HRH Mag Issue XIII by Hard Rock Hell Magazine

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Welcome to VOLUME Greetings HRH Family!

XIII

Well, what a weird world we now find ourselves in brothers and sisters. We started 2020 with the previous issue of HRH Mag and the incredible HRH Metal IV in Birmingham - we certainly enjoyed our only festival of the year so far in the home of heavy metal with no real clue of what was coming our way from the east. At the time of going to press, we are still hopeful we can resume our legendary live events imminently, but we are at the mercy of decisions outside of our control - whatever happens, we can keep our eyes on what promises to be an amazing 2021. See inside this issue for previews of HRH NWOCR (starring the new stars of rock Massive Wagons), HRH Psych (our first event in Liverpool), HRH Spring Break (our brand new multi-genre showcase event in Great Yarmouth) and HRH Roadtrip XI which had to be rescheduled from this summer. The rescheduling of HRH Roadtrip XI did, however, allow us to expand the event – we’ve added another stage and our

bookings team was tasked with bringing to the wonderful island of Ibiza the very best of up and coming bands from the new waves of rock and metal. It’s shaping up to be the best and biggest rock holiday in the sun – EVER. Back to this issue – and we are so happy to reveal that it will be the first to be distributed digitally, for free, to over 100,000 rock fans in the UK and around the world, as well as in print to subscribers and in HMV stores around the country for those that love the feel of the real thing! In this landmark issue – we speak to Alter Bridge’s Mark Tremonti, legendary guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani, Wayne Kramer of MC5, Paul Guerin of The Quireboys, Charlotte Wessells of Delain, Ensiferum, Erik Gronwall of H.E.A.T and many more. We venture deep into the asylum to meet the (kinda scary) Ward XVI and we have the very first of the Redtank’s Guides – the Hard Rock Hell Radio DJ starts with the corner-stones of Death Metal. Add to that a look the incredible catalogue of releases featuring the work of world-renowned producer and engineer Martin Birch who we sadly lost a few weeks back, as well as all the usual features and reviews you’ve come to expect from the greatest rock’n’metal mag this side of Valhalla. Live, breathe and get ready to rock together very very shortly! Toby HRH Watchtower

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L L E H !!! H A YE

News + Features 7

LATEST NEWS

40 YEARS OF BACK IN BLACK

FRESH HELL

EDITORS DOZEN

REDTANKS GUIDE TO ...

Interviews

MARK TREMONTI

HEAT

ENSIFERUM

WARD XVI

MASTER CHARGER

THE QUIREBOYS

ROBERT JON & THE WRECK

TWISTER

NITROVILLE

MC5

JOE SATRIANI

BAD TOUCH

DELAIN

ENQUIRE WITHIN

BLUES PILLS

MOLLY KARLOFF HRHMAG.com

Reviews

ALBUM REVIEWS

HRH ZONE 12

Editorial

Managing Editor - Toby Winch info@hrhmag.com

HRH XIII IN PICS

Contributing writers: Adam Kennedy, John Ellis, Viki Ridley, Charlie “Glamrat” Simpkin, Simon Dunkerley, Doug Bearne, Simon Redtank, Simon Bonney, Jezebel Steele, Dennis Jarman, Cory Eadson, Alex Clarke, Martin Short, Steve Beastie, Stevi Rox, Toby Winch

HRH METAL VI IN PICS

HRH ROADTRIP PREVIEW

HAMMERFEST 13 PREVIEW

Contributing photographers: Simon Dunkerley, Adam Kennedy, Matty Keefe (for Molly Karloff), Tom Gold, Paul Hutchings

Design

Mark @ ASYLUMseventy7.co.uk

HRH NWOCR PREVIEW

HRH SPRING BREAK PREVIEW

HRH PSYCH PREVIEW

ATOM HEART MUTHA

Management Publisher - Emc3i john@emc3i.com

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advertising@hardrockhell.com 020 7097 8698

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Chic Festivals

100 DARK CIRCLE

Chairman / Founder - Jonni Davis Chief Operating Officer - Fleur Elliott Media and Label Director – John Ellis john@hardrockhellradio.com

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Head of HRH Press & Media Sales - Toby Winch toby@chicfestivals.com Hard Rock Hell Official Photographer Simon Dunkerley simond@hrhmag.com

Dark cloud gathering Breaking the day No point running ‘Cause it’s coming your way

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HRH Artwork & Design - Stacey Roberts All contents ©HRH Mag are published under licence. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced, stored, transmitted or used in any way without the prior written permission of the publisher. HRH Mag is a trading name for emc3i Ltd (company number 48200) registered in Guernsey. All information contained in this publication is for information only and, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press. emc3i Ltd cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. You are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers directly with regard to the price and other details of products or services referred to in this publication. Apps and websites mentioned in this publication are not under our control and we are not responsible for their contents or any changes or updates to them. If you submit unsolicited materials to us you automatically grant emc3i Ltd a licence to publish your submission in whole or in part in all editions of the magazine - including any physical or digital format of said magazine - throughout the world. Any material sent is at your own risk and, although every care is taken, neither emc3i Ltd nor any of their employees, agents or subcontractors shall be liable for loss or damage.

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L AT E S T N EWS

RIPPLE MUSIC REVEAL STONER TRIBUTE TO BLUE OYSTER CULT Well-respected Californian stoner label Ripple Music has revealed the upcoming release of their all-star tribute album to Blue Öyster Cult: ‘Dominance and Submission: A Tribute to Blue Öyster Cult’. The album will feature covers by Steve Hanford, Mark Lanegan, Billy Anderson, Jeff Matz of High On Fire, Zeke, Mondo Generator and many other names of the heavy rock world.

This special tribute album was initiated by Poison Idea’s departed drummer Steve Hanford, in conjunction with Ian Watts of Ape Machine. Founded in 1967, Blue Öyster Cult is considered as pioneers of occult rock’n’roll, marking generations with timeless anthems such as “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”, “Burnin’ for You”, “Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll” or “Godzilla”. The New-York outfit has since then remained a reference act of the 70s rock scene alongside MC5, The Stooges or Steppenwolf. The “Dominance and Submission: A Tribute To Blue Öyster Cult” record will highlight some of the finest work from the legendary American band, with unique contributions from MONDO GENERATOR, MOS GENERATOR, GREAT ELECTRIC QUEST, QUASI, HOLY GROVE, WAR CLOUD, APE MACHINE, ZEKE, YEAR OF THE COBRA, FETISH, SPINDRIFT as well as MARK LANEGAN, BILLY ANDERSON and Jeff Matz of HIGH ON FIRE. The artwork was designed by Dave Snider. TRACK LISTING & LINEUP 1) ME262 (Steve Hanford, Nick Oliveri, Ian Watts, Mike Pygmie) 2) Dominance and Submission (Steve Hanford, Mark Lanegan, Sam Coomes, Sam Redding) 3) Wings Wetted Down (Steve Hanford, Billy Anderson, Rob Wrong, Andrea Vidal) 4) Tattoo Vampire (Mondo Generator) 5) Stairway to the Stars (War Cloud) 6) Veteran of the Psychic Wars (Ape Machine) 7) Flaming Telepaths (Great Electric Quest) 8) Transmaniacon MC (Mos Generator w/ Steve Hanford) 9) 7 Screaming Dizbusters (Fetish) 10) Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll (Zeke w/ Jeff Matz and Steve Hanford) 11) Fireworks (Year of the Cobra w/ Steve Hanford) 12) Don’t Fear the Reaper (Spindrift and Steve Hanford)

HRH METAL STARS ENQUIRE WITHIN SIGN TO METAL ROCKA RECORDINGS In March 2020 Off Yer Rocka Recordings announced their appetite to expand the label to bring in new talent under 2 new sister labels, Metal Rocka Recordings and Stoned Rocka Recordings. This just in from Metal Rocka Recordings HQ: “It is with great pleasure we announce the latest addition to Metal Rocka Recordings, please join us in welcoming Enquire Within. Formed in 2016 and based in London, the band play their own special blend of metalcore and thrash. Enquire Within are well known and respected on the live scene in London where they’ve played Metal 2 The Masses, they are also headlined stage 2 at HRH Metal IV at the O2 Birmingham in 2020 where they played an impressive and memorable set. Band Members Dan and Henry have known each other since school a where they started writing music together influenced by Trivium and Avenged sevenfold before forming the band. The boys persuaded Henry’s brother Jacob to join the band as lead singer. Although the line-up has changed over the past four years, Henry and Dan have always written the music to all their songs and Jacob writes the lyrics. The band released their debut album, Bloodlines, in October 2019. They are currently joined by Erim Ahmet, their record producer, who plays

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bass and Amelia White, who plays rhythm guitar. Erim and Amelia will play with the three founding band members on forthcoming projects including a live studio recording of Bloodlines in September 2020. Metal Rocka Recordings is proud to introduce the band into their fastgrowing family and will bring you news of their future projects and releases very soon.”

L AT E S T N EWS

HRH NWOCR STARS THE CITY KIDS RELEASE BRAND NEW SINGLE & VIDEO STARRING TRACII GUNS HRH NWOCR stars The City Kids have today released a brand new single and video starring Tracii Guns. The awesome track “All I Want” showcases the combined talents of JJ Watt, Dennis Post, Berty Burton and Dave Sanders – a modern-day sleazy supergroup of members of The Main Grains, Tigertailz, Warrior Soul and Falling Red. Said JJ “So, I have had this song kicking about for about 15 years, never got it right, sometimes, got it very badly wrong! But, the main riff, and the chorus idea always stuck. When the Kids started working, the some came together, it was one of the last ones too from memory. And, it was sounding great. Dennis had the idea to ask Tracii, so, we said hell yes. The thing was, we got so much more than expected, and, the harmony guitar he did on the chorus, led to the overlapping harmony Dennis does, which totally made the song, how it felt, and, was just perfect. The song itself, is self reflective, on how alcohol and (some) drugs are great, how they make you feel, but, at the same time, too much, or dependence, takes any control away, changes you for the worse, and you know this, but, it still doesnt stop you repeating it. Something I, and people I know, have dealt with over the years. Its nice to look back from a better place and vocalise it I think. Hopefully it speaks to people too Berty noted “This one was definitely a creeper in one of my favourite tracks we recorded! It’s definitely one that got darker and nastier the further along we got on recording it, then Tracii was introduced into the mix and took it to a new level- dare I say make it sound more like an LA Guns track! It’s stuff like this that goes to show were not just a 2.0 version of bands we’ve past been in, but more one hell of a melting pot displaying our individual strenghts and showing what all 4 of us guys can bring to the party!” Dave commented that “This song stood out on the album for me from day one, the heavier edge and mix of vocals still blows me away, it always had single written all over it.

Fuzzy is a man best left to his own devices, give him what he asks for and let him do his thing, this is what we’ve done here and the video has turned out awesome. Couldn’t have come on a better day for us, the first rehearsal with the city kids in the same room, after many drinks and well into the night the video landed, what a great sightseeing JJ run up and down stairs repeatedly telling us how good it was before we were given a viewing, great stuff all round. According to Dennis “What can I say other than Fuzzy really hit the nail on the head with the video. I almost got a seizure first time I viewed it, haha.. that’s a compliment btw. It was also a lot of fun for me since I got to do the ‘Maiden’ thing with Tracii” The legendary Tracii Guns enthused about the track. “My friend Dennis Post played me the track and asked if I wanted to have a go at it and I hell yes as it had a very aggressive timeless and melancholy sound about it” I was left to my own judgement on what I was to play on the track so I was able to really take my time and put something that I felt fit in with track perfectly and it was all done in my top floor apartment in Aarhus with my newborn son less than 20 feet away. It was a very memorable experience. Bill Hojczyk of Fuzzy McGlide Productions, had this to say about the making of the video “The object was to try to create the feeling of drugs, alcohol and addiction of any persuasion. What it feels like to not only be under the influence, but completely in the grasp and not able to escape. I think it does that. It gets in your head and smashes it. There’s heat and intensity in the insanity and frenzy of it all. As asset strapped as we are, this thing really does bring the band into one space as a collective unit. Another of those objectives. A clip to me is more than a sales tool, like film, it needs to tell a story, set an attitude. There’s a chaos in this thing that really gives it a what the fuck moment. It’s like I described it to Alexa Jo a few weeks ago, it’s either a masterpiece or a catastrophe. Oddly enough both can share the same space. Which happens out of addiction.”

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L AT E S T N EWS OFF YER ROCKA STARS GIN ANNIE ANNOUNCE BEGINNINGS OF SECOND ALBUM Gin Annie have broken the news that they have begun work on album number 2 – the follow up to their highly acclaimed debut 100% Proof. In a message to fans on their social media, they also revealed that Carlos will leave the band: “We are stoked to announce that Album #2 is well and truly underway. The boys will be hitting the studio over the coming months and they can’t wait for you to hear this monster of an album!!! It’s been a tricky time during COVID 19 and this along with distance means that Carlos won’t be joining us on the next chapter of this rock and roll adventure. We wish him all the best. Now ladies and gentlemen …Watch this space! Much love, David, Byron, Brian & Hammer” Grab their debut CD, 100% Proof, from Off Yer Rocka Recordings

NEW ON HARD ROCK HELL RADIO – THE BREAKFAST CLUB Hard Rock Hell Radio has launched its brand new breakfast show – The Breakfast Club – which airs at 8.00am for 2 hours every weekday morning.

This show follows on from the trailblazing first every Hard Rock Hell Radio breakfast show presented by Beastie – which was phenomenally successful – it’s going to rock!”

According to John Ellis, Station Manager “We kick-start the day with the perfect blend of classic rock and metal tracks, then add a different theme plus a music legend – all with a variety of Hard Rock Hell Radio presenters.

Catch The Breakfast Club every weekday morning at 8.00am on www. hardrockhellradio.com or via the HRH Bible App or by asking your smart speaker to play Hard Rock Hell Radio.

HRH VIKING III HEADLINERS ENSIFERUM RELEASE BRAND NEW ALBUM The stunning Finnish folk metallers – and HRH Vikings III headliners – Ensiferum have just released their latest album – Thalassic in various formats with tons of merch to boot. According to their record label Metal Blade, Ensiferum are a true powerhouse when it comes to folk-inspired melodic death metal, something they hammer home more resolutely than ever with eighth full-length Thalassic. The title translating from ancient Greek as “of or relating to seas”, it’s a suitably huge and wide-ranging collection that incorporates orchestrations and traditional folk instrumentation alongside the roaring guitars, bass, and drums. “I think we managed to take another step ahead musically and we also utilized the best parts of our old sound,” states bassist/ vocalist Sami Hinkka. “There are lots of Ensiferum‘s trademarks: beautiful folkish melodies, asskicking riffs, a nice mix of different vocals and great singalong choruses.”

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L AT E S T N EWS

METAL TITANS KING KRAKEN SIGN TO METAL ROCKA RECORDINGS AS NEW EP HITS SPOTIFY Metal Rocka Recordings have announced the signing of metal titans King Kraken – as their latest EP Chaos Engine hits streaming platforms. “It’s with great pleasure that we can announce that Metal Rocka Recordings have welcomed Welsh Titans King Kraken to the family!” Exclaimed John Ellis, head of Off Yer Rocka Recordings – the parent label to Metal Rocka. The label supremo went on to give some background to the band: “In 2018 King Kraken arose from the murky depths. A disturbing marriage of five guys from South Wales with only one mission. To lay waste to anything in their path with huge slabs of monster riffage. Since it’s inception, King Kraken have had some notable achievements including reaching the finals of Bloodstock: Metal To The Masses, playing both Sheffield 02 and Birmingham 02 and recording with legendary producer Romesh Dodangoda. They have slowly built a following over the last two years and received some very favourable reviews. King Kraken’s goal is to play as many gigs as possible whilst continually writing new material. With Mark Donoghue on vocals, Pete Rose on Rhythm Guitar, Adam Healey on Lead Guitar, Karl Meyer on Bass and Richard Lee Mears on Drums there is no stopping the beast! We can’t wait to bring you more from the band, and the digital EP is now available digitally on all the usual digital/streaming platforms.”

by Paul Hutchings

HRH PSYCH STARS AND HRH DVS VETERANS RED SPEKTOR REVEAL NEW ALBUM Much revered psychedelic stoners Red Spektor return to the fold with their mesmerising second album, Heart of the Renewed Sun, out Friday 2nd October, via Kozmik Artifactz. Hailing from Stoke-on-Trent in 2013, the band have crafted a hard-hitting valve-driven sound loaded with layers of psychedelic blues, which tips its cap to the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. With an abundance of groove stemming from a potent rhythm section powered by Jonny Esp on drums and Rob Farrell on bass, it leaves John Scane to deliver the killer guitar

tones alongside vocals ripped right from his soul. In taking cues from early Sabbath and Purple, underpinned by the intoxicating flow of Jimi Hendrix and the musicality of Fleetwood Mac, Red Spektor have developed a formidable live reputation and an army of loyal followers. To date, the band have successfully delivered a critically acclaimed EP and self-titled debut album, and a slew of successful tours and festival appearances with everyone from Ugly Kid Joe to Orange Goblin, Skindred and Hawkwind.

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HRH XIII

PHOTOGRAPHY: SIMON DUNKERLEY

In Pictures

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H R H X I I I I N P IC T U R E S

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WORDS AND PHOTOS BY ADAM KENNEDY

MARK

TREMONTI

With a new album under their belts in the shape of Walk The Sky, Alter Bridge returned to the UK thankfully a couple of months before Covid-19 hit the headlines and pulled the rug out from under live music - as they embarked on a huge arena tour alongside both Shinedown and The Raven Age. HRH Mag caught up with guitarist Mark Tremonti before the opening show of the tour at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham to talk about the band’s latest release, his solo career as well as his thoughts on the release of his first novel. You’re here in Nottingham tonight at the Motorpoint Arena, where you are about to kick off the UK leg of the Walk The Sky tour. Does it feel that the UK is becoming a bit of a home away from home for you guys? Yeah, the UK was the first market to embrace Alter Bridge. We owe everything we have to the UK. You know, it’s kind of been our lifeline. If we just had stayed in the United States, I don’t know if we would have given up because the turnouts weren’t what we wanted, but over here caught on quickly. It’s really what kept us motivated and so we owe a lot of our success to the UK. Both yourself and Myles have been pursuing other avenues in your respective careers, yourself with Tremonti and Myles both solo and with Slash. How does it feel to have the band regrouped and back together? It’s great, I think it’s perfect that we do other things because every time we get back with Alter Bridge it’s fresh. I couldn’t imagine just being in one band. It would be - not boring, but it would just feel like I wasn’t accomplishing everything. I love branching out and doing completely different things and then coming back and making Alter Bridge seem new again. So when you come back from doing your solo work, do you feel like you are bringing new ideas back into this group? Yeah, I feel like I’m bringing new strengths back to Alter Bridge. Because when I do the solo thing, I have to be the frontman and the performer and the writing everything and doing it all. When I come to Alter Bridge, I have a partner in Myles, me and him tackle everything 50/50. And I get to let him be the frontman, which makes Alter Bridge seem so easy for me because I just get to focus on the guitar. I sing too, but I don’t have to talk in between songs. When you start writing a song, do you do so with a particular project in mind? Or do you kind of decide after the event if it’s going to go one way or the other? The only way I can tell if it’s not Alter Bridge is if it’s too speed metal. If it’s got too much of a metal thing at its core it doesn’t really work with the Alter Bridge rhythm section. If I need something to be super syncopated and fast

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it’s not their style. Your latest album is called Walk The Sky. Can you tell us a little bit about what was the starting point for this album was musically? It’s always that there’s never a stopping point for any writing. So writing is always going on. Like I’m writing right now for who knows what. But, I think what kick-started this record was the news that we had five weeks to record. So we’re like are you out of your mind? We can’t do this record in five weeks. So that was a time where me and Myles had to start making demos on our own, which is another good reason why the solo thing has helped us because it helps me be able to make my own song. I’ve done four records now, the solo stuff. So, it was easy for me to, you know, write 10 songs and make the demos myself and then have Myles do the same thing on his own. Usually, me and Myles get together and write every song. This record was all written by me and all written by him. So, we just put both of our songs in a pile and took the best ones and then put the Alter Bridge spin on them. Do you have a favourite track on the record? And if so, which song and why? Godspeed is my favourite. It just means the most to me. I was also the most excited when I finished it. My friend passed away last year and just to kind of attribute to his life, sending him off. We have our Blackbird and In Loving Memory. We have the sad ballads about loss, but this is more of an uplifting send-off celebrating somebody. I’m happy with the way it turned out. This is now your sixth album with Alter Bridge, it’s a little bit different from some of the older material. Are you always looking for new ways to express yourself and be creative with each new recording? With every record, we try to add new colours to it. On the last record, I bought a seven-string guitar to try to keep it interesting. With every record we try to experiment with new guitar tunings and new arrangement styles, you know, break away from the chorus, first chorus verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, expand our arrangements as much as we can. As instrumentalists, we’re

always trying to learn as much as we possibly can. So, on the next record, I’m not just doing the same thing. Carrying on with the creative theme. The latest Tremonti album, Dying Machine, again, that’s a bit different from anything you’ve done with it being a concept album. Was a concept album something that you’d always wanted to do? It was something that was never even on my radar. I had owned concept records when I was younger that I loved, but I didn’t like them because they were concept records. I just liked the songs. Like all the King Diamond records. I didn’t know the story I just liked the individual song. But I wrote the title track and I just loved the story. I loved telling that story. By the time I finished the song, I was kind of sad it was over. So, it was like, you know, let me see if I can make like a four-song mini-EP concept. And once I got four songs deep, I wanted to continue telling the story. So, I just went for it. So, it started as an idea to do a concept album as opposed to coming together organically? I didn’t want it to be. I wasn’t doing a concept. I just wrote that song and I didn’t want to stop telling that story. I love just the story that I was beginning to tell. So, I wanted to continue telling it. And by the time I got four songs deep, I was like, you know, I can just keep doing this and then make it a concept. By the time I got almost about 80% done with the album, I just challenged myself to write a novel because it was something on my bucket list I’ve had for over a decade, maybe 15 years. I’ve always wanted to write a novel. A lot of musicians write biographies, you know, actors and politicians write their biographies. I wanted to write a fictional story because I’m a book fanatic. As soon as I get on the bus I’m reading. So, I knew I had the story and it was much deeper of a story than it comes across on the record. Because the record

you can only put out so much. So, I wanted to create more of a 3D experience for somebody to listen to a record and be able to read the story and read the story then hear the soundtrack to the story. And now I have signed a deal with Circle of Confusion, which is a TV management company and they sell scripts and they’re shopping the book now for TV. So, it could end up being my dream come true. So, would you say that was a challenge you enjoyed and that it would be something that you would love to do again? I’m already writing my next one. I kind of wondered when you said that the novel sort of tied up the loose ends, did you ever think of maybe creating a second album to bring together those loose ends and tell it musically instead of putting it down as a written piece? I feel like the story, the novel ends the way it should end. And then just to be safe, I put in just a little bit of a hint as to where the story could go. It’s not like you read that and it leaves such a cliff hanger where it’s like, oh this sucks. I want to know where the story went. Because the story completes its full arc, but I left it open-ended in case all of a sudden it did catch on. Because right now I have an agent who’s trying to get a publishing house together. I’ve read so many grief/horror stories about writers who have written a hundred stories and never get a deal. And how hard it is to get a deal and I’ll be heartbroken if it doesn’t because I put so much time and effort into it and I’ve had so many people read it and get into it. I just need the right people to read it. So, we’ll see what happens.

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HRH Metal IV in Pictures

PHOTOGRAPHY: SIMON DUNKERLEY

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H R H M E TA L I V I N P IC T U R E S

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WORDS: CHARLIE “GLAMRAT” SIMPKIN

t is on the shelf. Basic to look at. Only the album title and the band’s name visible. Go on, grab it, slap it on the vinyl player and annoy the neighbours with one of the best-selling albums of all time. This masterpiece celebrates its 40th birthday on 25th July 2020 and what a beautiful piece of craftsmanship it is! Created as a tribute to their previous master of vocals, Bon Scott, it became the 2nd biggest selling album of all time after Michael Jackson’s critically acclaimed “Thriller” album. Selling nearly 30 million copies worldwide, nobody can say that rock has died! In December 2019, it was certified 25 x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It began in the ashes of tragedy, the loss of a brother and the uncertainty surrounding the band’s future hanging on just a few notes. Emerging from the darkness, a new age dawned on rock music and AC/DC cemented itself in the pages of musical history. So how did one of the biggest selling albums become so iconic? 20th February 1980, death by misadventure from acute alcohol poisoning. There is no perfect way to go but what a rock n roll way to say goodbye. Bon Scott was out and about with a mate in Camden, London on the night of 19th February 1980 without a care in the world, running on the high of the recent success of their album “Highway to Hell” which had been certified Gold in the US. Scott and the band were over here in the UK to produce their next album after finally breaking into the country’s rock scene, their track “Touch Too Much” became their first UK Top 30 hit in the first week of February and AC/DC seemed unstoppable! Bon Scott’s untimely death halted the band in their tracks and grief overcame them. How could they possibly carry on without their boozy, charismatic singer whose unique voice struck a chord with so many, especially guitarist Malcolm Young. Malcolm had always said that he felt that Bon was like a lucky charm, he kept the band together just by his “stick-it-to-them” attitude. After Bon’s funeral in Perth, Australia in a small suburb where he grew up, his father pulled Malcolm aside and gave the guys his blessing to carry on with AC/DC, “it’s what Angus would’ve done” explains Angus. Lyrics in their minds, guitars on their backs and the future gleaming on the horizon, the hunt was on for a new singer. Who knew it would be a man who Bon Scott had seen himself years before at a Geordie gig in the North East of England?! After being tracked down, Brian Johnson, a mechanic from Newcastle upon Tyne was invited to Vanilla Studios in Pimlico, London for the audition of a lifetime. He was the first guy in the door, Angus, Malcolm, Cliff, and Paul wanted nobody else and on 1st April 1980, the band formally announced Brian Johnson as their new singer. They had six weeks to get the album together, but every studio in London was booked up so where did they go? Compass Point Studios in Nassau… the Bahamas…wye eye mon!

its pace even though it had a very distinctive (and now very recognisable) tone, “If you don’t like I’ll say I wrote it” jokes Angus Young. To carry on the mourning feel of the album, the guys decided they wanted an all-black album cover but their label, Atlantic Records, was not so keen. They came to a compromise, only the band name and the title were to be outlined which created the plain yet very impactful cover. Three more singles came from “Back in Black” including “Hell’s Bells”, which made a reappearance on “Who Made Who” (1986, soundtrack to film Maximum Overdrive), “Rock n Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution” which was the final single to be released on 15th March 1981 and my personal favourite “You Shook Me All Night Long”. All four tracks were accompanied with a music video as MTV had moved into centre stage and became the quickest way to gain more fans not just by selling your music at the record stores. The guys hired a now-familiar face to create this brilliant piece of rock n roll mourning, the legendary Mr Robert John “Mutt” Lange. He has earned his supreme status by producing great albums such as Def Leppard’s “Hysteria”, Bryan Adams’ “Waking Up the Neighbours” and even though they are not everyone’s favourite rockers, he even produced Nickelback’s “Dark Horse” album. Mutt demanded perfection from the guys, especially Brian. Mutt wanted the tracks to sound as they would if they were sung live, every breath, every note, had to be achievable: “You cannot knock a man for that, but he drove me nuts” says Brian. After four weeks of recording, the album was mixed at Electric Lady Studios but they were missing one thing, the infamous bell for “Hell’s Bells”, Tony Platt (assistant sound engineer) flew from New York to England just to record the 2000 pound bronze bell playing the funeral toll to open up the new chapter of AC/DC’s life. The album was now complete – and unleashed to the world on 25th July 1980 to mixed reviews, some hailing it as a huge milestone in rock music both in its creative journey and seamlessly blending its past into its future without so much as a hiccup. Others such as Smash Hits claimed it was “the songs indistinguishable from one another and marred by hypermasculine fantasies, rock music stock phrases, garish guitar, and dull rhythms, on yet another triumph for lowest common denominator headbanging—the new thoroughly predictable, thoroughly dreadful AC/DC album” … oh - how wrong they were! Following its release, AC/DC went on a massive 13-month worldwide tour kicking off in Belgium on 29th July 1980 finishing at Castle Donington, here in the UK on 22nd August 1981. A solid album filled with riffs, screaming vocals with a send-off that any rockstar could dream of, amassed a following of millions and a legacy no one will ever forget. 10 tracks. 42.11 minutes long. 50 million copies sold worldwide. Back in Black.

Angus and Malcolm had previously written some riffs and lyrics when Bon was alive, but they felt that they needed to pay a tribute to their fallen brother which is where the title track came to life. “It’s kinda slow but it has a great riff; it was a toughie that one” says Brian Johnson in a video the band uploaded to their YouTube channel explaining how “Back in Black” came about. Malcolm enjoyed the riff but was uncertain about

Charlie “Glamrat” Simpkin on Hard Rock Hell Radio every Tuesday at 1pm for The HRH AOR Show with Glamrat

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WORDS: CHARLIE “GLAMRAT” SIMPKIN

TURNING UP THE

In an interview conducted just before the music world pretty much stopped turning on its axis, Charlie “Glamrat” Simpkin spoke with Erik Gronwall – frontman of Sweden’s AOR pioneers H.E.A.T. I have woken up extra early to make sure that I do not miss this interview via the good old-fashioned telephone. The air outside is cold, the sky is sparkling blue and the sun is gleaming through my window. As I stare at the dust collecting guitars on my walls, a dull buzz comes from my desk and it’s the call I had been waiting for. It was Erik Gronwall, the undeniable charismatic front man of rock band H.E.A.T. Hailing from Sweden, they have blasted through the radio and leapt up the rock charts with their brand-new album “H.E.A.T II”, giving us dynamic performances and sky rocketing vocals with fist punching anthems! I was lucky enough to catch Erik on a rare day off and we had plenty to chat about. C: Hi this Charlie from HRH Mag, how are you doing today? E: Hi I’m very good, how are you? C: I’m very good thank you, thank you so much for talking to me today. I have been buzzing all week about it. E: Oh, right ok cool, thank you for having me! C: Not a problem. So, my first question is that everything seems to be happening for you guys right now, it’s absolutely insane. You guys are exploding all over the scene, where do you find the time to breathe at the minute? Because you’re on cruises, you’re gigging, and everything so how do you find time to breathe? E: We actually have a few days at home so it’s kind of nice just to chill - I live in the countryside, so it’s a good way to relax in between shows but yeah it’s really exciting and we have a lot of things happening right now and the new songs have been well received so yeah exciting times. C: They have haven’t they, everyone seems to be raving about them, on your first day you got up to number five on the Amazon and iTunes chart, that’s absolutely insane! For your album just to go straight there you know! E: Yeah, it’s brilliant, it’s insane, I think to be honest it’s one of the best releases we’ve ever done. C: I was going to say personally for me, it’s been an amazing album, I’ve listened to it back to front and upside down and I’ve played it on my show for weeks and weeks on end just because it’s amazing. E: Oh, wow that’s cool, alright! Thank you very much, I’m so glad you like it. C: What do you do on your down time? Because I’ve noticed - not that I stalk you or anything - (Erik laughs) I noticed on your Instagram that you are quite studious, you like reading/ philosophy and nature walks and things like that, is that just how you calm yourself down? To just take everything in? E: Yeah exactly, I like reading but I also do a bit of martial arts, I’ve been basically training with boxing since I was 15/16 years old but I also do a bit of Aikido, a Japanese martial art, that’s like meditation to me. So that’s a good way to get into that nice mental state before a show or to achieve anything. C: Oh wow! So where did you guys go to record this album, because people like to go to different places, I think you guys went to Thailand to record some stuff and that before so where did you go to record this album, did you stay closer to home or did you go a lot further? E: No, we stayed in our studio, we had like accommodation included in the deal, so it

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was basically a hotel with a studio yeah it was crazy. So, I did some shadow boxing and I tried to stay healthy, and even workout, even when we were working or in the studio. Sometimes it’s hard to combine the two lifestyles! C: I can imagine, because rock n roll is so hectic, it’s constant it’s all the time. Bon Jovi did a similar thing, they went up to Vancouver and just ate, slept, drank and did everything in the studio, is that where you try to take your inspiration from? To try and close yourselves off from the outside world a little bit, just so you can get a real feel for the music or do you go out and about and still do your daily things? E: Well I guess the answer is in the balance I really need in order for me to be able to perform on stage and to manage like you call it the rock n roll lifestyle. I really need to find down time, I really need to work out, I need my books, I need to have that lifestyle too. I guess I need to have the balance. C: For me I find the album has a lot of what I would call stadium filling anthems because they always make you want to jump about even though you do have a nice ballad song in there, is that where you take a lot of your inspiration from, the 80s bands of yesteryear as they are all still going on tour, like Europe, Whitesnake, Motley Crüe, Def Leppard, do you take inspiration from them or do you just find your own kind of way? E: Well I guess, we all have our different influences and inspirations, I guess we love all those big songs with big choruses, and it doesn’t really matter which genre it is, it’s just that we like the big choruses! It’s not just a Swedish thing but maybe a heritage thing. C: There’s something in the water over there like… E: Yeah exactly like Bjorn and Benny of ABBA, were the first to show everybody in Sweden that you can make it even if you come from a small country like Sweden. You can make it big globally! So, I guess we get inspired by big hit songs and when we write songs, we always try to think live! Like, ok so where in the song can we get the audience to sing along? How can we work with this song live? That’s basically how we write the songs. C: How was the Monsters of Rock Cruise? You guys have played on land, on the sea, I mean where’s next? You going to play on an aeroplane, go to space or something, because you guys seem to be everywhere? Is that the dream? I mean your vocals are insane, you hit the stratosphere with every note that you play! E: Ha ha, thank you very much! C: So, is that where we’re going next - space? E: Maybe, yeah maybe, that would be a cool thing, like the first concert on Mars!

C: I like to be random; you’ll learn this about me I am really random! What’s the one thing you can’t leave behind when you go on tour? What would you take with you? E: Well it must be books! If you asked me 10 years ago, I would have said beer but now beer takes second place. Yeah, I need something to read, you are in that Nightliner and there’s like 15 to 20 guys sharing that Nightliner and if I don’t get some time to read to myself, I’d go insane!

C: Why not? Aim for them stars! Have you guys got any music videos coming out? You have some really nice slick music videos, “Living on the Run” is the first video that I saw of yours and it was nice, smooth and slick, so is there anything for these songs? E: We are actually are planning a performance video, but we haven’t really decided which song we want to record yet! C: I mean how can you choose, they’re all amazing? E: Yeah exactly, I mean yeah it is a tough one to decide, we will film a live video this weekend we just have to decide on the song. C: You have sold out your London show already, you guys aren’t here until May, how does that feel to be selling your shows out so quick? E: That’s definitely something that you put on your bucket list to sell out shows and to be able to do that in London is pretty amazing actually, we’re very proud of that of course and also we appreciate the support from all the UK fans. C: Yeah, we love you guys over here - you should see some of the pages on Facebook we have about you guys! Dying for you guys to come over here… E: Oh, wow that’s so cool! It feels great actually to be able to go on a tour and is sold out! It’s crazy! C: Is it quite a long tour that you’re planning on doing or is it just a couple of shows here and there across Europe, or are you planning to just keep going on and on? You guys always seem to be on the road? E: Yeah, we have a 3-week tour in May and then we have a few offers, but we haven’t really confirmed anything yet… we are looking at Fall 2020 but we have offers all the way up to 2022, which is pretty insane. We’re trying to plan how to do this in the best way possible, so for now the only thing we have official is the tour in May. I guess for right now we just have to let the managers and agents handle the planning and we just try to enjoy it all, be artists, write our songs and do our shows, so yeah, it’s a good team.

C: Is there anywhere that you really want to play that you haven’t played yet? Some say Madison Square Gardens, some say Wembley Stadium? E: I always had I dream to play Wembley Stadium since I was in High School, that would be really cool! Well it’s just because… I mean it’s a great venue, but I was inspired by Queen at Wembley! So, it’s something I would like to do… we’ll see if it happens! C: You never know man because you guys seem to be really going places, I think it’s easily achievable! Nothing wrong with that! E: I trust you! C: Oh, I don’t know about that! (laugh). Do you guys have a huge selection when you’re writing songs that you just narrow done to the 10 to 12 songs for an album, and have like a bag catalogue that you pick from? Or do you just write new stuff for every album? E: We always write songs so when we were choosing songs for this album, we actually had some songs that we wrote for the “Address the Nation” album. We have a library of different songs; I think it’s really important for all artists to keep writing songs. You want to avoid getting into a cycle where you just write songs when you are about to release an album, the songs are the most important things in an artists career so you have to continue to work on that. I mean the best song writers in the world write one song each day, they might have 2 or 3 hits every year so you must write songs constantly. That’s what we’re trying to do, we don’t write every day, but we try to make it happen. C: Do you guys right a melody first and then put lyrics to it, or do you write the lyrics first and then put the melody to it? Which way round? E: We always do melody first! Always! You might have a title that you like, and you think its cool, and you try to fit it into a song. Like when we wrote “Breaking the Silence”, I think the title came first, and then we added the music to it, so it does vary but mostly you do the music first. Whatever works for different people and sometimes it can be genre based too. If you’re a singer songwriter I think it would make sense to do lyrics first. If you listen to Bruce Springsteen you can hear that, he did that a couple of times, sometimes it sounds like he’s trying to fit in all the words that he wrote!

C: You’ve been with H.E.A.T for 10 years now, do you feel that you’ve developed yourself as a song writer? As an artist or a performer? Do you feel like you’ve learnt a lot more by being in the band as you were a solo artist before you joined the band so do you feel like you’ve gained a lot more by being in a band? E: Oh yeah, absolutely! I feel like the guys gave me a platform to grow as a front man, as an individual and people were a bit sceptic when I joined at first, as I replaced Kenny, he was a great singer - well is a great singer - but the guys were real supportive, they have been great to work with and they have just gave me a platform to grow and to try different things, to experiment. When I realised that I’m not going to replace Kenny, I mean I am replacing Kenny, but I have to do my own thing, I created my own stage persona, so that’s what I did and that’s when things really started happening for us, I think I have definitely grown, it has been 10 years of growing, and that’s something I am very grateful for, the guys have been so supportive from day one. C: That’s all you need, once you’ve got a good team behind you, you can achieve anything can’t you? E: In everything that you do, you need people to believe in you, it gives you that extra power, extra fuel to truly do it. C: Now this is going to sound like a really random question… but when you go on tour, who looks after your dog? E: (laughs) It’s usually my dad! You need the family to help you out, it’s the first time I’ve had that question actually!

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C: Do you guys travel light when you go away? Surely you must have stupid number of guitars, and drums and things like that. People laugh and say that singers just have to take a microphone and a change of clothes, but I mean you must take a few bits and bobs with you? E: We have a lot of gear. When we’re travelling, we only have one bag per member with clothes and things but yeah just a lot of gear, guitars, backline and drums. So yeah sometimes it’s good to be a singer, I only have a microphone (laughs). C: Just slip it in your pocket and you’re sound, you don’t need anything else! I mean the greats like AC/DC and Rammstein they have like 3 or 4 trucks that run up and down the country all the time… E: I mean yeah, we’re not there yet (laughs), that’s just another level! C: Have you got any more aspirations to do any more acting because you did, “Jesus Christ Superstar” on Broadway, do you think you have any more of that left in you? Or do you just want to stick to the music for now? E: I don’t mind doing it, if it’s the right musical. I like “Jesus Christ Superstar” but I’m not really an actor, so I’m not really comfortable acting but I mean that was the good thing about “Jesus Christ Superstar” there was little lines, just the music. But it would depend on the musical, like I couldn’t see myself crawling around as a Cat in the musical “Cats”, but I’m happy to do “We Will Rock You!” C: What did you think about the Queen biopic? There was one for Queen, there was one for Elton John and Motley Crüe did “The Dirt” as well, did you like all of them? Did you find any inspiration from them? Or did you see any similarities between yourself and what they do trying to get through the industry? Because it’s changed so much over the years like how bands got found, how they work and things like that, did you enjoy the films? E: Yeah, I did absolutely! I read “The Dirt” book when it first came out, so I wasn’t really inspired about it as I already knew the story, but it was a great movie! C: As we were saying before, Swedes have something in the water over there for writing things, do you write for other bands as well or do you purely focus on your own projects as a singer songwriter? E: I try to write for other bands, I wrote some songs for like a J-Pop project, but I don’t do that anymore. I just focus on the band and things I am releasing myself for now because it takes a lot of time and you have to allocate your time properly in life as we only have so much. C: You guys just seem to be so talented; you guys seem to win Eurovision every other year, knocking hits out every now and then, must be something you guys are grown with surely? E: (lots of laughter) C: Us brits are nowhere near as good as creating some of the thing’s you guys come out with! E: Thank you so much! C: We have the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and Def Leppard so...

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E: That’s really good music! C: Who would you like to support? Who’s your dream to support? Dead or alive? E: Well Queen definitely! C: Just Queen? E: just to say hi to Freddie Mercury backstage! Such a great band, one of the greatest bands of all time! And all of the members are amazing song writers, I think everybody in that band wrote a world hit! John Deacon wrote “I Want to Break Free”, Roger Taylor wrote “Radio Ga Ga” C: Do you think you guys have written your “Radio Ga Ga”, maybe your “Sweet Child O Mine”, your “Living on a Prayer” or do you guys still have that in you yet? E: We’re still trying (laughs) C: You are brilliant song writers and you always bring a party with every song you seem to write, is that mainly the feel you want people to get from this album? Is that the vibe that you want? E: Yeah, I want people to leave a H.E.A.T concert feeling good and forgetting whatever is happening in their life, any hardships or, you now just go to a concert and have a good time, forget about the Monday to Friday 8 till 5 just for a while. C: You guys never seem to leave a stage dry; you guys are always soaking wet when you leave the stage?! E: Oh yeah, but we also enjoy it very much! We love being on stage, you travel a lot and you spend a lot of time waiting in this business so that one hour on stage, you have to make it count! C: Is there anything you’d like to say to your fans before you have to go? E: Thank you so much for the support and thank you for selling out London! Thank you for enjoying this album and streaming it, the UK fans have always been so great to us and have welcomed us to a lot of different shows and to different festivals, it seems like its growing and we’re getting bigger. We really appreciate that! It’s all thanks to you guys so thank you! C: No problem, well thank you so much for talking to me today Eric, I’ll let you get back to your day so “tack så mycket” is that how you guys pronounce it, I think I’ve said that right? E: Wow! Tack så mycket! That’s very good, that was perfect! Thank you for having me! H.E.A.T’s new album ‘H.E.A.T II’ is out now via earMusic. The band are on tour with VEGA, Mason Hill and Collateral in the UK in 2021 – rescheduled from this year. For more info head to www.heatsweden.com Catch Charlie “Glamrat” Simpkin on Hard Rock Hell Radio every Tuesday at 1pm for The HRH AOR Show with Glamrat

WORDS: SIMON BONNEY

Ensiferum

Battle Lockdown

HRH: Speaking of change, there have been quite a few lineup alterations over those 25 years. Are we seeing ultimate Ensiferum now or is there room for more development in terms of different instrumentals or vocal experimentation? Petri: We feel very good with this lineup - what we have now and what comes to the future, we have no idea what it holds in terms of musical experiments or anything else right now. We have always done music what we like and also to try out even the most weirdest ideas when writing new material so let’s see. HRH: I really enjoyed the themed nature of the latest release Thalassic! It was clear and the album felt kind of like it was accompanying some mighty seafaring journey. Can we expect this to be the style of choice for the next couple of albums? Petri: Creating a theme album felt really good and it turned very well for our first one. It did open the door to a whole new way of writing but we haven’t talked about future albums yet, Thalassic was released a week ago so it’s still too early to say but of course, the option is out there now that there might be something similar coming one day.

nsiferum are a veteran Viking metal band from Helsinki, Finland, who are primed and ready to take on HRH Vikings III in November. Having recently released “Thalassic”, their 8th studio Album in their 25th year as a band, we thought a quick lockdown catch up was in order to see what debauchery these true veterans of metal had been up to!

HRH: First off, how have you guys been dealing with the Corona virus situation? Have you missed playing shows during the Corona virus saga (great future album title…) or has it been a good little window of respite? Petri: We were focusing on promoting the new album and got ourselves prepared for that live stream show what we did on July 10th as album release show. We got 16 festival shows cancelled from this summer and tours too of course for later this year and early 2021. This is the longest summer vacation ever so we do our best to enjoy it fully. HRH: Ensiferum really was one of the first folk/ Viking metal bands way back in the ‘90s. How has the scene changed over the years for you? Petri: Back in the days there was a hand full of bands in this scene and now there are folk metal bands all over the world and that is great. I think the scene hasn’t changed that much at the end of the day. HRH: What about the industry? How have you guys adapted to the different ways of earning a living from your music in the modern era and have there been any big challenges? Petri: We make our living by playing live shows and it has always been like that so this current situation is devastating to us. We’ll try to reform ourselves to get us adapted to this new era of playing in a band with no shows in the near future - and it ain’t going to be easy for sure.

HRH: I have seen the name “Steve Harris” [of Iron Maiden] mentioned by you guys as a sweet potential headliner for you to support. It would be amazing to see an Ensiferum/ Maiden gig, but it got me thinking, what is the biggest musical opportunity Ensiferum ever missed? Petri: We toured with Children of Bodom in 2011 in Europe and they asked us to join their North American leg as well but we had studio (time) booked for the recording of Unsung Heroes album so we could not go on that tour so that is one missed opportunity. Quite a few bigger bands did not want to take us as a support act because of our folk/Viking style so there are all those ones as well. HRH: On the subject, if you could play a show with any two other bands or artists, active or inactive, who would you choose and why? Petri: Iron Maiden would be first choice, they are very big reason among few other bands why Ensiferum exists and why melody is this important in our music and I haven’t seen them live yet so that would be great too :) Picking the 2nd one is difficult choice to make because there is so many great bands out there. HRH: From the sounds of things, the songwriting is flowing at the moment. On your official page you suggest there were almost too many ideas for lyrics and songs- does this mean we might see another studio instalment in the not too distant future or are you going to be focusing on the upcoming tour? Petri: Like I said before all shows are cancelled until who knows when so why not starting to check out new material already now and use this quarantine time to be productive. Sami did have a lot of ideas for lyrics what got leftover from Thalassic album so let’s see how things go forward from here. See we shall my man! Thanks a lot for the time and we look forwards to seeing you at HRH Vikings III in November!

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WORDS: JEZEBEL STEELE PHOTOGRAPHY: SIMON DUNKERLEY

From somewhere deep inside an insane asylum – possibly near Preston – lurk Psychoberrie and Dr Von Stottenstein of the phenomenon known as Ward XVI. Few are allowed to visit – even fewer escape with their sanity let alone an interview…which is exactly what HRH Mag’s Jezebel Steele managed to achieve. She thought it wise to begin the conversation by asking about their upcoming release – Metamorphosis. Looks like it was a wise move, and she appears to be suffering fewer nightmares since her experience than most who venture deep into Whittingham Asylum… JS: I started with the obvious question… how much longer do I have to wait for the release? WXVI: 25th of September JS: Oh no that’s ages away! WXVI: When we first started, It felt like a long time away but now it’s creeping up with all the prep we have had to do. JS: Tell me about the writing process - what sparked it? WXVI: We’d already written the first album which follows Psychoberry, a serial killer, and how she manipulates a man into killing for her own twisted entertainment; and then we wanted to write a follow up.. but this time we’re going back to Pscyhoberry’s childhood, her upbringing and why she became the way that she is. I already had the plan for this album before the first album, so it was just a case of getting it out there. (Trying not to give away too many spoilers here, and when you hear the album you’ll understand my next question)

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I N T E RV I EW - WA R D XV I JS: This is a scary album, I have to ask, do you have a good relationship with your own mother? WXVI: My real mother is very lovely, and this character is entirely fictional, I even texted my mother to warn her before the release of Imago, to let her know that it’s nothing like her!

JS: How are you going to play the Dog and Duck when this show “demands” the Albert Hall? WXVI: Hahaha… our props aren’t going to fit on a six-foot stage! We have a light show and some new props to bring!

JS: I’ve had the good luck to hear the album already and it has many different musical strands, like an opera – in the same way that The Who’s “Tommy” is an opera…was that intentional?

JS: When did you record the album? I know that nothing is overnight (and this doesn’t sound overnight) but when was it recorded?

WXVI: I think the vision of the band pushed it that way.

WXVI: We came out of the studio and the following week… Lockdown happened!

The first album, although a concept album, didn’t have a lot of the themes that a normal concept album would have, something that runs through it and makes it quite easy to listen to from one song to another Whereas with this one, it was “less cooks spoiling the broth” when we were writing it, and we had a clearer idea of what we wanted to do, both from a theme perspective and sonically. We wanted something to be quite epic - since the first album was released, we’ve really embraced the concept album and the stage show as well, which when we released the first album it wasn’t as clear in our heads. The story was there, but the delivery wasn’t. We’ve learned, over the past 3 years, what our identity is, compared to what we were. We were at a point where we knew that we wanted it to be a more theatrical experience rather than just musical, with nothing added. JS: It’s definitely theatrical, I was worried when I first started to listen to the album that the subject matter might leave the listener feeling dirty (for want of a better phrase) but in reality it leaves you screaming “what next?”. Now we know what next, the first album… WXVI: Technically, we went a bit ‘Tarantino’ with this one because chronologically this album is number one, there will be another album - and Art Of Manipulation will be album three in the story. Then, within all 3 albums is another storyline, the final track from this album ‘Shadows’, along with ‘Ward XVI’ on the first album and the final track from the third album will form a running theme in its own right. JS: When I was listening to one particular track earlier, it felt different musically to the other tracks, then you have the next track that is different again. Yet all the while it is definitely Ward XVI. Did you intend to have so many different musical strands in the album? WXVI: We’ve all come from different musical backgrounds and when I wrote that one, I had the idea in my head (and a love of Led Zeppelin and Iron Maiden who do these huge songs). I wrote it and Martin Crawley, who plays accordion on our last album, took it away and took it somewhere else. I’d written it with normal synths, but he took it and made it something completely different. He restructured and added orchestration and made it something else. JS: The orchestration makes it more epic – lifting it from another album to something that could be played at the Albert Hall… was that intentional or was it more a case of “this works”? WXVI: It depends on the song, some were built from keys up and some were built from guitars, but it was always intentional to have the big sound. We do like to have a lot going on! We’ve started to look at our music from a different perspective. We didn’t write it as a song, then add theatrics, it was written with a theatrical piece in mind. We built a complete show around that concept It’s taken a few years of trial and error, what works in small pubs, and being ambitious enough to have in our heads what we want to bring to the stage We don’t want to sound like anyone, but we want to have influences that show through.

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The first album took us 2-3 weeks to record and a year to produce, this album has been quicker to turn around. JS: Is that because you’re just better at it? You know what you want? WXVI: We were more prepared, we had full demos and knew exactly what we wanted. We fixed all our problems before we went into the studio Historically, we had more band members, but we didn’t always have the same focus, be it the theme element or the concept, or how ambitious you could be. Certain times on the first album we didn’t go as big as we wanted to, and we compromised things we probably shouldn’t have. This time, we’re a closer band, the three of us have been together as the core band for two or three years and this time we didn’t have the same compromises, we were more professional. JS: It sounds much more grown-up this time WXVI: That has been said, this album we’re more mature. The album release is coming up in October [since re-scheduled to 30th January 2021] at Academy 3 in Manchester. We’re going all out for that, making props, and as soon as we’re allowed out we’ll be rehearsing for the album launch. JS: You mentioned earlier that you compromised when producing Art of Manipulation, and perhaps didn’t push as far as you could because it wouldn’t translate from album to live. Do you see it being a problem with Metamorphosis, translating all the elements of the orchestration to live? WXVI: With the last album, nobody wanted to use backing tracks, but unless you can bring an orchestra on stage they are necessary. Using the backing tracks really does step it up a notch when we play it live.

I N T E RV I EW - WA R D XV I

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a lot more savvy in regards to what you can use on stage, and the technology you can use, and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re open to it. The fact that we use actors on stage allows us to focus on the music, whereas when we first did it, we compromised too muchâ&#x20AC;Ś we tried to do everything.

WXVI: We wrote the bulk of it, Martin Crawley did the orchestration on some of the songs, but the background and more basic keys we did ourselves. John Badger played drums for the album and is booked for the launch gig.

The only thing about this album is that there are a lot less â&#x20AC;&#x153;dancyâ&#x20AC;? songs on this album, so there might be some people looking at us with arms folded not moving!

We used the opportunity to work with musicians that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve worked with over the past few years; Russ Custard, Annabelle Iratni (sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the opera singer in Goodnight Shot), and Chris Barton who does the voice of the psychiatrist.

JS: It might not be as boingy as the previous album, but people will definitely move! Do you have a favourite track on the album?

JS: When you do the album launch, will you do the one album, almost as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;right, this is itâ&#x20AC;??

DVS : Shadows mainly because it was a weird thing for me, I wanted to incorporate prog elements, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the easiest song on the album but it gets you. Psychoberrie: Shadows, although I have a favourite note on the track Lullaby Russ from Footprints In The Custard did the backing vocals, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s his voice you can hear screaming; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a five minute build-up of emotions. JS: Imago was released recently, what track comes next (if you can tell me)? WXVI: Another single will be released about two weeks before the album launch, probably the first week in September. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a good video to accompany it too, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had a lot of fun making the video! JS: Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve signed to Metal Rocka Recordings. How did that happen? WXVI: We were cheeky, and it paid off. There was a post on social media earlier this year, and we took advantage and it led us to here! What next? In an ideal world, would there be a tour? WXVI: Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re looking into booking a tour, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proving difficult because every band is looking to book venues. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re looking to do something early 2021, even if it means taking our own stage and tent! JS: You mentioned that you worked with Martin Crawley, and Russ Custard, does that mean you did everything else yourselves? Even the voices?

WXVI: Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to go start to finish, then a couple of songs from the last album. We did the same thing with the previous album, the whole story. You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get to do it a lot, so itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unlikely weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll get to do it again. Most sets are 45 minutes or maybe an hour. The album is 50 minutes, so we could do it, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d have to be slick. JS: Ahh, but that leaves no time for applause! WXVI: There wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be any anyway, just awkward silence from the audience đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x2030; JS: And your mother at the back wearing a tee-shirt that reads â&#x20AC;&#x153;this is not about meâ&#x20AC;?â&#x20AC;Ś WXVI: We have a family Whatsapp, and I even sent a disclaimer, to say itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not about her! JS: Well, I for one wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be standing in awkward silence, I have my ticket for the album launch and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m very much looking forward to it! Since our chat, the album launch has been postponed to Saturday 30th January 2021, still at the Manchester Academy, and still with support from Footprints In The Custard, Pulverise, and Lyndon Webb. Personally, I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wait for it to be released. In my humble opinion, it really is an epic piece of work. The subject matter is gritty, but it works and really did leave me wanting more. My overall view of the album can be summed up in three words â&#x20AC;&#x153;dirty but lovelyâ&#x20AC;?. Catch Jezebel Steele on Hard Rock Hell Radio every Saturday and Sunday at Midday

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F R E SH H E L L

Who are you?

WORDS: Viki Ridley

Keylock

We’re Keylock, we like to call the live shows the ‘Travelling Rock & Roll Circus’, we like to think of the live shows as a gathering of the tribe, hippies, freaks, soul brothers and sisters getting together, to let go together, sing along and enjoy some roots inspired rock n’ roll. Roll Call? Rev. Jonnie Hodson on vocals and harp, hailing from Liverpool, drinks too much coffee, loves bell bottoms and spinning mic stands, nocturnal, will insist on being addressed as a Reverend. Aaron Keylock on guitars and harmony vocals, plays like his life depends on the next note, eats ribs like a caveman, gets lost in places he knows well, spends raw cash on clothes that don’t fit, lives in a field. Joe Major all the way from Stockton, drums with soul, looks cute but he’s angry deep down, has a vicious memory for arrangements, canny, dresses like an edgy topman model, has his own emoji. Superhands Thom Carter, the mad professor on keys, organ and harmony vocals, knows very little about yoga but willingly partakes in a home cooked verison, lives at the bottom of the garden, you’d willingly give him the hole out of your last polo, this description doesn’t do him justice.

Conor Cotteril completes the rhythm section, the Keylock heartbeat on bass, plays like a Stax session player, wicked sense of humour, best hair in the band and the coolest member, funk for sale, get behind his sunnies and he’s yours, London boy. Hailing from? Somewhere between here and the moon. Sometimes we visit the moon, our keys player does it more frequently than the rest of us. Rehearsals / writing and jam sessions are like a military operation organised by The Grateful Dead and orchestrated by Superhans from The Peep Show. We live all over the place haha. It does make getting together special, then all that creative energy goes off in the room. I think us being so far apart has strangely brought us closer, because we face adversity, getting together is an incredible task so songs come flying out of us! We all end up with each other’s local phrases in our vocabs too! Journey so far? Aaron had been looking for a singer for a while when he contacted me. At that time I was feeling really lost and burned with music, abandoned in a sense. He got in contact and we spoke about influences, life, music, the dream etc. I think he really threw me a musical lifeline, I’ll be forever grateful for that. I was desperate to write songs and had a load of backed up ideas for lyrics and melodies etc. We got together and had a jam in Liverpool. There was certainly an instant conversation musically so we got together in a hotel, half way between Oxford and Liverpool. Long story short two days later we came out as a writing partnership, we wrote songs that weekend that are still with us. ‘Coming Home’ for instance was the first song we wrote

together, which I think says a lot, it wasn’t just two people awkwardly trying to make something work, it gelled immediately in a time that I was thinking of walking away from music, which know seems nuts to me. From there we went about assembling the band, the dream team that we want to spend the rest of our lives with musically. Joe came to Liverprool for a jam, and again, that conversation was instant,. He was so melodic with his playing, didn’t just add a yard, he considered everything. It was pretty similar with Thom, he came down for a jam and added another dimension to what was happening, we really wanted to have space in the music. To me, Free are kings of that - so much happening with so much space to move in-between. Conor added a heartbeat, a natural bass player, and I think a real testament to him was in the first jam, I almost forgot he was there, there wasn’t any “oh, he’s new he’ll pick it up” he just slotted right in, added the right things and took out the right things. Sitting on the drums, pushing the guitar and vocal and having the keys weave in and out. So far, I feel truly blessed with the musicians I’m playing with in this band. There’s been a lot of miles on the road. We’ve played more in Europe than in the UK as I’m writing this. Thom attempted a pretty impressive drunken handstand in Glasgow, that was something to behold. Influences/sound? Wow, that’s a long list. There’s common threads that link all of us together and it’s all very varied, but as a generalization we all dig that ‘70s rock n’ roll sound. Free, The Grateful Dead, The Stones, The Band, The Who. We’re all into roots stuff too, I love Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, James Brown and the blues guys, Muddy, Elmore, Sonny Boy. I’m totally a student of the blues and soul guys, I take so much from their phrasing, the way they breathe, step into and out of notes. I love Paul Rodgers, he’s a real singers singer. I learned to sing by singing along to him. All of it really, we love Blackberry Smoke, Rival Sons, The Cadillac Three, Temperance Movement etc. There’s soul to what we do, or we wouldn’t do it haha. Biggest gig/proudest moment to date? There’s a few for me, hearing a couple of thousand people sing our second single “Shine On Me” back to us in Switzerland by the audience at Blue Balls festival before it was even released. We broke the band down and had a jam with the audience, we love that. That song being playlisted by Planet Rock Radio too. We’ve had some fun moments in airports and European hotels too, some I don’t think we should mention... ha! I think the proudest moments are yet to come. What does the future hold for Keylock? Everything! We can’t wait to get onstage, get in the studio, play together. It’s all out there, we just need to go get it and hopefully take you all with us on the journey. We mainly hope to bring flares back into fashion so it makes buying them easier! We’re really looking forward to getting out and getting to as many people as possible, making that connection with people who love music. Come join the circus, leave your inhibitions at home x

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F R E SH H E L L

WORDS: Viki Ridley

s l e b e R t e l r Sca

Who are you?

We’re Scarlet Rebels, a melodic rock band from deepest darkest South Wales. The name comes from the local rugby team of Gary and Wayne’s hometown of Llanelli (The Llanelli Scarlets) Roll Call?

Wayne Doyle - Singer, Songwriter, Guitar, El Capitano Gary Doyle - Drums, Van Driver, Pee Break Decider, Consigliere Pricey - Bass, Backing Vocals, Sleepy Weasel Chris Jones - Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals, potential hair model. sunglasses wearer, pee break asker Josh Townshend - Guitar, Keyboards, minister of cool, impressionist, chim chimeney sweeper Hailing from? We’re scattered around the South Wales coast, Wayne and Gary are Llanelli, Pricey and Josh Swansea and CJ is Porth Cawl. Josh is actually from London originally, but he moved down to Wales to live near the beach with his family. Clean air, beaches, rain, cawl and welsh cakes...What more could he ask for? Journey so far? It’s been interesting to say the least. Wayne, Gary and Pricey were the backbone of V0iD for years, releasing 3 albums to critical acclaim but not much else other than broken promises, debt and one time sharing a dressing room with Noddy Holder. Chris and Josh joined and then we renamed the band to something more accessible and unique. We started gigging as heavily as we could and it sort of started to click. We signed a record deal, management deal and then released our debut album and went on our first joint headline tour sponsored by Planet Rock. It’s going well to be fair, we’re enjoying it! Van fever is kicking in but

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y’know... could be worse I guess, we could have van fever with CJ eating quavers in the back. They’ve been banned for obvious reasons… Influences/sound?

We’re all slightly different in terms of what we listen too, but it’s all from the same pot so to speak. Wayne is a massive Bruce Springsteen fan and loves Tom Petty as well, Gary’s into Metallica and Pearl Jam, Pricey loves David Bowie and Tom Petty, Chris is all Guns N Roses and AC/DC and Josh is into the Strokes, Radiohead and Muse. We all have a common love of Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters as well. We’re a rock band that tries to write big anthemic choruses with loud guitars and big drum sounds. We’re a songwriting band first of all or at least we try to be anyway :) Biggest gig/proudest moment to date? Gig wise, we did HRH in Ibiza a little while back and HRH AOR in 2019 which was amazing. We also recently did the Giants of Rock in Minehead, where we literally sold all of our merch within 30 mins of coming off stage. It was nuts. We also became the first local band to sell out the local theatre (400+) in Llanelli (Wayne and Gary’s home town) last February which was amazing! Proudest moment...Our first album ‘Show Your Colours’ went to Number 7 in the iTunes Rock Charts. We’ve also sold out the first print in less than 5 months since it’s been released so we’re happy with that. The proudest moment is probably winning the 2019 ‘Great Music Stories Band of the Year’ though. With over 90,000 votes cast, we came out on top, following in the footsteps of The Quireboys, Massive Wagons, Those Damn Crows and The Virginmarys. That’s some amazing company to be in and whatever happens, no-one can take that away from us. What does the future hold for Scarlet Rebels? We’re going to start recording the follow up to ‘Show Your Colours’ in September which should keep us busy up till the end of the year and then it’ll all start again next year, new music, new videos, albums, touring etc... So we’re looking at more time in the van and arguing about what goes on the radio!

F R E SH H E L L

WORDS: Viki Ridley

Seething Akira

Who are you?

We’re Seething Akira, a 6 piece alternative metal band from the not so sunny seaside town of Portsmouth in the UK. Roll Call? Kit Cuntrad - Vocals and looking like a homeless Jesus. Charlie Bowes - Vocals and of the Moroccan Sunset complexion. Stu Radcliffe - Drums and too attractive to really be in this band. Richard Ellis - Bass and talks like a man from the past/House Goth. Si Williams - Guitar and legs smaller than ET. John Corney - Guitar and more tracksuit bottoms than Sports Direct. Hailing from? I say Portsmouth, but a couple of us are from Brighton and the Isle of Wight (so basically France). Journey so far? Wow, well where do we start? We’ve been playing gigs, hitting UK and EU tours for around 8 years. The lineup and style have evolved over that time, adding more meat around the bones, making the show more entertaining and generally pushing our name out at festivals like Victorious, Bloodstock, UK TechFest and HRH of course!

Influences/sound?

We’ve always wanted to fuse metal with electronics, thus acts like the Prodigy, Rage Against The Machine, Beastie Boys, Skindred, Linkin Park and the ultimate sludge metal powerhouse … KC and the Sunshine Band. Biggest gig/proudest moment to date?

This is a tough one as we’ve had so many enjoyable moments so far, but if you twisted my arm I’d have to say the first time we made the trip across the channel to Europe. We headlined a festival in Liege, Belgium to a good four hundred crazy party goers. As you can imagine it was super unexpected, thus had all the more impact and solidified our love for live performances! What does the future hold for Seething Akira? We’ve just finished recording our second album with producer Oz Craggs (Gallows, Neck Deep, Feed The Rhino), we have some pretty exciting gigs/festivals coming up what with Teddy Rocks, HRH Ibiza, HRH Industrial Goth and so many I want to tell you about but alas, we’re sworn to secrecy at this time! Sounds like a shameless plug, but make sure you catch us at HRH Ibiza, we promise to slap that venue like a New York pimp, you won’t be disappointed!

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F R E SH H E L L

WORDS: Viki Ridley

The Suicide Notes

Who are you? Once upon a time a heavily under-the-influence Mick Taylor-era Stones got the Pistols drunk and pregnant over a sticky bar-stool, then dumped them in a haze of whisky sweats and Marlboro smoke to run off on a stolen-car road trip with the Dogs D’amour and the Ramones. That’s The Suicide Notes – gutter-trash rock n’ roll, conceived on a bed of red wine and broken promises. Roll Call? Billy Tee - Rusty tacks and bourbon lead vocals, harmonica, and swinging from the chandeliers. Alex Holmes - Vintage overdrive, snarling six-strings, and buzzsaw backing vocals. Damien Beale - Southpaw Fender Precision bass groove and falsetto harmonies. Gavin Hobbs - Skin smashing, bone breaking, and too many cymbals. Hailing from? The sleepiest picturesque market towns Oxfordshire and Berkshire have to offer.

Journey so far? It’s all been a bit hectic! Billy was doing great things with the Black Bullets and, before that, Junction XIII. Alex had been in a mildly successful band called Babydoll “about a million years and fifteen guitars ago” but was at a loose end. We knew each other from hanging out at ‘Bullets shows and through Billy’s ‘Hellsville’ artwork. We’re the same age, and we share the same taste in music – Dogs, Hanoi, Backyard Babies, Faces – and it just felt like there was a little Suicide Notes-shaped hole in the scene; there’s loads of really great bands out there but no-one was creating exactly what we wanted to hear. Billy and I started talking about a year ago about maybe putting something together - a little more back to basics, sleazy, rock n’ roll. It was meant to be just cool and relaxed and fill in some time with writing a few songs, and then suddenly the ‘Bullets imploded by text message, and there we were. The Suicide Notes came together really quickly. The name was arrived at over the phone whilst Alex was stuck on a train to Twickenham, and we cracked on with songwriting together. Dame was an obvious choice - we were friends, and we were playing together in a great fun little rockabilly and Motown band called Badmonkey, but we’ve known each other pretty much since we were teenagers, and played in various bands or random

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line-ups together over the years and Gav was a mate who we all knew, and who both Billy and I knew would be ideal – he’s a little ball of cheeky energy but he’s an absolute powerhouse; it all just fell together really naturally and easily. Since then, it’s been crazy; we started getting gig offers from promotor friends before Billy and I had written more than a couple of songs. Thanks to Timmy DeRella, we did our debut show at the Hope and Anchor, supporting Vice Squad, and then it just spiralled from there. We’ve played the Dublin Castle, surprised a few people at DementiaFest in Wolverhampton, and had nothing but good reviews. There’s been tons of radio play for ‘Take a Bullet’ and ‘Smoke it Like a Cigarette’, which were just a couple of really quickly knocked out acoustic demos for songs we plan to record ‘properly’ later this month, and they’ve got really positive feedback too, and then we seem to have a summer of festivals and bookings right into 2021. It’s crazy. Influences/sound? I always hate this question. We wear some of our influences pretty openly on our sleeves – Dogs, Quireboys, Backyard Babies – then there’s fairly obvious Hanoi Rocks and early Guns n’ Roses, the LA Sleaze scene with LA Guns and Pussycat, UK and US punk, but then there’s others in there like Tom Waits, The Faces and The Stones, rockabilly stuff like the Stray Cats, bands like the Urban Voodoo Machine, old blues and rock n roll, all sorts. We like to think we’re a mish-mash, but we probably sound somewhere closest to those first few - Dogs, Quireboys, Hanoi, Guns, the Jacobites; there’s a lot of scarves and eyeliner involved as well as the sneering and snarling guitars. Biggest gig/proudest moment to date? Tough … being picked as a ‘featured artist’ and promoted a lot by Planet Zykotica radio was pretty cool; being invited to play at HRH Sleaze on the back of a public vote before we’d even played live was definitely a pretty big deal. So was being asked to guest on the City Kids single with Kory Clarke and Dennis Post from Warrior Soul alongside guys like JJ and Berty Burton. Seeing the little “featuring the Suicide Notes” tag; that was fun to do. What does the future hold for The Suicide Notes? The acoustic EP comes out imminently, and we’re in the studio later this month to record the ‘proper’ electric EP then later again for a follow-up. We’re busy. It’s great!

F R E SH H E L L

WORDS: Viki Ridley

The Wicked Jackals

Who are you? WE ARE.....THE.....WICKED..........JACKAAAAAAALLLLLSS!!!!! Roll Call? Ollie Tindall on vocals and guitar Marty Venus on lead guitar and backing vocals Lex Gifford on bass and backing vocals and James Norkett on drums. Hailing from? The Jackals are based in and are from Watford, Hertfordshire Journey so far? So far, we’ve been together for coming on 7 years, we’ve been through hell and high water to get to where we are now, still got a lot of fight left in us! This is the longest standing relationships any of us have ever had and in this quadrorelationship, you have 3 people to keep happy instead of 1 and without the sex, that can be hard to do! We recently had a split with our guitarist Marty Venus and the Jackals continued as a 3 piece while Marty pursued setting up his own band..though down the line we all realised we needed the other and reformed in a blaze of glory for HRH. One night in London some tracky-wearing yobbos took a dislike to one of our friends so we charged into a fight resulting in us getting a split temple, a bottled lip and many more minor injuries between us and a night in the hospital - drunk, laughing about it. We then wrote “Cashing Cheques and Breaking Necks” about that night.

Influences/sound? It’s always hard to pin down the band’s main sound or who we sound like. Our influences vary but as a whole, Guns N Roses, WASP, AC/DC and Aerosmith would probably be the best description. Biggest gig/proudest moment to date? Our biggest gig to date is probably HRH AOR in 2019, it was a packed room and it was just awesome! People really got going and it was an interband reunion of sorts so it was truly one to remember! 2nd to that and a close one, would be Nozfest, organised by Jodie (Bowie) Harris who set up the festival and was kind enough to have us and many other talented bands on. The room was also packed, booze was flowing and we saw many friendly faces as well met a bunch of new ones What does the future hold for THE WICKED JACKALS? We’ve been heavily focused on writing new material recently, giving the band a heavy, grittier feel, whilst still keep our classic rock sound. Our intention this year is to get a couple of singles recorded alongside videos. “Raise a Glass” - a tribute to all the musicians who we grew up on is coming first. Then for our next single its between “Victory or Death” and “Over the Top”.

HRHMAG.com

Editor’s Dozen

WORDS: Toby Winch

Wishbone Ash – Argus (1970) Many see this album, the third from the blues-prog rockers from Devon, as more prog than blues, but that would be a gross simplification of this stunner for which Martin Birch was the sound engineer. The main aspect to note is the lead guitar harmonies which at the time were considered ground-breaking, and of course adopted by Birch’s most famous clients Iron Maiden, as well as the legendary Thin Lizzy. Blowin’ Free, the second shortest track on the album at just over 5 minutes, is possibly the track that most people recall – but the two epic opening tracks of each side (remember that, vinyl lovers?) are where the real magic happens with the gorgeous Time Was (with vocals as great as the guitars) and bouncy The King Will Come.

Fleetwood Mac – Bare Trees (1972) A recent discovery for me, the Macs sixth studio album is seen as a stepping stone between the two eras of the band. Birch is credited as the engineer for Bare Trees, with the band self-producing. The album hit just number 70 in the US charts, although it has since gained Platinum status due to shifting over 1 million units since its release. The standout tune for me is the title track, with its groovy riff and unusual vocal arrangements. This was the final album on which guitarist Danny Kirwan contributed – he was axed during the following tour. The album ends with a most bizarre track, a spoken-word piece that is still somewhat of a mystery to this day go take a listen!

Rainbow – Rising (1976) Produced and mixed by Birch, Rising is Rainbow’s second studio album and the first to feature the fresh lineup of Dio, Blackmore, Powell, Bain and Carey. A solid album is taken into the stratosphere by the truly epic track Stargazer – an eight and a half minute track taking up half of side B of the vinyl version. I dare you to play this track out loud at Donington Park in June and not get goosebumps. Pardon the pun, but it feels like I’m a stuck record when it comes to tracks on albums here – this is yet another track that would easily make my top 20. But that’s another list for another day! This release was declared by Kerrand magazine (RIP) back in 1981 as the “greatest heavy metal album of all time” – some accolade when you consider the seminal albums that the ‘70s produced.

Whitesnake – Ready an’ Willing (1980) My favourite album from 1980, this is Whitesnake’s 3rd studio album and was produced, engineered and mixed by Birch. Featuring the incredible lineup of David Coverdale, Micky Moody, Bernie Marsden, Jon Lord, Neil Murray and Ian Paice, this release is a near-perfect mix of atmospheric Stormbringer era Deep Purple and heavy blues rock that sounds utterly brilliant still to this day. This longevity is no doubt partly due to the amazing production by Birch – who, as detailed elsewhere in this list, also produced Black Sabbath’s Heaven and Hell, a huge chunk of the Deep Purple and Rainbow catalogues, and would go on to produce 10 years worth of Iron Maiden up until his retirement in 1992.

Whitesnake – Saints & Sinners (1982) This is the fifth studio album from the now well established Coverdale project Whitesnake. However there was discontent in the camp, and even before the album was released, major contributors Bernie Marsden, Micky Moody, Neil Murray and Ian Paice had departed the band. The disc is probably best known not for the superb title track (oddly, the last track on the album) but for the original versions of Crying in the Rain and Here I Go Again, which both found new and bigger audiences on the huge “1987” album following major reworkings. However, the versions here are superb in their own right, with Birch producing engineering and mixing the album. HRHMAG.com Definitely a great place to start if you want to sample pre-1987 38 Whitesnake.

The Michael Schenker Group – Assault Attack (1982) Birch had ceased working with Rainbow before Graham Bonnet joined the band – but their paths crossed on this, the third album from The Michael Schenker Group. This was the only album Bonnet would contribute to for both Schenker and with Birch, with the producer and engineer seeming to get the very best from the “Marmite” frontman. Cuts such as Broken Promises and the title track highlight the quality and variety of aural touches a top producer can add to the table. Although the initial press reaction wasn’t that great to Assault Attack, it’s now seen as a solid piece of work, with (unsurprisingly) the production sounding big and fresh, almost as if it was recorded yesterday. Quite some feat for 1982.

The B est of Mar t i n Bi rch ( b. 1 9 4 8 - d. 2 0 2 0 )

Deep Purple – Machine Head (1972) How could the album with, arguably, the most famous hard rock track of all time not be on this list? It’s incredible to think that Martin Birch even had a hand in this, Deep Purple’s sixth studio album starring THAT track as well as all the others in this collection. Featuring the classic mark II lineup of Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord and Paice, this is the album that made sure that Deep Purple would be forever remembered in the rock history books. In addition to Smoke on the Water, tracks such as Highway Star and Space Truckin’ are bonafide hard rock classics that have stood the test of time. This album is a must-own, but that can be said of pretty much every album here – some testament to the career of Martin Birch.

Deep Purple – Stormbringer (1974) It’s so difficult to choose just two Deep Purple records (same as it’s virtually impossible to choose just 1 or 2 from Rainbow, Whitesnake and Iron Maiden!) but Stormbringer just edges out Burn for a couple of reasons – the first of which is the title track, likely to make it into my top 10 epic tracks of all time. The second is the overall theme, being not the first of two albums in this list to be inspired by the writings of Michael Moorcock – see also Blue Oyster Cult’s Cultosaurus Erectus. The album is a stunning showcase for the vocal talents of both David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes, both of whom were on top form as part of the Mark III lineup of the band, with the pair also co-writing almost every track here. Birch gets both producer and engineer credit for this work, the ninth studio album by Deep Purple.

Blue Oyster Cult – Cultosaurus Erectus (1980) From the Michael Moorcock inspired Black Blade, through the wacky Monsters, epic tale The Marshall Plan to the near-perfect Lips in the Hills this album never lets up. All that’s missing is a “Don’t Fear The Reaper” or “Godzilla” and it would rank up in the top echelons of BOC albums. But for me, this disc is special – or to be more accurate, this cassette tape. The story, which is well worth repeating for those that missed it a few issues ago: my mum borrowed some rock albums on cassette from the library for me as I was laid up at home – the pick of them was this – BOC’s seventh and their first produced by Birch, ensuring that I know this BOC album more intimately than any other. Birch manages to balance the cleaner approach taken for their previous release Mirrors, but add more rock’n’roll and mystery to create a truly wonderful album.

Black Sabbath – Heaven and Hell (1980) As a teen in the 80’s, rather than the ‘70s, I was a latecomer to Sabbath… and I genuinely can’t recall which came first for me - Dio’s solo work, the Rainbow albums featuring the legendary vocalist, or this absolute stunner from the first year of the decade. The title track is a belter, but it’s the haunting Children of the Sea that is my stand-out from this release and is possibly one of my favourite tracks of all time. This is the first Sabbath album to feature Dio at the helm, and the first (with the second and last being Mob Rules) to be produced by Birch. The album was a massive success, hitting the top 30 in the states – the album spearheading the new movement knows as NWOBHM – the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.

Iron Maiden – Powerslave (1984) This is the album that got me into Iron Maiden, and the fourth release produced and engineered by Birch for Harris, Dickinson and company. Powerslave saw the band take a more progressive approach, seemingly far removed from the earlier almost punk-tinged earlier works – but closer listens and comparisons show how it was certainly evolution rather than revolution, with the band hitting the spot and finding an even wider audience for their distinctive sound and image. The 13-minute epic Rime of The Ancient Mariner is the highlight for me (and reminiscent of tracks such as Deep Purple’s Stormbringer and Rainbow’s Stargazer in its scope) but it would be the singles taken from the disc such as Aces High and 2 Minutes to Midnight that would capture the wider music-fans imaginations and propel Maiden into the stratosphere and ensure their position as the leading British metal band for years to come.

Iron Maiden – Fear of The Dark (1992) The final album that Martin Birch would work on before his retirement, Fear of The Dark was the eighth studio-based release that he oversaw for Maiden. The songs were more experimental than previously, with even more prog leanings, and even a ballad. It was also their first double studio album coming in just shy of an hour-long. Not only was the work the last to feature Birch, but it was also the last to see Bruce Dickinson as frontman until he took back his crown from Blaze Bayley seven years later. The title track has survived the test of time and forms part of Maiden’s live set to this day. Take a close listen to Fear is the Key – is it any coincidence that the guitar part at 1.18 is so familiar in its sound? I suspect the touch of Mr Birch right there, onHRHMAG.com this, his final album. 39 Rest in peace, the best producer, engineer and mixer in the classic rock and metal world. Who is going to argue with that?

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I N T E RV I EW - M A S T E R C HA R G E R

HRH Mag’s Jezebel Steele caught up with John James, Master Charger’s guitarist and frontman via a very socially distanced chat to find out a little bit more about their new album “Origin of the Lugubrious”. JS: You’ve recently signed to the Stoned Rocka label, did that have any influence on the new album or was the album pretty much done by that point? JJ: The album had been recorded and mixed in September of last year and mastered in November. Everything was pretty much ready to go. We shopped the album to various labels and had quite a lot on interest and we finally inked a deal with Stoned Rocka Recordings. JS: How have you managed to keep on top of rehearsals during the past few months? JJ: Obviously due to the Covid pandemic situation, rehearsals have been difficult. On top of that, I live 57 miles away from the rest of the band now but still travel. This hasn’t made rehearsals anymore difficult. We all have other responsibilities but we still managed to get in regular sessions before the pandemic and we have just started to rehearse again now. JS: Post lockdown, if you could play any venue to a full house, where would you want to be? JJ: That one is a very difficult one, I think either the main room of Birmingham’s old NEC, or main room of Nottingham’s Rock City or the House of Blues over in the States. So, there are a few options for ya! Hahaha!! JS: I believe you’ve really broken the bank with video budgets this time around, can you tell me more? JJ: We used Jay Hillyer for the videos for One for Sorrow and Embers of the Sun. His fame is for working with bands such as The Black Star Riders and the Wayward Sons. He doesn’t come cheap! Haha! JS: This is where I fire my researcher! I was led to believe your last video was done on next to no budget at all! JJ: Oh that one, yeah that is true also. It was for Earthbound Hellbound. We’d spent all of our money pretty much on the previous videos that we made the last one for a tenner!

WORDS: JEZEBEL STEELE

JS: We’ll see you early next year at the very first HRH Psych in Liverpool on the Heavy Psych/Stoner stage… are you as excited as we are for that one? JJ: Yeah, we are stoked to be playing this one! We can’t wait. So many great bands and friends of ours on this event, so I guess we’ll see you there!! JS: As a band, you have a reputation for being powerfully heavy live, how do you approach a setlist - do you continually write and jam out sessions or can you tell when a song is done? JJ: It’s great that we have a reputation for being a powerful heavy band live, especially since there is only just the three of us. As for approaching the set, we just think about the kind of bands we may be sharing a stage with or the type of festival we maybe playing on and we tailor our set to that really. So it all depends on whether we are looking for something more metal, or doom or even something with a slight psychedelic flavour. A lot of the time, we just pull stuff from all of our releases and see how they fit. We are a band that constantly has riffs written for future releases and we tend to jam them out from time to time and get parts tighter. The arrangements kinda fall into place piece by piece after that. You can tell that a song is done once everyone is happy with their parts prior to recording. Although, you always improve on them after recording when playing them constantly live. The songs always end up evolving more each time. JS: What new bands are out there right now that you think we should check out? JJ: There is Psychlona, Red Spektor, Flex Bison, King Corpse, Ten Days Later, Mage, Prophets of Saturn and of course, not really a new band to me but maybe to some and that is The Kings of Frog Island. So, there’s just a few right there! JS: It must be cool to get signed to a label, how did that come about and what future plans do you have? JJ: Yeah, it’s pretty cool. A great achievement for the band. The deal came about whilst we were shopping for a label. We had some interest from a couple but nothing solid. John Ellis had seen us live a few times and seemed eager. I gave the album to him and he loved it, as they say, the rest is history! Catch Jezebel Steele on Hard Rock Hell Radio every Saturday and Sunday at Midday

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HRH Ibiza

WORDS: DOUG BEARNE

I N T E RV I EW - S A M A N T HA F IPHOTOS: SH SIMON DUNKERLEY

vRoad Trip XI Preview

o this COVID thing has a lot to answer for – not least of all making us wait for Road Trip XI! Understandable, but still – we need our trip! While all this has been going on tho, the team hasn’t been idle. Far from it in fact. The rescheduled event is on for 2021 – and it’s grown! Your bookings are still valid, so start packing your speedos, your flip flops, your multi-coloured t-shirts and your Ministry of Sound playlists.... Oh, hang on – it’s not THAT Ibiza! NO! Grab your shorts, your favourite black band shirts, your converse and your best rock compilations and get ready to rock and party hard from Tuesday 4th to Sunday 9th May! There were extra hotels added for 2020, those sold out in no time at all, with over 250 on the waiting list to snap up any cancellations. However, even more have been added now, so you may still get a spot – just check out the website at www.hrhroadtrip.com. The main music events will still be happening in the mega-club Eden, the venue which has been used regularly since JoanovArc were the first rock band to ever play there on HRH Roadtrip IX. After some great line-ups over the last couple of years, this time around has a lot to live up to – but it’s being billed as the best one yet. As well as all the usual shenanigans of pool games, ride-outs and boat trips, this year will see a Grand Prix, Sunset Acoustic Sessions and a Tuesday night welcome party to get everyone in the mood. The pre-

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party will have live entertainment across multiple venues, featuring unplugged sessions as well as full-on electric sets. This is going to be one hell of a night, but remember – don’t peak too soon! New for next year is a second stage – The Dirty Dozen Stage, which will be showcasing 3 new bands each night from Wednesday thru Saturday. This will be a great opportunity to catch the latest NWOCR (New Wave Of Classic Rock) and new or rising metal hotshots, featuring Secrets of Mariana, Novacrow, Rxptrs, Kill The Ideal, Twister, Kaluss, Straight for the Sun, King Kraken, Obzidian, Black Tree Vultures, The Howling Tides and Liberty Lies. Rxptrs are known to put on an amazing, high energy live show. The long-term friends from Bristol formed the band in 2018, and have been working hard ever since. Mixing rock, metal, hardcore and punk, there is sure to be something for everyone. Twister bring anthemic rock tunes with killer riffs and catchy licks. No strangers to HRH, the band have recently been signed by sister company Off Yer Rocka Records following their triumph at 2019’s HRH Highway to Hell competition. The band from the North East

FE AT U R E HR H ROA D T R I P X I PR EV I EW have toured around the country, and Francis Rossi has said “I love all of your original material”! Expect a full-on, passionate set. Having formed in 2018, South Wales heavy rockers King Kraken have never looked back. Their track “Freak” was the most played song on Hard Rock Hell Radio in 2019, and they came 3rd in Highway to Hell 10. They will have a loyal HRH fan base, having played HRH Metal IV in 2020, and will certainly gain new fans in Ibiza. Black Tree Vultures formed in 2017 in Bournemouth. The rock/metal band have gained an army of fans through their live shows. The guys have already shared stages with The Darkness and Phil Campbell, and will surely gain yet more fans (or ‘family’ as the band likes to class them) on the white isle. Wednesday night on the Main Stage in Eden features the awesome Midnite City. Formed by Tigertailz frontman Rob Wylde, the hairmetal rockers from Nottingham sure know how to start a party. They will be followed by favourites Wayward Sons - the band formed 2 years ago by former Little Angels frontman Toby Jepson. Now with two fantastic albums under their belt, the band were on a real roll before the pandemic stepped in. This is one not to miss. And with album No.3 on the way, hopefully some new songs to learn too! Although last seen at HRH XII, you may remember they packed the room with people queuing out the doors to get in at HRH AOR in 2019. Original Sunset Strip rockers LA Guns need no introduction, and will then be main support to our headliner Joe Lynn Turner. Again, the New Jersey vocalist needs no introduction. Hoping we can look forward to a set packed with Purple and Rainbow classics! Thursday will see Australian rockers Massive setting the tone. The Australian hard rockers have been making big waves recently. No surprise for this band with attitude and songs to match. They will be followed by recently announced Belgian Glam/Sleaze band

Wildheart. With their hearts seriously set in the ‘80s, expect some real classic rock sounds. HRH favourites, Jizzy Pearl’s Love/Hate will follow, bringing his unmistakable sound to the party. Maybe former bandmates LA Guns will get up and join him too! At the time of writing, the Thursday headliners are still to be announced, but you know it’s going to be a banger! Friday brings another stellar line-up, starting off with New Wave of Classic Rock favourites Gin Annie, followed by the first of three long-standing bands. Ten Years After have been going since 1967, and bring a classic blues-rock vibe - and still feature original drummer Ric Lee and keyboard player Chick Churchill. The latest formation features Colin Hodgkinson on bass and amazing guitarist and vocalist Marcus Bonfanti, both having been with the band since 2014. Look out for a set pulling from over 50 years of music-making! Next up is the legendary John Coghlan’s Quo. The original drummer from one of rocks greatest brings us the songs he originally played on – don’t expect to hear “In The Army Now”! Reef will take us to the end of the night – a fantastic band with some great songs. Make sure your vocal cords are still working! Saturday sees Chelmsford’s metallers Bearfist open up the night, bringing their intense live show with them. Having previously played at HRH Metal, these guys are sure to go down well. Witch Tripper will be joining us after playing support on the Evil Scarecrow tour in February, so will be well warmed-up. Punk-metal rockers Seething Akira then take over, setting up nicely for a closing set from big favourites Skindred. The south Wales Ragga-metallers will surely end the party with a bang, always putting on an insane live show. Start practising your Newport Helicopter now! After 4 days of intense head-banging and partying, what better way to end then with a day of acoustic sessions. At the time of writing, we don’t know who and we don’t know where, but there is always some great performances. All in all, we are in for an amazing week that the weather can’t ruin. I for one am really looking forward to going back for my second trip, meeting up with old friends, making new ones and having a great time in the sun. I may need a week after to recover, but hell it’s worth it!

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l a t e M h t a e

WORDS: SIMON REDTANK

In this, the first “Redtank’s Guide To”, I will be taking you through some of my favourite death metal albums from the birth of the genre through to some awesome modern bands keeping it alive. The six albums featured are - in my opinion - some of the best death metal albums ever made and they are a great introduction to this extreme metal genre. Death – Leprosy (1988) via Combat Records

album but it works!

I always had to start with Death as their debut album 1987’s Scream Bloody Gore was my introduction to death metal and I’ve loved it ever since! The reason I didn’t choose Scream Bloody Gore is that it’s a raw album and Death really evolved with Leprosy but I am going to say a little bit about their debut.

Left To Die opens with what I feel became Chucks trademark guitar sound that can be recognised throughout the band’s discography. The album’s highlight for me is Open Casket (yes, the song titles and lyrics are pretty morbid but it wouldn’t be death metal if they sang about unicorns and building snowmen!) - its outstanding naked riffs that blend into what can only be called an aural assault. Bill Andrews drumming sounds so savage I wouldn’t be surprised if he had destroyed a few drum kits recording the track, his drumming keeps the intensity up even on the slow sections.

Chuck Schuldiner Sand played guitar and bass on the album with Chris Reifert on drums - although John Hand is credited with playing guitar on the album and also features on the back cover band photo, he didn’t play on the album. For me, although death metal had been around for a couple of years Scream Bloody Gore is the death metal album that defined the genre. The reason I am recommending Leprosy is that the difference in complexity and technicality is staggering. It is reminiscent of the change in Metallica’s sound from Kill Em All to Ride the Lightning. Death always had a changing lineup - apart from Chuck it was all new band members for Lepsosy (Chris Reifert left and formed Autopsy, more on them later) - the lineup would be considered a death metal supergroup today, with Rick Rozz on guitar and Bill Andrews on drums (both went on to be in Massacre) and Terry Butler on bass (who also went on to be in Massacre and currently plays bass with Florida death metal titans Obituary).# I guess I should start talking about the music! The addition of two guitarists gives the album a really solid sound, and the riffs are relentless throughout the album. Schuldiner’ s songwriting had matured from the debut album with all the lyrics written by him and - along with Rick Rozz - all of the music was too. Considering Leprosy was released one year after Scream Bloody Gore and Chuck was only 21 I find that quite incredible. The title track opens the album with its slow build-up, and Chucks incredible voice is quite unnerving. The track takes off but the time changes beautifully to break up the pace of the track, the musicianship is outstanding and Dan Johnson’s production makes the feel as heavy as hell both in the slower areas as well as the faster sections while keeping the instrument separation clear so the technicality really shines through. The next track - Born Dead - follows on perfectly with the single opening riff before taking off with solid pace. The songwriting on the album is incredibly structured with multiple time and pace changes throughout the songs, yet it manages to make them all sound cohesive and flow brilliantly. The track then takes unexpected turns changing pace after only 50 or so seconds. The mid-section with Chucks guitar riff playing along with Terry Butlers bass riff is sublime. The start of Pull The Plug would fit in perfectly on Scream Bloody Gore and the song keeps a relentless pace throughout with a riff thrown in that really should be so out of place on a death metal

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I’m writing a bit more about Death than the other albums reviewed in the feature as they are (along with Obituary) by far my favourite death metal band. Leprosy sounds as incredible to me today as it did when I bought it on the day it was released back in 1988. Death went on to release a further five albums and each album had a different feel, especially 1991’s Human which pretty much defined technical death metal. Sadly, Chuck Schuldiner passed away in December 2001 at the age of 34. His death has left a massive hole in extreme music, and personally a deep sadness that we will never know what he could have created but he will always be the godfather of death metal.

R E D TA N K ’ S G U I D E T O D E AT H M E TA L Autopsy – Severed Survival (1989) via Peaceville Records The subject matter for death metal songs has always been on the more morbid side of existence. Most of you will know, or at least know of, Cannibal Corpse with their gore-filled lyrics and album covers but it really started with a grindcore band called Carcass from Liverpool, whose first album cover was a collage of horrific pictures from real autopsies. Chris Reifert formed Autopsy when he left Death in 1987 as drummer and vocalist, and recruited Danny Coralles and Eric Cutler on guitars. They released their debut album ‘Severed Survival’ in 1989.

Obituary – Slowly We Rot (1989) via Roadrunner Back in the dark ages before the internet and Spotify (other music streaming platforms are available!) the only way to hear new music was getting your hands on a sixth-generation copy of a demo or album on a cassette, usually sent from a pen-pal you found in one of the metal magazines. Sometime in 1989 I was handed a copy of a demo by a Florida band called Xecutioner. Despite the awful sound quality of the re-re-re-recorded cassette, it was pretty special. Xecutioner changed their name to Obituary in 1988 and in 1989 released their debut album Slowly We Rot. I had been a fan of Death for a couple of years by then but Slowly We Rot blew my mind! It was pounding death metal fast and intense, but it was also really slow. I had never heard anything like it, how could they play so slowly yet be that brutally heavy. The album starts like a horror movie soundtrack then John Tardy growls as his brother Donald starts the double bass drum assault that is just relentless throughout the album. Guitarists Trevor Peres and Allen West play so well together with a solid wall of sound from the rhythm that only very few metal guitarists can do as the solos keep coming. Riffs are so tight it seems that they at connected telepathically.

Back in those days you only knew that the album was being released – not what it was going to look like - so when my local record store finally got it in, I was quite shocked by the albums cover. Metal albums have often had horror referencing artwork, but this seemed more disturbing albeit being quite crudely drawn. It’s pretty tame now compared with something like Tomb Of The Mutilated but at the time it was very extreme, so much so that it was pretty quickly banned. The album was another take on the genre - it sounded aggressive and brutal. It sounds underproduced (but not badly produced) and came out exactly as it was meant to. They are brilliant musicians, but they play what needs to be played and that is all. What makes the sound unique is the bass - out of tune - again it’s deliberate and it works! Bass duties were done by Steve DiGiorgio as a session musician. He has been associated with numerous albums and artists from Sebastian Bach to Sadus and his own jazz band Dark Hall and is widely considered one of the world’s best bassists. Check out his playing on the track Disembowel. To be honest, the songs are quite straight forward in structure - heavy and fast with breakdown sections which I personally believe are a key ingredient of the genre. There is not really a stand out track, it’s an album that flows brilliantly and should be listened to in its entirety. It’s like a race car - nothing unnecessary it does what it needs to do, and it is a masterpiece. The other thing that makes the album stand out is how horrific and gore-laden the lyrics are - I would love to give you an example, but I don’t think this feature would be printable if I did.

Another incredible thing about the album’s sound is that it was not recorded in D tuning but in standard tuning on Fender Stratocasters, yet it is still - in my opinion - one of the heaviest albums ever made. Track two - Godly Beings - starts off at one hell of a pace then you get to hear the full effect of John Tardy’s voice which is still to this day totally unique. Till Death follows on with a full-on death metal assault then does something quite unexpected and hits you with a really groovy riff before slowing down leaving you wondering what just happened. The title track defines Obituary’s sound. They are unique not just because of the vocals but have an overall sound that you know straight away is Obituary. Slowly We Rot starts with its slow opening riff, tolling bell, and menacing almost whispering growl and is quite unnerving and eerily reminiscent of the opening to Black Sabbath, by…. you are reading a rock magazine you know who it’s by! The track then pauses and gives you what is now referred to as some proper old school death metal bursting with energy, yet it still has an underlying groove running through it. Slowly We Rot contains my all-time favourite death metal track Intoxicated which is nothing short of a masterpiece. It contains everything you would want from a death metal track - just over a minute in you get probably one of the heaviest riffs ever written, slow, purposeful and crushing. You are then treated to incredible musicianship as it changes pace with some great soloing from Allen West. Then it happens - you thought you had just heard one of the heaviest riffs ever two minutes ago - if that was a golf GTI then this is a Ford Mustang V8 perfectly paced, intense, so heavy yet the drumming is almost delicate. Just when you expect the track to speed up again, the riff just starts again and then it’s over. Perfection! The album, like Death’s Leprosy, is brilliantly produced considering how extreme the music is. Producers like Scot Burns made it sound crisp and coherent - unfortunately, not many modern death metal albums sound as good as they could or indeed should. If you have read this far then maybe there is a good chance you will check the album out. If you like it then do yourself a massive favour and see them live - they are one of the best live bands I’ve seen. Obituary are still putting out brilliant albums. Having the legend that is Terry Butler joining on bass in 2010 has been brilliant for the band and they are still putting out albums that have not lost any of the band’s energy. Check out 2014’s Inked In Blood and their latest self-titled album from 2017. 31 years since the release of Slowly We Rot, Obituary are continuing to make proper old school death metal.

Asphyx – Deathhammer (2012) via Century Media If someone asked me what ‘heavy’ music is, or even to define death metal, I would hand them a copy of Death Hammer by Asphyx. This review is going to be short, blunt and to the point. Anything that does not need to be written will not be in this review (so no waffling from me) because the album is to the point, it hits you like a sledgehammer from the first second and continues to assault you relentlessly for nine straight tracks. It is brutal, with relatively simple songwriting, but without feeling repetitive. Before I had heard Death Hammer, Slayer’s Reign In Blood to me was the most intense album out there, just under 30 minutes of music that invokes a feeling that nothing else feels like. An album that you listen to in its entirety because it’s an experience. Death Hammer is the only other album that makes me feel that way. As with Rick Rubin’s production of ‘Reign in Blood’ the production of ‘Death Hammer’ is perfection. If the album was underproduced or ‘poorly’ produced, although the tracks would be the same, it would be a very different album. The title track is written about the early death metal bands “Decades ago, a time now long gone death metal had its pure form” and how (the band) feel it has somehow been abused “Changes set in, pollution begins, despicable developments, the duty to return and make all traitors burn” implying that the album is what death metal should be. Asphyx, hailing from Holland were formed in 1987 by Bob Bagchus and Tonny Brookhuis. They were joined by vocalist Martin van Drunen in 1990 after he left the

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R E D TA N K ’ S G U I D E T O D E AT H M E TA L band Pestilence. Martin van Drunen’s voice is inhuman, brutal, unnerving and unique. Along with Obituary’s John Tardy, van Drunen stands head and shoulders above any other death metal vocalists. The closing track has a doomy pace but is still as decimating as the previous nine tracks and has one of the best growls ever. If I could only own one death metal album it would be Death Hammer. Gojira – From Mars To Sirius (2006) via Prosthetic Records So far it’s been all USA, but the next album is quite a bit later than the previous ones and it’s from France’s Gojira. I don’t think I would have classed Gojira’s previous albums as death metal but when they released From Mars To Sirius they tore the world of death metal a new one! The subject matter was a juxtaposition to the usual death and gore theme, being very ecologically driven. Gojira (Japanese name for Godzilla) have gone from obscurity to be the one of the most successful death metal band ever. Formed in 1996 as Godzilla (changing their name to Gojira in 2001) the band has consisted of the same lineup since forming with Joe Duplantier on vocals and guitar and brother Mario Duplantier on drums, Christian Andreu on guitar, the only exception is bassist Jean-Michel Labadie who replaced Alexandre Cornillion in 1998. One of the things that makes Gojira stand out is that they have made their music so powerful and solid, that it is like a wall of sound. Mario Duplantier’s drumming is incredibly intense while also being precise. What makes it unusual is the fact that it is as prevalent in the songs as the guitar and bass. Gojira’s sound is a mix of technical and progressive death metal with old school influences that is put together with intensity and power. You can also hear the influence of more modern metal and nu-metal, and this gives Gojira a modern take on the death metal template. They sound like no other band, and are very accessible for fans in comparison to bands like Autopsy and Death. Editor Toby won’t want this to be a ten-page feature, so I’d better tell you about the album! Opening with Ocean Planet, its stop/start beginning and lead-in is pretty straight forward and it’s a great track but almost feels like the band are easing us in gently to their unique and progressive sound. Track two Backbone starts with a nice sludgy, head-bobbing sound but what they do next firmly cemented me as a huge Gojira fan. Just over a minute in… boom! You have a massive Morbid Angel style change in direction which is totally unexpected. For an old school death metal fan (not old!) like me it was jaw-dropping. It’s a fine line between doing homage to something and just repeating it. From the Sky introduces us to the full assault of Mario’s drumming - I’ve taken friends to see Gojira and it has been likened to machine guns, more than once - the track really shows off the amazing talent he has and I would personally say he is the best extreme music drummer on the planet. Unicorn is a beautiful piece of music and almost serves as an interlude, in the same way that Planet Caravan does for Black Sabbath’s Paranoid album. One of the standout tracks on the album is the aptly titled The Heaviest Matter in the Universe’. It starts off showing the technicality and harmony the band have together and you really don’t know where the track is heading. Joe’s drawn-out vocal, singing “lay down, fall away”, is followed with “go” and then… I’m leaving that there, you will just have to listen to it! For me one of my favourite tracks on the album is Flying Whales. its progressive build-up is stunning and made almost magical by the whale song that blends in perfectly. This is what I call a headphone song, as there is so much going on in the song. The guitar riff that ends the almost relaxing opening is underpinned by a fantastic rhythm guitar that might be missed without headphones. The rest of the track has a continued riff (I really need another word for riff!) that I defy anyone not to nod their head to. Flying Whales also shows the progressive side of Gojira. For me the best is saved for last as Global Warming is nothing short of a masterpiece. The guitar intro is pretty much a part of a solo, perfectly played with a tone that sounds so different from the style on the rest of the album. Along with the slow and deliberate bassline, and Joe’s cleaner vocal, it’s incredible but what blows me away every single time I hear the song is the guitar line that is continued for two minutes without fault or even a minor tempo fluctuation. The ecological theme of the lyrics is really resonating with me as I sit here writing this feature. Three weeks into the unprecedented lockdown here in the UK due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and not knowing when or how it is going to end. I hope that by the time you are reading this life for us all is returning to some form of normal. The first time I heard Global Warming I was working away from home in India, and the end of the track pretty much brought me to tears with the repeated message of hope - ”We will see our children growing”.

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Rannoch – Between Two Worlds (2013) via Eulogy Media I must finish with a homegrown band. The UK has produced some outstanding death metal bands, and some landmark albums - Napalm Death’s Harmony Corruption and Heartwork by Carcass to name a couple. But I wanted to show the more recent bands, and we have a fair few to choose from. Dyscarnate are a three-piece powerhouse of a band, Derbyshire’s Forgotten Remains 2019 album ‘Morbid Reality’ is outstanding. I am a huge fan of Krysthla who played one of the best live shows that I have seen in a long time at this years HRH Metal. However, I was introduced to Rannoch by a couple of friends (the awesome Che and Alison) - I saw them play in Birmingham and they were excellent, then I heard their 2013 album Between Two Worlds. An album has to be really, really good for me to play it in its entirety on my first listen. I played Between Two Worlds three times back to back and was still surprised at how good it was. This is a small, underground progressive death metal band from the West Midlands of England, and they have produced a world-class album, one of the best death metal albums I’ve heard in a very long time. Formed by Ian Gillings, Rannoch are an incredibly talented band. Ian Gillings vocals have a blackened feel, which really compliments the sound of the music. The musicianship on the album is incredible as is the songwriting. Blending from death metal into ethereal beauty seamlessly, Rannoch deserve to be a huge band, however in this oversaturated world of music we now live in even stand out bands have great difficulty standing out! The production of the album is also outstanding. The Meshuggah like brutal passages are an assault on the listener and the progressive passages have a massive atmospheric feel. The technicality is incredibly tight and the inclusion of eight-string guitars really enlarges the sound. I feel like I have already exhausted the reader with the four previous album reviews, so on this one I will let the music do the talking. The album deserves a listen from start to finish but for me the highlight is The Navidson Record which is just stunning. If any of you were at last years HRH Vikings event in Sheffield and saw Rannoch’s live set on stage 1, you would have seen how well their music comes over when played live. Their Vikings set was the highlight of the weekend for me, I thought they were brilliant. Rannoch have released their follow up to Between Two Worlds this year with the fantastic Reflections Upon Darkness album. I really admire the way that Rannoch do not rush releasing albums, the seven-year wait was definitely worth it! Another brilliant release from (in my opinion) Britain’s best death metal band. When this edition of the magazine is released, I will be doing a special show on my Sunday night’s Redtank’s WeekENDER and will feature a couple of tracks from each of the albums that I have reviewed here, so look out for that. Next time it is Redtank’s Guide to Grindcore – I best get writing! Check out Redtank’s shows on Hard Rock Hell Radio: Redtank’s WeekENDER! Every Sunday 7 – 9pm The HRH Punk Show with REDTANK! Every Monday 11pm

WORDS JOHN ELLIS PHOTOGRAPHY TOM GOLD

Paul Guerin of

A member of The Quireboys since 2004, Paul Guerin is one of the most unassuming and friendly rhythm guitarists in the business. HRH Mag took a few moments to find out what’s happening in Pauls world, and the latest situation for The Quireboys in these strange times that we find ourselves in. Q) Good Afternoon Paul, how are you!? A) Hi there, I’m fine thank you, enjoying a rare bit of sunshine whilst building an extension on my studio! Q) It’s been a difficult time for bands particularly those with tours booked for the year, how affected were you as a musician? A) Very affected, our last show was in New Orleans then boom the whole thing came crashing down - and we had to get back to the UK as fast as possible and like millions of people our work stopped overnight. Q) Did you find yourself more creative during the time spent at home? A) Yes, I’ve been writing a lot and recording my guitar parts for the new album until my computer conked out! Hopefully that has been resolved and I can get back to business. I’ve also been doing some internet collaborations which have been fun. Q) That sounds brilliant! Can you tell us which artists you have involved? Well it started with me and my son Zander doing a couple of tunes - then I contacted Dave ‘Bucket‘ Colwell and Ronan Kavana and we did a couple of Bucket’s songs on the splitscreen, They came out very well. I’m working

on the next one which I want to put out to raise money for the NHS, it’s going under the name of Tin Pan Alley which will be an ongoing thing that I eventually want to involve all of my musician friends. The first song is called Medicine Man, featuring Kyle John Suckling, Keith Weir, Pip Mailing, Alex Gillet and myself. I’m learning how to edit the videos, I’ll put them online and people can donate if they want to! Q) How will the music be accessed by fans? Facebook and Instagram – I’ll make sure everyone knows about them when it’s all ready! Q) Lots of bands tried to maintain an online presence during the first few months of lockdown, did you get involved with any of those types of events? A) Only a few so far - my main concern at the moment is finishing the new Quireboys album, the online collaborations are more time consuming than you would imagine - so I have to manage my time properly between the two. Q) Are there plans to get out on the road soon with The Quireboys and Down ‘n’ Outz? A) Well the touring is in the lap of the gods, we are waiting on information from the government just like everyone else, The Quireboys have dates booked right into next year. There are no plans for a Down ‘n’ Outz tour at the moment. Thanks for catching up with me today Paul, it was a pleasure as always! Thank you my friend!

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Oh Lordi!

Hammerfest Set To Be Unleashed on the Home of Heavy Metal Hammerfest 13 Preview By HRH Official Photographer Simon Dunkerley

or many years now the hordes have come forth and congregated as one for the mighty Hammerfest gathering. Now chapter 13 brings us to the birthplace of Metal - Birmingham - and the O2 Academy for 2 days of mayhem on 13th & 14th February 2021. Forget the romantic valentines “Netflix and chill”, here you have 3 stages of awesome music to mosh away to and can wash it all down with the finest HRH Viking Ale or whatever tipple you fancy. As with all the HRH events they take care of the accommodation meaning you are never far away from the event so all you need to do is decide what stage to head to. So what can you expect to see over the weekend? Hammerfest always seems to bring out the fun in everybody so expect a number of inflatable animals, wacky costumes, serious costumes and of course the main event : great music. The line-up has something for most, from the hardest of rock and metal, through pirate ditties, the groove of stoner, ripping thrash and black metal to the low thick tones of doom. The whole event kicks off with some good old pirate metal from Red Rum. those who have seen the band already will know this is audience participation music so get in early and stake your place, copious amounts of rum is always a good way to start the day off. As we head down the doom and stoner route, we have from the parched deserts of Bradford the awesome Psychlona. Expect a heady mix of psychedelic space heavy fuzzy riffs with hints of Kyuss and you are half-way there. Nottingham based Church of the Cosmic Skull bring prog / psych / retro and the light of the Cosmic Rainbow to the darkness of the Academy. Pist keep the heavier stoner grooves going to blow out the early cobwebs. Stoned Rocka’s first signing, Nottingham based Master Charger will get the heavy vibe going down as they hammer out tracks from the latest album Origin of the Lugubrious. The Red Widows present heavy fuzzy doom with haunting vocals from Alex Corina, Green Lung mix psychedelic rock with pure punk energy, to be honest I doubt if the stage will be able to contain them. On the heavier side of groove metal you will find the likes of Liverpool based Video Nasties, dual vocal and brutal beats from Raging Speedhorn and Barbarian Hermit whose sludgy heavy riffs and punishing tempo will split

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your head and get the mosh pits going round. Iron Maiden fans get treated to a double show, firstly from Manchester based Absolva. Constant touring has brought them a solid and wide fanbase. Following on with ex Maiden vocalist Blaze Bayley with Absolva as his backing band. As well as having many successful albums of his own he also pulls from his Iron Maiden past as he performs his 25th Anniversary setlist. In the home of heavy metal we have classic metal from the likes of The Heretic Order whose music is influenced by paganism, horror stories, and humanity’s dark history. Reign Of Fury create powerful, technical, melody driven metal which has taken them from strength to strength in the UK metal scene, having played Hammerfest and HRH Metal previously they are well known and will pull in a great crowd. Wolfbastard are, in their own words, black metal tossers from Manchester, make of this what you will but with memories of seeing them last time I recall a great show. Ashen Crown bring dark and brutal metal from the West Midlands. If black metal is your thing, then checkout London based Tableau Mort and Masters Call from the black country on Saturday. For a hit of thrash you can’t go wrong with Solitary. Formed in 1994, the thrash metallers are classed as the best kept secret in metal. Also, London based thrashers Bangover come highly recommended. Venom Inc take to the Birmingham stage again, previously on the HRH Metal weekend guitarist Mantas never flinched when a pint of beer hit him mid solo, the sign of a true metaller. Whichever Venom camp you stand in expect a hard and heavy set of the highest quality. Saturday headliners are Finnish metallers Lordi. After kicking the back out of the Eurovision Song Contest with their theatrics and anthemic track “Hard Rock Hallelujah” they have continued to release 10 albums, the latest in early 2020 being Killection. Expect smoke cannons, pyros and a full-on show led by Mr Lordi himself. Swedish death metal veterans Unleashed will bring the weekend to a close on stage 1, themes found in the band’s music include Viking culture and recollections of a pre-Christian world and Norse folklore. I’m sure this will invoke some crowd surfing to keep security busy and a fine way to bring the weekend to an end. Also over the weekend Hammerfest 13 boasts Def Con One, Cathubodua, All Hail the Yeti, Eyes of the Raven, Izengard, Chapfallen, Solarshift, Empusa, Internal Conflict, Pythia, Stormbringer, Forever Still, Evil Masquerade, Titan Breed, Incursion, Callous Hands, Godeaters, Borders, Black Coast, Those Once Loyal, A Night in the Abyss and The Darkhorse. Get all the info you need from www.hammerfest.co.uk.

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WORDS BY ADAM KENNEDY

Robert Jon Burrison from

Robert Jon & The Wreck

With Robert Jon & The Wreck, the Southern rock resurgence is shining brighter than ever before. HRH Mag caught up with the group’s frontman Robert Jon Burrison at home in California just before the release of their new album Last Light on the Highway to talk about their latest offering, how the pandemic has affected their plans for 2020 and the possibility of a forthcoming live album. How much would you say the current pandemic has changed your plans for this year? Quite a bit. Our record is still in full swing and it comes out on Friday all over. And, we’re doing a really fun live stream on Saturday for our CD release. But we were supposed to be in Europe right now for 10 weeks. So that all gets postponed until 2021. And so it’s a little different thing because we’re road dogs and we love being on the road and sharing music with everyone. But yeah, you’ve got to go with the flow and figure it out as it happens. You’ve got your new album Last Light on the Highway coming out on the 8th of May. I just wondered can you tell us a little bit about your starting point for this album? We came back off the road last fall. We got into the writing room and just

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started writing. There wasn’t any certain path that we were trying to go down musically. We just kind of started putting songs together and figuring out where the record was going to take us and we kind of let the music take us through. Towards the end, we had the group of songs that fit on the record and we were stoked about it and excited. So yeah, we laid them down and it turned out to be a cohesive record and we’re proud of it and excited for it to finally be out. With the current pandemic, it’s very difficult to go out on the road to promote an album. Was there ever a time when you thought about pushing the album release back or was it always full steam ahead? We went through that question when all this first started happening and we already had the plans in place. We already had the engines running, if you will.

audience there and without people to feed off of. So, it’s definitely more nerve-wracking for me than just to be out there and playing for a thousand people. It must be challenging from a technological point of view as well. There are so many different elements at play. And when you haven’t got a whole crew to set that all up, you’re doing it a bit more DIY, that must be a lot more of a challenge. How do you approach this? Well, we’ve been working hard on that. Because in the first part of this whole pandemic quarantine, we didn’t do a lot of the live streams, because we wanted to make sure that we were doing it right. So, we have a couple of little gadgets - we can use real mics and go into a board and mix it before it hits the phone itself. And we wanted to make sure that the sound was ideal for a live stream because that’s why people are tuning in. And so, we’ve kind of figured out that aspect and I mean, you’re always going to have the internet issues. I mean, even if you have great wifi, even Facebook algorithms can be weird sometimes. So, we’re always dealing with that, and I think we always will, but at least if we get the sound to a level that we expect it to be at where we’re happy on that. And hopefully, people will understand the trials that come with internet and Facebook and everything like that.

And then all this happens. And even then, no one was sure how long it was going to last, if it was going to be a four-week shutdown or if it was going to be longer. So, we went full steam ahead because we didn’t want to waste the opportunity. And with the quarantine, everyone is on their phones and not doing much, so we had that aspect as well. So, by the time we had to postpone the tour, things were already in full motion. So, we wanted to go ahead and go through with it. And I mean, if anything, other than the fact that people get to hear this record and enjoy it during this time, this is what we’re hoping for. So, we’ll get back on the road when it’s safe to, and when we’re allowed to, and then we’ll move from there. The second single from the album is ‘Tired of Drinking Alone’. It just feels more pertinent than ever right now. People are lonely, they’ve been stuck at home, they’re in isolation. It’s kind of given the song a bit more of a double meaning to it, probably more so than when you first started writing the track. Oh yeah, definitely. And you know we wrote it way before we could even imagine any of this happening. And releasing it now, it does take on a new meaning for everyone listening to it. And even for us, the way we did the video for it, you know, everyone’s at home. And yeah, it weirdly works in this time to release that song because everyone’s feeling the same thing. You know, everyone’s tired of it. Everyone started drinking alone. And the video, as you mentioned, it’s a very cool concept. It’s all been kind of pulled together during the lockdown. It features clips of your friends and your colleagues and lots of other people from the industry. It looks very much like a virtual party, the type of thing that you see quite regularly now, you know, friends getting together on Zoom or Facebook rather than going down to a bar and hanging out.

So besides the new record, being off the road and being at home and whatnot has this sort of period of downtime encouraged you to be more creative or has it been hard to kind of find your motivation in amongst all of the negativity that is going around at the minute? Yeah, I mean it’s a fine line. It’s hard to want to sit down and write a song when you’re just stuck. And you know, it can be easy to say or write a song about how you’re stuck, but you also need that creative side to come out. And, sometimes when you’re out all night and you see things and you hear things sometimes that sparks more creativity than just, you know, waking up and not doing anything. So, we’ve been trying to be as productive as possible in the band and staying connected to fans right now, because we can’t go out and do that physically. So, I think that’s been a kind of our main focus more than writing, but we’re always thinking of new things and writing, and I’m sure with all this happening, well, the next record will probably come up sooner rather than later. I understand that there was also a live album on the agenda. Is that still kind of on the horizon or has that been postponed now with the current touring situation? Yeah, we were going to do a live album in Brussels on the June 30th. Now that show has been postponed due to everything. So, we’re switching that to next June. The live record will still be happening, but we just had to move it a year, which is a bummer because we’ve been gearing up for a live record for the past couple of years and now - we’re kind of ready for it. So, it’s a bummer to have to move it for another year, but we have some other exciting stuff in the pipeline that we’re hoping to get out there and start releasing in the meantime. Robert Jon & The Wreck are ready to tear up the UK - following the release of their acclaimed studio album Last Light On The Highway, the California based band will tour the UK in May 2021.

Yeah, very much so. I mean, even as a band we spent the first few weeks trying to do rehearsals virtually over Zoom or, you know, in some sort of streaming platform. And we also do a podcast on Monday nights and now we do that all remotely. So, we just felt it would be appropriate if we’re going to release a video for it to have that same kind of view as everyone’s going through right now. So that way it’s relatable to what’s going on presently. The first single from the record is ‘Oh Miss Carolina’ and it’s been quite well received. It’s pretty much constantly on the radio at the minute. Can you tell us a little bit about that song and the inspiration behind it? Yeah, we’re always writing. And one of my best friends here, he plays in a local band called Jeremiah Red. And, we’re always sitting in the room and writing songs together and trying to one-up each other in songs and everything like that. And this one came around, and me and him had been playing with it for a long time. We heard the potential of it, and we brought it into the band and just we as a band, we kind of put a whole spin on it. The chorus of the song was the bridge and the pre-chorus was the chorus. So, we did some work on it. And it turned into just one of the great highlights of the record. So, we chose that as our first single and we love it. It’s about the relationship of two people, whether it’s a romantic relationship or not, it’s just, you know, how to put your differences aside and moving forward. So does the idea of live streaming, as opposed to playing in person, does it make you more or less nervous than you would at a regular show? It makes me a lot more nervous for a live stream than at a regular show. And I don’t know if it’s just a comfort thing, which I think it is more than anything, but you know, it’s just learning again - learning how to perform without an

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WORDS AND PHOTOS BY ADAM KENNEDY

s d a o All R

… o t s Lead

! d l e i Sheff

WHO KNEW THAT THE ‘HIGHWAY TO HELL’ ENDED IN SHEFFIELD OF ALL PLACES? WELL, AT LEAST THAT WAS THE CASE FOR NORTH EAST BASED ROCKERS TWISTER.

he quartet took a gamble and tossed their hat into the ring to battle it out with a whole raft of talent, that resulted in the band taking the much-coveted winning prize in HRH’s Highway To Hell final at the O2 Academy Sheffield last August. That trophy included a deal with none other than Off Yer Rocka Recordings.

Stevie: Jack has only been with us since February last year. So, it was kind of a bit of a baptism of fire for him. It was just kind of learn these songs, we’ve got gigs in six days, get on with it. So yeah, we just threw him in and away we went really.

HRH Mag caught up with the band during a break from recording their Off Yer Rocka Debut at Parr Street Studios to get the lowdown on their new album, their feelings about being part of the HRH family and why they chose Liverpool as the destination to record their new album.

Stevie: We always class ourselves as a high energy rock band. But there are elements of all sorts in there. We’re all fans of classic rock stuff so you can hear that influence. A lot of what we do is kind of based on modern pop music as well. So it’s all sing-along. It’s all chanty.

You are here in Liverpool at Parr Street Studios where you’re recording your debut album. First of all, I just wanted to ask as a band how long have you been going and how did you all meet? Stevie: I’ve had the band for nearly 16 years now, which is just ridiculous. But, we’ve had various line-up changes and setbacks along the way. We’ve got a line-up now which is exactly the way we want it to be. So we’re trying to do everything the right way now, we’re trying to do it properly. So how long has this current incarnation of the band been together?

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So how would you best describe your sound?

Jake: Everything has got to be a hook hasn’t it. If it’s not catchy, it doesn’t stay. It’s got to have that element to it where everything is memorable. Stevie: We rewrite choruses six or seven times until we are happy with them. It’s the only way you get it right, so to speak. When you’re driving in your tour van what would we expect to hear? What would you be listening to? What’s on your playlist? Stevie: There’s a lot of Biffy Clyro in there. There is a playlist on Spotify called

I N T E RV I EW - T W I S T E R Twister Tunes. A bit of Steel Panther, a bit of Motley Crue. AC/DC, Zeppelin, Lizzy. You’re a big Press To Meco fan, so that’s in there. I’m a bit of a country fan, so there’s some Zac Brown on now and again. Bits of all sorts. You are here in Liverpool at Parr Street Studios. What was it about this particular studio that appealed to you the most? I mean obviously, there’s a lot of history. There are some great bands have recorded here, just looking at these gold disks on the wall and seeing The Smiths, Coldplay, Elbow, The Zutons you are certainly in good company. But what was it about this particular studio that made you want to come and record your album here? Stevie: We came here about 10 years ago. We got commissioned to rewrite somebody’s song. They sent us the song and we did whatever they wanted us to do with it and they commissioned us to record it here. So, we came for only a day, but it was like throwing the gear up, get it down as quick as we can. And I remember just being in the room and going, I love this place, I love the vibe of it. And actually, the results from just a day here was really good. So, we knew that we wanted to do a little bit more. And then when we were recording ‘Young and Affected’, which was a single we released last year, we did that here. So, we did that, and we said okay, let’s do a couple of tracks and then we’ll release one and save one. And then we’ll do that for a while until whatever happens. And then when it was coming around to doing the album, it was, okay, well there’s only one place we want to do it, we love being there. So, this time it was let’s just go all out. And we’ve done things like recorded drums here and recorded guitars elsewhere, things like that to save money, but this is just an amazing place to work. So we wanted to do the full project here this time. Jake: I think the main thing about this place is that the live room is unreal. I think before we’ve gone down the track of having a dead room at times and there are no reflections. And you add it in with the computer and the plugins but it’s a bit sterile. If this is not the sound you want, then you need to go somewhere else. But this is the sound we want - it’s a nice room to get that big rock sound. Stevie: It’s mainly the drum sound, isn’t it? I mean you can close mic a guitar cab anywhere in the world. You can do it in your kitchen cupboard, but you can’t get the drum sound that you can go in that room. So that’s the main thing that we want to come here for. You guys are part of the HRH family now. I know you won the Highway to Hell competition last year. How was that for you? Stevie: It was a strange one because it wasn’t even on our radar. We weren’t even thinking about it. Jake: We weren’t that aware of it. We got asked to be in it. We were a bit hesitant at first. We are always a bit wary about the battle of the bands, it’s unchartered territory. You never really know what you are getting yourself into until it’s there.

Stevie: And we’ve done stuff like that before. And it was always one of the things of do we do it? And then we thought you know what? Why not? Let’s give it a go. And at the time all we were doing was writing. We were still gigging, but there was no set target on what we were going to be doing - so let’s give it a blast. And then as the rounds were going on, we thought this is starting to gather a little bit of pace here. And then by the time we got to the final, in Sheffield, it was ridiculous. We had something like 140 people come down and see us, which was amazing. Jake: We we’re invested in it by the end - considering we started not knowing about it. Stevie: It was the be-all and end-all, in the end. Jake: We sort of had it in our heads that we planned everything from the moment we got there to the moment we packed up and went home. And everything went to plan. Considering the people who have won it in the past like Stone Broken, Massive Wagons and Mason Hill it’s great company to be in with regards to the NWOCR. So, would you say that HRH has been important in giving you guys a platform? Stevie: Massively important, it’s not just about obviously the competition and everything else. It’s the people that work and are involved with HRH - they’ve been so supportive of us. And the reason that we’re doing things the way that we are right now is us putting our faith in them as well. So, we are saying this is our product, this is absolutely the best thing that we’re capable of making. Please do something with it. And I think (working with) people like Geoff, Toby, Jonni and yourself is just tremendous. So hopefully once we’ve made this product, we can get it out there and get everyone to buy into what we’re trying to achieve. Twister’s new album ‘Cursed and Corrected’ will be released via Off Yer Rocka Recordings on 13th November, 2020. To kick off the promotion in style the album will be available to pre-order alongside the release of the first single “Call To Arms” on Friday 28 August followed by another three singles. Along with every pre-order, fans will receive the instant grat track “Natural Survivor.”

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Scratching the Itch with Nitroville The cosmopolitan Nitroville hit the scene running back in 2016 with their highly acclaimed debut “Cheating the Hangman”. Tola Lamont, Kurt Michael, Paolo Succo and Grizzy Rose Lee took some time to chat with HRH Mag about lockdown and future plans. Hey there guys – how are you all keeping in these strange times? Tola: We’re good thanks. As you say – times are strange, but we’re keeping nicely busy. Your debut release – Cheating The Hangman - is almost 4 years old now, and is still sounding as fresh as it did back then. What do you think gives it that longevity? Tola: A good song is a good song, that’s what we’re always aiming at and song writing is our driver. Although we are about classic heavy rock, a sound that reflects the here and now is always paramount – so that we can enjoy things with fresh ears. Also, the album Cheating the Hangman has a good motor and that keeps the songs alive. We know this from much of the great timeless ‘70s productions ever since Sabbath came out with Paranoid in 1970, which is still one big sledgehammer of a track. Who are your biggest influences collectively as a band, and also individually? Anyone that might surprise us? Kurt: Musically, as a band, I guess we’re more about creating a feeling, therefore I’d say our influences draw more from literature and dark American road movies. If we’re talking bands though, you can place Nitroville’s vibe somewhere in the midst of AC/DC / ZZ Top / Heart / Lynyrd Skynyrd / Motorhead and so on. We never wanted to do something that’s already there, or model ourselves on something that already exists, pointless! We love the classic heavy rock genre and we use this as our vehicle for our ideas and songs. Tola: Before something good comes out in terms of song writing, something good needs to go in and this is usually the stuff we’ve been listening to and loved since we were born; in Kurt Michael’s case this isn’t restricted to hard and heavy rock as he’s got a very eclectic taste in music and being a Rolling Stones fan since the age of nine, many of his guitar licks show this inevitably, just delivered with the venom of vintage Marshalls instead of Fender Amps. On that note, if you ever wondered why Chuck Berry tunes run off the desk at AC/DC gigs, compare Angus’ lead guitar with that of Berry’s and you get the drift. Tola: Vocally, Ann Wilson of Heart was probably the reason I started singing in bands. We were booked to play Ramblin’ Man Fair this year and she was on the bill – I liked that! Just like Kurt, I draw from many different influences – probably too many to list. I was brought up mainly listening to American artists and bands, which I think has very much influenced my vocal style and technique. I’m also not a trained vocalist, I just studied many different vocalists and music genres and worked at building my own style. It’s a strange time to be in a band – are there any benefits to being forced in to a lockdown situation such as more time to write? Kurt: There’s always band work to do and I’ve been extremely busy working on the overall production. We’ve also been busy shooting video content for the new releases, so although we haven’t been able to gig – it has given us a chance to be very productive behind the scenes as well as being reflective and taking time to re-focus. How do you approach the creative process as a band when it comes to songwriting? Tola: Anything goes, but often it is an inspiration, a catchy melody, a motoring riff. We met as a song writing collaborative, the more technical process that follows the ideas and inspiration is more Kurt’s territory in terms of instrumental arrangement

and production. I believe you had plans to release your new album this year – but obviously the pandemic kinda put the brakes on – I bet you’re all itching to get the new songs out there? Kurt Michael: Yes, we are itching! Bringing out an album is a carefully orchestrated effort that entails more than just dishing out the music. Yes you can just release an album, but without being able to tour alongside for example is a bit like driving a racing car at 20mph! It’s hard right now to look at what the future of live shows will look like, how far ahead had you planned and are there creative solutions to make sure your audience still have the ability to see you? Tola: We had all our 2020 gigs and festivals cancelled so far and there was quite some work that had gone into that. Usually we have our dates sorted for the following year and in between we pick up other gigs and slots as they come along. Kurt: To keep our visibility up, we’ll fire out a series of videos in the meantime, which are currently in production and will soon be launched. We’ve also been doing a few on-line acoustic streaming gigs. This is rather welcome as we are as much an acoustic band as we are electric, giving our 4 string, 6 string, 12 string acoustics plus banjo an outing and Tola is just an incredible singer who doesn’t need a loud driven back up. At risk of depressing us all with the lack of live music right now, what’s the best live experience you’ve had – both club and festivals? Tola: There isn’t a single best moment, as really it’s all about connecting with the audience. That can be a big festival stage or an intimate club. A dedicated stage sound engineer at a festival is always great, whereas the intimacy of a smaller venue where you drink and socialise with music fans, is always a lot of fun. For Kurt, there is nothing better than a drink at the bar after a show. With the now closed Big Red in London and Bannermans in Edinburgh being his favourites. Paolo: Festivals are great, as they’re fuelled by high adrenaline and energy due to larger crowds. On the other hand, clubs allow us to easily keep in touch with our audience. Are there any bands you’ve come across recently that we should be checking out? Kurt: An old friend and ex-band colleague, guitarist Matt Forbes from Edinburgh leads a 3 piece called Bigtime Chief, they’re putting a cool album together using just vintage gear, but as they are working on their album and campaign it wouldn’t be right to give anything away this early. Once it’s out, have a listen. I also have a side project up in Scotland, fully recorded, but currently in wait to be released because of… once again, Covid. More on that later! Are you looking forward to playing Hard Rock Hell this November? Will we get to hear some of the new album? Paolo: Of course, we are looking forward, as it will be exciting to play at HRH and have live music back after almost a year of C-19! Grizzy: Yes as Paolo says, massively looking forward to playing at HRH and HOPEFULLY putting the C-19 nightmare behind us! TL: HRH is an established date in every fan’s calendar, and if not, it should be! We’re really looking forward and yes we will be featuring our new material. Thanks for speaking with me today, any final words? Kurt: In HRH We Trust, Amen!

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WORDS AND PHOTOS: ADAM KENNEDY

WayneKramer

MC5 To mark the band’s 50th anniversary Wayne Kramer is presently celebrating the MC5’s musical legacy via his current supergroup MC50. At the end of 2019, HRH Mag caught up with Wayne Kramer at the First Direct Arena in Leeds to reminisce about the making of Kick Out The Jams, the parallels between the political divisions during the 60s and the present day along with his memories of some of the band’s most notorious shows. You’re out on tour with Alice Cooper. I know that MC50 and MC5 have that connection with Alice both being Detroit natives. And I know that you’ve recently worked together on his latest release, which is the Breadcrumbs EP, which features a cover of the MC5 classic Sister Anne. Back in the day, did your paths cross very often? All the time. We would play shows all over the Midwest together and became friends. I mean there’s always a healthy competition. And, I think when they moved to Detroit and relocated, they were kind of like musical vagabonds and they were just kind of trying to find a spot around the country. And when they landed in Detroit and they saw the MC5 and a few of the other bands, they said, yeah, this is where we need to be. This is where the action is. Back in the late sixties and early seventies, the MC5’s left-wing agenda tried to mobilize the band’s fans into being part of the problem or the solution. I always listen to Kick Out The Jams, and you hear that sentiment in the intro. We are now seeing a kind of revolution of sorts, both here in the UK with Brexit and also in the USA you’ve got a lot of division. Do you feel that now more than ever it’s pertinent to bring the band back to the forefront with MC50 not only to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the group but also to kind of grapple with some of those issues that were also present back in the day? Yes is the easy answer. There’s no question that we are living in a highly polarized time. Which in some ways, is not dissimilar to the environment of 50 years ago with the division and the generational division. I’m part of a whole generation that embraced civil rights, that opposed the war in Vietnam, that oppose American imperialism, that is trying to save the planet, that believes

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women should have equal rights, that gay people should have equal rights and we’re in a situation today that mirrors it. But I think with the exception of the war, during which almost 60,000 young Americans were killed, and millions of Vietnamese and that’s a horror on a global scale. With the exception of that, we may be in a worse situation now, because it’s guys like Johnson and Trump they are cutting to the core foundations of our ethical perspective on how life actually works. I mean, they are upsetting everything. And you know, I like when things get upset and then I like a certain degree of chaos, but I prefer chaos that leads to a positive / a new paradigm emerging and I don’t see that happening just yet. We’re right in the middle of it and I suspect it will get worse. And so, yeah can I play a role in this? Can the band go out there and carry a message that people need to stand up, they need to take action, they need to get involved because it’s on them. I mean, I’m old now, I’m going to die soon and my part is done. Young people need to step up. They need to step up, they’ll need to step up when we have an election in America. How was the response to the MC5 in Europe initially back in the day? Do you remember the early shows you played here? In the early days, people didn’t quite know what to make of us. We came on so strong with these big amplifiers and very aggressive music and the militant political stance and I think it was probably a little too much for the hippies. You know the peace and love, spreading global twilight. So it took a while. But ultimately in England, we started to do very well and across Europe we started to build a following. And then, of course, the original band imploded. And then it was a long, long road down the drain for me personally. And it’s so it’s great to be back.

And, then the whole transition from John Sinclair, and losing Sinclair to prison. And then being young and not understanding the dynamics of the business of the industry that we were involved in. We were pretty naive. And, I knew that the band was great. And so my goal was to somehow try to convert that to a great record. And I think I went too far. We pushed it too far with Back in the USA and it was too clean, too neat. And I think it confused many of our fans. I think it was part of our learning process, the education of the MC5 in the business of how to be creative in the recording studio. It’s not something you just walk off the street and know how to do it. It takes many hours of trial and error to figure out how do you take a band in a studio and make a great record. That’s a complex business. I mean that was the first studio album, but the first actual album was Kick Out The Jams, which is a live album. That we knew how to do. Making records was different.

I know each night you play with your guitar that’s emblazoned with the stars and stripes. I was just wondering what is the significance of that to you personally? It means I have a certain affection for the American experiment. I’m not a nationalist, I don’t believe in nation states. I think these are terribly divisive concepts. But I do think that the framers worked pretty hard to create a system that at least aspirationally moves towards a more egalitarian basis. That we are all equal that we all share the right to pursue happiness and to have freedom and justice for everyone. I think those are admirable goals. We don’t hit all of them. We’re not meeting them, but it’s a good direction to be moving in. So painting the guitar that way represents my affection for those ideal. Mostly I was trying to catch up to Peter Townsend who had a Union Jack coat. So I said if he can have a Union Jack coat and I’m going to have my Stars and Bars guitar. MC5 was born into a turbulent era socially and politically. I just wondered how much did the Detroit riots in ‘67 catalyze and motivate the band to speak up? It was one element - a visceral, physical, real-life experience that added to my radicalization. To push me to a more and more militant rejection of what I saw in the way the country was being run. The contradictions became unbearable. It was just too much. And that speaks to why people in the black community finally exploded in rejecting the idea that they get the short end of the stick. In Detroit, which was enjoying great prosperity in the 1960s, the auto industry was booming and white Detroit was sharing in the riches. Black Detroit was not, they were denied participation in Detroit’s political life in Detroit social life and Detroit’s economic success. Black people were the last hired and the first fired. And they got the worst jobs on the shop floor. And finally, they had enough as people, as human beings always will. You can keep your boot on their neck only so long and people will buck - they will rise up. Kick Out The Jams has become a timeless anthem and it still sounds as fresh today as it did back then. Do you remember how that song was born and the inspiration behind it? It was born at the kitchen table with me and Rob Tyner, my guitar and a little amp. And we had a notepad and a couple of joints and we said, let’s write some songs. I sat there and I played guitar riffs and then at one point he said, no, no, wait, stop - do that again. And I did that again. He said, no, no, I got an idea for this. And how does this sound? I feel pretty good, I guess that I could get crazy. And I put the riff on and said, yeah, I think that works. How important would you say that John Sinclair was in helping the band to find its voice, so to speak?

That was recorded at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit. What do you remember about those shows? And particularly, do you feel that the band were at their peak at that point? Yeah, we were definitely at a peak. We had accomplished more before we ever made an album than we ever accomplished again. I mean, we were a hit before we ever made a record. You know, listen I had a steady job. I played every weekend at the Grande Ballroom. I could pay my rent and buy food and buy marijuana and I had a lot of girlfriends and I was part of a community and we were all of a generation that saw unity as the primary goal. Everything I ever dreamed of doing I was able to do. Then we started making records and it all went to hell. You guys played your fair share of crazy shows, but the one that always seems to get revisited was the 1968 Chicago Democratic National Convention. What do you remember about that event in particular? Well, I was very stoned. Some people had given us some hashish brownies and they said just eat one because they’re very strong. So, of course, I ate two. And I was really high when we played - to me the performance made perfect sense. Everything came together. Like here were the police antagonizing the crowd. There was a band talking about the police, antagonizing the crowd and they brought in helicopters to disrupt us by lowering the helicopter right above us. And I thought the sound of the helicopter blades fit perfectly with what I was doing on the guitar. This is all just perfect. This is everything we’re talking about. So obviously that was a notorious show. Were there any other shows of equal notoriety from your days with the MC5 would you say? Oh sure, sure. We’ve played a number of riots and riots are always exciting. A little dangerous. Yeah, the MC5 had a lot of drama. The times were very polarizing and it was a romantic and dangerous time to be a young person. We all felt that we were part of something important and what was going on was important and maybe we could make a difference. So where do you go from here? You’ve celebrated the 50th anniversary of the band. Are you going to keep on keeping on with this? Well, we’ve talked about it and I think we’ll probably make a record. I’ve got some ideas about how to go about doing that. And I have to think in terms of - I have a career - I score film and television that I enjoy a great deal. And I have a family now, I have a young son and a wife and so my time has to be regulated between all my activities. I doubt that I want to play another 60 shows a year, but I still want to play, I like playing music for people, so I’ll always do that.

Hugely important because John was a little bit older than us and better educated than we were and could articulate what we felt on a gut level intuitively. He could articulate in real-time descriptions of why things were the way they were, you know, how did we get to where we are now? He was huge. And he encouraged us to pursue pushing the music further into space and trying to find some new sounds and new ways to play the electric guitar. So once John went to prison and John Landau took over as manager the sound of the band changed a little bit with Back in the USA. It was a little bit more of an old school rock and roll sound. I mean, how did you feel about that shift? Was that something that you welcomed or you were happy with? Well, we were in a state of confusion there. We were under a great deal of pressure - from the pressure to succeed to be a hit band. And the pressure from our political constituents who just wanted us to man the barricades. And our personal lives were as complicated as everybody.

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WORDS BY TOBY WINCH

HRH NWOCR

A MASSIVE WEEKEND TO KICK OFF 2021

Roll forward to the 23rd and 24th of January 2021 – the HRH family descend on Leicester for the very first time – and bring with them the cream of the new wave of classic rock. The O2 Academy will be the latest city venue to get the full HRH treatment – and over 2 days of fun n’ frolics will see 28 top-class bands take to the stages. Let’s run through the incredible line-up of what will be an explosive start to 2021 for HRH! Ask the new wave of rock fans which band are leading the way for the new breed of classic rock – and you’ll hear the same name crop up over and over again – Massive Wagons. Piloted by one of the most charismatic frontmen in rock, Baz Mills, the 5-piece from Lancaster have kicked off their second decade as a band with a bang – their brand new album “House of Noise” hit the top of the rock charts in July and even made the Official UK Album Chart which is one hell of an achievement in these modern times. Wayward Sons – starring the recipient of the HRH Legend 2019 Award Toby Jepson – will be their Special Guests at HRH NWOCR in January 2021. Toby was initially best known for his time

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with the hugely successful Little Angels in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, before taking some time to try his hand at acting – as well as writing and producing music – before returning with a vengeance to front the re-formed Fastway. The last decade has seen him feature in a brief Little Angels reunion (including a triumphant appearance at Download in 2012), star in the all-star Dio tribute band Dio’s Disciples, before founding the amazing Wayward Sons in 2017. The band have since released two critically acclaimed albums – 2017’s Ghosts of Yet To Come and 2019’s The Truth Aint What it Used To Be. Plans are afoot for album number 3 – exciting times indeed! Although slow starters – they took until their 6th year as a band to release debut album “Half Way Home” to stunning reviews – Bad Touch have been making up for it ever since and have just released their 4th album in just 5 years. “Kiss The Sky” is a masterclass in heavy swaggering blues-rock and firmly places the band in the leading pack of the NWOCR genre. Having toured with the likes of The Quireboys, Skid Row, and FM the lads are one of the most active on the live circuit and are sure to shake the O2 Academy Leicester to its very core. Success may have been a long time coming – but ozzies Massive are reaping the rewards for 8 years of recording and touring at full-throttle. Brad and the lads see the UK as their second home and love nothing more than filling our ears with hard-hitting rock’n’roll. They cemented their reputation by being hand-picked by The Quireboys as support for their 30th “A Bit of

What You Fancy” 30th Anniversary UK Tour for 2021. Their latest album “Rebuild Destroy” is a real gem, still getting plenty of airplay around the world while we all wait for live music to kick back in with a vengeance. At the heavier end of the NWOCR spectrum, South Wales’ finest Florence Black have honed their original classic round sound into a power-house depth-charge no better showcased than on their collaboration with Skindred’s Benji Webbe with 2017’s Gunshot. With a reputation for incendiary live sets - that take the alternative sensibilities of the grunge era and marry them with a no-nonsense heavy rock attack - that leaves you in no doubt that this 3-piece take no prisoners, we can’t wait for them to take to the main stage on Saturday at HRH NWOCR. Now a finely-tuned 4-piece, Ryders Creed have been at the forefront of the NWOCR ever since their triumph in HRH’s Highway to Hell in 2017 catapulted them to a wider audience – their reputation as a superb live band already sealed in their formative years. Now 2 albums into their recording career, the lads from Staffordshire are looking forward to showcasing “Lost Souls” released earlier this year on the road – and where better than on the main stage at the very first HRH NWOCR. Leicester based SKAM will play with home advantage as one of the local contingent of bands at HRH NWOCR. The hard rock trio have cemented their place at the top table of the new wave of UK rock bands with 3 incredible studio albums to date plus stunning appearances at Wildfire, Steelhouse, Ramblin’ Man and of course our very own Hard Rock Hell. Their 3rd album “The Amazing Memoirs of Geoffrey Goddard” is a masterpiece of conceptual hard rock that shows all other bands how to present and deliver a rock album – rightly being held in high esteem by outlets such as Planet Rock Radio and Classic Rock Magazine.

Another of the local brotherhood of bands to take to the main stage in January will be Hell’s Addiction. 10 years into their career, they describe themselves as “the bastard child of an illicit three-way between Skid Row, early Guns N’Roses and AC/DC” – which any fan will tell you is hard to argue with. However, the band are much more than that – live they exude confidence professionalism and talent – but it’s on their latest recordings that their upward trajectory will be accelerated into orbit. Latest EP V1.0 is simply mind-blowing, and we can’t wait to hear what the lads have in store for 2021! Cambridgeshire based Hollowstar are the relative newcomers here, only being 5 years and one album into their short but explosive career. Their self-titled debut long-player from 2019 caught the imagination and ears of the NWOCR community and has set the band up to hit heights that might even surpass the bigger names of the scene. Fronted by the effervescent Joe Bonson, the guys take to the main stage on Sunday at the O2 Academy in Leicester for one of their biggest appearances yet. Headlining the second stage each day are Ethyrfield (a personal recommendation as a band not to miss!) and the incredible live force that are Trident Waters, and we are extremely proud to be able to bring you The City Kids – a modern take on punk ‘n’ roll from members of The Main Grains, Warrior Soul, Falling Red and Tigertailz. Also appearing at HRH NWOCR are Matt Mitchell and The Coldhearts, Empyre, Gorilla Riot, Molly Karloff, DeVience, Liberty Lies, Dig Lazarus, Blind River, Twister, Thirteen Stars, Old Glory and The Black Riviera, Weston Rd, Cloverhill and last but not least Fires of Freya. All the latest info and tickets can be found at www.hrhnwocr.com or by calling Jess at Chic Festivals on 0207 193 1164. Catch Toby “Tobester” Winch on Hard Rock Hell Radio every Tuesday and Thursday at 11pm

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WORDS BY ADAM KENNEDY

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Legendary drummer Kenny Aronoff (John Fogerty), bassist Chris Chaney (Jane’s Addiction) and keyboardist Eric Caudieux were the core musicians on the new album with additional contributions coming from Lisa Coleman (The Revolution) and Christopher Guest.

HRH Magazine recently caught up with Joe Satriani to get to the low down on his new album as well as to discuss the current state of play with Chickenfoot. HRH: So obviously you’ve got this new album which was released in April it’s titled ‘Shapeshifting’. Now straight away that title, it’s quite interesting. I just wondered, what were you thinking about in particular when you came up with the title for the project? JS: Oh, well, I had these songs and they were all in different styles and I started thinking, wouldn’t it be interesting instead of trying to force all of the songs to fit a particular album style or a band style that I would record each song in the style that it requested, so to speak. And then I came up with the song ‘Shapeshifting’ and it was all about how if you could shapeshift, it would be very cathartic and probably painful as well as exciting. And so once I wrote that song, I thought well this should be the flagship song of the album. This should represent and kickoff an album that’s going to be incredibly diverse musically and it’s going to allow me to change the way I play the guitar from song to song. I got very excited about this whole idea from just a player’s point of view or a producer’s point of view. And then it also excited me from a writer’s point of view because then I didn’t have to change anything to fit one style. Like, if you were going to make a metal record or a dance record or electronic record, you’d have to change all the music to fit. This way I changed my playing to fit the style of the song so that I could get from ‘Big Distortion’ to ‘Yesterday’s Yesterday’ and get them on one record. HRH: I know in the past that your work has kind of drawn upon references to science-fiction and stories and ideas. And I know the phrase shapeshifter itself can often be found in science fiction as well as mythology. Was that your intention with this album to sort of continue in a similar vein or theme like you’ve looked at in the past from a science fiction perspective? JS: Well, science fiction is always with me. I’m always working with my writing partners, Ned Evett and Brendon Small, on our Crystal Planet and some of our other stories that we continually work on. And so that is a big part of my life. But I guess I wasn’t thinking about it so much this time around. I was just thinking about, what it would do to an artist to shapeshift and what the analogy is for when somebody turns himself into a Hawk so they can soar above the countryside for some reason - who knows what. To look at somebody or to see something. What is the musical equivalent of that? And, I kept it to that

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kind of perspective. And so that way if I had to play a song like ‘Teardrops’, I thought well you’d really have to restrain yourself and put all of your emotions into those few notes and don’t rely on what you played for this other song to overwhelm people with information. Trust the intensity of the space. And so to have that courage, I found that if I imagined myself being that kind of a performer, that kind of an artist then I would make the appropriate decisions when to play and when not to play. HRH: I’ve spoken with quite a few instrumental artists recently and they each kind of have a different approach to composing music. And some would tell me that even though the songs are instrumental, they would write lyrics or a story and then build a song around that even though the finished product wouldn’t have the lyrics in them. So I just wondered, how does the creative process of writing a song start with you? JS: Yeah, that is a really good insight into instrumental music and it’s one that I’ve applied on this album. I mentioned the song ‘Teardrops’ before - that one had lyrical content that didn’t work as well. I mean, you’d never ask somebody to sing it, but it helped me remind myself to only think about that subject. You know, this is what the song is about. So every note that you play, every decision about how you make your guitar sound or the drums has to support these lyrics that are just there in the background. But then there were other songs like ‘Ali Farka, Dick Dale, an Alien and Me’. There were never any lyrics to that because I was channelling the mastery of these other players and paying homage to them. And they had this fantastic history of instrumental music. So sometimes you don’t need that, but then some songs do need to have some kind of background lyric information. ‘Here The Blue River’, I wrote that because I was inspired by a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson called ‘The River’ and so although I was never going to recite the poem - during the music, it helped keep me focused on what the song was about. HRH: I have to say that I really love the artwork for this record. I’m a photographer as well as a writer. So that album cover really resonates with me. I love the sort of painting with the light - it’s very striking. I just wondered if you had a strong idea about where you wanted to go artistically with the artwork? JS: Well, I can tell you I love working with Todd Gallapo. He has done quite a few album covers with me. He (also) did the Chickenfoot records. He is such a creative person. Here’s the funny part - we spent all day doing just an enormous amount of light painting. I was standing still for like six hours while they would run out with these long exposures with their flashlights and paint light around me and everything.

Anyway, there were these two photographs out of the whole day. One of them had little lights in my eyes just by accident. It wasn’t supposed to be there. And then the other one for the back of the album cover, which I’m not sure you’ve seen yet, the flash went off when it wasn’t supposed to. And when we were going through all these things, I eventually came back and I said, Todd, you’re going to think I’m crazy, but I love this first picture that was taken where we mistakenly had little lights in my eyes. But we both agreed we loved it. It’s just that he had to work on which of the light paintings worked with that particular image of myself. So that took a couple of weeks of him working hard to get that together - and so there’s a lot of Photoshop to put those layers together. And then also the issue with the photograph where the flash went off by accident, it looks so completely distorted. And I’m sure our photographer, Joseph Cultice is screaming that we love to use the shot, but in my mind, I always kept reminding all of them. I said, remember this album is called ‘Shapeshifting’ it’s not called Joe looks cool. So I said, I don’t care what I look like as long as it looks like shapeshifting. As long as when people see it, they wonder what is going on and what is this representing, you know? And I said this is what it’s all about. We may have photographs that are sharper or we did the best painting or I was holding still the best, but I said, that’s not what we’re looking for. We’re looking for the most evocative, the most provocative that goes with the album title. And because they’re all pros, they applied themselves to that direction that I gave them and we wound up with some just stunning artwork. HRH: The first single that we got to hear from his album was ‘Nineteen Eighty’ and I just wondered what was it about that particular year or era that inspired you to write a song about it? JS: Well, it was really, all last year. There were a couple of projects, that were throwback projects. There was the reissuing of the Surfing with the Alien with the backing tracks. So we did a lot of work last year doing that. And then, more importantly, was finally putting out the very first, after 40 years, a Squares album. Squares was a power-pop band I was in (during) the early eighties, and I think when I got to the end of finishing that project, I was feeling nostalgic but also wondering what was it that I wanted to do that I didn’t do in 1980? And you know, it was a different time. It wasn’t 1985 yet, because in ‘85, my good buddy Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen - there were so many crazy shredders that had taken the guitar to the next level. But in 1980, it was still sort of a kinder, gentler, heavy guitar world and the beginning of MTV. It was just, there was still disco and old metal and rock and rock and roll and punk and new wave. It was a different kind of scene. And I thought, what is it that I wanted to do that I didn’t do? And so I kind of wrote a song about that state of mind I was in and of course, it had a start with a guitar solo because that’s what I restricted myself against doing back in 1980 because I thought it was something that the band wouldn’t relate to. That would be something that a metal band would be doing, but not us, you know? But even though I loved it and so I thought, well then I should do it. So that’s what it was really about. It was just a celebration of things that I didn’t do in 1980 I guess. HRH: I understand that Eddie van Halen, in particular, was an influence on you around that time. And I was just wondering, what was it about Eddie’s style of play that resonated with you artistically?

was never morose or serious or bogged down with technique. It was always fun. Oh, it was just fun to listen to. It’s like he celebrated the electric guitar every time he played and that’s what I related to most. I love the sound. Of course, I love loud guitar into Marshalls, so of course, I love that. So, when I was writing that song here in my studio I literally, I had one of those MXR80 Van Halen, phase 90 pedals, and I just remember thinking I have to plug that in. So I just very quickly plugged that thing in and I ripped that solo out. And then when I brought it down to the studio for the guys to hear, everyone was like, Aw, you got that pedal, let’s do it. So, yeah, it helped us all stay in the mood. And so it’s a little tip of the hat to Eddie. HRH: I just wanted to ask you on the subject of Chickenfoot. I know you probably get asked this all the time, but what’s the current state of play with the band, are there any plans in the pipeline to sort of reprise Chickenfoot at any point? Or is it kind of just on a sort of permanent hiatus at the minute, would you say? JS: I think so. I think it’s the latter. I don’t see where anybody has any time to do anything. I think Sammy’s retiring at the end of the year and Chad is just getting going again - another Chili Peppers record now that John Frusciante is back in the band. So, yeah, it doesn’t look likely there will be another Chickenfoot outing. Joe Satriani’s new album “Shapeshifting” is out now via Sony Music/Legacy Recordings.

JS: Oh, you know, I was such a huge fan. When he first burst on the scene I remember taking that record around all my friends and then eventually trying to convince the band how cool Van Halen was. But they really didn’t like Van Halen very much. They thought they were too party rock, you know? And I was always like “Oh, who cares about that?” I said, listen to the brothers. It’s like these guys they play music and they’re like the greatest musical symbiotic twins I ever heard in my life. I loved Eddie’s playing. I love the fact that although his playing was so good, it

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Just What We Will All Need

A Spring Break!

WORDS: CHARLIE “GLAMRAT” SIMPKIN

Spring Break! Woo! Let’s go! Just the name Spring Break brings up thoughts of the scorching sun, golden beaches with sky-high waves, booze in red plastic cups, soft top sports cars blaring out music, beautiful girls wearing next to nothing and guys flexing their pecs in loud palm leaf print shorts. Can Hard Rock Hell bring fun and excitement to the UK? It sure can!

Swap the golden coast of California for the sunny beaches of the Norfolk Coast and the glitzy motels for static caravans and you have HRH Camp in Great Yarmouth. It still has a beach nearby, a pool onsite, a hotdog stand for those after-show munchies and amusements to test your air hockey skills while chugging a pint of HRH Viking Ale, so what else could you need? Bands obviously! Across 4 days and 3 arenas, you are spoilt for choice as to which bands from 8 different genres you must see! All of the bands performing have been carefully selected for what is to be the only HRH event in March, so we have just four days with a Pre-Party show on Wednesday to kick us all off, so let’s go! Tygers of Pan Tang are one of the headliners at the pre-party show. Originally formed in Whitley Bay in the North of England in 1978, they started their career in the working men’s clubs and finally released the album “Wild Cat” in 1980. It charted at Number 18 in the UK Album Chart in the first week of its release. The line-up had a few changes here and there before going quiet in 1987. They

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recalibrated and started up and running again in 1999 and have been going strong ever since! Their album “Ambush” has been remastered and is being reissued in September 2020 with a mini-tour across Europe planned (at the time of writing!) from 15th October 2020 to 28th November 2020. Another performer of the night are metallers Tank. Often compared to their fellow metalheads Motorhead, Tank has had 2 different line-ups but either way, they have some headbanging tracks, guaranteed to give your neck a great work out! After the warmup and excitement from the night before, pop a couple of paracetamol, drink a gallon of coffee and off we go full throttle into the weekend and man what a weekend it is going to be! Following the biggest moment in Sleaze history at HRH Sleaze 3 in August 2019, we have brought back by phenomenal demand both Reckless Love and Crashdïet! Reckless Love are celebrating 10 years since the release of their debut self-titled album, they did have a tour planned for 2020 but due to the

Nottingham appears to be bursting at the seams with heavy metal screaming from its venues and we have grabbed the finest around. Evil Scarecrow are no strangers to us here at Hard Rock Hell - they even won HRH Metal Maniac Award back in 2019! Their gig with us in March will be their first outing of 2021 after taking time out over Christmas following their autumn tour which as we go to print is still scheduled to kick off 28th October 2020 and lasting until 14th November 2020. They are sharing their winter tour with none other than fellow Nottingham giggers Witch Tripper. Witch Tripper have been around since 2014 but have performed over 300 gigs up and down the country also with a few brief trips to awesome places such as Finland. They won Metal 2 the Masses and have not stopped since, and have performed with us a few times including HRH Doom vs Stoner and HRH Ibiza in 2019 and were also due to perform at Bloodstock this year. As I mentioned, this powerful trio have planned a fist-pumping tour with Evil Scarecrow both in the UK and across Europe with plans to record an album due to be released later this year. Acid Reign are known as one of the big four of British Thrash metal and after having a reboot in 2015, they have been going stronger than ever performing to fans all over Europe. Back in September 2019, the band released their first feature-length album in over 29 years “The Age of Entitlement” and was embraced by rejoicing fans worldwide. A new genre has been growing fast, gaining popularity in recent years and ahoy me hearty’s it has finally come to Hard Rock Hell. So, shiver me timbers, hoist the sails and here it is… pirate rock has anchored at Hard Rock Hell! Yet again Nottingham has created another winner with Red Rum - they are riding high off the release of their EP “To War” which was released 7th April 2020 during the pandemic so any celebrations currently are on hold, but what a hell of a party they will have! They have just over 6,000 loyal fans on Facebook alone and have shared the stage with HRH favourites Skindred and fellow buccaneers Alestorm. Red Rum were due to play at Hammerfest back in March 2020, but we are sure that they will just play louder, harder, and faster to their swashbuckling fans! HRH Spring Break is set to be a wild party, one of which our American counterparts will be dying to be a part of. We drink faster, we party harder and we know how to rock! Glam, AOR, Sleaze, Pirate, Stoner, NWOCR, Metal and NWOBHM, it is all here across 4 days and 3 venues. It is going to be one hell of a party! pandemic it has been pushed back to 2021 and we are very flattered to be the final stop in their UK leg of the tour. Olli and the boys always bring the house down with crowd-pleasers such as “Hot”, “Beautiful Bomb” and “Night on Fire” and you will definitely leave with a smile on your face.

For more information head over to our website www.hrhspringbreak.com Catch Charlie “Glamrat” Simpkin on Hard Rock Hell Radio every Tuesday at 1pm for The HRH AOR Show with Glamrat

Take a crawl up north to the banks of the River Tyne and you will hear the rumbles of Wild Thorn. They have supported Reckless Love in the past and headlined the O2 Academy to celebrate the release of their album “Rockin n Rollin”. Since filming their music video “Too Hot for Hollywood” in Los Angeles, the boys are eagerly anticipating and planning an American tour in 2021. When asked about their upcoming appearance with us at HRH Spring Break, Ash Robertson (lead singer) said: “We are buzzing to be a part of HRH Spring Break because it really gives us a chance to push our live show to the next level! We have a ton of new songs and a new stage show so it is really great to be a part of it! Bring on Spring Break!”. Sleaze Kings of Sweden, Crashdïet, return to our shores after being away for 2 years. The boys have been busy during lockdown and entertaining us via social media, bringing us their “Quarantine Thrills” live stream with limited edition t-shirts selling out in a matter of days. The Brits love their pretty-boy looks with dirty licks; will we see Olli make another appearance with Gabriel on stage? Fingers crossed! Kingdom Come have been rocking our socks off since 1988 with their debut single “Get It On” and their latest line-up includes Keith St John, a huge name in the rock scene having stints in Montrose and Burning Rain. After returning from a brief hiatus in 2018, the band have embarked on a 30th-anniversary tour and are making their Hard Rock Debut with us in March! It’s time to “Turn Up the Radio” as Autograph take command of the stage and break out the classics. They have performed all over the world with some of the biggest names in rock including Aerosmith, Motley Crüe and Van Halen to name a few! They have recently released during lockdown a brand-new single called “Souls on Fire” head over to Spotify and have a listen. Madam X is spoiling us with their first appearance in the UK in over 30 years! Glam sisters Roxy and Maxine Putrucchi have had us headbanging and shredding air guitars since 1982. They will bring a performance that nobody should miss!

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IN T E RV I EW - B a d Tou ch

WORDS: ADAM KENNEDY

New Wave of Classic Rock favourites Bad Touch recently released their fourth studio album “Kiss the Sky” via Marshall Records, and are due to appear at both HRH ABC and HRH NWOCR festivals. HRH Mag sat down with the band’s frontman Stevie Westwood ahead of the release to talk about their experiences of recording the album at the legendary Rockfield Studios, the band’s sound on their latest record and their keenness to get back out on the road when the time is right. We are living in a strange time at present but that hasn’t stopped you guys from being productive. You recently released a new song which was pulled together in isolation. And I just wanted to know what was that experience like for you being separated from your bandmates yet recording together. It must have felt a bit strange at first? Oh yeah, it was completely alien to us. We are a band of brothers, and we are used to living in a sardine tin together, so it was very odd. The tour fell through because this whole thing erupted a week before we were meant to go on our UK tour with Piston. So we were pretty gutted about that. So, after the initial grieving period, we were thinking, right how do we try and turn this around and make this as positive as possible? So yeah, we wanted to give people a little something whilst still abiding by the rules of the world. With this period of downtime and like you say, musicians being off the road - is the plan to keep on writing and stay creative so that you kind of build up

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a bank of new material for releases even beyond this next record or are you just enjoying a bit of downtime? Yeah, I can only speak for myself really because I’ve had little contact with the boys, we’ve been messaging each other, but our chats have been few and far between. But yeah, I’m still doing stuff - I’m doing the isolation sessions, just as something to keep my hand in and writing. You know, I’m carrying on writing stuff and I’m sure the boys are doing the same as well because the clock never stops once we get back on the road. We then need to push forward as a unit. So, the album title itself Kiss The Sky has got a very Hendrix like feel to it being a line from Purple Haze. Was that an intentional nod to the great man himself or just a happy coincidence? It was kind of mutually both. We came up with the song Kiss The Sky. We wrote the song long before we decided to call the album that. And we love every song on Kiss The Sky, but that song seemed to have a good vibe about it and a good sort of ethos for what the album was going to be like. And it had the bonus of like you say, being a nod to the great man himself - Hendrix has been a huge influence on us as well. So yeah, it sort of ticked all the boxes really

IN T E RV I EW - B a d Tou ch Listening to the album, it’s got a much bigger sound than your previous albums. Were you looking to take this to the next level and switch things up a bit when you went into the studio? Yeah, kind of. Up until this point we’ve kind of had a bit of a reservation about putting stuff on that we can’t do live if you know what I mean. And I’m certainly not a horn player, neither is any of the other boys. But this album, we were kind of like balls to the wall - sod it let’s just go full Aerosmith and have a massive production and see what it sounds like. We’re not messing around anymore - this is album number four. We want to make our stamp on the world, you know? So, we were in the good hands of Nick Brian, our producer, and he managed to do it perfectly, as far as I’m concerned. It was tasteful, not completely mad over the top, but enough to push the production up, you know?

album and all they do is play all the new stuff. So, we immediately rejigged the setlist, and we just decided to make it like the album and as fun as it can be. So, it’s going to be some of our favorites from the album, plus the crowd favorites and we will just try and make it the biggest and best we can do to try and make it the tour that people don’t forget.

You recorded this album at Rockfield Studios with Nick Brian, as you mentioned. Obviously, that’s a legendary studio there’s a lot of history there. What was it like working and recording at Rockfield? Wow, it was amazing mate. Completely awe-inspiring. I knew very little of Rockfield until we were there. As you know, I’m not completely switched on all the time. But yeah, it was bonkers to be in a place where Queen did so much. And I sat at Freddie’s piano and it was just completely mind-boggling. I saw the weathervane that he wrote the line ‘anyway the wind blows’ about, you know what I mean? And it’s just, you couldn’t match that. Whilst recording my vocals, two coach loads of Japanese tourists came and descended upon it. So they came from Japan just to be at this legendary place. And that’s when it hit home for me that it was a really special place - absolutely bonkers. And it just kicked us all up a notch. Having listened to songs, like ‘I’ve Got The Music In Me’ or ‘Kiss The Sky’, they’re uplifting. They’ve got very much a live feel to them. Was that the intention to showcase the energy of the band’s live performance on this record? Oh God, yeah. I mean we’ve made no secret of the fact, but we feel we are a live band. We pride ourselves on touring hard and making our shows something that people don’t forget. But we have struggled in the past to get that on to an album through many different faults, some of which our own, some of which not our own and we wanted to capture that magic. And finally, is the word I’d use, we found a gem and in our mate Nick Brian, who was the sixth piece in the puzzle and managed to sort of get it down and get that electricity onto the record.

Bad Touch have rescheduled their Sept/October 2020 tour, and they will now be touring the UK with special guests Piston in April 2021. The band’s latest studio album Kiss The Sky is out now via Marshall Records.

There’s one song, in particular, I have to ask you about because the first time I heard it just blew my mind and that’s ‘Sun And The Moon’ because it’s such an epic tune. And when I listen to it, it’s like the missing track from Southern Harmony and Musical Companion. It sounds like it could have just rolled straight out of that album. So, what was the inspiration behind that track? How did it come to fruition, can tell us a little bit about it? Well, we wear our influences on our sleeve. We make no secrets, we love the Black Crowes, we love The Magpie Salute. You know, all of the bands of that ilk as well, like Blackberry Smoke, all those guys. Yeah, it was just one of our influences - we were listening to a lot of The Magpie Salute at the time. And Rob came up with that riff at the start. And we were like, this is amazing in a humble way. It just went from there. And again, like all our songs they roll out in some organic fashion and then we try and consolidate them and refine them into what you hear on the record. So, like all bands, your touring plans have been rescheduled this year. You must be itching to get back on stage so that you can give some of this new material a bit of an airing? Oh yeah, just to blow the cobwebs out. As I said, we tour all the time, we love doing that. The fact that our last show was the start of December last year is an absolute travesty. I’m struggling to deal with it. I don’t deal very well being cooped up. That’s why we’re doing all this stuff on the socials just to try and maintain some kind of sanity. But yeah, we are buzzing to get back on the road. These kinds of things, you know, as negative as they are, sometimes they’re necessary to sort of reset you and kind of be like, no actually, I do miss this. This is actually what I love and what I live for. The difficult point now is you guys have got four albums behind you. How are you going to approach the difficult balance of pleasing the old school fans and also representing the new material? Yeah, I mean before the tour was rescheduled, we were talking about it, and rehearsing it quite a lot. In the early parts of the rehearsals, we were desperate to get this album out and play it, so it was quite heavy on the new songs. And then Rob brought the point up and then I immediately agreed with him, I think we all agreed with him. In fact, what was the thing that we hate the most when we go and see a band live, and that’s when they’ve got a new

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WORDS AND PHOTOS: ADAM KENNEDY

Charlotte Wessels

e are indeed living in strange times. And with each day that passes, we hear of terrible stories from across the world. Apocalyptic could well be a word to describe 2020 so far. Dutch symphonic metal outfit Delain has taken this theme and given it a Millennial twist and the result is their new record ‘Apocalypse and Chill’. HRH Mag recently caught up with Delain lead vocalist Charlotte Wessels before their show at the O2 Ritz Manchester just before lockdown (which also happened to be the record’s release day), to get the lowdown on the band’s new album. Today marks the release of your new album Apocalypse and Chill. I just wondered how are you feeling about the album coming out today. Are you sort of excited? Are you nervous? Are you relieved? Are you curious? How are you feeling about this? Mostly curious, because I don’t feel that hype. I do feel a certain hype, but not the hype of the album being done. Like for a lot of people, this is the first time they get to hear the album. And for us, kind of the most peak moment is when the master comes in. Because when the mixes come in, you still have to tweak a lot. When the master comes in, usually the songs are at the point where they feel like they’re done. And then when the artwork is ready, there’s this feeling of ah, okay, this is finished. I can imagine that that moment for us, when all the parts are kind of done is comparable to what the fans feel at this point - when they can get to listen to the album the first time. So that for us, that’s already a few months behind. So this is more like a curiosity of, okay, people have heard some first tracks, they’ve seen your artwork. Some people hated the artwork. So now this is kind of the moment where they get to see the full picture and we have to see like if they appreciate it - if they like it. It’s interesting. The artwork itself is quite interesting actually when I was looking at, especially some of the images I’ve seen on Instagram. I haven’t seen the physical copy, in that, I haven’t had it in my hand yet, so I haven’t got to pour over the whole thing. But the first pictures that I saw were shots with each of you with reflections in your glasses and each one is a kind of a different sort of apocalyptic scene. And so, the whole theme kind of flows through the entire piece.

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So, I’m surprised that people have reacted in that way. You know, we had a moon trilogy before this. So, I think people kind of expect that traditional romantic Gothic style that we’ve done so far, mixed with art nouveau because I love art nouveau. But I also feel that for us, the music is always kind of leading in what we do. And, we’re not a band that would drastically change style overnight. Before this album for the music, the lyrics, the theme that goes through it - it didn’t feel right to have kind of a romantic feel in the visual world because the theme is not romantic. So we went with what we thought fitted the album and the story and it was not what we usually do visually, but it fits the record. But some people were surprised and that was interesting to see. You can’t please everybody. No, that’s fine. And we kind of anticipated this because even in the band, opinions about it have been kind of mixed. When I first kind of sent over the artwork, I made a Photoshop mock-up and Martijn was like, Hmm, yeah something like this, but then kind of illustrated. Or maybe like art nouveau-ish. And we’ve been going back and forth about it even in the band. But we landed on this and so we were very interested to see how it would go over. Tonight we’re here in Manchester. This is the second date of the UK run. And so how was last night? What was it like getting out there and playing the new stuff? It was good. We played quite some new tracks on our previous tour already, so we only did two new songs yesterday. We are adding another two new songs on top of the new songs that we already played. So yesterday we did seven songs from Apocalypse and Chill. Tonight we’re doing eight, which is quite a lot. For me, it’s kind of like, I don’t have a routine with the new songs yet, which is a mix of exciting. Like I’m very happy performing the new songs because when the songs are that new, you kind of still really feel what you felt when you wrote it. There is this kind of passion in it because it’s not in your automatic

IN T E RV I EW - D el ai n memory bank. That also means that it can go wrong. Like yesterday, Oh my God, it was so awkward. So, we have this song called ‘Let’s Dance’ on there. And in the chorus, I sing, ‘Let’s Dance’. And there’s an echo that goes ‘Dance’. So yesterday I told everyone, because we let people sing along to that, and I told them it’s super easy, you only have to sing two words - it’s ‘Let’s Dance’. But that’s not true, they only have to sing ‘Dance’ and ‘Let’s Dance’ doesn’t fit in the music. So everyone was like, ‘Let’s Dance’, ‘Let’s Dance’. And then I thought I can fix this. So, after the first chorus, I was like, I’m sorry I fu**ed up - it’s just ‘Dance’. But then they thought I meant ‘Just Dance’. So then the next chorus everyone was like, ‘Let’s Dance/Just Dance’. And it was like, no, no, I’m not going to be able to fix this. So, yeah, as I said, it’s a mix of exciting to do new material that you still feel the passion and the emotions. On the other hand, there is a better chance of fu**ing up. So yeah, a routine is good and bad.

EDM stuff going on. So I think it was very much about pushing boundaries without losing our own identity. And, I said about the three of us, but actually, Timo has been contributing a lot on this record as he did on previous records in the arranging department. But also, two of the songs are like very much his brainchild - children, babies - you get my drift. Yeah, we go where the ideas take us. ‘Ghost House Heart’ is the first ballad you have released since 2007. Was it intentional to do a ballad for this record or did it just kind of come together? We had quite some singles for this one. I think that one of the things that is distinctive about this record is how diverse it is. And the songs on this record that we had already put out were ‘Masters of Destiny’ which is very

I have to say the album title itself is pertinent. Even on my drive down today I was sitting there thinking about it in my head trying to figure out what you were thinking about with the album title. We’re going through some really strange times at the minute. You can’t turn on the news without hearing some horrific story. It feels almost apocalyptic every single day [and this was before lockdown! – Ed]. But then also you kind of become a bit desensitized to that because there is so much bad stuff going on. So, I was just wondering what exactly you were thinking about when you came up with the title Apocalypse and Chill. Usually, I wait until we have like six or seven tracks that are going to be on the album to start thinking about titles and such. And there was this big contradiction in the songs that we had at that point where half of them were like super apocalyptic or dystopian. And the other half were really like romantic, nostalgic and I felt that it kind of mirrored what is going on. if you look at media today, like open a newspaper, you think the world’s on fire and it finally truly is and open your social media and you will see these perfect, you know, everyone living their perfect lives and it becomes almost hard to believe that those two worlds are the same world. So it’s very much about that zeitgeist. And then Apocalypse and Chill like the choice of words. It’s very much a dig at Netflix and Chill and that’s also very 2019 very much current. I know that in the past literature has always been something that’s influenced you as an artist, and as a writer. But would you say more recently the events around the world and the things that you’ve been seeing were more on your mind when you were writing this record as opposed to taking sort of fictional influences? Definitely. I never really went with fiction randomly. I would be thinking about a certain topic a lot and then I would read a book that had a really interesting angle to that. And then I thought, oh, maybe I can have an interesting angle on, well, you know, like that art influencing art, influencing art, influencing art. But this time it was less books - it was more dreams. I had a certain medication that made me dream very vividly. For example, ‘Creatures’ that’s like one-on-one or the lyrics to it at least is like very oneon-one, like very, this kind of dystopian dream. So yeah, less literature this time and more Nightmarish even. I’m sorry. So, what would you say was the starting point for this record musically? We always work quite organically. What it looks like usually is Martijn, Guus and myself. We sit down the three of us. Martijn is the producer. So, he will usually be the one that goes like, oh, there we are again with this record. But we always have an approach where we kind of go with whatever inspiration brings. He says, in front of every record, okay, let’s go bigger, louder, faster, harder, you know because that’s still always an ambition. But in the end, even if we say, okay, we’re going to go for the fastest metal track, and then it ends up being a ballad - we’ll go with a ballad. That’s fine. There’s no sense in forcing an idea to be something that it’s not. So, there wasn’t a certain idea, like we’re going to take a certain direction or are we going to go with a certain theme or topic. But we did have the ambition of - I think that ‘Moonbathers’ was quite diverse and we enjoyed that. And, we were very much interested in taking that another step in the symphonic elements and bring that forward even more. We brought in like real choirs, there is a lot more eighties and nineties synth electronics,

symphonic, a very large, a very elaborate composition. ‘Burning Bridges’ also quite symphonic, very up-tempo, loud in your face, much happening. Then we have ‘One Second’, very poppy, very catchy, more of that short structure. And then we were like if we want to show people the diversity on the album, then it makes sense to show the other side as well, which is the ballad because we already did like the very symphonic, we already did the very electronic, catchy poppy thing. So we felt like if we have to take another sign that kind of represents us and the kind of contrast that we can do then this is a good choice. Plus the last ballad that we released was in 2007 so, you know, it’s been a while. I don’t want to do like a ballad every year, but once every 12 years. Do you enjoy that kind of change of pace? And also, are you including that in the live set? We do actually, we’re playing it tonight, but we have a cellist with us. We enjoy it. I do notice that we tend to play the ballads when we’ve just released them. But then for example, if we have like a year after the release and we’re still touring, we often kick it out because we just want to rock. I know that video was recorded pretty much just down the road from here in Liverpool. I think it was at Woolton hall. Yeah, it was at Woolton hall. It was Friday 13th and we heard that it was haunted. And at one point I kind of wandered off one more time. Martijn was recording and I came to the top floor and like there was a rope hanging above. So let’s go back. What could go wrong? This is how white girls die in movies. Yeah, let’s not.

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IN T E RV I EW - D el ai n

Do you have a favourite track on the new record and if so, which song and why? I think either ‘To Live is to Die’ because of the tambourine - I love me some tambourine and it fits well with the song as well. Or ‘Creatures’. Yeah, I like how that one turned out as well. But I’m still kind of in that phase where I have a different favourite every day. Plus, I don’t listen to it a lot. So I’m also kind of proud of ‘Masters of Destiny’ because I think that that’s vocally one of the most challenging. I don’t think I could sing that song 10 years ago. I think I wouldn’t have been able to technically. So I’m proud of that one. If you put that next to a song from ‘Lucidity’, it shows that I’ve done things in the last ten years. This release also marks the first album since Merel left the band as well. So, I just wondered did that add or take away anything with the dynamic of the band. Did you have to rethink anything? Not really, I think that one of the things, one of the reasons that Merel left was that she hadn’t managed yet to contribute to the creative process in a way that was satisfactory for her. Because we’ve been like we just mentioned kind of our writing team, we’ve been doing that for 15 years and we always welcome people to contribute to it, but it doesn’t go overnight. She contributed one song, which was on ‘Hunters Moon’ which was ‘Art Kills’, which is a killer. But aside from that, the writing team has always been the same. And so the way that we write or produce our music doesn’t change with her departure. And for live, we’ve spent most of our history as a fivepiece, so we’re more used to that than being with the six of us. We did have like a few years ago before Merel joined, we still had kind of trouble getting that big wall of sound with just the one guitar. But there’s been some technological advancements that made it possible for us to create the effect of having two guitarists on stage. So, it’s not to say that her

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departure didn’t affect the band because we’re buddies, you know. So, I think that for me is the biggest change. We still see each other, we still hang out and it doesn’t have an effect on the way we write or perform in Delain. So I think this is the best thing for everyone. She can do her thing. We can still do our thing. So, it’s not like Timo has got his work cut out now? He does. He’s a very virtuoso guitarist. We’re very, very lucky to have him and he’s got two people’s jobs now. Apocalypse and Chill by Delain is out now via Napalm Records.

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A L BUM R EV I EWS

ENSIFERUM - THALASSIC SIMON BONNEY I first came across Ensiferum when I was in high school, way back in 2004 (16 years ago… jeez!). A mate of mine who was a little bit older had a few of the boys round for a games and metal night, as you did when you were in your early teens, and some time through the evening, he put a new album on by a band I had never heard of: That Album was “Iron”, by Ensiferum. This was my first serious introduction to the folk/ Viking metal genre and “Iron” to this day remains one of my all-time favourite albums (and songs, for that matter, as the title track is amazing). It was like nothing I’d ever heard before; a reaction we rarely have nowadays of something like “Wait, you can actually do this with music?!”. It was awesome. The band had been going strong up to that point and have been going strong since, and 2020 saw the release of their 8th studio offering “Thalassic”. Roughly translated, Thalassic means “from or of the sea”, no small coincidence because this album is indeed themed as such, a first for Ensiferum. It opens with the soft and melodic “Seafarers Dream”, becomes epic in parts with the likes of “Cold Northland” and fiendishly heavy in others. There are elements of fun with “Midsummer Magic”, plenty of talk about women, relationships, the nature of life and the struggles therein. There

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is excellent musicianship throughout, whilst the trademark Ensiferum sound is etched into the bone. What took me by surprise here is the obvious way in which the theme came after the songs. In many ways, the album is as much a philosophical journey through the many mysteries of life as it is a fantastical chronicle of seafaring antics, and precisely because the album was built around a message, and not a message built around the album, there is an honest and relatable depth to it. Just listen to “For Sirens” and tell me it doesn’t speak to you. Exactly. And it works, man. It really does. For me, I could listen to Thalassic on repeat. I think they have smashed it out the park with this offering. The thematic styling works super well for the kind of music Ensiferum play, and I’d love to see more to be honest. Maybe have this as a trilogy of albums centred around the elements? Who knows, but what we do know, is that if you’re a fan of the Viking/ folk metal genre then this is an absolute must listen! Ensiferum – Thalassic is out now via Metalblade Records.

A L BUM R EV I EWS

H.E.A.T - H.E.A.T II CHARLIE SIMPKIN Over the years H.E.A.T have crept up on my “You Might Be Interested” YouTube playlist, I listened to a few songs like “Living on the Run”, “It’s All About Tonight” and “Inferno” and they became firm favourites in my playlist but I never gave them my full attention, a huge regret on my part! Especially in my life, I needed these boys! So, when I heard that they were recording a new album I just knew it had to have my undivided attention. Let’s just say I have not been disappointed; I might even go as far to say this is one of the best albums of the year! H.E.A.T is a five-piece band hailing from Upplands Vasby in Sweden and is fronted by a vocal talent so defined, that every note hits the stratosphere and reminds me of the golden years of long-haired handsome men, with quick fingers, fast beats, synth notes to last the ages all wrapped up with a voice as if dripped from ‘80s heaven, set to the backdrop of neon lights and fast bikes. The album kicks off with the incredibly catchy “Rock Your Body”. Grabbing me with the punchy opening of the keys followed by glistening shoegaze guitars, I know I’m in for a great time especially with the following track “Dangerous Ground” propelling the album into high gear with a scream a 20-something David Coverdale would be proud of! It gets the adrenaline pumping and sets you up for what you know is going to be an exciting ride.

beautiful delivery from Erik. After Dave Dalone delivers his finest guitar solo of the album, you can’t deny yourself the chance to chant the chorus to the curb-stomping beat of the drums. Next ladies and gentlemen I give you a proposition, to make “Adrenaline” the next entry for Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest or just to make this Sweden’s National Anthem! Never before has a song so easily captured the Swedes ability to create arena anthems just like Joey Tempest (Europe) and Bjorn and Benny (ABBA) before them. You’re in the gym, you’re flagging, you need something to give you that final push to end this hellish work out, the boys in H.E.A.T have got you covered. Put down the steroids and pick up the pace with “One by One”. Not one song has made me this inspired since Survivor dropped “Eye of the Tiger”. Taking a change of pace, we come to a stripped-down personal tale. Lyrically this song is the most powerful in its delivery of an age-old question which we all wish we could find the answer to. Unanswered questions of those that sadly have had to leave us behind. The beauty of “Nothing to Say” lies in the interpretation of every listener.

“Come Clean” keeps up the fast pace of its forerunners but at its core is a candid confession of the soul. At some point in everyone’s life we can all relate to such feelings and for someone to capture this in such vivid detail makes for a bittersweet listen. This is one for the memoirs.

In a nice change of formula “Heaven Must Have Won an Angel” opens with a tinkling of the synths. A credit to Jona Tee’s production there’s nothing in this song that doesn’t deserve to be here, from the clean essence of the guitars to the Steve Perry-esque vocals, it screams Journey, it screams ‘80s perfection! Crash by name, Crash by nature, there is a reason he’s called Don and this is it. With the rapid-fire of the snare “Under The Gun” aims true and you know he means business! Leading the boys into a powerhouse track that never lets up and keeps your head banging and your feet stomping.

And now be upstanding for the soaring battle cry that is “Victory”, no warrior would venture into battle without this song to get his blood pumping. Throwing you straight in from the get-go with piercing guitar harmonies, rippling keys, thunderous drums and Jimmy Jay’s rattling bass, a particular highlight of this track!

As the curtain falls on this epic journey, our encore is “Rise”. No other song has captured the essence of what makes H.E.A.T so enduring, hard-working and a pleasure of all the senses. A tribute to their fans and a big screw you to all the doubters and haters, these boys aren’t going down without a fight. These boys are here. They are the sign in the Northern Skies!

Emerging from the dust with a bottle of whisky in their hands, the band bring you the ballsy bluesy intro of “We Are Gods”. A remarkable choice to bend the vocals with the guitar in the chorus, creating a macabre yet

Catch Charlie “Glamrat” Simpkin on Hard Rock Hell Radio every Tuesday at 1pm for The HRH AOR Show with Glamrat

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A L BUM R EV I EWS side two, from the second part of the title track ‘Last Light on the Highway Pt2’ this is a wonderful journey and that artwork, that title becomes ever more poignant. Each song is a perfectly timed piece of magic with every song bar the last coming in at less than 5 minutes but whether it’s the briefest of songs or the longest you want more, they are all over too soon. They might well be radio perfection and a DJ’s dream but when a song leaves you wanting more you know it’s good. When you listen to Robert Jon and The Wreck the musicianship is never going to be in question, they always deliver and they do so again on this album - in spades! The rhythm section holds the collection together so well and as you’d expect with this band the guitars are off the chart good, soaring when needed, soulful and playful in equal measure. With the keyboards giving so much beautiful depth, whether it’s an urgent and velvety organ or delightfully light piano - the incredible ‘Tired of Drinking Alone’ underlines all of that. Shining through all of this outstanding musicianship is the most beautiful, rich soul angst-ridden vocal and some of the most finely crafted lyrics you’ll hear in a long while. You really do feel the pain in this song and you know this tune, in particular, wasn’t written on a whim, this is real. Something you feel in every song, every groove on this album.

ROBERT JON AND THE WRECK - LAST LIGHT ON THE HIGHWAY STEVE BEASTIE However you get your fix when listening to music; 8 track, tape, CD, download, streaming, for me there has to be more about it than just a perfect sound, it is about the package as a whole. The tactile feel of it, the look of it, the connection…and, of course, the sounds created on it. These are exactly the reasons why I prefer vinyl for my music, it’s music for the soul and a product with heart, with feel. When you buy a great album and for the first time see the cover and the artwork, way before you investigate the sounds held within, when that cover makes your heart skip a beat, you know, you just know that it’s going to be one of those beautiful albums, one of those forever albums. When my eagerly awaited vinyl version of the new album by Robert Jon and the Wreck; Last Light on the Highway finally arrived the connection was instant and sure enough my heart skipped a beat. The title of the album and the wonderful artwork worked so well together. One of those paintings, like a masterpiece by Lowry where it poses questions…Why? Where? What are they saying? It depicts a band van that’s pulled over; one of the band members laid almost under the van, changing the tyre. The others look on, one holding a torch, another with a headtorch. There are cases at the side of them and we can tantalisingly see inside the van. All of this under the most gloriously painted night sky with a galaxy of stars almost painting their road ahead when they restart their journey…. How can you not want to find out what this album is all about now? To my ears, this band is one of those rare beasts that hasn’t put a musical foot wrong throughout their career with each album getting better as they take that journey and now they have a lot to live up to continue that progress. Savouring the moment I slip the black silky shiny disc from the sleeve and holding my breath waiting for the moment the needle drops for the first time, on the first track, ‘Oh Miss Carolina’ and right through to the last note on

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Just when you’ve recovered from that, ‘Do You Remember’ hits you again with soul, southern rock, and an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia and pathos for lost years. You need the next two tracks, just to lift you ever so slightly and they both have a slight uplift in tempo and right on cue. Both ‘Don’t Let Me Go’ and ‘One More Time’, the guitars…oh sweet baby Jeebers…those wonderful guitars. The pain and anguish is still there but there’s more of a lift to vocal too and urgency. There’s a feel of that throughout a lot of songs on this album, a feeling of lost love, of apologies, of lost opportunities and one more chance. A hope of rekindling what has been lost and you cannot remain detached from this album, I DEFY you to remain detached and it comes back to my opening comments, you connect to this whole package, if you don’t then you have no soul! This is an album of perfection, or near perfection and it’s one I liken to albums like Sunburst Finish, Led Zep 4, Hotel California, and one or two others. From the cover to the music, and just as important; the layout of the music, like those classics, this album is perfect. I’ve mentioned it before in reviews - the layout of the tracks is so important if you’re going to take a journey with a band and an album. They nailed this and with the two parts of the title track ‘Last Light on the Highway pt1 and pt2’ I think they may also have nailed the best track(s) of the year. There’s a long way to go this year and some big album releases to come but this is a serious contender for album of the year, the bar has been set. If you’re already a fan of Robert Jon and the Wreck, you know how good they are, if you’ve never heard them but love soulful, southern rock that reaches into your chest, grabs your heart and wrings out every last drop of emotion, then you owe it to yourself to buy this album and when you do, sit with it a while, gaze upon it, caress it, hug it, listen to it and fall in love with it. Robert Jon and the Wreck – Last Light on The Highway is out now via www.robertjonandthewreck.com. Catch Steve Beastie on Hard Rock Hell Radio every Tuesday at 3pm for Beastie’s Rock Show

A L BUM R EV I EWS RYDERS CREED - LOST SOULS MARTIN SHORT Ryders Creed bring forth their sophomore album amid quite a lot of expectation after their storming debut album. How have they got on? Has ‘difficult second album’ syndrome hit the band? The answer to that is mostly “No” thankfully, but with one or two reservations I’m afraid, although nothing that should stop fans of this band enjoying this release and probably not enough to stop new members joining that particular club. Opening track ‘Memories’ gently builds in the first few bars as the melody is introduced, and what a melody, this is ‘tune’ with a capital “T”. The band and vocal bring everything up to speed and it is a track that is obviously designed to make the listener sit up and take notice, the hook is massive. I would term this a ‘showcase track’ insomuch as it really shows what the band are about and what they can do, I feel this is one of the best opening tracks to an album that I have heard this year. Cleverly the band change the tone with ‘Unleashed’, which has a definite funky feel to it although still maintaining hard rock credentials, a neat trick well executed here. ‘Lost Soul’, could be regarded as the title track and is a straight-up classic rocker with a strong riff and a truly excellent vocal. Another track that ‘builds’, this band are good at that. It’s all change when we get to ‘New Beginnings’, a lovely short acoustic instrumental which segues well into ‘Believer’. The vocal performance on this track is outstanding, emotional and heartfelt, as it is driven in stages by the rest of the band to a satisfying chorus. Another great track. ‘Feel the Fear’ harks back to the funkiness of ‘Unleashed’ but is a little more chuggy and develops into a solid melodic rocker. ‘Chasing Dreams’ follows with a tasty guitar-drum intro before settling into a blues-rocker with a nifty drum pattern. The chorus hooks, too. We now come to the two tracks I have a little problem with, ‘Meant to Be’ and ‘Cut Me Down’ are both well-executed rockers but don’t fire up the imagination in quite the way that a lot of what went before did. It’s a quibble, but a minor one. ‘Hand in Hand with The Devil’ get’s things back on track with a doomy, almost Sabbathesque vibe and the shouty chorus attracts. Personally, although final track rocks merrily along, I think the final two tracks should be the other way around in the running order, because HIHWTD seems to sign things off, and having ‘Money’ follow it gives the impression of either an afterthought or almost a ‘bonus’ track.

In conclusion, although not as complete as their first album, the band have delivered a set of tunes which should keep most people happy, certainly a few of them will gain airplay and no doubt live will sound amazing, as that is an area where this band truly excel. Overall it’s not ‘love’ but certainly a ‘big like’ from me. Lost Souls is out now via Off Yer Rocka Recordings Catch Martin “Badass” Short on Hard Rock Hell Radio every Sunday at 3pm for Badass Martin’s Rock Out Radio Show

BLITZ – FIGHT TO SURVIVE CORY EADSON In a world gone mad, where words like ‘quarantine’ and ‘lockdown’ are part of the global lexicon, we need a heavy dose of optimism more than ever. So how appropriate then, that British rockers Blitz have returned with a brand-new album that’s absolutely rammed with feel-good, punch-the-air anthems fused this time with a harder edge than their previous work, bringing a new sense of urgency to the music. Fight to Survive is the name of the album in question, as apt a title as any right now, and from the very get-go, it blisters! One In a Million is as heavy as it is catchy, combining a big chorus with a rolling riff, building up to a volcanic eruption of a guitar solo. Blood Brothers carries on this vibe, with melody aplenty, but also finding the time for an almost thrash-metal breakdown around the 1: 40 mark. Waiting For A Miracle is more familiar Blitz territory, a natural successor to one of their previous bangers, their show-stopper I Believe. It’s an obvious pick for a single, all arena rock riffs and thunderous drums, alongside a chorus chant born for the live stage. It’s as Blitz as it gets, and all the better for it. Damage Is Done follows, and it’s devastatingly good. Sounding like a cross between Kiss’ God of Thunder and an early Blitz classic, Born to Rock, its probably my favourite track from Fight to Survive, the unofficial heart-beat of the record. It begins as another raging rocker, before slowing down for a moment of reprieve, and then exploding into another of Kevin Simpson’s unstoppable solos. Every time Blitz release another song, another album, you can hear the development. Stuart Corden’s vocals get better and more soulful with each new track. Mat Davis is more intricate and restrained with his drumming (but only when he needs to be), holding every tune together with expert skill. And Kev Simpson manages to keep the balance of straight-up, balls-to-the-wall riffs and Phil Campbell-esque solos beautifully, injecting every song with personality. And this is Blitz’s core selling-point. Even when they’re singing about familiar hard rock tropes, like partying hard, missing someone, saying goodbye...they do it in such a way that these tunes have a life of their own, a character that is 100% pure Blitz. Look no further than Party Time, or the fist-in-the-air title track for your proof. Towards the end of the record, we get some revamps of old Blitz classics, injecting fresh life into some early gems. 99 Ways has never sounded better, more closely resembling the bands’ live performance of the song with all the added grit. Elsewhere we get something brand-new. Breaking Out is the closest

Blitz have come so far to doing a punk song. It’s one of the softer, more poppy tunes they’ve done, a step away from their usual territory, and it works! You’ll have the chorus lodged into your head long after the album finishes - much like most of the other tracks on this release. Fight to Survive is everything you’d expect from a Blitz release, but with just a little bit more besides. Everything is ramped up a little bit more, and there are some left-field surprises to keep you on your toes. If it’s a good time you want, you owe it to yourself to get this album. Another absolute winner from one of the best underground bands on the circuit. Oh, and the album cover’s a belter too! Blitz – Fight to Survive is out now via KSM Records

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A L BUM R EV I EWS HEATHEN – EMPIRE OF THE BLIND DENNIS JARMAN You have to be very patient if you’re a Heathen fan, as upcoming studio album Empire Of The Blind is only their fourth release since their debut Breaking The Silence in 1987. Formed in San Francisco in 1984, they are one of the leaders in the Bay Area thrash metal scene and thankfully have never wavered from that style. So no experimental albums with other artists or albums with no guitar solos on! Due for release on Nuclear Blast Records on September 9th 2020, twelve songs are driven out with aplomb. Opener ‘This Rotting Sphere’ is an intense guitar-dominated instrumental that builds from laid back lines into a riff-heavy monster. A crushing midway segment precedes the calm before the storm outro. Abrasive riffs thrash and crash throughout ‘The Blight’, backed by an astonishing kick drum battery. A metronomic pound from the grooves in ‘Empire Of The Blind’ and a menacing lead vocal sees it head off into a brief foot to the floor slam as it ends powerfully. ‘Dead And Gone’ is melodic thrash full of earworm guitar lines and the vocals are belted out with manic glee. Godzilla stomp dynamics propel ‘Sun In My Hand’ along as the choruses are delivered gang like to drive their point home. ‘Blood To Be Let’ is a prime example of the Bay Area crunch - a marauding maul of molten metal and certified circle pit opener! ‘In Black’ is chock full of buzzsaw riffing that sounds like angry bees in a jar for headbanging heaven. ‘Shrine Of Apathy’ is a majestic power ballad with the emphasis being on power due to a lung-busting vocal. ‘Devour’ devours what’s left of your hearing with some pummeling power metal. ‘A Fine Red Mist’ is an instrumental major rager of epic proportions. The fuse is lit for a twin guitar battle fight to the finish of proto thrash pyrotechnics. Heathen pull out all the stops for their heaviest track here, ‘The Gods Divide’.

Guitars blaze away like weapons of mass destruction as a shockwave comes from a ballistic drum battery. After all the energy produced by the album, a brief moment of calm comes from ‘Monument Of Ruin’, a short but sweet guitar lead instrumental. Heathen – Empire of the Blind is out on September 9th via Nuclear Blast

the scene for the insanity that follows. A child’s music box is an eerie start to ‘The Cradle Song’ as it creepily shifts tempos until it kicks in for six minutes of symphonic doom metal. Lead vocals from Psychoberrie soar throughout and a bluesy guitar solo sneaks in midway. ‘Mister Babadook’ is a full-on riffathon of epic proportions as she pulls out another spotlight-stealing histrionic vocal. A piano lead intro eases us into pummeling grooves. ‘Daisy Chains’ is a bright and breezy jig with almost reggae like tempos that are given an edginess by the bittersweet lyrics. ‘Broken Toys’ is an accordion fueled toe-tapper that turns into a hairy headbanger midway and kickdrum driven outro. ‘Imago’, the first single lifted from the album, has a bleak vibe that suffocates throughout this pounder. Dark riffs envelope like a shroud, drums hit hard like the beat of a heart to give it a Rammstein-like pulse as it ends on a symphonic swathe. Morose violin work on ‘A Goodnight Shot’ and evil lyrics that include “The vial of valium should do the trick, I slip it into your whiskey. I’ll serve you one last drink and all your sorrows will be history.” The vocals are backed by the operatic howls of Annabelle Iratni from Devilment that send chills down your spine. It heavies up colossally, backed by a mantra of “I know where you keep your gun mother”.

WARD XVI - METAMORPHOSIS DENNIS JARMAN The Art Of Manipulation - the debut album from Preston based psychos Ward XVI - literally exploded onto the scene in 2017 with an over the top myriad of styles. It seems to have been an interminable wait for the follow-up, but fear not as on September 25th 2020, Metamorphosis will be unleashed! Eleven songs see the doors of the Whittingham asylum open as inmate Psychoberrie wreaks havoc once again – as she did on the debut – and is once more the theme for the album. The madness begins with the skin-crawling spoken word ‘Retrogression’ setting

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‘Burn The Witch’ is a towering opus - Eastern-tinged influences in the first half are blasted away by scything riffs as it heads off into overdrive for a wah-wah drenched lead break and headphone rattling kick drums. If ‘Catch Me If You Can’ is going to be the new circus pit opener then the fans had best join a gym NOW! It’s a frenetic four minutes of death metal devilness with the lyrics spat out at auctioneer speed. ‘The Verdict’ is basically what it says on the tin as Psychoberrie has her sentence delivered – spoiler alert : voluntary manslaughter due to her upbringing. This over the top album ends with the mindblowing ‘Shadows’. It has the pomp and majesty of A Night At The Proms performance. It’s an all-consuming black hole to finish off a faultless piece of work. It ebbs and flows like a heavier ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ beginning with gentle vocals, strings and laid back snare work as it builds to a crescendo of almost operatic majesty with guest vocals by Russ Custard from Footprints In The Custard. The final minute is a cathartic wall of noise that eases to a shimmering calm. Ward XVI – Metamorphosis is out on September 25th via Metal Rocka Recordings

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PRIMAL FEAR – METAL COMMANDO ALEX CLARKE It’s been said many times across history that consistency is key. When it comes to the music business consistency can be a very hard thing to find, certain artists will chase the latest trends in an attempt to bolster sales. other artists change direction just so they don’t become bored with their own music. Some artists just seem to lose the magic that made them special, and over time it just ebbs away. That’s why when a band can create the same style of music for well over 20 years and create a catalogue of consistently strong albums, it should be celebrated. Primal fear is one of those bands whose legacy is built on great music year after year. They are back with their thirteenth album ‘Metal Commando’ and it comes with a switch of record labels back to their original home of Nuclear Blast. This switch seems to have increased the advertising and push behind the band and maybe contributed to a real positive feel across the album. Even with the pre-release advertising you just got the feeling this was going to be another great album to add to the ever-growing list that Primal

Fear and Nuclear Blast have produced. Album opener ‘I Am Alive’ is your standard opening banger, great power metal legato melody line followed by a storming speed metal riff that brings you to a mid-tempo, sing-along chorus. Classic Primal Fear. ‘Along Came the Devil’ sounds like Primal Fear creating an Accept song. It has that AC/DC on speed feel in the beginning, before opening out into a more traditional chorus. Good track but I think the song would suit Accept more. ‘Halo’ is straight-up euro power metal with a very smooth feel and a great chorus, can see this going down great near the end of a live set, very uplifting and fantastic guitar work. ‘Hear Me Calling’ is a mid temp ‘80s rocker disguised behind heavy speed metal production. vocally Ralph has a whispered delivery in the verses, it’s not my favourite tone I have heard his mighty voice do, but it’s nice to hear something slightly different. ‘Lost and Forgotten’ sounds like a lost track from Judas Priests’ Jugulator album, slightly industrial riff under soaring screeching vocals, a nice change-up mid-album. The galloping double bass of ‘My Name is Fear’ is reminiscent of Rhapsody of Fire, that is until the molten speed metal riffs kick in. I feel like this track is a bit of a dark horse and will become more loved the longer time goes on - it combines speed, euro power, and modern metals very well, pure alchemy from the boys. ‘I Will Be Gone’ is your obligatory ballad, very ‘80s, lovely production on the guitar tone but a bit forgettable for me personally. A brilliantly ‘80s sounding riff on ‘Raise Your Fists’ lifts the album again and works beautifully with Ralph’s aggressive vocals, in the mould of the classic Chainbreaker but more ‘80s......which I love. ‘Howl Of The Banshee’ definitely isn’t filler, but there isn’t anything that really elevates this song to the levels of the other tracks on this album. Pretty standard fare for Primal Fear. ‘Afterlife’ opens with an exciting and stellar riff with some pounding drum work, though the double bass does sound a bit flat from a production standpoint. This song has some modern thrash elements and twists that really make it a great listen. ‘Infinity’ really is a changeup and ends the album on a very likeable 13-minute epic that has soaring choruses, neo-classical touches, but still includes the speed metal you know and love. This track is never boring and the guitar work is excellent throughout, a great way to end this album. Many people may see this as ‘just another Primal Fear album’ well I’m very happy to listen to ‘just another album’ from these Germanic titans and I will be listening to ‘Metal Commando’ until the next ‘just another Primal fear album’ drops. Excellent stuff. Primal Fear – Metal Commando is out now via Nuclear Blast Catch Alex Clarke on Hard Rock Hell Radio every Friday at 5pm for The Steel Symphony Show

of You’, the splendid single I had heard before, but the great riffs, melody & solo’s throughout the album soon had me loving it all. ‘Rats’ - with some help from ‘The Suicide Notes’ - is now my favourite track, but with each listen other songs are impressing like the tunefully excellent ‘No More Heroes’. I’ve seen all 4 members live on numerous occasions & probably own most of their records. JJ Watt, Berty Burton, Dennis Post & Dave Sanders with some help from various other rock stars have given us a cracking album full of upbeat tunes. Mid paced tracks like ‘Before You Fall” and the melodious “She Loves You” are great, “Words of a Fool” gloriously drifts along, ‘All I Want’ featuring Tracii Guns pings the air guitarist in me and is a bit of an anthem.

THE CITY KIDS - THINGS THAT NEVER WERE STEVI ROX As we know a group of great musicians from various bands getting together & making music doesn’t always work. The City Kids debut album ‘Things That Never Were’ does though, so can we call them a supergroup? I’ll admit on first hearing I wasn’t 100% hooked, the stand out track was ‘Best

Most of the album is upbeat, with catchy sing-along tunes, anthemic choruses - it’s classic rock meets dirty punk rock n’ roll. The album goes out in raucous style with another favourite “Round & (a)round”, with Kory Clarke, leaving you wanting more of this splendid kick-ass rock n’ roll. It’s worth nothing that the Deluxe Edition has an extra 12 track CD of covers which is also pretty damn good. Amongst my favourites is ‘The Kids Are Back’ (Twisted Sister) with Dave Kerr of Silverjet on lead vocals. Other musicians on the album include Jax Chambers, Stevie Pearce, Rusty D, Stesh Thompson, Kath Edmonds, Stevie Church, Howard Chapman, Andy Barrott, Marc Valentine, Julia Calvo, Rich Shaw and Miguel Martins. There is also a great rendition of ‘Pretty in a Slutty Way’ with the Trench Dogs. The City Kids – Things That Never Were is out now via Very Fried Artists.

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RICK WAKEMAN AND THE ENGLISH ROCK ENSEMBLE – RED PLANET MARTIN SHORT

Rick Wakeman, keyboardist extraordinaire, member of Yes during their “classic” years and producer of some of the most iconic prog-rock instrumental albums ever released, is back and with Red Planet he is back with a vengeance. It is 17 years since Wakeman’s last prog-rock album - Out There - and once again he is backed by The English Rock Ensemble. Allow me to introduce them. On guitar we have Dave Colquhoun a regular session-man who has worked with Ian Brown on many of his albums, as well as with his wife’s band The Fizz, his wife being Eurovision winner Jay Ashton of the Fizz with added Bucks.

piece of music, and Wakeman throws everything at it. Beautiful melody, tonal variations and emotion in spades. During the final 30 seconds, he just hints at tips a wink - towards ‘Mars’ from The Planets Suite by Holtz, to let you know he isn’t the first composer to have been inspired by this iconic astral body. A fitting conclusion to a brilliant album which will have prog rockers and Wakeman fans hugging themselves with joy. Rick Wakeman and The English Rock Ensemble – Red Planet is out 28th August via Madfish Records Catch Martin “Badass” Short on Hard Rock Hell Radio every Sunday at 3pm for Badass Martin’s Rock Out Radio Show

Bass player Lee Pomeroy is well known to fans of It Bites; ELO; Yes; and Headspace (alongside Wakeman’s son Adam in that band). Finally, on drums we find Ash Soan formerly of Del Amitri and Squeeze, he has drummed, as a session man, on so many hits for so many artists it would take this entire reviews section to list them. So, we have the players, but what of the music? ‘Red Planet’ is a work in eight parts, all named for different geographical or geological areas and features on the planet Mars. The first four tracks are named for volcanoes, ‘Ascraeus Mons’, ’Tharsis Tholus’, ‘Arsia Mons’ and the mighty ‘Olympus Mons’ the highest mountain so far discovered in the Solar System, being two and half times the height of Everest and covering an area almost the size of the state of Arizona. That’s big and the music is big too. A rocky start to the track flows onto a gentle section before the tone changes and Wakeman’s intricate keyboards raise the tempo once again, backed by a throbbing bass line. This track is a layer cake of delights - that really is the best way to describe this album, as Wakeman and the band create layers of sound which can at one moment have a haunting refrain, be almost ethereal before changing tack and tempo. Seriously, to get the most out of this piece of work you need to take time, as in days of yore, and listen to it at one sitting. So, we have had four volcanoes, next comes ‘The North Plain’, the music evoking a feeling of vastness and space, space rock on two levels here. Following that we have another volcano track ‘Pavonis Mons’ named for the middle of the three massive Tharsis volcanoes that sit on the Martian equator, (the other two being tracks one and three). This is quite a jolly. bouncy track giving a little light relief, the keyboards front and centre with a stompy backbeat that works well. ‘South Pole’ follows with a softer tone and a soothing melody before the final track, named for the 2500 mile long canyon system to the east of the Tharsis mountains ‘Valles Marineris’. This is a fitting climax to a truly wonderful

game, and that’s exactly what Bad Touch have done with ‘Kiss The Sky’. The thirteen-track album kicks off with the battle cry of ‘Come A Little Closer’. A song which feels like a call to arms, and a strong contender for a set opener on the band’s forthcoming UK tour. The NWOCR favourites quickly switch things up with the funky sounds of ‘I Get High’. Bad Touch very much wear their influences on their sleeves, and even the album title itself is a bit of a nod to the late great Jimi Hendrix, drawing from a line in the song ‘Purple Haze’. Likewise, you can very much hear the inspiration of their southern rock peers in songs like the heartfelt ‘Let Go’ and the spellbinding ‘Sun And The Moon’. The latter of which almost feels like the missing track from The Black Crowes ‘Southern Harmony and Musical Companion’. It’s a real gem in what is an incredibly strong release for Bad Touch. ‘Strut’ is full of infectious riffs and melodies, and jam-packed with classic rock swagger. It’s no wonder it was one of the first tracks to be released from the album. The rather uplifting ‘I’ve Got The Music In Me’ has become an anthem for these troubled times within the music industry. The song fronted Marshall Amplifications ‘Save Our Venues’ t-shirt campaign in partnership with the Music Venue Trust. Whilst beautiful ballads such as ‘See You Again’ showcase the mellower side of the band’s repertoire.

BAD TOUCH – KISS THE SKY ADAM KENNEDY For their latest offering, Bad Touch locked themselves away in the hallowed halls of Rockfield Studios in Wales. This being a spot where Queen recorded hits such as ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, and if that isn’t enough to get the creative juices flowing then nothing will. Of course, when bands record in such legendary surroundings as Rockfield, it forces them to raise their

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With the latest Bad Touch offering, they’ve gone all out and pushed the production far beyond what we saw on their previous album ‘Shake A Leg’. The sound and the songs are certainly a lot bigger and bolder than we’ve heard before, giving the band a new dynamic – a move that has certainly paid off. Producer Nick Brine has worked his magic on this release. Now four albums in, Bad Touch has returned with what is arguably their strongest release to date.: Bad Touch – Kiss The Sky is out now via Marshall Records

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DEEP PURPLE - WHOOSH DENNIS JARMAN Chomp chomp chomp! Chew chew chew! At the time of writing this, I’m eating my words for wrongly writing Deep Purple off when guitarist Ritchie Blackmore left the band in 1993, since joining them when they formed in 1968. His replacement Steve Morse who joined in 1994 is still with the band and is a more than able replacement as I’ve finally realized after all these years by his dexterity on brand new studio album Whoosh. Covid-19 has wreaked havoc in 2020 especially in the music industry. A planned release date of June 12th saw the album launch delayed until August 8th that comes in a mouth-watering array of formats that include a CD/DVD Mediabook, Exclusive Glow In The Dark Double Vinyl, Limited Edition Box Set, CD/DVD Mediabook + Shirt, CD/DVD Mediabook + Exclusive Glow In The Dark Double Vinyl, Double Vinyl (Inc. DVD) + T-shirt and there are more on the band website page. The album is called Whoosh and quite rightly so as these exhilarating thirteen songs hit the ground running. Album opener ‘Throw My Bones’ pulled me in hook line and sinker from the off with the first riff and the golden tones of lead vocalist Ian Gillan. There are no glass shattering multi-octave notes here but you can easily identify his timbre. Chunky funk is the name of the game here, brought to the fore by bassist Roger Glover and the machine that is Ian Paice on drums, the only original member left. A tasty guitar solo from Steve Morse wails away as he is joined by some tasty keyboard splashes from the legendary Don Airey. He is all over ‘Drop The Weapon’ as he grooves all-around a honey dripped lead vocal. A spotlight-stealing main riff hits hard with serious bombast as a guitar/keyboard duel midway dazzles. Some sleazy funk comes from ‘We’re All The Same In The Dark’ but it has enough muscle to keep the headbangers happy. Steve and Don take on the noodling main riff to ‘Nothing At All’ and weave it all around thought-provoking lyrics from Ian that put things of life into perspective. Steve steps forward for a histrionic solo that’s pinned down by a groove from Ian and Roger. That rhythm section comes to the fore once again with a seismic groove throughout ‘No Need To Shout’. Guitar and keyboards blaze away halfway

through to hit hard and heavy. ‘Step By Step’ is a quirky laid back quick step. Reflective lyrics enchant, as do an enthralling instrumental midsection. The curiously titled ‘What The What’ is ‘a foot to the floor’ Saturday night dose of bar-room boogie. It’s a full-on feel-good ditty with Don pounding out some good old honky-tonk piano with aplomb. Air guitars are a must for ‘The Long Way Round’. It’s a hefty riffer as Steve really cranks it up to speaker rattling power. Another mindblowing instrumental piece midway heads off into a hard and heavy outro. ‘The Power Of The Moon’ is all about the power of the Deep Purple for this gripping tour de force. A laid back vocal and an earworm guitar line intertwine. A bass guitar bombast bolsters a progressive rock vibe that flows along on fleeting keyboard fury. ‘Remission Possible’ is a blink and you’ll miss it instrumental. It’s a fireball of fretboard and keyboard burning fury. Breathtaking! A heart-melting soothing intro to ‘Man Alive’ slowly picks up pace. The song highlights the state of our planet and a spoken-word piece adds an extra edge. A full-blown midsection precedes these lines from Ian to close the song. “A man alone, washed up on the beach. A man alone, just a man. Whoosh”. You know that feeling when you hear a song that you’ve not heard for years and it suddenly crops up? Well, a few spins and a bit of cheating resulted in ‘And The Address’ being a souped-up version of the instrumental that opened up their debut album Shades Of Purple’ in 1968. The band lock-in for this scything psychedelic instrumental, especially the snappy snare work. The album ends on my favourite song, ‘Dancing In My Sleep’. A snazzy electronica intro heads off into gritty hard rock. Keys and guitar meltdown take it up to the stratosphere, held down by a monstrous groove from the rhythm section. Whoosh is an apt word to launch the album campaign. It’s all killer, no filler which will surely result in a purple patch for this iconic band. Unfortunately Covid-19 has put a spanner in the works for their 2020 tour but they have been rescheduled for October 2021. Deep Purple are still very much in rock! Whoosh! Is out now via EarMusic Records

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A L BUM R EV I EWS BLUES PILLS – HOLY MOLY ADAM KENNEDY Swedish psychedelic rockers Blues Pills return with a new line-up and a new album to boot. Following the departure of lead guitarist Dorian Sorriaux, Blues Pills decided to shake things up with their line-up. Long-serving and versatile bass player Zack Anderson filled the now vacant guitarist position allowing for new boy Kristoffer Schander to take over on bass. For this, their third album, the band locked themselves away in their analogue studio for a year in the idyllic Swedish countryside town of Närke. Subsequently, Anderson not only stepped up as the band’s new guitarist but also recorded the album too – an impressive feat to say the least. At the top of the album, recent single, ‘Proud Woman’ is delivered with such authority and mantra-like passion by lead vocalist Elin Larsson. The thunderous heavy grooves, intoxicating fuzz fuelled guitar riffs, and retro aesthetic that we’ve come to know and love FROM Blues Pills are still present on this record. And this is apparent from the off during songs such as ‘Low Road’, ‘Dreaming My Life Away’ and the fiery ‘Rhythm In The Blood’. ‘California’ is one of the standout tracks on the album. With this blissful and soulful composition, it feels like opening a time capsule from the streets of Haight-Asbury in San Francisco in the 1960s. Elin changes gears with ease, and her soaring vocals hit the spot. The album ebbs and flows, as Blues Pills take you on their retro-fuelled musical journey. Tracks such as ‘Dust’ and the rather dreamy ‘Longest Lasting Friend’ showcase a slightly mellower side of their repertoire, whilst with recent single ‘Kiss My Past Goodbye’ we are in more familiar Blues Pills territory.

‘Bye Bye Birdie’ feels like the kind of track that could well end up featuring as part of an extended jam when performed live. The song builds against the backdrop of a hard-hitting rhythm, which only seems to get faster as the song develops, and is accompanied by searing guitar licks from Anderson. A fantastic return to form from Blues Pills and one that will leave you saying, ‘Holy Moly’. Blues Pills – Holy Moly is out now via Nuclear Blast

The band’s debut EP ‘Delirium’ is exactly what you would expect from a pair of artists who are no strangers to the world stage. Having performed with their respective bands at prestigious festivals such as Wacken Open Air, Masters Of Rock, Metal Universe, and of course Hard Rock Hell, these guys know how to please music fans across the planet and they’ve done exactly that with their first four-track release. The EP opens with ‘We Fall’. The rather fitting sounds of the didgeridoo kick things off, whilst also giving a nod to their homeland. With crunchy guitar riffs against the backdrop of a thunderous drumbeat, it’s the perfect opener to the EP. The song sets the scene and proves these guys are not messing around. ‘We Fall’ is a real earworm to boot. ‘Stronger’ kicks things up a notch with its sinister groove, and commanding vocal delivery from Cecati, who channels the greats like Ronnie James Dio. The track has a big chorus and is full of catchy hooks and virtuoso playing from Janevski. At just over three and a half minutes long ‘Stronger’ certainly packs a punch. Wicked Smile showcase a slightly more melodic sound to their repertoire with ‘Loves Got A Hold On You’ which is complete AOR gold. The EP was produced by Paul Laine (The Defiants) who has done a great job on not only the production but also plays bass and sings backing vocals on the EP. ‘Daze of Delirium’ brings the EP to its explosive conclusion with some big riffs and an even bigger chorus. WICKED SMILE - DELIRIUM EP ADAM KENNEDY Having performed at HRH on several occasions with The Radio Sun, we couldn’t wait to get our ears around Stevie Janevski’s (The Radio Sun, ex-Black Majesty) new project alongside lead vocalist Danny Cecati (ex Pegazus & Eyefear).

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‘Delirium’ is an impressive first release from this world-class outfit. And at only four tracks long, the EP certainly leaves you wanting more. Here’s hoping that the band’s debut full-length studio album is just around the corner. Wicked Smile – Delerium is out now via Wicked Smile

A L BUM R EV I EWS RODNEY MATTHEWS – TRINITY DENNIS JARMAN Until I came across this album, I only thought that Rodney Matthews was an artist whose breathtaking work has adorned many albums in my record collection. Nazareth, Praying Mantis, Tygers Of Pan Tang, Diamond Head, Magnum and Asia to name but a few. So it turns out he is also a rather accomplished drummer too, playing since the early 1960’s and plays on this – the Trinity album - backed by a myriad of guest musicians that include guitarist Jeff Scheetz with whom the seeds for the album were sown in 1993 - the songs being based on some of Rodney’s artwork. Fast forward to the present, and it finally sees the light of day with ten tracks that astound on a mixture of various styles. It’s mainly instrumental, kicking off literally with the aptly titled ‘The Heavy Metal Hero’. It’s a feisty headbanger with snappy snare work. Strong bass guitar lines add a palette for virtuoso guitar and keyboards come from Oliver Wakeman. ‘Mirador’ is just jaw-dropping! Almost nine minutes of ambient prog featuring laid back vocals from John Payne and Sarah Prothero. Sarah’s vocal really tugs at the heartstrings until the song heavies up with forceful guitar and drums. ‘The Granite Curtain’ amazes with its variety of soothing pieces that add colour to poignant guitar lines. Jazzy drum splashes and a surprising jig midway also enchant. ‘Night Of The Bare Mountain’ has a film score vibe (point proven by liner notes saying it came from 1940 Disney film Fantasia). It has medieval bombast that add muscle to earworm keyboard and guitar histrionics. The piano piece outro brought back many childhood memories. ‘November Wedding’ is a joyous romp as jaunty keys raised a smile over poptastic guitar and drums. ‘Stop The Slaughter’ is a meandering opus. Almost five minutes of hypnotic, captivating and inventive musicianship. ‘The Leavetaking’ is a bit of a curiosity piece. On the one hand, you have these boisterous call-to-arms grooves alongside soothing woodwind. Bass guitar duties are handled by Tony Clarkin from Magnum. ‘The Hop’ begins like a gleeful Mike Oldfield tinged piece but gains momentum when Rodney kicks in with verve. Keys weave around quaint strings as it heads off to a guitar-heavy outro. A true kaleidoscope of music! Lord Of The Rings buffs will love ‘Rivendell’. Acoustic guitar lines fly out like musical fireflies as electric guitar lines flow in. Bass and drums

lock in tight around them and recorders add a moment of calm until synths and heavier riffs approach an emotional spoken-word outro. This celebration ends on my personal favourite, the title track. Wondrous guitar from Jeff tie-up with Oliver who is joined on keyboards by his father Rick Wakeman on harpsichord and church organ. Rick closes the album on a poignant segment of the hymn ‘Holy, Holy, Holy!’ Rodney Matthews and Jeff Scheetz with Oliver Wakeman – Trinity is out now via www.rodneymatthewsstudios.com

REIGN OF FURY - EXORCISE REALITY SIMON REDTANK This may be a biased review … Reign of Fury are one of my favourite bands of the last 10 years and a lovely bunch of guys too. I first discovered them after their last release, 2015’s ‘Death Be Thy Shepherd’ an album which just blew me away. I couldn’t believe that a band this good were not more well known. The band have had a few line-up changes since the last album with Joey Jaycock joining Jon Priestly on guitars and Chris Musgrove taking up bass duties for ‘Exorcise Reality’. I had the honour of having the world exclusive first play of the albums lead single ‘I May Be a Bastard, But I’m Not a F***ing Bastard’ which was a brilliant track with a cracking riff running through it. To be honest I really didn’t think they could top ‘Death Be Thy Shepherd’ (which is one of the best British thrash albums ever in my opinion) but I think they have! The musicianship on the album is flawless - stunning guitar riffs, wonderful twin guitar harmonies and face-melting solos, the bass lines run beautifully on each of the tracks and Chris’s talent shows on the bass intro to ‘Addiction Hymn’. Magic Dave has always been a fantastic drummer both with Reign of Fury and his punk band 4ft Fingers, but the drumming on this album is so good I think Magic may have sold his soul to the devil! From the opening track ‘To Fight and Conquer’ right through to the closing title track, the album oozes quality. Thrash metal with plenty of time changes and more than enough of those stunning guitar harmonies from Jon and Joey to keep the listener wanting the album never to end. There are not that many albums that make you want to play them from start to finish and along with ‘Death Be Thy Shepherd’ Reign of Fury’s newest release joins that exclusive club. If you like your thrash with great melodies, great clean vocals and a nod to Iron Maiden, go out and get yourself a copy of ‘Exorcise Reality’ you won’t regret it! Reign of Fury – Exorcise Reality is out now via Mosh Tuneage

Check out Simon Redtank’s shows on Hard Rock Hell Radio, Redtank’s WeekENDER! Every Sunday 7 – 9pm The H.R.H. Punk Show with REDTANK! Every Monday 11pm

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MASSIVE WAGONS - HOUSE OF NOISE ADAM KENNEDY The music industry is in unprecedented times with the advent of the current pandemic. As the option of touring in support of a release is currently off the table, you would forgive any artist for maybe rethinking their decision to release an album during this time. However, Massive Wagons aren’t just any old band and they were able to get creative and move their promotional activities in the virtual world which allowed them to forge ahead with the release. Simultaneously, the band has given their fans something to get them through the strange times we are facing and that move has certainly paid off. So - can Massive Wagons do any wrong? We find out as we take a listen to their new album ‘House of Noise’. Discussing the subject of the release frontman Barry ‘Baz’ Mills comments: “‘I believe this is the album we’ve been trying to make for 10 years, I’m so excited to finally get this collection of songs out there, and the hard work that’s gone into this release campaign dwarfs anything we’ve done before, our crew has worked so hard from start to finish, it feels great to be in this band right now!” But how does it sound? Opening tracks ‘In It Together’, ‘Bangin In Your Stereo’ and the euphoric title track are the kind of balls to the wall numbers that we’ve come to know and love from Massive Wagons. Subsequently, you find yourself drawn into the lyrics and storytelling on tracks such as ‘Freak City’, ‘Sad Sad Song’ and the punk rock-tinged ‘Pressure’. The writing on this record is passionate and on point, whilst also addressing pertinent issues such as mental health. From the top of the album, there is nothing but quality. You don’t find yourself skipping tracks, but rather listening to the record in full and in the order that the artist intended.

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If there had been a FIFA World Cup in 2020, we are pretty sure that ‘Curry Song’ may well have been similarly utilised by the football community as ‘Vindaloo’ was back in 1998. It’s a song that allows the band to showcase their humour and down to earth personalities. Of course, the song is about the simple things in life, no hidden meanings, just an ode to a good old-fashioned curry. Now, who can argue with that? ‘Hero’ has to be one of the many stand-out tracks on the record. It has the feel of a bonafide stadium rock anthem. With its driving bass line, fiery fretwork and huge chorus, there is a real timeless quality to the song. I’m sure that we will be hearing this track for many years to come. Massive Wagons showcase their greatness with this number. The band also introduced a new word to our vocabulary with the track ‘Hallescrewya’. But will it make it into the Oxford English Dictionary? We will see! Nevertheless, it’s a great inclusion on the album. Massive Wagons made headline news in 2018 with their chart-busting record ‘Full Nelson’ entering the Official UK Top 20. But have the band been able to achieve the same high standards with this their fifth full studio release - the answer is a resounding yes! These Lancaster rockers have produced an album full of wall to wall anthems that will fit perfectly into their existing repertoire of tried and tested live favourites such as ‘Ratio’, ‘Back To The Stack’ and ‘Tokyo’. Which is good news, as the band will be returning to the live stage with their forthcoming UK tour in March 2021, but not before a headline spot at the inaugural HRH NWOCR festival in January. Massive Wagons – House of Noise is out now via Earache Records

A L BUM R EV I EWS THE VAPORS - TOGETHER STEVE BEASTIE Every now and again, an album comes along that is totally different to everything you’re currently listening to - yet it not only grabs you but it feels like a breath of fresh air. When that album comes from a band more famous for one song, currently celebrating 4 decades since its release, it is a wonderful, pleasant retro surprise. The band we are talking about are The Vapors, yes, THAT Vapors. Turning Japanese Vapors - and their new 2020 album, Together. I have to say, I really wish this album had come out before that song because if that had happened we would be forever talking about this album and associating the band with this album and not one song. Make no mistake, had this album been released in the mid to late seventies when punk was enjoying its brightest moments, this would have sold a lot of units (as they say in the industry). This is such a beautiful album in so many ways. Not only is it steeped in a beautiful retro vibe but you always feel like you’re in the hands of experienced songwriters and music makers. When I played this album on the radio I said ‘it wasn’t very punk’ and I did it a huge disservice by saying that. There are no soaring guitar riffs here. There are no angry, venomous, foul-mouthed tirades, yet this still feels every inch the retro-punk album. Think more along the lines of the best in pop-punk from the likes of The Buzzcocks or Undertones and you know the journey you’re going to take. The lyrics on this album from start to finish are deeply dipped in new love, lost love, angst, fear of the future and losing all that you hold dear and are delivered with just the right amount of sadness, despair, love, and…hope. Yes, hope. Through it all, you can still hear the hope that everything will turn out right in the end and the real gift here is that you feel the highs and lows of the journey as you listen to the album. You simply cannot listen to this album without picking up at least one earworm along the way, again, another gift of the skilled songwriter. I defy anyone to listen to the opening two tracks, the title track, Together or second track, Crazy, and not be singing the chorus after a single listen. Both of these should be serious contenders for track of the year with the latter being a particular favourite of mine. Soaring guitar solos there may not be but that doesn’t mean the album is bereft of catchy guitar hooks, far from it. In true punk style they are there, perfectly formed in length and ferocity. I could gush about this album - on every single

track there is something to like, to love about every one of them….the lovely, lovely bass lines….the endearing harmonies….picture painting lyrics…the wistful way that you get caught up in the moment. With each and every song you feel as though you’re wrapped up in the mood, the content and the vibe of the song. I may have given the impression it is quite a dour album but it’s far from it, it’s uplifting and not without humour, as the penultimate track ‘King L’ will testify. What The Vapors have created here above all else is an album of charm and warmth, an album I keep going back to when I want a change from the heavier rock I usually listen to and it always makes me feel better, instantly. ‘Together’ gives me butterflies and a feeling of instant love and at the moment, with everything that’s going on in the world; we all need some of that. The Vapors – Together is out now via Manmade Soul Catch Steve Beastie on Hard Rock Hell Radio every Tuesday at 3pm for Beastie’s Rock Show

MASTER CHARGER – ORIGIN OF THE LUGUBRIOUS JEZEBEL STEELE My biggest issue with music this year is that I haven’t been able to “feel” the music. That feeling you get when you stand a little too close to the speakers and your whole body can feel the music. Experts would probably say that if you can feel the music you’re too close, and probably recommend that you don’t stand that close as it’s bad for you… but I’m no expert, and anyway that’s how I like to experience music. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I listened to the Master Charger album The Origin of the Lugubrious; I could almost feel it. If I’d closed my eyes for a moment I could almost have been in the audience, enjoying the new offering from Stoned Rocka’s first signings … Master Charger. The album starts with the title track, Origin of the Lugubrious, an instrumental piece that starts with the familiar sound of vinyl crackle … it takes me back to a different time, a time of grotty rock bars and music that made your ears ring, but it prepares me for what’s about to come next. What comes next? Six tracks, all heavy guitars and smashy drums with vocals that get under your skin and make you want to jump into a moshpit (even though you’re sat at your desk and old enough to know better!) If I was pushed into a corner, I’d say my stand out tracks are Embers of the Sun, and Our Time Has Come, but that seems unfair to the other tracks which are really good. When I say that I can hear early Black Sabbath, and Jimi Hendrix, I don’t mean that they sound like those performers, they sound like Master Charger… but for me, they are definitely channelling those greats and delivering a fantastic album too! Catch Jezebel Steele on Hard Rock Hell Radio every Saturday and Sunday at Midday.

Master Charger – Origin of The Lugubrious is out now via Stoned Rocka Recordings

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FREE ENTRY for children under 4 years old

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HOSTED BY

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28th AUGUST 2021

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WORDS: John Ellis

hrh psych For those of you who love to dream – to experiment – and take a journey with an underground style of sound & vision – welcome to the very first HRH Psych. The 17th and 18th April sees a truly unique 2-day, 3-arena trip which will make its debut at the iconic Liverpool Arts Club that has its very own weird history to complement the randomness of this new HRH adventure.

ake the very best of all ends of the psych-rock spectrum, add in some stoner, acid, fuzz and experimental sounds and you have a musical sensation waiting to be unleashed over 3 stages – The Psych Stage, The Stoner Stage and The Garage, Experimental and New Psych Sounds Stage. Immerse yourself for 2 days and witness over 40 bands performing some amazing sounds and experimental journeys that will take any music lover out of their comfort zone. This is for people in the know and those who want to plunge themselves into unchartered musical territory. Originally the meeting place for the Liverpool Royal Institute – the first-ever arts institution outside London – the Liverpool Arts Club was built in the 19th century, and we are humbled to bring some of the greatest talent from around Europe to this incredible venue where they will be trailblazing the way on the inaugural HRH Psych trip… Born in 2009, German 3-piece Electric Moon will headline the Saturday at HRH Psych – having risen to the top of the European acid rock scene with their psychedelic mix of progressive and space rock. 19 albums into their cosmic career, Komet, Sula and Pablo pride themselves on creating a unique symbiosis between the band members, the music and the audience, reaching a timeless state of mind together. Latest release Beacon Light Hereafter (a split release with Terminal Cheesecake) is 21 minutes of awesome heavy psych which furthers their reputation as a leader in their tripped-out genre!

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Taking to the main stage as our Sunday headliner at HRH Psych will be Øresund Space Collective – a truly unique band from Denmark and Sweden who pride themselves on having no songs or pre-constructed rhythms – a purely improvised set of space rock inspired by the likes of Hawkwind, Ozric Tentacles, Gong and many more. We can’t be more psyched about this announcement, as this will only be the second time they have played the UK in a long career covering 10 albums (with another on its way!) in a little over 15 years. The uncompromising London noise rock trio Part Chimp, with nods to boundary pushing artists from the 60s to the present day, will deliver the heaviest of fuzz laden heavy psych rock. They carry the reputation as one of the loudest bands on the scene, but mostly laid dormant after 2009 – finally returning in 2017 with a new album “IV” to critical acclaim – perfectly balancing crushing and intense riffs with undeniable melodies. Leading the way on the Stoner stage are Bristolians Gonga who’s output is a must-own for the discerning stoner-rock connoisseur. The instrumental power-trio have been creating landscapes for our ears for over 15 years, and their favourite colour is black or green, they don’t seem to be able to decide! They did, however, decide to recruit Beth Gibbons of Portishead to record a stunning version of Black Sabbath (which was given the title Black SabBeth…) which is a fan favourite. Newcastle based experimentalists Snakes Don’t Belong In Alaska are notorious throughout the modern psych scene and celebrated

for their style by psych aficionados and critics alike. The band are known to move from deep earthly drones to incredible explosions of intensely experimental sonic traversing as is expertly demonstrated on the recent live release “ทะเลทราย”. Gorilla are an absolute monster of a trio combining the raw power of The Stooges and MC5 with the massive weight of a Sabbath riff; add to that a healthy splash of Kilmister too for the very best doped up filthy rock’n’roll the UK has to offer right now. As they put it themselves, they f**k the safety net and create maximum riff mania… If that wasn’t enough for any psych or stoner fan, we are blown away to be able to announce that spacerock legend Harvey Bainbridge will join us for an intimate solo show on the Experimental Stage. The British bassist and keyboard player played with Sonic Assassins, Hawkwind and Hawklords in a long and still very active career. Also joining us over the weekend will be BB Blackdog and Friends – we can’t confirm just yet who BB’s friends are exactly, but he assures us they are plentiful and legendary! The incredible line-up for the very first HRH Psych is completed by Dead Sea Apes, Helicon, Psychic Lemon, Sendelica, Sonic Trip Project, Thee Telepaths, Red Spektor, Deepshade, DoctoR DooM, Fire Down Below, Gryflet, Psychlona, Madmess, Master Charger, Woven Man, Stew, Amon Acid, Black Tempest, Estuary Blacks, Halo Noose, Infinity Forms Of Yellow Remember, Mue, Road Trip, Stingray Fever, Tom Slatter, Strangelove, Tape Noise, The Ornots and last but certainly not least The Telephones. In true psych festival tradition, we will have some specially commissioned artwork available on the day by Brett Savage of Dead Sea Apes which will be available over the weekend together with some stunning HRH Psych merch too. Todd Severin, President and CEO of Ripple Music (Psychlona, Fire Down Below, Stew, DoctoR DooM) had this to say about the very first HRH Psych: “One thing that makes the whole underground scene so special is the sense of community that knows no national boundaries. This can’t be demonstrated any better than with HRH and Atom Heart Mutha reaching out to bring four bands from four nations, all signed to an American Rock label, to the UK for one massive heavy psych festival. That’s the worldwide community of heavy”. HRH Psych will take place at the legendary Liverpool Arts Club on 17th and 18th April 2021 and is now on sale. Royalty packages have their own class hotel on the doorstep as well as a private booth, bar and balcony in the main arena. This trip is for the “Thousand Only” crew that know what they want and are ready to journey into the unknown and find out what HRH Psych is all about – a dream clad community in their very own utopia. All aboard! Book online @ www.hrhpsych.com or call Charlotte on 0207 193 1865

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WORDS BY JED LEIGH

Enquire Within G

ood afternoon guys, it’s great to speak with you again! The last time we spoke you we about to play HRH Metal IV in Birmingham, how was that experience?

We had a great time at HRH Metal. It was the first time we played a headline gig with our sound engineer Nick Baker. His knowledge and experience helped us enormously during the sound check and the gig. Watching, and meeting, other bands at the Festival also made it a very special weekend. We all saw the world change dramatically not long after that show, how were you plans for the year affected?

We were about to play the London region quarter-finals of Metal 2 The Masses just as lockdown happened. We have ambitions to play at Bloodstock so hopefully we can do this in the future. We were also due to play at SarcomaFest which is a great cause supporting a charity run by our friend Colin Tyler. Hopefully we can play at the festival once it’s safe to play again. Did that change your practices as a band in terms of writing music? Not really, as Dan and Henry write the music separately initially and then collaborate online once an idea of a track has been set out. Jacob adds his lyrics once the track is completed so this process hasn’t changed much. The big difference is we couldn’t practice the new tracks together in the studio! So it must have been a relief to get back into a rehearsal room together? We’ve really enjoyed getting back in rehearsals and must give a shout out to Ani at Banana Road Studios for making his place Covid-19 compliant and safe. We also want to thank Amelia White, the bassist from Inferno Noir, for

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stepping up and helping us as our rhythm guitarist. Also a huge thanks to Erim Ahmet, our record producer, for helping us as our bass guitarist. Amelia and Erim will be playing with us at forthcoming events. Congratulations on signing to Metal Rocka Recordings, clearly exciting times ahead for the band, can you tell us a little about how this came to happen and what the future looks like ? We are delighted to have signed to Metal Rocka Recordings. We were spotted playing at HRH Metal IV and the prefestival launch show at HMV Vault in Birmingham and discussions started with the Head of Label during lockdown. We have signed for two studio albums, the first will be released in 2021 and we’ve already written 8 tracks. We are also recording a live studio version of our debut album Bloodlines in September 2020. The live album will be available to download and buy on the first anniversary of the release of the initial album in October 2020. It’s been a pleasure speaking with you again, good luck with the new material and working with MRR, any last words??! We are planning a UK tour for February to April 2021 so look out for details and come to see us play - we would love to see you there!

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WORDS: ADAM KENNEDY

Zack Anderson from Blues Pills Swedish psychedelic rockers Blues Pills have entered into a new chapter in their history with a revised line-up and a new album to boot. HRH Mag caught up with the band’s current guitarist Zack Anderson to get the lowdown on the changes within the band along with an insight into their new album ‘Holy Moly’. You’ve got a new album coming out, it’s called ‘Holy Moly’ and it’s being released on the 21st of August. I just wondered if you could tell us a little bit about the starting point for that album musically. Did you have a particular concept or idea in mind? I guess not really. Going into it we kind of just had been coming off of quite a long break from touring and just a break from the band in general. And I think it was sometime in 2018 or the beginning of 2019, we just sort of started to meet up again with the goal of writing songs just to get the ball rolling again. We went sort of from zero to a hundred. I guess because we went from having this long break to being in the studio almost every day just to write songs and practice and just sort of start again, because we also had this line-up change. It was me, André and Elin there - just us three. And then we would just go there pretty much every day to write songs. And then we started to record demos of it. So, in the beginning, our goal was just to make demos of the songs. And then we weren’t sure how we wanted to record it, or if we would record with a producer or something. And then that kind of slowly evolved into being the actual album, because at some point in this process, we sort of said to ourselves that it’s already sounding pretty good. But maybe we should just take it one step further and start to put a bit extra effort into it and sort of stop seeing it as a demo and try to make this the album.

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It’s a really weird time for music right now with the pandemic. And I know you’ve already kind of put the album release back once from a bit earlier in the year. Was there ever a thought about maybe pushing it back even further, maybe into next year, because obviously, it’s quite a difficult time right now to be able to tour and promote an album. Or was it just a matter of it’s ready, we’ve got to get it out there? Well, I think that for a while there were no dates even decided, but then I guess that was kind of like a decision more by the label and the management that they just sort of came and said, we think this is a good time to put it out. And we just kind of go along with it because no one knows what’s the best thing to do right now, because it’s such a strange situation. So obviously since the last album, Dorian has left the band and you switched over the guitar. How has that change affected the dynamic of the band would you say? I mean, in one way, I think that it was less of a dramatic change as people might think from the inside perspective of the band. Because me and Elin have always been the songwriters in the band and even going back like on the earliest Blues Pills songs, Dorian wasn’t in the band yet then either. So, in one way, making this album almost felt like we were back at the beginning. That it was sort of like going almost back to the even more original line up. And because of that, it was like, there’s no difference in how we sort of approach

the songwriting. The big difference was just for me. When Dorian was in the band that his role was like, we wrote the songs, but when there was time for a solo, we could just sort of ask him to take it away, you know? And, of course, now it was sort of like, I just had to put some extra effort into practising lead guitar. So that was kind of the main thing. So do you feel happier playing the guitar rather than bass? Where do you feel like you naturally fit? It almost doesn’t sort of strike me that I’ve switched instruments - at least not yet. I don’t know if maybe when we start to play live it will hit me or something. But, since the whole songwriting process has been so similar to how it’s always been, it almost has barely felt like a big change yet. But maybe like when you’re standing there on stage, I’m getting to feel it. But, I don’t know, I can’t say I’m less happy or happier. It’s just sort of like that. I just want to keep doing the best I can and keep the band going and keep writing songs. You were at the studio locked away for almost a year and it was your studio. You didn’t go out and hire a studio, it was your own analogue studio. Did that allow you to kind of really regroup and also the freedom to get things right the way that you wanted them? Yeah, I think that it’s ended up giving the album a bit more of like a live/raw feeling too since we’re sort of recording it in the same way that you would normally record a demo. It felt like a lot less pressure compared to recording in a professional studio. I think no matter what, when you record in that situation, there’s always some sort of pressure because you know that it’s costing a lot of money and, you know you don’t have forever to do takes or whatever. So even in the times where there was plenty of time in there, there should be no pressure in a pro studio. Then there’s still always some sort of pressure more than when you’re just like recording yourself. So I think it affected the outcome.

The first two albums were like pure analogue, but this album was like the first time we did like a hybrid approach in some way. I guess because the album was like mixed by Andrew Scheps. And so, he mixes in the box and everything. So basically even if we wanted to do it all analogue, I don’t care actually, like at this point it’s not like anti-digital at all or anything, but either way eventually we were going to have to go into the computer because we would need to send him all the tracks to mix. And so, I mean it’s a lot of analogue gear used on the album, but it is like in the end it’s mixed on the computer. You were instrumental in the recording of this album. I know you had some friends from The Hives getting involved as well. Is that a role that you relished - taking a bit more lead on the technical and recording side of things? I mean, I liked it, but I think next time I like wouldn’t want to do it the same. Because as I said when we started that it wasn’t like the plan from the beginning, but it just happened that way. But next time we record an album, I would like to be able to just only focus on the music. But I think next time I will try to at least like to hire sound engineers or something. So apart from the album moving dates, how much has the current pandemic altered the rest of your plans for this year? A lot of touring was already booked, so it sort of turned all of that upside down. And so, I mean, that’s the main thing is that normally we would have been on tour all year long and now we’re just stuck at home. How much are you guys looking forward to plugging back in and getting back out on the road? Of course, I think we’re all excited for that. It’s one of those things where like, at the moment we have no idea when it’s happening. So it’s sort of a bit hard to get excited about it just right at this moment. But I think when we know when it’s going to be happening, then we’re going to get sort of pumped again and start to practice a lot again and get geared up to play shows.

In terms of the recording process for ‘Holy Moly’, how did it differ to that of ‘Lady In Gold - did you go analogue with the last album or was this like a kind of new approach?

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A T O M H E A R T M U T HA R E C OM M E N D S

The heavy underground is a vast and ever-expanding place, we live in an era where music is readily available and relatively easy to come across. Each week for ‘Atom Heart Mutha’ I listen to show submissions as well as look further out to see what great music is out there. Here are some recommendations of albums I think are well worth seeking out and discovering, you can find these artists on Bandcamp and social media as well as hear them on Atom Heart Mutha’s Radio Show every Friday at 1pm on Hard Rock Hell Radio.

Psychlona - Venus Skytrip (Cursed Tongue Records, Ripple Music) Bradford’s Psychlona continues to be one of the leading lights in the UK Stoner Scene, the band are well known for their hypnotic doom groove live sets as well as 2018’s debut LP ‘’Mojo Rising” which was met with great acclaim. The four-piece take everything brilliant about their debut and amplify it, moving from trippy stoner to bone-crushing riffs effortlessly. So much has been musically focussed and developed here that you can see the band want you to know they’re a force to be reckoned with. Opening track and the first single release ‘Blast Off’ showcases a heavier psychedelic edge bordering on the finest space rock, ‘Edge Of The Universe’ and ‘Resin’ offer a familiar yet more refined take on previous sounds, but it’s the magnificent closer ‘The Owl” that cements the notion in your brain that you’ve just heard one of the best albums of the year so far.

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AT OM H E A RT M U T HA R E C OM M E N D S

Lowrider - Refractions (Blues Funeral)

Ellis Munk Ensemble - San Diego Sessions (El Paraiso Records)

Stoner rockers have a reputation for taking their time, lord knows why! So it may come as no surprise that it’s taken 20 years or so for Swedish desert/stoner rock outfit Lowrider to follow up their brilliant and highly celebrated album ‘Ode To Lo’. What may surprise is that it doesn’t sound or feel like they ever went away; reassuringly from the moment ‘Red River’ begins with a riff that was written 20 years ago. ‘Refractions’ is immediately familiar but most definitely freshly baked. The riffs are magnificent and there’s plenty of fuzzy grooves on offer, fans of OTL will be relieved that band have now delivered a record that’s true to their past but also provides something cool for today. Lowrider has once more proven to be one of the most important bands within the scene they are quite rightly revered in. The race for album of the year continues, and it’s an extremely closely run race with “Refractions” now one of the front runners.

El Paraiso Record’s Jonas Munk and San Diego’s Brian Ellis come together for an incredible collaboration of vintage sounds and styles. The San Diego Sessions forges Ellis’s progressive and jazz-inflected leanings with Munk’s psychedelic space rock creativity familiar to fans of his band Causa Sui to create an incredible album of warm Californian sound. The duo is joined by an impressive array of musicians from the area, including members of Astra, Psicomagia, Monarch, Birth, Radio Moscow, Joy and Sacri Monti with wonderful cover artwork by the legendary local artist Alan Forbes. Those familiar with the duo’s body of work will be at home with the improvised manner in which the album is recorded and arranged, and like with past projects this release rewards with repeated listens. The San Diego Sessions is essential listening from a record label that consistently delivers beautifully inventive and emotive music.

Black Rainbows - Cosmic Ritual Supertrip (Heavy Psych Sounds)

Permanent Clear Light - Cosmic Comics (Sulatron Records)

Gabriele Fiori’s 70s-fuelled fuzzed-up trio return with another batch of freshly baked hard rocking tracks. CRS finds the band on superb form over 12 new tracks as the sound once more builds upon an already impressive body of work and takes things to the next level. Black Rainbows releases are always direct and lean affairs (all killer no filler!) and despite a line-up change here and there, the band show no sign of slowing down. As the album draws to its conclusion there’s a subtle change of style on ‘Searching For Satellites Parts I & II’, those familiar with Fiori’s career will no doubt welcome the track as a bridge to his acoustic band/project ‘The Pilgrim’. As soon as you drop the needle and the first track ‘At Midnight You Cry’ kicks in, you’ll know you’re listening to something special.

‘Cosmic Comics’ by Finnish psych-rockers Permanent Clear Light offers brilliantly crafted fuzzy psychedelic pop music and unashamedly wears the influences of the late 1960s on its sleeve. The song-writing is beautifully realised within its melodies, vintage organs and Mellotron harmonies over its 44-minute long runtime. Whilst the influences range from mid-career Beatles tracks, The Byrds and some nods towards early Pink Floyd and even The Kinks (Peasants and Peons), there’s no doubt that this is a modern recording crafted lovingly to represent something of the past in a very contemporary way. PCL manage to achieve the often impossible task of making an album respectful to the sounds of another time and making it sound very much for today.

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Words Jed Leigh Photos Matty Keefe

Oxfordshire based three-piece Molly Karloff are fast building a reputation as one of the best groove rock and metal bands on the circuit. HRH Mag caught up with the lads this summer. Good afternoon! Where do we find Molly Karloff today? (Physically and/or mentally!!) Hmm, Molly is getting cabin fever and itching to get on a stage somewhere. Those online things just don’t cut it, do they? Physically, we’re all f***ing amazing (of course); Dan likes to look cool as f***, and Jowie is making sure his hair is the same shade of blue as his muff. We know he has a blue muff, because Jon Holmes at BBC Radio Kent officials confirmed it, so it’s now a verifiable fact that should go on the Wikipedia page (when we’re deemed ’special’ enough to have one)! Haha! You’re described as an alt grunge rock band – does that label work for you guys?

Hmm, that’s a difficult one for me. I honestly don’t think I could name just one big influence! Pretty much everything I listen to influences me, and it’s constantly evolving. I can tell you what I listened to in the past, which all started with a friend playing Van Halen’s first album to me, that started me down the rabbit hole of pretty much every guitar-based band going. I’ve listened to everything from Chris Isaak, Duran Duran through to Sepultura, Slayer and everything in-between. I get bored of the same thing pretty quickly, so I’m always moving onto something different. From a writing perspective, I like a good hooky riff, something that sticks in your head (mainly because it was originally in my head at one point) and with a vocal melody and chorus that does the same.

Labels are shit aren’t they? That whole ‘who do you sound like’ bollocks kind of annoys me; it assumes that nobody can break out of their box and everything has to be in its place. I hate that kind of shit. I guess we got the ‘label’ because that’s closest thing that anyone could come up with?

Chances are, if you think there’s an influence in some song somewhere, you’re probably right! Haha!

When we were starting out, we sent some recordings around our close friends and family asking them to describe what sort of sound they thought we had. We asked them to list up to three other famous (or not so famous) bands that they thought we sounded like, and the hope was we’d get some kind of consensus from everyone. We were expecting some common names to keep cropping up, which would give us something to work with on the band bio for when promoters ask you the same ‘who do you sound like’ question. Problem was, that the band names that came back in our little ‘poll’ were all different and there wasn’t any ‘consensus’ in there. I say ‘problem’ in that describing to a promoter or booking agent what we’re about, when they can’t be arsed to come and see us play, is difficult, but on the other hand it made us suspect that maybe we had our own unique sound.

It’s been a weird time to be in a band, were there any benefits to being forced into a lockdown situation? Perhaps you got some new material nailed down?

The ‘unique’ sound, a word I’ll use advisedly because nothing is ever truly ‘unique’, turned out to be something that quite a lot of other people heard, and cropped up in reviews in the press etc. so not being able to quite pigeon hole us, turns out to be a good thing, and it kicks against that whole ‘label’ thing. The music that pops into your head is what gets written... Who are your biggest influences collectively as a band, and also individually? Anything that might surprise us?

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Not sure if that would surprise anyone though? Haha!

It’s always weird being in a band! Haha! Not really any benefits to be honest. I think we work best as a unit in the rehearsal room, so lockdown didn’t help that. From a new material point of view, we’ve got a shit ton of new stuff to work on as it is, but yeah, that backlog was added to a bit more! Haha! We tried doing that whole ‘lockdown video’ thing, but it’s actually a major hassle just editing the thing afterwards. Probably should’ve just done a live stream and played any old bollocks, but maybe people don’t wanna see that? I dunno, quite a lot has been delayed for us, which is the same for all bands, and you kind of feel like you’re sitting around just waiting for things to get going again. Looks like it’s gonna be a long wait before ’normal’ returns… Dancing for Money was extremely well received, how did you approach building momentum towards this year’s Supernaturalation? With a lot of hype! Haha!

We decided to do things ‘properly’ rather than just kind of throwing some music out there into the public domain and hoping something sticks. The reception of the first EP did kind of make us wonder what could’ve happened if we’d made a proper song and dance about it, kind of promoted it properly, you know? So with the follow-up we decided to do exactly that. Make as much noise as we could and actually build up towards the launch.

We’d planned all the way into 2021 with the release of our debut album and lots of stuff beyond. I guess we’re going to have to grasp the nettle and jump on the live streaming band-wagon. It means people can see us play, but it’s a bit of a downer not to have the audience there in front of you. There’s no interaction. It’s just the band and some cameras in a room, which is fine for a video shoot, but it sucks the life out of a live show.

We launched our first single, ’She Said’ which we never did with the first EP, and there’s another single and video to come. I guess, with the whole lockdown thing, we haven’t actually finished building that momentum, which carries on after launch. Covid kind of took the wind out of the whole process…

The audience are an integral part of any live show, so the sooner live shows get back to how they were the better. Maybe all bands should move to New Zealand? Haha!

How do you approach the creative process as a band when it comes to songwriting? I bring my little offerings into rehearsal, and Jowie and Dan decide if they’re shit or not! That’s actually not far off what actually happens! Most songs pop into my head at various inconvenient times throughout the day (usually in the shower in the morning) and I’m then running around the house trying to find my phone to record what’s in my head on the guitar or even just hum it into the phone if there’s no guitar to hand. We also have this ‘would you buy it’ rule, where a song only stays if we’d buy it ourselves. The idea is to listen to a rough recording of it the next day, and pretend that you’d heard it on the radio or somewhere. If you heard it from another band, would you ‘buy’ it. If we don’t unanimously agree, it gets thrown away, or maybe just the good parts kept or rewritten or whatever. We hope that it works. I mean, who wants to hear ‘filler’ songs on a an album or EP? F*** that! You guys were on tour, supported by the likes of Black Tree Vultures just as Covid-19 was biting – did you manage to complete your run of dates – and do you have plans to tour in 2021? Nope! I think we only did 2 or 3 dates and that was it. Shitty timing to be honest! We do plan to actually do the tour we originally planned, including the second tour to cover parts of the UK that weren’t on the first list of dates. When that will happen is anyone’s guess at this point, especially with further lockdowns being put in place as Covid spikes happen. The whole Covid thing is literally fucking the whole music industry, especially the grass-roots and I think something needs to be done to properly protect the venues, but also ensure that it can come back with a bang and actually prosper. The likes of Spotify and others need to look at how much they make from artists and whether that’s a fair reflection of their worth. Lots of things need to change in my opinion, and not just because of this pandemic, things have needed to change for a long time, and the corporate profiteering curtailed so that the people that are actually doing the work get what’s fair. Rant over! Haha! It’s hard right now to look at what the future of live shows will look like, how far ahead had you planned and are there creative solutions to make sure your audience still have the ability to see you?

Something will happen soon, but with typically cryptic evasiveness, I’m going to have to tell you that I’d have to kill you if I told you! Ha! Seriously, we’re just getting back to rehearsing again, so we’re looking at a proper ‘live’ show pretty soon… Oxford has some very famous musical sons, how is the music scene there currently? Currently it’s a very socially distanced scene! Haha! Like a lot of scenes, it not quite as vibrant as it once was I guess. There aren’t as many live venues as there once were, which gives some indication. I think that’s true right across the country though. We’re hoping to continue that ‘famous sons’ tradition though, if we possible can and pandemic permitting! Are there any bands you’ve come across recently that we should be checking out? Haven’t come across any bands since March I don’t think! Not sure why! Haha! You should check out all the bands that were going to be on our tour of course! Black Tree Vultures, are top blokes! Ryders Creed also kicked arse when we played with them! We also played with this really cool duo called Whiskey Stain down in London a while back. I think they’re from Nottingham? I should also plug a band that I know many won’t have heard of called Rufus Goodlove. They can only really be found playing the odd live show around Oxfordshire, but remember the name; they’ve got some awesome material! Are you looking forward to playing HRH ABC this November? Of course! Duh! We’re also looking forward to the AOR one too! We’ve got our fingers and toes crossed that there’s no more lockdown shit to fuck it up, and that virus gives it a rest. Any virus whisperers need to have a word! Thanks for speaking with me today, any final words? The real enemy arrives in a Limo not a dingy! Unless it’s Molly Karloff arriving in a limo, unless you hate us, then the previous still applies! Haha!

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Fireworks Magazine

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E L C R I C K R DA

Ceri Davies

Q) Introduce yourself Ceri... What’s your name and where do you come from? A) Ceri Davies - Originally from Stereophonic Land (Cwmaman), I now live in Llantrisant. Q) Tell the HRH Mag readers about you! A) Not used to talking about myself, but I grew up in the South Wales valleys in the ‘70s through to the ‘90s until I got married and moved out of the valleys down to Llantrisant. Had a brain haemorrhage in 2000, which should explain why I’m a bit “Headshot”. I also played a bit of golf in my spare time, which lead me to become the Captain of Bryn Meadows Golf Club in 2005. Yeah, told you I was a bit “Headshot”. Q) Where did the love of rock music begin for you? A) My first influence in my teens was punk rock, listening to the likes of UK Subs, Angelic Upstarts, The Damned, The Exploited & obviously the Sex Pistols. With a combination of being too young and my mates being into Deep Purple etc, I didn’t get a chance to see any punk gigs back then. I would be the one bopping around the room on my own to the punk tracks at my local disco. The first gig I can remember going to was back in 1983, with Kiss, Helix & Heavy Pettin at Bingley Hall on the Lick It Up Tour. A gang of us got together after that and travelled to London, Birmingham, Milton Keynes, Edinburgh etc to see the various big bands of the day, Motley Crue, Guns N’ Roses, Metallica etc. We also used to go to Monsters Of Rock Festival, starting with two 52 seaters travelling from Penrhiwceiber to Donington, and over the years people fell away, so we ended up taking a minibus full until they ended the event. Never been to Download, far too big an event for my liking. Q) And your favourite genre of rock? What or who blows you away on stage? A) Can’t really answer that, as I like all types of music. I tend to like the bands that nobody else is taking any notice of, I’m a bit strange in my tastes. I love a bit of Toyah & always enjoy Massive Wagons, Skindred, Sepultura, Therapy?, Breed 77 (sadly no longer going). Love a bit of punk from the lads from Jarrow called Crashed Out. South Wales is a hotbed of talent at the moment, two bands that have played for us in the past and are now getting the recognition they deserve are Florence Black & Those Damn Crows. Q) Ceri, you are a promoter yourself, have your radio show and have arranged and booked many successful festivals, with more to come. How and when did you start working in the industry? A) How I became a promoter? Good question. Back in 2014, I decided to put a gig on for my birthday at Fuel Rock Club in Cardiff. Having known the lads from Fahran for a number of years, I asked them if they would be up for playing for me. Also on the line-up was supposed to be Death Valley Knights, who sadly had to drop out - this is where it starts to get expensive. DVK told me at Hammerfest that they could no longer play the event in Cardiff. After a day of drinking Jager in Pwllheli and after seeing a band on the main stage I’d seen at HRH many times, I decided to ask Attica Rage to come down and join the party in Cardiff. Which I’m glad to say they agreed, even though they probably couldn’t understand what I was saying at the time. I’ve also been lucky to have Massive Wagons & Those Damn Crows play at my birthday events after that. This was also the start of my short radio career, as I joined The Rock & Roll Circus Radio Show in 2014 and my first interview was with Attica Rage ahead of the Cardiff gig.

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WORDS BY VIKI RIDLEY

That year, we starting putting on gigs on a regular basis under the name The Rock & Roll Circus Events. We’ve had the honour of some great bands come to play for us over the last few years, including Massive Wagons, Those Damn Crows, Florence Black, Fireroad, Stone Broken, all going on to bigger and better things. We’ve managed to raise over £10,000.00 for local charities and we aim to raise more much needed funds for Cancer Care and Dementia in 2020. We have been lucky to have some great bands play for us over the years and I would like to take this chance to thank them all for coming to our small part of the world to play for us. Just goes to show the calibre of band that come to play for us - I counted 13 of them at last year’s HRH Event in Great Yarmouth. Q) What year did you lose your Hard Rock Hell Festival virginity? Tell us all about your first time. A) My first taste of Hard Rock Hell was in that 5* complex in Prestatyn at HRH III in 2009. Q) You are a Centurion for HRH South Wales, how did this come about and what are your experiences with the Highway To Hell process? Can you give the readers an overview of what this all means! A)My first Highway to Hell was in Glasgow in 2013 when The Screaming Eagles won. That year Jess was running the South Wales Chapter. The year after I took over as Centurion for South Wales. In that year we managed to get four bands into the final in Glasgow, with The Texas Flood winning to competition plus another South Wales band, The Eighth Bridge managed to win a place at Hammerfest. Since then I’ve managed to get 16 bands through to the finals in Glasgow & Sheffield. I love being involved in H2H, as this event helps bands get heard by a wider audience than they would normally reach. Q) What it is about HRH that makes you want to keep coming back? A) What I love about the HRH Events, is getting to meet folk that I wouldn’t normally see. Who are as passionate about the music as I am, some just like the booze, but I like that too! Q) To date, who has been your favourite artist to appear at HRH? Or your favourite event line up? A) That’s a hard one to answer, there’s been so many great performances in over 10 years or so that I’ve been going to HRH Events in Prestatyn, Pwllheli, Glasgow, Sheffield & Birmingham. I think my favourite bits have been working with Crowsaw, Kikamora & The Eighth Bridge after getting them slots at HRH and Hammerfest. Also I’ve loved being in the press area chatting to the bands before and after the shows. Favourite moments that I can remember were speaking to Andreas Kisser & Derrick Green from Sepultura, Roxy Petrucci from Vixen and talking to Those Damn Crows about why they didn’t like crows in Bridgend :-) Q) What does HRH and being part of DC mean to you Ceri? A) HRH has been our main holiday for the past ten years, as this has been one of the only events my stepson, who is in a wheelchair, has been able to attend. As for the DC, I’m not allowed to say :-)

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