feat in itself). He gets the job done though. Luke has total freedom on vocals and Shaun focuses on solos.

Every band has their own way, and it sounds like yours works for the band. No need to change!

I see you have a live gig coming up in October, do you do local gigs, or do you do any touring?

We will be supporting our buddies Animamortua (who have Steven, one of our founding members playing with them) this October and we are also organizing a big event for Christmas time with two local and two international bands (all of them being prime examples of the immense quality of the new wave thrash scene that we have these days).

Since our first show in 2018, Mur.Doc 104 were called in to play all major local metal events & festivals and have shared the stage with various international acts including Leprous, Omnium Gatherum, Kryptos, Insulter & Doomas amongst others. Now we tend to organize our own gigs locally, focusing on thrash oriented events getting other thrash bands from abroad.

We are also currently looking into organizing some gigs abroad for next year. Being from a small island like Malta, travelling means strictly using planes so touring for us can be quite expensive. With that said we are quite ambitious and do not feel disheartened. It just needs good planning. If any thrash band from mainland Europe reading this would be interested in helping us out, we would greatly appreciate it.

Some of them just may my friend. I’ve had Kryptos on the blog and they are so good. It’s amazing the great bands I run into that we don’t here about unless you dig for them like me. I can’t help it. When I spent 6 months in Finland it changed my life as far as bringing bands from across the water to the states and vice versa. I’ve been at it for 5 years next month and love every minute of it, met some great people and now we have a huge metal familia here, and you are part of it now. Sorry for running on, I do that incase you haven’t noticed lol.

Thrash is one of my favorite genres. What made you choose Thrash and on FB is says you play old school Thrash. What do you consider the difference is between the current Thrash and old school Thrash?

Most of us have been thrash heads since we were kids. Oliver traded cassettes since he was 8 years old. Joe is a devout Metallica fan since he discovered Master of Puppets some 30 years ago. Luke is an Exodus & Overkill disciple since forever, Sean has a penchant for black metal and loves the crossover between black and thrash (clearly audible in his music style) and Shaun went through the punk avenue (he played with a local punk band for a long time before joining us) and got into crossover thrash and the like following Oliver’s multiple attempts at brainwashing him with bands like D.R.I. and Municipal Waste. With that said, we all listen to other genres as well.

Our style is clearly old-school in both the approach and the sound. We love bands like Exodus, Hirax, Evildead, Atrophy, etc. We try to avoid “overly producing” our material. Today there is a massive New Wave Thrash scene that reminisces the 80s style with bands like Traitor, Chemicide, Pripyat, Methane, Riffobia, Burning Nitrum, Electrikeel, Grindpad etc. so technically it can be referred to as the New Wave of Old School Thrash Metal. There is a great sense of community and we find a lot of pride and pleasure in being very active in this scene. Today’s thrash is once again old school and it’s probably one of the healthiest scenes in all of underground metal. Maybe we use that term “old-school” not to be confused with the “modern thrash” of the 90s that was more groove metal and was in a clear identity crisis after it’s first peak in the 80s.

What would you like to see happening down the road for Mur.Doc 104?

Notwithstanding the fact that we all have demanding jobs and families (some of us with little kids), we got plans for the band and we will try our best to put them to fruition. This year we released our debut EP and we are very happy with the response so far. We already have written enough material for a full length album which we plan to record early next year. This time we plan to distribute it to some labels before releasing it though.

In the most immediate future, we are focusing on making December’s event the biggest thrash event of the year in Malta. In the meantime, we’re also trying our best to try and get a couple of gigs in some festivals or events in mainland Europe for next Summer.

Is there anything you would like to say to your fans?

We just want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who has given our music a chance. For a small band from Malta to have our music played in different continents means the world to us. The love for music makes the impossible possible. We would like to give a special shout out to “The New Wave of Thrash Metal” group (on fb) for being the most active and wonderful metal community in the world. Go check that group out for a ridiculously huge amount of new underground thrash metal waiting to be discovered. Finally we wanted to thank you Sandy for taking the time and giving us the opportunity to spread the word of thrash around. People like you are the pumping heart of the underground metal scene and for that we can never thank you enough.

Thank you so much for that, I’ve seen how hard it is to bring a band and their music to the world. It is my passion to do it for all and any bands out there. Like music fuels your fire, blogging about it is my fire. And when I get an interview, well I about lose it lmao. There are things that only the bands can tell us, not a manager or label, but the words that come from the players who are the ones that feel in their heart what that music means to them and to us. I so appreciate you taking the time to give some great insight into Mur.Doc 104. You have to come back after your Christmas gig and let us know how it goes. I know you will have a fantastic night. With that being said, let’s meet the band.

Luke: Vocals

Joey: Guitars

Shaun: Guitars

Sean: Bass

Oliver: Drums

Check them out on FB and Instagram, also here’s the link to their web page which has a lot of info:

http://www.linktr.ee/mur.doc104

Well my HeadBangers, that’s one of the most informative interviews yet. I love it when a band takes the time to write answers. As you all know I feel when you write, it digs deep and that comes across.Maybe you agree, maybe you don’t but if you are doing a written interview or writing a blog you will know exactly what I mean.

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