Firebrand's Rock & Metal Express Issue 4

RINGSIDE ROULETTE - Taryn Terrell Firebrand Rock & Metal Express

Deep Purple Maleficence

Corvus Magnum

Asia Nashville Pussy Zebrahead Nordic Giants TEN Freedom Call Issue 4 - Price = Free

Page 42

Magnum Corvus

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Page 10

Europe

Page 20

FM

Page 32

UFO

Page 08

TEN Freedom Call

Page 44

Page 45

Page 46

Seasick Steve

Page 04

News

Worldview

Page 38

Top 5 Videos

Deep Purple

Page 39

Top 5 Covers

Asia

Page 54

Games Dungeon

The Crunch

Page 60

Gig Listing

Page 12

House Of Lords Page 47

Unleashed Gothic Fate

Page 48

Birdpen

Taryn

Dendera Page 49

Nashville Pussy

Terrell

Captain Horizon Page 50

Palace Of The King

Page 51

Zebrahead

Page 52

Nordic Giants

Page 53

Satyricon

Page 34 2

Doris Brendel & Lee Dunham

Page 16

Page 26

Page 22

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Editor In Chief Rick Palin Magazine Editor Lee Walker Senior Media Consultant Rachel Whiston Contributing Writers Reg Richardson Rick Palin Download Contents Team Judith Fisher Rick Palin Reviewers Aaron Price Graham Pritchard Gavin Griffiths Joey Lowebins Phil Kane Rob Birtley Stephen Brophy

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Seattle Thrashers Fallen Angels Reveal New Album Details, Artwork, Track Listing

B4BQ launch pre-party will now feature the entire lineup of the hard hitting Summer Slaughter Tour, who will join metal heavy Seattle, WA thrashers Fallen weights Fear Factory and the Angels return in 2015 with their highly awaited return of Coal third studio release 'World In Chamber!

Decay' produced by Grammy That's right, Gwar-B-Q has award winning metal producer/ grown to include three stages of engineer Michael brutal music! Clutch will join the Rosen (Forbidden, Testament, Death Angel, Flotsam and Jetsam, already stellar lineup of bands set to rock the Slaughterama Stage Tesla, Vicious Rumors). The album is set to be released on August 4, with the heaviest grooves on the planet.

2015 via their indie label Cyberdyne Records to follow 2010's 'Engines of Oppression' SPV/Steamhammer Signs and 2008 debut 'Rise From Hammercult - New Album Due In Ashes' released on Metal On August Metal Records. The band also Neo-Thrashers Hammercult from plans to tour extensively Israel have signed a new record this summer, bringing their deal with German based label explosive live show full of thrash and shred, which they are known SPV/Steamhammer. The first for as a local favorite in the Pacific release will be the new album "Built For War".

Northwest.

Bandleader and singer Yakir "We want to thank everyone Shochat says about the deal: "This who has supported us, and we October will mark 5 years from hope you're as excited as we are about the release of our upcoming the day we stepped into the album "World in Decay". We know room for the first time and you've been waiting a long time for Hammercult were born. It's been a this third release and we can't wait hell of a ride - with 5 full European tours supporting legendary bands for you to hear it. We hope this album will quench your thirst who we grew up listening to for new Fallen Angels music. See (Sepultura, DRI, Napalm Death etc...), around 150 live shows in you on the road thrash fans!" over 20 countries, countless comments drummer Steve festivals, 2 killer extreme metal Spitzbart. albums - and the best is still yet to come! We are proud to join the Gwar-B-Q Comes Through in the SPV/Steamhammer family, one of Clutch With New Co-Headliner the biggest international metal Added - B4BQ Lineup and VIP labels, with it's own glory history.

I'm positive that with SPV/ Ticket Details Announced Steamhammer behind us, new Gwar has just added Clutch as a goals will be achieved and co-headliner to this year's Gwar B-Q! And as if that weren't enough Hammercult's extreme metal will spread stronger than ever!" to melt your pathetic mind, the

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Steamhammer A&R Representative Olly Hahn ads: " Hammercult is one of these bands who are willing to have success.

They are more than 100% into the metal genre and can`t wait to play another show or festival. The new album will be a surprise and I´m sure that we both have a great future in front of us!"

The new album was mixed and mastered by Tue Madsen (Moonspell, The Haunted, Dark Tranquility) and is currently scheduled for a worldwide (ex Japan) release on August 28th as a digipak version, LP version and digital download.

Jizzy Pearl Love/Hate Blackout In The Red Room 25th Annivesary UK Tour.

In 1990 Columbia records released the debut album by Love/Hate 'Blackout In The Red Room' and although singer Jizzy Pearl has stayed busy touring and making albums with such platinum artists as L.A. Guns, RATT and most recently Quiet Riot - 'Blackout in the Red Room' was the starting point, the beginning, the bar to which all else has been measured.

This record - voted “Album Of The Year” by Kerrang! and Metal Hammer magazines - would not have been possible but for the exceptional loyalty of the band’s UK fans, they were there when the world was young and they are still there 25 years later.

Now it’s 2015 and once again Jizzy Pearl returns to the UK for 5 exclusive concerts, this time celebrating 25 years of Love/Hate music by playing the Blackout in the Red Room album in its entirety, with other Love/Hate fan favourites, along with a select

group of top notch musicians.

Avant-Garde Rockers Virus Sign With Karisma Records Norwegian Avant-garde rockers Virus have signed a deal with Karisma Records that will see the label release the band's fourth full-length album. Alongside a recent busy touring schedule, VirIus have been writing and honing material for the new album which will be titled "Memento Collider", and the band is currently at work on it in studio. "Memento Collider" is scheduled for release this winter, and more details will follow.

Virus was formed in 2000 from the ashes of 90's avant-garde black metal project Ved Buens Ende by Carl "Czral" Michael Eide with the idea of creating a new kind of experimental metal / rock. With Czral on guitars and vocals, he brought with him bassist Petter "Plenum" Berntsen and drummer Einar "Einz" Sjursø and the band recorded their only demo that same year.

Having been picked up almost immediately by Jester Records, Virus released their debut album "Carheart" in 2003, but Czral's accident in 2005, which hospitalized him for a year, resulted in the band going on hiatus until the release of their sophomore album "The Black Flux" on Season of Mist in 2008. An album, incidentally, that earned them the title of "Album of the Year" in several publications, as did 2011's follow up album "The Agent That Shapes The Desert", which was released on the band's own label Virulent Music.

VIRUS' long awaited live debut came in 2011, and aside from club appearances and tours in both Europe and the USA since then, the band has appeared at a variety of prestigious festivals.

More information about Virus can be found on their website at http://virusnorway.com/ or on Facebook at https:// www.facebook.com/

virusnorwayofficial

released July 17th worldwide. The album is available for pre-order from the Napalm Records Degreed 'Dead But Not Forgotten' Webstore HERE. Video Sampler Posted Today the sensational track “Armata Strigoi“ celebrates its Swedish hard rockers lyric video premiere!

Degreed released a brand new Powerwolf states: video sampler, with tracks out of the forthcoming album “Dead But "Armata Strigoi is one of the songs Not Forgotten“. The video can be on Blessed & Possessed that have this forceful ahead approach while viewed below. maintaining that very unique Powerwolf atmosphere to me.

Lyrically the song is about the creature referred to as "Strigoi" in eastern european mythology, a creature that might be considered the prototype of what became the vampire, though originally rather conneted to spiritual roots. We The band’s third album, “Dead But love to research how mythology Not Forgotten” is scheduled for an evolves and develops, stuff like that is our fuel for lyrics." release on June 19 via Sun Hill Come & celebrate the Production. It’s heavier, softer, special and exclusive lyric video darker, brighter and everything in premiere for “Armata Strigoi“ between! This is something truly special. So…fasten your seat belts here!

The wolves are set to hit the cause Heaven & Hell are about to road appearing at numerous collide! summer festivals and headline Robin stated: “We’ve been shows on their upcoming writing songs for this album on “Wolfsnächte-Tour 2015”! and off since the release of “We Don’t Belong” in 2013. I think we Make sure to get your tickets fast & be part of one of the most had 16-17 songs that we chose from, and recorded14. The funny extensive Powerwolf shows of the thing is that we ended up putting year! all 14 songs on the album because they’re all so freakin’ Nervosa Announce First Uk good! This album is different from Headline Tour & Live Stream Of the previous two because we Upcoming Brasilian Show! produced it ourselves this time, and Mats engineered, mixed and Nervosa, have taken the scene by mastered it. Someone once said that we don’t sound like any other storm! Since the release of their band. He described our sound as critically acclaimed debut Victim Of the “degreed sound“, and if there’s Yourself (Napalm Records), these three girls have pushed the pedal such a sound, this is it! This to the metal! They offer the is degreed all the way…” listener high-speed riffs, furious drumming and raging leads from bassist Fernanda Lira!

Powerwolf Celebrate Exclusive The all-female Thrash Metal Lyric Video Premier Of Track combo from Sao Paolo, Brazil have “Armata Strigoi” just announced their first headline Following their critically acclaimed tour of the UK, which kicks off in chart topping album Preachers of Glasgow on August 15, 2015. the Night, Powerwolf are back and Fernanda Lira comments: ready to enthrall with their new "We're so excited to be on the masterpiece Blessed & road for the first time touring Possessed. The album will be Europe! In my opinion, metal was

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born in the UK, so playing on the same ground where the first metal riffs were created it's both an honor and a privilege!!"

On June 7th, Nervosa hits the stage to play their last gig in São Paulo and one of their last in Brazil before their intensive European tour. 'Live Stream Metal Fest', will feature the veteran Brazilian band Torture Squad headlining the night and the event will be streamed worldwide through the site https:// netshow.me/. Central Europe - 10 pm / Central North America 3pm / Japan - 5 am.

Fernanda Lira states: "The idea is to enable our fans who are not in São Paulo to join us in this great moment of celebration before our tour! Besides that, for who is in Europe, it will be an appetizer for what we plan to present in our shows there!

Summing it up, we want everyone to feel in our gig, no matter where in the world they are!"

The New Roses Live At Uefa Champions League Festival 2015!

Everything is running smoothly for the gentlemen of The New Roses.

Their international record deal is signed and The New Roses have been touring Germany, Switzerland, France and Spain very successfully since the end of March, and now the charismatic rock stars from Wiesbaden are announcing another highlight.

On June 6, 2015, Europe's largest soccer event will take place at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin - the UEFA Champions League Final. The New Roses have been invited by the UEFA to perform live at the UEFA Champions League Festival, which will be held from June 4th – June 6th at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

The New Roses will be rocking the fan mile on June 6, 2015, at the Brandenburg Gate on the day of the final match, at 5 pm just 4 hours before the match

starts.

Singer Timmy Rough: “The New Roses” are proud to participate in this mega-event and guarantee a top-class rock performance the soccer fans!“

Alestorm and Sabaton to co-headline UK and Ireland tour!

Alestorm are teaming up with Sabaton for an 11 date UK and Irish jaunt which kicks off in Norwich on February 28, 2016.

Alestorm’s Christopher Bowes comments: "Ahoy! What's more awesome than a pirate driving a tank? NOTHING, that's what. And that's why this tour is gonna be so cool. It's been 5 long years since we toured with Sabaton in the UK, and this time it's going to be even bigger and better, with both bands playing a full headliner set. Get a ticket, come rock out at the show and remember to tip your bartender!”

And Pär from Sabaton adds: "We felt that last UK tour was not enough and since then we have been thinking of what we can do and talking to our friends in Alestorm we came up with the idea of this tour. When we hit UK both bands will play a full set! And its in good venues where we can bring more of our stage set then we could in the past. This will be awesome!”

The two bands will be joined

by Bloodbound for the tour.

Alestorm released their highly acclaimed album ‘Sunset On A Golden Age’ on Napalm Records last year and have spent a year already on the high seas touring worldwide. Check out the video for “Drink” here!

Battlecross announce "Rise to Power" and launch brand new song!

Tours with Crowbar and Gwar confirmed Motor City thrashers Battlecross have just returned home from a successful trip to

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Bogota, CO, and nearly immediately upon returning, have launched a brand new song from their forthcoming album, "Rise to Power"! The new song, "Not Your Slave", is streaming at metalblade.com/battlecross, where pre -order bundles are also available.

"Rise to Power" will be released worldwide on Metal Blade Records on August 21st, 2015. The record was produced by Jason Suecof, and mixed/mastered by Mark Lewis at Audiohammer Studios.

Cover art was completed by Hungarian artist Péter Sallai (Sabaton, Sacred Steel).

Guitarist Tony Asta offers the following comment on the new single, "Not Your Slave": "We're really happy with the crushing feel of this song. Somehow through the writing process, maybe even on accident, a more groovy feel was created. We won't write the same record twice and I think this is our strongest and more dynamic album yet."

As previously announced, Battlecross will join Crowbar and Lord Dying on The Summer of Doom Tour, with the devastation beginning May 28th and ending July 3rd in Crowbar's home state of Louisiana. On tour, fans can pre-order "Rise to Power" at the Battlecross merch booth in the form of a limited edition tour laminate, only available at the merch booth. Each laminate will include a code, redeemable online, for a copy of the album!

The Summer of Doom is the first tour for Battlecross since finishing the production for "Rise to Power", their third Metal Blade release. The tour also puts an end to the band's search for a permanent drummer, with bay area's Alex Bent now firmly in place behind the kit. After performing with the band on two 2014 headliners and in South America, Alex officially joined and tracked drums for the new album.

Battlecross will also appear at the 2015 Heavy MTL in Montreal on August 8th. Summer of Doom Tickets are on sale now.

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BONZ Interviewed by Lee Walker As a musician a lot of people know after this (if memory serves me it you for your work with Stuck Mojo was just after ‘HVY1’). What and as someone who was there back in the day I remember when ‘Pigwalk’ came out. It brought a lot of attention to the bands way.

Prior to this release you guys seemed to struggle to achieve the commercial recognition and mainstream acceptance that you should have had especially with the melting pot that was going on with the rock and metal scene back then. How hard was it to get that breakthrough?

It was a tough being a minority with a minority sound. Our sound was not traditional “metal”.

You surprised a lot of people by calling it a day relatively soon

prompted the decision to disband?

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We couldn’t agree to disagree anymore.

Was it a decision that you regretted doing?

Hmmmm. No What did you get up to after Stuck Mojo disbanded?

Raise my kids This year you seem to be being kept busy between the release of the debut album by BONZ, as well as being involved with the Stuck Mojo reunion. yes it has been.

In terms of BONZ as a band. How did the line-up come together?

Curt and I decided to do a band together, and everything else just fell into place as it should.

it was tough being a minority with a minority sound ‘Broken Silence’ has been out for a while now. Have you been happy with the feedback that you have had from it?

Yes, both the negative and positive.

wonderful. It’s a blessing to have readers about the people want to hear it. Thank you. album?

Unfortunately I don’t have much Recently I have been seeing a lot info for you right now. of good feedback from the ‘Rockin The Valley’ event . How is the Stuck What do you have planned for the Mojo reunion going? rest of 2015?

How do you compare the album to It was great. Thanks for asking.

Touring behind Broken the likes of ‘Snappin Necks’, Silence, writing and recording ne ‘Pigwalk’ etc?

I believe that there is a new Stuck BONZ and Mojo records. That No real comparison. To recreate Mojo album in the works. Is there ought to keep me pretty busy. the genre I helped create is anything you can tell the Firebrand

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Support from - Black Star Riders and The Amorettes bands' new album, Game On, due for release on March 23rd and they kicked off with 'Fire at Will' quickly followed by 'Get What's Comin' with the guitar and vocals of Gill Montgomery leading the way. The vocal strength again shows through as the girls took 'The Bull by the Horns' and 'Give 'em Hell' and launched them at the crowd whose appreciation was evident.

Next came what was probably my favourite song from the band, 'Son of a Gun' with its driving guitar and bass.

With 'Shoot from the Hip' and 'Hot and Heavy' ending the set I The night gets underway with the reckon the band had a huge all-girl trio from Scotland, The number of new fans to take into Amorettes. The first time I saw account following this these I was impressed by their performance which was energy and musicality, tonight was outstanding. The band have been no different. The band weren't described as being like 'Airbourne phased by the crowd, providing fronted by Joan Jett' and that's song after song of hard-hitting not a bad description of the sound. heavy rock music. All the songs The talent is there and they need tonight were taken from the more shows like this one to show

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just what they can do. A cracking set. Black Star Riders next.

Ricky Warwick and co have had the luxury of the Thin Lizzy legacy to establish themselves but the band admit it's time to break away from the Thin Lizzy chains and develop their own unique soundscape. This tour coincided with the release of their new double album The Killer Instinct; will the band break the mould?

The set was a mix of new material, older material and anthemic, mostly Thin Lizzy, 'covers'. New material from the album, released last month by Nuclear Blast, included 'Soldierstown', 'Through the Motions', 'Finest Hour' and the title track 'Killer Instinct' and while the style seemed to be evolving the Thin Lizzy connection was all too apparent. That's not necessarily a bad thing, that legacy does not need to go away altogether, but I'm not certain the band will ever get its own 'sound'. Having said that there can be few complaints

about the abilities of the entire Black Star Riders lineup as each and every song was played with the utmost passion and skill. Every cover song was sung by the packed crowd as were many of the new songs despite the album only being released a few weeks ago.

Ricky Warwick, alongside old hand Scott Gorham, led the way supported by the talented Damon Johnson, Robbie Crane and Jimmy DeGrasso. The band gave everything they had here tonight, it was going to be difficult for Europe to top this performance.

heavy riffs and chords while Mic Michaeli's keys never let the 1980's sound fade completely.

With additional songs from Last Look at Eden, Prisoners in Paradise, Bag of Bones, Out of This World, Wings of Tomorrow and, of course, The Final Countdown the heavy rock onslaught continued for more than an hour and with five of the songs coming from the new album there was a freshness about the set.

Although I said forget about 'The Final Countdown' it was the song that gave the band its big break and true to form the band kept This was Europe's War of Kings this til last, playing it as the final world tour in celebration of the song of the encore. Did the crowd release of their new album. Many sing along? Of course they did, no people will recall 'The Final matter what you say about it the Countdown' from 1986 and the song is a crowd pleaser. The band success it brought to the band. is a crowd pleaser. Joey Tempest Whatever you think of that song, is a crowd pleaser with his forget it, forget the song, forget theatrics and flamboyance it could the 1980's-ness of it because the still have been 1986 - except he band sound nothing like that. In doesn't have permed hair these fact I was truly surprised at just days. One thing is for sure Europe how heavy they were, this is an have not got to the stage where honest heavy rock band, make no the final countdown has started mistake about it. and the support they attract will ensure a continued following The band gave us fourteen songs particularly if future releases are from seven albums dating from as good as War of Kings. Did 1984 to just a few weeks ago and Europe top the performance of they started out with the title Black Star Riders, the audience track, 'War of Kings'. from the new were split on that but for me, they album followed by 'Hole in my did and I see the band now in a Pocket' also from the latest new light, one fuelled by heavy release. The guitar of John Norum rock. and bass of Jon LevĂŠn carried the new songs along on a wave of

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Chibi Of

Interviewed by Gavin Griffiths Welcome to the UK! Chibi: Well, thanks! It’s actually our last night; it’s going to be a sad farewell to the UK actually!

I’m glad you think so! But yes, you’ve been in the UK for the past week, and you’ve worked a mini-tour around your appearance at the Whitby Gothic Weekend, which you played this past Thursday…how have the shows been for you and how was Whitby itself?

Chibi: The shows have been awesome! I mean we haven’t been to the UK in about 4 years, so, it’s been really, really nice to be back here, and see like, some familiar faces and get to travel around a bit more. But yeah the shows have been awesome; the turn-outs have been amazing like everyone seems to be having a good time. The festival; the Whitby Goth Weekend was really cool, it’s such a beautiful town just all by itself like oh my gosh! I mean festival aside I could

have probably spent a week JUST in Whitby sitting on the sand y’know? But the festival was great, it’s so beautifully organised, all the other bands we played with were amazing, it was a great show.

something like Whitby, I mean, I feel like we didn’t have to think about it too much, it seemed to fit in nicely and it seemed to go over well…

With regards to Whitby itself, obviously, you have your standard music festivals, very popular these days, popping up here there and everywhere, but this is more of a social gathering focussing on a subculture, as oppose to your usual music festival. How did you approach playing that kind of event compared to your own shows?

Chibi: You know, we played the same set we’ve been playing this whole tour, we didn’t do anything differently at all no, I mean, it probably depends on what type of festival it is we deal with. For example if we’re playing a punk or a metal festival, we might pick some of our heavier stuff that would fit in, but when it comes to

When it comes to the whole gothic subculture, a lot of people look down on that sort of thing, on a musical level, because obviously times change so much these days, does the gothic thing bother you as an image or a label or do you take it on the chin?

Chibi: I don’t see it as a negative thing, I mean; I guess a lot of people do. Like, people are alwaysweird about subcultures, especially ones they don’t understand but I mean, I’m standing here wearing a red plaid shirt, but I consider myself to be goth, absolutely, as one element, but I also consider myself to be a bit of a metal head as well, and like, sometimes I’m a bit of a hippy you know what I mean? But that’s definitely part of myself that I love, I

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love being part of that scene, I love having the excuse to dress up! It’s so much fun, it’s such a positive, fun scene. I think a lot of people who don’t understand that scene are like “oh you’re just a bunch of grouchy vampire people!” It’s like dude! You should hang out for a bit!

band there…

Chibi: Honestly! Let’s get Merle out here like if he’s a nice dude yeah! …And you’ve also got a British But this tour has been great and band, The Dead Betas supporting the last bunch of tours that we’ve too, does it matter to you, as a done have been good I mean we’re band, when you pick support for really good friends with The Red tours, do you look for them to fit Paintings, we toured with them in into your crowd? Or is it more of the States last fall, so we already an anything goes kind of thing? Do knew that was going to be good, you like to mix it up? and the guys in The Dead It’s a very judgemental thing…

Chibi: Yeah sometimes, you know Betas are just hilarious!

Chibi: Yeah…but, so long as you’re like, when you have a band like The having a good time and I think a lot Red Paintings who are With support bands in mind, or of goths do, they don’t sit around really eclectic and do all kinds of maybe not even support bands, depressed, lamenting the world, I stuff on stage, it’s nice to have that given the type of music The mean I certainly don’t and I third band who has their own Birthday Massacre do, taking into consider myself a goth! unique kind of thing going on, account influences and things, which these guys, The Dead Betas what would your ideal tour be if Obviously coming over to the UK, definitely do. Obviously you want to you were supporting or being from Canada and having headlining? played most of your shows Chibi: Taking into consideration stateside, how do you compare the type of music that we do?

UK crowds to back home? Is Because obviously if I was just there much of a difference that putting together my dream tour I you pick up on? would just pick bands that I like, it Chibi: Honestly no! There really would not necessarily be a good isn’t, it’s not a country to country fit with our music! What would difference I would say It’s more of be good…I really wish we got to a show to show difference, like, tour with Type-O-Negative… we’ll have say a great show in a city one time and then we know See…now I love Type-O and I we’re coming back there and never got to see them live… we’ll be like “ooh it’s gonna’ be a Chibi: I saw them live once, and, great show” and there are times our bass player, when he was in it’ll be a bit more relaxed as the band Wednesday 13, they oppose to last time, I mean, did a tour with Type-O there’s no real difference in a UK Negative and he just said that sense, our crowds just seem to Peter and the rest of the guys have a good time. There’s no like are so nice and yeah, that would “tonight we’re playing in England have been a really good match… so everyone’s gonna’ go wild!” it’s too bad that he died!

Like you can’t predict it, tonight everyone might walk out as soon go out with a band that’s In a sense you both releases in a as we get on stage! You going to fit and are hopefully nice similarly themed style of music, to never know what’s going to people [laughs] if you’re going to a degree, the content of their happen. be on the road and stuck with songs is dark but not in an overly each other… negative way… [laughs] That’s not going to Chibi: They use those pretty, synth happen!

You’re going to want to get along elements too yeah, there are Chibi: I’m a nihilist it’s the goth in at the end of the day enough similarities that would of me! [laughs] Chibi: Absolutely, and we’ve had made it a good tour… instances where we’ve gone out But yes regards to this tour with bands where we absolutely I would of happily paid to see that itself, you’ve brought along The did not get along, and it doesn’t tour!

Red Paintings from the States… matter how good the music is at Chibi: I WOULD HAVE! I would of Chibi: Well their singer’s that point, I’m just like bring out a paid to be ON that tour! [laughs] Australian, but he gets in band country and western act as long members from all over the world, But yeah, being in the UK right like right now his drummer is from as they’re nice!

Japan, his bass player’s from Los Like Merle Haggard or something now, it’s not just a random tour, you are promoting your new Angeles, so yeah, international [laughs]

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album as well; ‘Superstition’. Since its release a couple of months ago, how has it been received so far?

Chibi: Very positively, I mean a lot of people come up and say it’s their favourite album that we’ve released, which is awesome because there’s always that fear right? Whenever you put out a new album , especially when you put out, like, we’re on our 6th / 7th album…so yeah you get this feeling that “what if people are sick of this?” or like, “what if we’ve lost our minds?” This is gonna’ be a piece of crap or something y’know? Again, gothic nihilist! [laughs] As an artist I guess you’ve got to have that fear because you need to push yourself…

Chibi: Absolutely! But no it’s been really well received like, especially getting out and playing the songs live, over the last few months seeing people singing along and dancing, enjoying them just as much as they like the old classics we play to you, it’s been very encouraging and positive.

chance, which I think is ridiculous.

Like that’s not what we do, this is the kind of music that we do, and if people think that our fun, danceable pop music isn’t good for the radio, then they can just play the crap they play on the radio and I’m happy to not be part of it… [laughs] Regards to that, you’re with Metropolis Records, with the industry In mind and the state that it’s in, do they push you at all or are they very laid back in that sense?

Chibi: They have always trusted to do exactly what we want, there’s been nothing but support from Metropolis and I feel like we’re very lucky in that way, because you hear horror stories and things like people trying to get in and make decisions, and no they’re like “do your thing we trust you” and we really appreciate that from them.

Talking about ‘Superstition’ itself, as an album, is there a particular ethos behind the album? Was there a particular inspiration?

Chibi: In terms of the lyrics, on a Since day one, you’ve found and sort of a personal level, in the last stuck to a formula, you have the year or the few months leading up dark electronic rock sound going to that album, there were a few on, bearing in mind the current deaths that I experienced of industry as it is, which is quite people that were really close to fickle, has there been any kind of me, and I hadn’t really experienced pressure to alter your sound at that before in my life so, it was kind all? of a bit of a turning point for me in Chibi: Well I mean, yeah I guess terms of actually thinking about over the years there have been death and, what happens after certain conversations had with death and, what it all means right? people external from the band, So I think lyrically we explore some they would say you need of those themes, like the song something that’s more ‘radio’…and ‘Divide’ for example, goes into I’m just like, some of these songs Norse mythology and talking about ARE radio! different legends cultures have about, what does it all mean?

Without being derogative, a lot of Religion and spirituality, your songs are mainstream superstitions and things like that songs… y’know?

Chibi: A lot of it is very pop-music based, and when people say you Given the album’s title, are you or need a good solid radio hit, I’m like any of the band superstitious “ok well how about this one?” Like, yourselves? this would work on radio it’s just Chibi: I am pretty superstitious yes, you’re too afraid to take any kind of during tour especially…a good

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example would be like, if I’m wearing a certain outfit and something goes really, really wrong on stage, like for example two and half years ago or so, I sprained me knee while we were on stage in the states, and I went to the hospital, I had a brace for months and I was in physiotherapy and I will NEVER wear that skirt I was wearing that night, ever again!

For that reason?

Chibi: Absolutely! I mean you know you hear about the hockey players and they’re play-off beards and stuff, it’s gonna’ be bad luck if they shave it, I feel like if I wear that cursed skirt who knows what could happen?! We also have like, a kind of a little cheer that we always have to do before we go on stage, and if someone’s not there then we’ll wait, like, we’re not going on stage until we do our thing, and the times we haven’t done it… something’s not right! [laughs] So yes everything with the new album and the tour is going well right now, it’s been a good few months, what are the plans in terms of what’s next, for The Birthday Massacre? Are you staying on the road?

Chibi: No at the moment actually we only have one show booked, coming up it’s the Amphi Festival in Germany, that’s in June. I don’t know if we have any other European dates around that or if it’s just a one-off, but we do have that planned, and then I think we’re going to be basically just going home and probably starting to think about writing again, maybe even go back to some of our really early demo stuff, that we did way at the beginning of our career, like, before ‘Nothing And Nowhere’…we have some really old songs we’d like to revisit, that’s something we’d like to do…

Chibi, thank you.

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Doris Brendel & Lee Dunham Interviewed by Rick Palin Transcribed by Carol Baker Tucker Doris your working partnership with Lee has produced some incredible quality on the last two albums, How did this relationship come about?

Doris - Firstly – thank you very much! I first met Lee through an advert I had placed in the MU magazine. I was looking for a guitarist/singer for the show band I was in in 1999 and Lee came along to the Roadhouse in Covent Garden, complete with a set of dreadlocks, and little did I know that that would lead to a 16 year working relationship. In 2001, after a line-up change, our live bookings really took off. Now you

get to know people really well over 200 gigs a year, and we discovered we worked very well together. Lee’s wicked sense of humour has made touring extremely enjoyable, and our joint work ethic has meant we could always rely on each other to pull our weight.

But we were way too busy to think about recording albums which is why it didn’t happen for so long. We had to slow things down first! Our first album together was a trial I guess – recording original material is very different to touring, and we weren’t sure how it would pan out. But we

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discovered that it worked extremely well! The trick is to trust each other’s abilities, and to assign distinct roles for each of us in order to avoid the ‘too many cooks’ syndrome. My role is to come up with songs and basic ideas. Lee’s is production and arrangements.

Lee as producer and performer working with Doris, what is the working relationship like as musically you both seem to be able to read each other minds Lee - Well, mindreading is a very special skill I have aquired over the past few years and it doesn't just

stop at music!

Infact, I read your mind just before you wrote this question and I will advise you that you may go blind if you keep logging on that website every night!.

Our working relationship is so liberal that anything goes, and usually does! No holds barred is the rule. We have worked together for so long that the understanding of how to get the best out of each other in the writing stage and recording, that it , dare I say it , is almost easy!

Its great to have had a connection with someone like that musically for the past 15 years or so, and be friends away from music too.

character trait of doing things our most genres. Why should I restrict own way and of not being swayed myself to one? Third; we all have by current trends or influences. different emotions, therefore I would like an album to reflect at Lee as we know both you and least a variety of them. Four; so Doris are perfectionists, how well many people have their CDs on does this dynamic work in the shuffle, make their own mixes or studio? just buy the tracks they like. Having Lee - I think the word perfectionist a varied album is like a pre-shuffle. has different degrees. between 1 Five; how many times have you and 10 personally Id say we are heard people only liking 2 songs on only about a 6. After all think about an album? Lots I bet. So – you will it, if we were a 10 we would still be probably still like 2 songs on our in the studio now going through album, but other people will like 2 each chord progression of each different ones. Better value for song trying to perfectly make the money I reckon! Six; it stops me perfect verse and a perfect chorus from getting bored. to a perfect song and record the Lee - For me the only barrier left perfect take with the perfect gear in music is "Genre". getting the perfect sound and Everyone these days listens letting you listen to it via your to all sorts of different genres of Doris both your parents have been unperfect stereos, phones and music and probably hardly ever creatives but in entirely different unperfect ears lol. listens to a whole album. Our free fields, Alfred being a classical Do the best you can....move time gets less and less due to the pianist and your mother Iris being on. Next song. fast changing world we live in and a sculptor. How much influence In the studio we let each the invention of the computer chip has their backgrounds had on other get on with what we do best. has changed the music industry shaping your life as an artist doz is mostly a one take girl. I can irreversibly. bearing in mind that you are in an record her 3 or 4 times, say on a This computer age has given entirely different field? chorus, but its normally the 1st us devices that shuffle all your Doris - Uh oh. Psychologists could take that I end up keeping, unless favourite artists to give you variety write a lengthy thesis on this one. we could improve the line lyrically for your everyday listening. No one My parents, in their academic or timing wise say. listens to one style of music only splendour, never wanted to be On production I'm left to my anymore. parents. So I was a late unhappy own devices mainly and send her So we thought why not make accident/experiment which snipets along the way so she albums that incorporate as many probably drove them to divorce knows where the song is headed genres as possible. "Upside Down even more quickly. Consequently I and has time to object at anything World" contains a mixing pot of never really had a childhood in the which to be honest hardly ever styles to make a fuller flavoured normal sense of the word. I was happens. as I've already said dare I album. It is Just your ipod on dragged to classical concerts, say it Its almost easy! Lol shuffle! churches and buildings of The music press have a architectural interest – in other There is a very eclectic nature as mixed view on this it seems to words, my parents did what per usual with Upside Down World protect what is left of their interested them and just took me which some people cannot get industry it seems they are none along. As I got a little older, my their heads around but they still too happy with the "mixture of father was always on tour and my love the album. We have seen this variety" yet cannot demean the mother was mostly in her pottery twice now with Not Utopia as well. songs individually nor the studio, and I was left alone to fend Why go this route in a market musicianship on the album. for myself. As the relationship with where things are so easily pigeon For example, Let’s say there my mother became ever more holed? is a metal magazine reviewing an strained I became more rebellious, Doris - I’ve been asked this album that has an a metal track and when I moved to England at question many times now! Not followed by a reggae track on age 12, the dam really broke. I surprisingly. There are several it! The magazine would look silly if became the teenager from hell. reasons:- One, I do this for they give it 10/10 telling all those Sex, drugs & rock n roll all the way. pleasure. Therefore ‘commercial metal heads to buy an album Now – many years later – I realise interest’ is secondary. Creativity that’s not 100% rock! But what I have more in common with both comes first. Secondly; I like lots of they fail to see is that most of of them than I ever thought different types of music! There is these people nowadays that read possible. We all have the value and pleasure to be found in

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these magazines, will have a Bob Marley album on their hard drive!

Everyone likes more than one style of music!! Wake up!!

The whole industry needs to move with the times and with the people, or risk losing more readers and listeners. Long gone are the days where, if you were into metal, you wore a leather jacket and only listened to metal! I know because I used to do exactly that! People mostly dress the same these days and you cannot tell who is into what sort of music they listen to by their dress code. you could 20 years ago! Of course there are exceptions and love seeing the goths and rockers who wear their hearts on their sleeves, but now they are a minority.

I still love metal/rock but do listen to it constantly? No. Do I wear genre specific clothing?

No. Do I still class myself as being fully into rock and metal as I much as I ever have been? Yes. Have I grown into many, many, new artists that are not even rock related? Yes. So why not make an album that suits different tastes?

Music loyalty has gone. Now anyone can listen to anything and look like whatever they want.

However magazines, fanzines, radio stations and virtually everything under the music industry umbrella, still promote their music directed at a certain audience, that in my mind, doesn't make any sense. To me this is why genre specific magazines, stations, etc are dying at an alarming rate!

I do not want to make genre specific music and die the same death.

Agreed, I am not stupid enough to think that we can please all the people all the time, so we do not try to.

The box of chocolates album "Upside down world" is exactly what it says it is...........a box of chocolates. There will be a coffee one in there somewhere for most people, but also the most incredibly delicious delight you have ever tasted too!

Just remember, your worst song is someone else favourite!!!!!

Lee the timing signatures and riff changes on the album are far different from the norm and your guitar work is simply stunning, Do

you look to go far outside the box or is this just something natural for you when putting the tracks together?

Lee - Strange time signatures in songs can make listening hard.

The real key is to try and make hard time signatures easy to listen to. It is possible. I can remember listening to "Turn it on again" from genesis when i was young and feeling there was something odd about the track. id delved in and worked out the pre chorus which was really out there

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for the timing. to the untrained ear you wouldn’t notice. Phil Collins being a drummer and vocalist does do that with some genesis songs and it sounds great!!

When your staple is rush, yes, dream theatre etc, Then I think it just comes natural to listen to odd timings but I am very aware that for the average listener it can be a bit like walking with 3 legs so try to use it wisely Lee you have two great kids although a little young yet what do they think about Dad’s music?

Lee - Ha!!! Well if the truth be known, I think I have secretly brain washed Zed aged 4 and Pippa aged 2 with" Not Utopia " and "Upside Down World" They spend so much time near or in the studio the music gets in their little brains and they love it!! They can recognise Doz's voice a mile off!!!

I played the Album to test the vinyl white labels downstairs in my house and both children came in, sat down and listened. when one side finished they both shouted AGAIN, AGAIN!!

That’s the best review/complement i've ever had!!!!

We are now the new age nursury rhymes. All parents check this album out!! lol Doris I understand that you were a fan of the late great Storm Thorgeson’s work. A shame you never got the chance to have him do an album cover for you, however the artwork on the album is amazing and looks really fantastic on the vinyl. The cover was designed by Igor Morski, how did you come across this talented artist?

Doris - As you know, artwork is

really important to me. To be truly creative, everything should reflect that creation – music, art, photos, clothes all add to the overall mood.

Whenever a new project looms I start scouring the internet for good images. I have always had a soft spot for surrealism which I think reflects my unusual outlook on life, and that is how I came across Igor Morski. Nine out of ten pictures I immediately loved were his! I wrote to him to ask whether we could use one of his images and he offered to create one for us – I couldn’t possibly decline such an offer. I really hope he becomes the new Storm…

The photoshoots for the last two albums have been brilliant, how do you come up with the ideas for some of these shots. The one that springs to mind the most for me is the two of you in baby grows. Surely this part of the creative process is the most fun?

Doris - I love doing photo shoots and videos! It can be just as creative as writing music. Both Lee & I have pretty active imaginations, so we tend to sit down at some point and brain storm ideas. I dutifully scrawl them down and we add to them as ideas materialise. By the time a photo shoot comes near we have a bunch of ideas written down. The pedal car & the baby grow ideas were two of them! Inevitably I have lots of last minute ideas which get added in. There is a limit what one can do in a day, so that has to be taken into consideration too.

Lee - Ideas come thick and fast in back stage areas with shed loads of time to kill!!! Putting the ideas into reality is hard work but looking at the outcome makes it all worth while.

My favourite track of the album has to be Still Running. The track covers the subject of PTSD both

accurately and with a high degree of understanding of a difficult subject. What prompted the writing of this track?

Doris - You know what – I can’t even remember. Some songs just happen.

Lee - See!!!! I said earlier, someone’s worst song is someone’s favourite!!!! I hate that track!! Its my coffee flavour lol

Lee - They are all my children. It would be unfair to have "favourites"..... Although Chris Dunham did break his wrist playing "that" bass riff on "A Little Act Of Defiance" lol I'm not joking!!!, he spent the next day in hospital and had to wear a cast for weeks!

To see your own brother actually break bones for your music .................well, I suppose that spoke to me.

Which tracks from the album speak out to you Thanks for taking the time to be Doris - All of them! In very different interviewed by us, is there anything you would like to say to the fans out there?

Doris - You know – I hate the word ‘fans’. There’s something very tribal about it. I like to think of my ‘fans’ as independent free-thinkers. They are listeners and individuals.

With very good taste obviously! There is only one thing to say, which is ‘thank you for listening’.!

Just one more thing – we are in the middle of shooting a video for ‘Devil’ at the moment and I’m very excited about it! The amazing Algie Grey is directing it. Quick heads up: - it’s a comedy story where the Devil completely ruins my day! Worst ever day at the office… Can’t wait.

ways. I like the tongue-incheekiness of ‘Devil’. The harmonies and dreaminess of ‘Adored’. The R&B rockiness and ‘metal centre’ of ‘Slap Me’. The sheer pop fun of ‘Accessorise’. The hypnotic melodious ‘Tumbling away’. The angst and anger of ‘act of Defiance’ and the WICKED bass line at the end. The uplifting wistfulness of ‘Upside Down World’. The strings on ‘Still Running’ and the delightful psychedelic stupidity of ‘Mushroom’. They all speak out….

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Upside Down World is available on CD and for the first time since the Violet Hour on limited edition Vinyl… to find out more visit www.dorisbrendel.com

Support from - Romeo’s Daughter and No Hot Ashes The Robin 2 in Bilston has had its fair share of full houses for shows such as Michael Schenker, Uriah Heep, UFO, the Dames of Darkness festival . . . . . . and now FM who were touring to promote the 'Heroes and Villains' album which appeared on the shelves just two weeks before this gig.

First on stage however was No Hot Ashes, a Belfast band who first got together in the early 1980's, lasted until 1990 before splitting up; the band reformed in late 2013 to pay tribute to a popular Northern Ireland rock The level of support for this show venue, the Rosetta Bar and have took me a little by surprise I have stuck with it since then. The band to admit, not having seen them play no-frills rock and the 7-song before I really didn't know what to setlist was completed far too expect. For those that still don't quickly. There are no gimmicks know the band they are British, here, just some original songs they are an AOR band and have played well, with some passion and been around, on and off, since the fun thrown in. A very decent sound mid 1980's. History lesson over. to start the night.

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Another well known AOR band, Romeo's Daughter, came next.

This another of those bands which formed in the 1980's and decided to take a rest in the mid-1990's.

The bands revival came about in 2009 following the re-release of their first, self-titled, album which initially aired in 1988. While touring in 2010-2011 the bands second album from 1993, 'Delectable', was also re-released giving them the springboard needed to produce the third album, 'Rapture', released in 2012. Three years on and the fourth studio album, 'Spin', was out and this tour gives the fans a selection of songs taken from each of the four albums. I have to say that vocalist, Leigh Matty, has a very strong voice and on-stage presence, ideally suited to the musical style the band adopt. Like No Hot Ashes, Leigh and the band have an equally no-frills, no gimmicks style so there are no distractions from the top quality songs, except for Leigh's dance

moves perhaps. The two new songs from 'Spin', 'Radio' and 'Touch' show the band have lost nothing over the years and thoroughly deserved the plaudits from the crowd.

quite as edgy as the new material.

After this we stopped at 'Metrololis', 'Aphrodisiac' and 'Tough it Out' before returning to the new album for 'Shape I'm In'.

The night ended with 'Story of my Life' from 'Rockville' and finally FM (or FMUK to our friends over 'Other Side of Midnight' from the pond) were up next . . . .

'Indiscreet'. Many critics say that FM are one of THE underrated So we have a full house, I'm not British rock bands, which may be talking about the crowd, but that true. What isn't in dispute is the all three bands have taken musicianship of the band and the significant time away from the solid vocals from Steve Overland; business only to reform in recent the latest album is a tribute to the years and carry on with a high bands writing skills in keeping the degree of success. So, here's music relevant and up to date. Buy today's FM history lesson the album it's destined to be a (abridged version); band formed in British classic!

1984, lasted 11 years releasing 5 albums. The 1995 split lasted until 2007 when the band reformed with a temporary line-up. The current line-up, cemented by live performances in 2009, has released an additional 4 studio albums the last of which, 'Heroes and Villains' came out in April 2015. End of lesson. It was a song from the new album that opened the set; 'Digging up the Dirt', and what a song to open with, a cracking piece of classic British rock. After this the band took us on a trip involving seven of the nine studio albums and jumped from the latest album all the way back to the first, 'Indiscreet', with 'I Belong to the Night' which had a typical 1980's sound to it, not

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David Reece Interviewed by Rick Palin Transcribed by Carol Baker Tucker Recently I got the chance to catch up with an old friend and chat about his work on the new Bonfire Album “Glorious”. One of my favourite vocal gods David Reece.

David, How’s it going?

Great man, really so good… greetings!

Why Fortunate Son? Jon Fogerty, what a great singer.

I’ve kind of emulated that guy for years and I’ve stole a lot of his licks so it was an honour to him and I’ve always wanted to do the song and doing the album was actually a track shy because the last track that I had wasn’t very good and The last we heard out of you was the producer Kelly Peterson said obviously the Compromise album, ‘you’re a big CCR fan’ and I said ‘ I which was absolutely stunning. In am’ and he said ‘listen to this’ and fact, like I said on Facebook, has he had the playback, so he put the one of my favourite tracks, redone mic up and I just did it in one take. I and completely blasted the original was like ‘that’ll do it!’ out of the ballpark and that of course was ‘Fortunate Son’ Well, if you did it in one take, then Bold statement. that’s something you’re obviously

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singing along to in the car quite often is it?

I knew it thoroughly Like I said, it’s great to have you on the show because the last time we had you on was back in the day with the last Bangalore Choir album I believe it was Metaphor or Cadence Yeah, it was Metaphor 2012?

Yeah, It’s been awhile hasn’t it?

You’ve come back out of the sort of ‘quietness’ as it is were and you’ve now joined Bonfire. How did

that come about?

I spent last summer into the fall touring with Hans Ziller from Bonfire and we had a little group called ‘Easy Livin’. Basicially, we played a lot of my songs, a lot of Bonfire songs and a lot of cover songs. We just went out, because Bonfire with Klaus, his voice can only do about two shows a month, so Hans wanted to work so he asked me to do the Easy Livin album and he said ‘hey, can you tour?’ and I said ‘of course’. He said ‘how many shows can I book?’ and I’ve heard that so many times that I really didn’t take him seriously but within about three days, he had like two weeks in July filled. I think we did forty shows from July through to December

right thing to do

hard to do’. That’s a really cool song. I like the remake of the Joe Yeah, it’s a great thing. I’ve heard Cocker version of ‘A little help from the new album ‘Glorious’ and it is my friends’. We played that live absolutely stunning, it’s brilliant with Easy Livin and every time we Thank you played it, especially in Germany, people would go nuts so we went You seem to fit very well within the in and recorded it one day. I did the band vocally two cover songs from Bonfire, kind Thank you, Hans had thirty of forty of as a warm up to the old fans. pieces that were just pieces and Hey, this is how Dave is gonna sing when I heard them originally, I had your favourite tracks. I think that no clue what was gonna happen. was a smart move, just to kind of When I went into production with initiate people what he had arranged was basically just riffs. Alessando It certainly gained a lot of interest, Delvechio mixed and mastered there’s certainly new fans, surely. I the record and I basically went in see you’re bringing alot of your naked. I said ‘I don’t know what I’m own fans from the States into the gonna do’ so I kinda sang and fold as well wrote on the cuff and every time I Well it’s sold out with some of the would do something, Alessandro distributors right now in America.

Fantastic would say ‘that’s great’ and we just They’re back ordering. It’s number Yeah, all Germany and we did kinda worked it out every day and it 1 on Amazon Germany. I know it’s Spain and Italy once. It was happened and I’m really happy with 38 in the top 100 Europe on the fantastic the outcome and I think that’s billboard chart. It’s amazing, it’s probably the way to do an album. like a shock! I thought it would do How have the fans taken to you It’s just going into it organic and okay but I had no idea. I gotta tip with taking up the front spot bejust start working my hat off to Borilla Records. cause Bonfire is virtually a national They’ve done a great job with treasure in Germany?

From a musician’s point of view, promotion, they’ve really stepped There are a few killers, I mean they I’ve got about as much musical up and do what a record company want to cut my head off but I kind talent as a postage stamp so I should do. I’m not blowing smoke of look at it this way and I use this can’t sort of comment on that but up their rears, I mean I haven’t story probably redundantly, but yeah obviously, when you’ve been seen this kind of promotion with Ronnie Dio told me once. When I around for as long as you have, my other records in years. joined Except back in the 80’s, I which sounds slightly wrong but was talking to Ronnie about it and you’ve been around a fair while The market’s changed a lot he said when he joined Sabbath, Old! I mean I’ve been singing nowadays and to get those sort of there were people that hated him professionally since I was about results that you’re talking about is and he put it this way…you open 10 years old and I’m 55 in August absolutely incredible because the lion’s mouth, you stick your everybody’s bound down by this X head in the lion’s mouth and if he I’m 50 in August and you look a Factor, American Idol crap and bites down then there goes your hell of a lot better than me mate! that seems to be the only thing frickin head! I’ve never forgotten You don’t see me up close. There’s that counts these days. It’s actually that and its kind of l, I know what I a lot to do with photoshop, believe nice to see proper music getting do and I do it well. I’m proud of me back out there again what I do and I respect Klaus. He We’ve gotta tour and they really was Bonfire for twenty something I think we all use that at some got behind touring the band. All of years but it’s time to move on. He point or other. There’s quite a lot those old days things have come actually quit the band in October. of tracks on this new album, into fruition with this group That’s the story I heard. He had fourteen in total. Which are the announced that was it, so Hans ones that stand out for you on it? Are there plans to come over to said rather than lay the torch I’m a big fan of ‘Remember’. When the UK soon? down, why don’t we just carry on I heard that riff, it kind of reminded Yeah, we had like a 12 day run and would you be interested in me of the old Bangalore Choir so I happening but they postponed it to doing it? So I said yeah because I think I applied that to it. I also love the fall. I know we’re coming but I had toured with Hans and gotten ‘Shooting Star’. That’s got its own don’t have the confirmation. I think to know him and I’ve written a lot personality. I also wrote this song we were going to go originally in of songs with him so it was just the with Hans, ‘Falling out of love is June but I don’t know what the

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I’m Just Happy To Have the voice that still works and be able to stand upright everyday deal was, to be honest but I know we’re coming because I understand Bonfire does pretty well in the UK.

Bangalore Choir stuff?

You know…I’m gonna let the dead horse lay down and I tried to keep Curtis working with me and he’s fed up with the industry, he doesn’t There’s a lot of people who do love want to leave his house and it’s a Bonfire over here. It’s gotta be shame because we’re really good said. It’s one of those rare things. together and basically I got tired of Bonfire over here do just as well beating my brains in over it and I as the British acts. There doesn’t seem to be any favouritism like there used to be so Bonfire have a lot of places in a lot of people’s hearts over here I know that they did Tyketto and Bonfire a year ago, March…toured the UK. I believe it was sold out every night. There were 6 shows There’s a hell of a lot of Tyketto fans over here as well. Funnily enough Danny Vaughan actually used to do a show for me on the radio station. Dan used to work with me for quite a while on that. There’s a big resurgence in melodic rock, hard rock, AOR, whatever you want to term it. It’s coming back in a big way I hope..

Well, it is. I’ve seen bands that have split up 20 years ago that all of a sudden are getting back together and doing fantastic albums and it’s a great thing to see. Even to some point you guys came back as Bangalore Choir came back with Metaphor and that was an absolutely brilliant album, so was Cadence Are there any plans to do anymore

left it alone and that’s why I kinda just did ‘Compromise’. When Hans called, I just wanted to tour and to get Curtis to off the couch and to tour, It’s a nightmare, I mean he’s a great guitar teacher. He actually has about 30 music students a month so he’s actually making a

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pretty good living and if you leave that business, then you lose those students. Those students will go to another teacher. So I can kinda understand it but he’s so sour about the industry, after we got dropped back when the grunge thing took over and they just left us out in the street with nothing and it destroyed him. He lost his house and a lot of things, so he’s bitter I can understand that . The amount of musicians out there, who have got my total respect for the commitment they put into producing music these days and getting bugger all back for it. It’s gotta be a love and a passion to do that thing in the first place Touring is obviously a little more lucrative than selling records but I’m just happy to have the voice that still works and be able to stand upright everyday. I don’t do anything else, I build houses…and I’m pretty good at that but I’m miserable when I’m doing it. There’s nothing against working for a living doing that but I’d rather do this for as long as I can and then maybe I can go build a few more houses …

Maybe, if you remember now, when I interviewed you over Metaphor, I actually caught you on your lunch break on a building site It was an old house, I was remodelling it! I was outside in the truck. I remember, I was thinking

about that today when we were talking

many people have bought the album and supported me with it and I’m just very grateful. I thank Yeah, it was quite a while ago now. you, I thank all the fans and we’re We’re looking forward to getting going on tour. We start next you guys over here, obviously and Wednesday, a week from tonight. to hear more about this We’re at rehearsal right now fantastic album. Is this going to be a permanent, full time thing with Where is that kicking off….

Bonfire now?

Germany?

Yeah, I’ve contracted three Germany, yeah and then Russia. records with these guys. I know As long they don’t kill me when I go Ronnie’s in the band. He’s on bass, to Russia or kidnap me. We’re he’s toured with me with Easy Livin covering the globe pretty heavily, the first run is 12 nights in a row.

Yeah, fantastic. Will be a lot of We’re gonna tour like a real band stuff to look forward to. David, it’s been an absolute pleasure having That’ll be fantastic but now you you on with me tonight have to get back out on the road It’s great to talk to you again Rick again. Just don’t make any Putin jokes in Russia Is there anything that you’d like to Yeah, it might not go over so well. I say to the folks out there? mean, we’re still arguing if we’re Just…and I know it sounds corny going to try and play the Ukraine but just thank you. Thank you for all or Russia. They sent out a warning the great response. I mean so about the US passports. That

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we’re all gonna get some kind of special treatment when we go there, which means they’re going to interrogate us so I’m not sure I even wanna do it Special treatment in Russia….I’d be very, very wary mate!

Pushing a coal cart somewhere in Siberia. That’s what it sounds like Sounds like it or it could be worse.

Anally probed…it’s something worth thinking about. David, like I said, it’s been a great pleasure to have you on the show mate. All the best with the tour and we hope to get to see you over here very soon!

We’re working on it. Good luck with the new station brother!

Thanks a lot buddy….take care

Leigh Matty Of

Interviewed by Rick Palin Transcribed by Carol Baker Tucker The world of AOR is full of some excellent bands and some wonderful people none more so than the lovely Leigh Matty of Romeo’s Daughter

doesn’t it? It was a nice, swanky little club that was, as well It was a swanky little club. Yeah, we’ve got a few of them down here in London. You’ve got a few of them there up there in your neck A wonderful lady I met three years of the woods as well, I think ago in London and it’s not one of those stories, before you start. I’m I’m forever down in London with delighted to be joined by Leigh most of what I do these days but Matty from Romeo’s Daughter. reasonable to be honest. The new Leigh, how are you doing? album ‘Spin’….wow! Lovin it!

I’m very well Rick. I’m very happy to Good, that’s what I like to hear be speaking to you again. I can’t believe it’s been three years.

It’s a great album. What has been Where has the time gone? the sort of process behind this one? Where does the title come I don’t know…it just vanishes, from to start off?

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Well, actually the title came from the picture on the cover, from a photograph I took last year and it kinda looks like a spinning wheel and Ed came up with the title as in spin a record, spinning wheel. We just thought it was to the point, which is what we like and it was just like an easy thing. Like ‘yeah, we’re working on Spin’ and it just stuck. Then once it’s out and everybody’s asking, ‘so how’s Spin coming along?’

And it’s good PR for the album as well. I had a thought that you had Craig go in and do spin classes or something like that and that’s

where the name came from No, it was just one of those things that just stuck. It just seemed to go well with the photo on the front cover and we just loved it and Rapture was also very much to the point. It was one word, so I think there’s a theme. It was Delectable, Rapture and Spin Yeah, and all good albums as well.

Easily recalled by the names Thankyou You did HRH recently of course, which was an absolute great event. How did that go down for you guys?

Fantastic, we loved playing HRH. It’s such a well organised, well run festival. You’re really busy from the moment you get there til the moment you get on. Craig and I were invited to do a few acoustic tracks, which was really scary for us because we have actually never done it before, weirdly enough, in front of an audience and they went down really, really well. In fact they went down so well that we’ve actually recorded some acoustic versions of some of the older songs and which we will be releasing later in the year. So that

was a really lovely start to the day and then you do lots of interviews during the afternoon. Then you get to go onto a great stage and good sound. It kinda spoils you for a lot of other gigs that you have to do afterwards It’s actually great because a couple of the other bands that went on before you had terrible problems because of the set up.

With mic levels and all that kinda stuff Well, I suppose we’ve got ourselves a fantastic sound man and we’re very lucky he comes everywhere with us. He knows our sound really well and sometimes you know, you just have to get on with it. You just gotta get on and do it and even if it doesn’t sound like particularly like you normally sound, you just have to be professional and get on with it. I thought it was pretty good. It was loud on stage but it was really nice.

It’s really nice when you’re on stage that you feel that you’re part of the music and you can also hear the audience. Sometimes that’s quite hard to do. Sometimes you feel quite isolated on stage and the sound can be very harsh and

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you’re only hearing certain things.

As a singer, I like to be very much if I’m just in the middle of the band but just so I can hear myself enough so I can pitch. Sometimes you get on stage and the monitors are awful and you can’t hear what the hell you’re doing and that’s a problem. That can be really, really exhausting and you can lose your voice and there’s a lot of issues with that but HRH has never been like that. It’s always been really good and we’ve always really liked it and we always go down well Yeah, it’s a fantastic event and to be honest, this is one thing that totally confuses the hell out of me, is how they manage to pack the place cos it’s in the arse end of Wales And it’s so hard to get to! I know But it sells out all the time It was quite interesting as well, with the mixture of the death metal stuff that was going on and then the AOR stuff. Everybody gets along really well and everyone just goes to whatever stage that they want to go to and everybody bumps up against each other quite well. It’s really, really good and

and really, really well run. I’m very impressed by the people that run HRH Oh yeah, Johnny does a great job.

Johnny and the whole team, you can’t fault it…. but enough about the past. The album, ‘Touch’ is I believe the single from it Yes, it’s the lead song off the album. We don’t really have singles anymore but Touch is the song that we decided to make the first promo video for and the first song really that we just wanted everybody to hear from the album It’s a great track and a great opener to the album itself Thankyou There’s a naturally good progression in the track order that you’ve done there. Was that intentional?

When you’ve recorded all your songs, we actually recorded in the long run at the end of the day, I think it was about 14 or 15 tracks. We decided on the 10 songs that we wanted to put on and then comes the tricky thing of actually the order and it really takes a bit of time to work it out because it’s quite an important thing.

You know, because you listen to so many albums and it’s been really interesting because we obviously chose the songs that we felt. You choose them to do with different keys, you don’t want too many songs in the same key. You want speed of the songs, there’s certain things that you keep in mind when you choose the order and what’s been really interesting with Spin is a lot of people that have reviewed the album have all said that they’ve been very impressed with the order because I think you tend to have, with a lot of albums, your first, your really good tracks

maybe 1 and 2, then maybe if you’re lucky, another 2 in the middle. I think what’s happened with ours is that it’s quite evenly spread across the 10 songs so hopefully you have your highs and then you have your rockier stuff.

We don’t have as many ballads, funnily enough, on this album, as we tend to do. You know us, we’re a bit soppy. We like to put a good ballad in

Rapture, a lot of people really loved Rapture and that’s fantastic and I think there are some songs on there that people really hold dear to them. Bittersweet was a song that a lot people really loved, the ballardy kind of one. There were a few ballads on there and I think Rapture, for us, we were putting our toe back in the water.

We hadn’t made an album for what, 20 years and at that point, It’s enough to bring a tear to an we were like ‘ok, these are songs old jock. that we like. Let’s put these out and it still sounds like Romeo’s but it’s not too taxing. There’s some great songs on there but we don’t want to go completely off course because we’ve obviously been aware of some bands that have done that in the past that have come up with something completely different. It doesn’t sound like you, so Rapture was the first attempt for us and it worked out great and people like it a lot. Spin is a little bit more like it and we did that and now we want to do something that we feel is a little bit more adult. A lot of the songs, the lyric content is quite adult on a lot of the songs and we like a bit of up tempo stuff. We like a bit of darker riffs and I think we’ve managed to blend the two on this album.

We’ve still got the very typical Romeo’s Daughter We’ve only really got 2 songs that songs but we’ve also got this other are really a little bit quieter and stuff, like maybe ‘Touch’. My softer. The rest tend to be more favourite song on the album is one up tempo than we would normally called ‘Radio’. I think it’s one of the do so I think we’ve got it quite right finest songs that Craig’s ever this time in the song order. You written and it brings me such joy, think that do you, is that what you we play it in our live set and I’m so just said? happy that we were able to stay together long enough to get to do Yeah, basically. It’s certainly a bit that song. I’m a happy woman of a meatier album than previous because I honestly love that song Yes, we wanted to do that. It was so much! something that we felt that we wanted to do. I think the thing with

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It’s a superb track. Actually, I was thinking of using it to open the show which everybody will hear on tonight. I’m lying because this is pre-recorded of course and you get the idea But radio’s quite symphonic, it’s got some beautiful choral bits in the chorus and that for me is the song of the album for me I would actually have to agree with you on that Ahh.. great minds think alike But imagine going back there to Rapture being the sort of come back from like 20 years. There’s quite a few bands doing that these days, are you finding the level of success better than you originally did?

To be honest, I’m not really sure we can call it success…I think it’s a hard thing to kind of say, with the difference between now and then is that now we’re doing it all on our own. Before the first Romeo’s Daughter album came out, we had big backing, we had Mutt Lang on it, we had John Parr on it. There was loads of press on it, it was quite a big deal and in hindsight, we had no idea just how special it was because when you’re in the moment, you’re just in the moment, you’re just going along with the flow of it all and now we do it because we absolutely love it.

We don’t do it because we have anybody telling us to do it or how we have to do things. We don’t have to do it for the money because, to be honest, there is very little money to be made from it

don’t do ourselves They also do my distribution through Skyfire…

But everything else is done by us and it’s wonderful having that control but in saying that, it’s also a very big responsibility because everything comes down to us at the end of the day. That’s why whenever we release anything, we have to be proud of it, we have to say that it’s the best that we could possibly do. We don’t have the luxury of making a record every year, it doesn’t work like that for us, so it’s always scary when you release a new album out to the world because everybody’s got their own opinion but I can honestly say that we’ve never released anything….I mean Delectable didn’t sound great and I know quite a few people like it but we don’t like to listen to it now because the production was so awful on it but that doesn’t mean there weren’t some good songs on there. I think Spin knocks the socks off Delectable

Yeah, it is…what sort of dates are you doing? Are you putting down all over the country?

We’re doing Bristol, Wolverhampton, Newcastle, Glasgow, Manchester and Nottingham and ending up at the Shepherds Bush Empire on Sun 10th in London It’s going to be great seeing you guys out on the road. I’ll probably be appearing at Manchester myself Fantastic, well please come and say hello. We have a shorter set, obviously because we’re not headlining. We’ve got about 40 mins so we’re going to cram all our goodies in there and it will be lovely. We’ll play two new songs off Spin. We’re doing Touch & Radio

How fantastic…brilliant! Of course I’ll come and say hello because I’ll have to get a photo taken with you.

It’s been an absolute pleasure having you on. Is there anything you want to say to the folks out there before we wrap this up?

It’s just so lovely to have a new Again, it’s the modern age. product out and the response has Technology’s grown a lot since been fantastic so far on it and we those days and the ability to produce good stuff. Even at home just want people to just give it a shot and they will hopefully carry or in the studio has increased on supporting us. We just have the significantly now and that does most incredible fans, they’ve been make a huge difference but you guys are setting off on the road? supporting us for over 25 years or Friday’s our first gig at the Bristol something ridiculous and we can’t thank everybody enough. People Bierkeller and we haven’t been there since 1989, I don’t think. So like you as well for inviting us on god knows how all the bands are shows and writing about us and we’re very grateful and very happy going to fit on the stage. It’s going to be great, it’s going to be great to be back and we look forward to going back there and we’ve got 8 seeing a lot of these lovely people gigs over 10 days and we’re going that are listening to this, in the near future, at a gig! out with the Mighty FM, which is That is a shame these days but always fantastic. We obviously did surely the level of freedom from our first tour with the mighty FM in Well, definitely and many thanks doing it yourself… once again for being on again 1989 so we’ve come full circle Yeah, it’s absolutely fantastic. We and we’re all really good mates Leigh!! do everything, we’re a cottage and we have a lot of the same fans industry, we make our own videos, so I think it’s nice for the people we do our own artwork, we do who buy a ticket to come and see everything that needs to be done. and there’s a band called ‘No Hot The only thing we don’t do is Ashes’, who are from Northern distribute our album. We have a Ireland. I am very, very much great distribution company called looking forward to it, it’s going to Cargo Records, who distribute the be fantastic album, so that’s the only thing we

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Matthew Greywolf

Interviewed by Lee Walker You guys seem to have been around for years now. How did the band start off?

I think that the actual starting point for Powerwolf was when Attila Dorn joined in and he immediately wrote the material for our first album “Return in Bloodred “. We recorded the album quite early in the bands history after a few months of existence. I think the time we spent at Fredman recording the album was the time that the basic’s of the band was formed.

Where did the name Powerwolf come from?

I think it was in the early days of the band that the animal the wolf had a lot of adjectives connected to heavy metal. The wolf is described as a dangerous animal, a wryly animal that can not be contained. Its quite a mystique animal and a proud and independent animal all of these characteristics can refer to heavy metal music which was why we picked the wolf as the crest animal.

Maiden for example always had covers with Eddie on them. It was just the concept that we wanted to continue. There was an exception on “Bible of the Beast “ which had no wolf on the artwork so its not written in stone that we will have to use the wolf but in most of the cases it was obvious to use it.

Last year you released ‘The History of Heresy Part 2 and now you are close to releasing ‘Blessed & Possessed’ so its fair to say that The wolf theme runs deep you haver been pretty busy. What throughout many of your releases. can you tell the Firebrand readers Was this intentional? about the new album?

Yes definitely it came to life . Iron Yes we have been really busy. We

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didn’t really work a lot musically on the re-releases The History of Heresy Parts 1 & 2. When Metalblade came up with the idea to to re-release the first four albums we was sitting together as a band and thinking about how we can make these re-releases something really special and something really worth the money and so it was a very quick idea that was born one night in the tour bus that we would write a kind of book to each of the boxsets. The idea was born in a minute and several weeks later I would find myself at my desk with hundreds of pictures and notes from tours thinking what the hell did I agree on so it was a project that kept us busy for almost 12 months. When it was finished we immediately switched to writing our ‘Blessed & Possessed’ album. 2014 was a very busy year for us.

(laughter) I would compare albums to say old family pictures they are just a document of time and if I look back on our first album “Return In Bloodred” is a document of what Powerwolf was about 11 years ago. Its very hard to compare. Its obvious over the years we have developed a trade mark sound which was not that channelled or sophisticated on the first one or two releases. The point is it is very hard to compare the person you are today to the person you were ten years ago.

What is important for me is if I were to compare the atmosphere we wrote the album with then I would say we are still as motivated as we were is our early days, maybe a bit more and that is what counts most to me.

Is there any one particular song should we look out for on the new album?

Being released on the back of ‘The Not for me as I love all of the History of Heresy’ 1 & 2 it is songs. I think the album contains a inevitable that it is going to be lot of songs that will be great directly compared to your earlier songs to play live which is most releases. How do you think it important for me. I tend to lean measures up? towards seeing an album as a It’s very hard to say because I think total and not seeing the parts of it. those older releases are, well, old

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I know that you have got a lot of European festivals lined up later in the year, I noticed Wacken straight off the bat, can we expect to see you in the UK at any point this year?

Not for festival appearance but we are going to play a London show on our upcoming tour in Autumn. I think it is in September that we are in London. Additionally I hope that there will be more UK shows coming up in support of ‘Blessed & Possessed’ we are really planning to do so because we are quite aware that the fact that we have been touring way too little in the UK in the past three years and we definitely want to play more shows there.

Final question, do you have messages that you would like to pass onto the fans?

Stay Blessed & Possessed’ on heavy metal.

Support from - Reds’ Cool look forward to and the set was evenly split between songs from 'Bad Story' and an as yet unnamed album due for release later this year. There is a rumour, however, that the new album will be entitled 'Press Hard' but that is yet to be confirmed.

Like the previous tour Reds'Cool opened up with an energetic performance and this year it was no different. The new songs certainly had an edge about them that lent absolutely nothing to other Russian bands, this was Reds'Cool pure and simple playing decadent Western style rock! Three songs So, a year on and UFO tour once from the forthcoming album again accompanied by Reds'Cool, kicked off the set; 'Dangerous One', the 'uncompromising hard-rock 'My Way' and 'The Way I Am'. The band' from St. Petersburg. Last band have developed a style not time around Reds'Cool had not unlike that of the Ted Nugent of old long released their second album, with Slava Spark's vocals leading 'Bad Story' with the set comprising the guitars of Lu Smirnov and several songs from the album.

Sergey Fedotov and all this ably Now we have a new release to backed up by Dee Pronin on bass

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and Andrey Kruglov on drums.

Three songs from 'Bad Story' followed and then a final burst of four songs switching between the last album and the new album. The band have put a lot of time and energy into their music which deserves your support so go and see them and make up your own minds.

UFO came of age with their 21st studio album, 'Conspiracy of Stars', released in February this year; this was one stop on the tour to support that release. Phil Mogg emerged on stage minus a front tooth which looked a little odd, especially from the press pit, and didn't do too much to help his diction as the band launched into 'We Belong to the Night', the only track from tonight's performance taken from 1982's 'Mechanix' album. Songs from the last two releases ('A Conspiracy of Stars' and 'Seven Deadly') made up a small part (just a third) of the entire set and while it's great to hear the classics from the 1970's

and 1980's, for me hearing more of the new stuff live is preferable.

The lack of emphasis on recent material didn't seem to bother the full house standing in front of the band as the band pumped out songs from 'The Wild, The Willing and the Innocent', 'Obsession', 'Lights Out', 'Force It' and 'Phenomenon', finishing up with the ever-present 'Shoot, Shoot' from 'Force It' and 'Doctor, Doctor' from 'Phenomenon'. The set, taken as a whole, was brilliant, the quality of the sound less so with repeated feedback spoiling what should have been a celebration of the bands coming of age album. While the stage engineers ran around trying to sort out the sound problems the rest of band got on with things as best they could. Some of Vinnie Moore's guitar solos were excellent, if a little thin sounding at times, with Rob De Luca's bass coming on strong but both Phil Mogg and Paul Raymond seemed less than comfortable up on stage at times. Perhaps that was simply frustration at the problems with the sound.

afford the dental work, otherwise there's always his Christmas list....all he wants for Christmas is a tooth, a whole tooth and nothing but a tooth. UFO are still a top band, even when things don't go quite to plan, and the new album is a testament to their success and longevity. They'll be back!

Apart from a couple of disparaging comments, heard as the crowd exited the venue, relating to the sound the evening was a rousing success with the fans getting most of the iconic songs they wanted to hear. I hope Phil Mogg makes enough from this tour to

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Taryn Terrell Interviewed by Lee Walker 34

First most obvious question that I’m expected to ask you really is what drew you to becoming a wrestler?

1o years ago I went to a couple of shows, I was a college cheerleader and I had done powerlifting competitively, I was sat in the front row I remember watching the girls matches and saying “oh my God that’s it that is what I want to do with my life” I had no idea of where I was going or what I was going to do but I wasn’t too interested in what I was doing at university which was a marketing degree and I wanted to pursue becoming a wrestler.

between the way they operate?

I think at the end of the day everybody wants to be the best wrestler that they can be. I have gone from FCW which was more of a training ground, ECW I didn’t wrestler there I was a General Manager and then to TNA where I was as a referee when I first started and then I was able to really break out of my shell as a wrestler and become Knockouts champ which was the most important thing of all. From

case of them being just another paycheck?

I think that everything is a part of a journey I don’t think they hurt me whatsoever or helped me in any way. It was all part of the journey that I am on. I am proud of everything that I have done and think that one thing led me to another and in a way giving me the confidence to try out for the Divas.

I was actually doing a shoot for Playboy when the Divas was casting and it helped me get in to the audition. One thing leads to another I don’t think that anything like that would ever hurt.

One of the other things which popped up on Wikipedia, and did surprise me to be honest with you, was a reference that you was a vegan at one point. From I think 2008 – 2010 I think.

Given the physical nature of what you do for me at least it seemed a strange lifestyle choice. I could understand the Throughout the years reasons but with the that you have been wrestling and powerlifting wrestled I wouldn’t like to that you were doing. It even guess how many just seems a very strange matches. What was your choice there. Was there favourite wrestling match any specific reasons you participated in and behind it? why?

Originally my reason My hands down favourite behind it was that I felt was Slammiversary bad for the animals. I love 2013 with Gail Kim as animals and I feel bad for the Last Knockout them. At the time that Standing match. There was my reasoning behind was something magical it but in the end I couldn’t about that match I would say. I just travelling between the companies I take it any more. I broke my arm remember being so connected can say that TNA is such an while I was a Vegan but I don’t with the fans and being so awesome company and I am, know if that had something to do connected with the energy in the super stoked that I get to with it perhaps was I wasn’t building and everything about that represent TNA as a Knockouts getting enough nutrients? I know match was incredible. I remember champion. there are ways to do it but that I was on such a high for two personally though I love meat. I weeks after it. It was the most One of the many things that I eventually could not take it any incredible match that I ever had. looked at when putting together more and I ended up having a questions for you is your Wikipedia medium rare streak to end my Over the years you have been part page. There is a mention on there Veganism. of several wrestling organisations about the pre wrestling Playboy FCW, WWE and most recently shots that you did. Did they helped TNA. Are there many differences or hinder you at all or was it a Did you develop any favourite wrestlers?

I think female wise I thought Trish Stratus was amazing. I started out training with Natlalia and she is incredible . There is so many amazing people to watch but she was incredible. I could go on and on about who’s great.

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Over the years there has been a clear, almost evolution for want of a better phrase, of the way women in wrestling, going from usage as managers or valets if you want to call them that, with occasional wrestling match being thrown in now and then and obviously now there are divisions as well as belts and a lot more emphasis placed upon female wrestlers. What do you put all that down to?

I think that we are amazing athletes and we all work really hard to be the best at what we do.

We have the guys and they are so good we can learn from them and I think its been years and years of watching women excel and women like Lita and Trish who became great workers and watching them and watching people willing to get behind them and it ups the bar for the next group of women that come in and we get that push there is a cool group of girls that are really coming in and everyone is stepping it up, everybody pushed everybody and its really cool to be a a part of that and not only am I a part of it I am a champion so I know for myself that I pushed super hard and I continue to push hard. At the end of the day it leads to better female athletes which leads to better wrestling as a whole.

one is very live and one id done over several takes but you don’t want to do it again you want to get it done right first time.

Favourite film to have worked in?

I think “This Is The End” with Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, and Danny McBride. Those guys are so funny.

There was several times that I was on set and I almost bit a hole in my tongue because I was trying not to laugh. That was the most fun ever that I had on a set.

As well the movie work and wrestling you are also a mother.

Do you find there to be many challenges to make it all work?

Yes in the beginning I was struggling to find a way to balance everything. It takes up a lot of time and takes up a lot of energy and is the most amazing thing in the world. It is a learning process of one when you take time out from work because the majority of my time I want to go to my daughter so it is an interesting way to have to balance life and living life in the public eye I don’t want her in the public eye so its definitely a little hard and certainly not your typical situation but its really cool and what I do, and being in film and being with TNA gives me the opportunity to spend way more time with her than I would doing One of the things I know that you anything else. I am so thankful for also do is a lot of movie work. Are the position that I am in. Its really there many comparisons between cool. the two industries?

There are some I would say. I am With you current role in the involved mainly in entertainment Dollhouse being quoted as your but its definitely very different first time performing in a “heel” when you are doing something live role. Are you settling into it ok or is and when you are doing something it something you are still getting that’s being filmed. I can say that use to? wrestling is definitely scarier for Oh I love it. I could not be happier me than what I would ever deal or more comfortable I think that with on a film set. The type of this is me. Its definitely me out pressure that you are put under there I never felt more wrestling in front of thousands of comfortable and more alive in the people is unmatched. I can go on ring and I am stoked for myself set and jump of a building and light and for Jade and Marti and it myself on fire and be hit by a car really a cool time. The Dollhouse is and I have no problems with doing amazing and I feel bad for that because I can handle the everybody that gets in our way. pressure and that way I can The announcement of Billy Corgan defiantly say it helps. They are very working with TNA has caused different industries its weird as quite a stir. I know its early days

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yet but has there been much difference within the organisation?

Billy Corgan is awesome I have actually known him for quite a few years. We met years and years ago. He has been involved in wrestling for a long time. He is a wrestling fan and its really cool because he came in and he knows everything that is going on. He is well read and he has really great ideas and he is super hands on so I think he is an amazing asset to TNA. He is making it a more exciting place. It was already exciting but he adds something new and fresh to it which is awesome. Its really cool because we have the Maximum Impact 8 tour coming January in Manchester, London and Birmingham and I think all the fans there will really feel that. They will feel this freshness and the new excitement and everyone is going to be hyped than ever before so I think it is a really cool time in TNAs history.

Final question what do you have planned for the future?

To continue challenging the Knockouts and to continue being the Knockouts Champion. Those are my few goals for the near future and then anything else further than I will obviously go along with it.

Entertainment Wrestling Association https://www.facebook.com/ entertainmentwrestling Wrestling British Bash VI July 25 High Wycombe Arts 4 Every1

EPW Wrestling https://www.Facebook.Com/ Epwamericanwrestling EPW Ellesmere Port June 13 Ellesmere Port – Civic Hall EPW Harrogate June 14 Harrogate Rossette Sports Centre EPW Shildon July 24 Shildon Civic Hall EPW – Female Pro Wrestling July 25 High Wycombe Arts 4 Every1 EPW Middlesbrough September 26 Middlesborough Rainbow Leisure Centre EPW Shildon October 23 Shildon Civic Hall

Live in Dumbarton June 06 Dumbarton Meadow Centre PBW Live in Maybole June 26 Maybole Town Hall Rumble On The Drum 2 August 07 & 08 Inverness Belladrum Festival Live in Larbert October 10 Larbert Dobbie Hall Maximum Impact 2015 October 24 Greenock Town Hall Live in Airdrie November 14 Airdrie Town Hall Live in Dumbarton November 28 Dumbarton Meadow Centre

Preston City Wrestling

www.prestoncitywrestling.com PCW Showdown June 05 Preston, Evoque - SOLD OUT Free Pcw Show Tribute To The Troops 2 July 11 Preston Flag Market Fourth Anniversary Show London Wrestling Convention August www.psievents.co.uk 07 Preston Evoque June Free Bank Holiday Bash 20-21 London Grange Hotel August Tower Bridge 29 Blackpool St Johns Square PCW Live 2 NWA September www.fightnationwrestling.co.uk 25 Preston Evoque Wrestling: Fight! Nation Fright Night 4 July October 03 Eastbourne Atlantis 31 Preston Evoque

PBW Wrestling www.pbwwrestling.com

Progress Wrestling

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www.progresswrestling.com ENDVR: 11 June 21 Islington The Garage

Rockstar Spuds Progress Wrestling School Training Camp https://www.facebook.com/ ProgressWrestlingSchool July 13 Beginner Level Camberwell Progress Wrestling School 14, 15 & 16 Advanced Level Camberwell Progress Wrestling School

Southside Wrestling www.southsidewrestling.co.uk Great Expectations July 18 Stevenage Arts And Leisure Centre Day of reckoning 6 August 08 Nottingham Rushcliffe Arena Menace II Society V August 08 Nottingham Rushcliffe Arena Retribution IV August 09 St Neots Priory Centre 5th Anniversary show October 24 Stevenage Gordon Craig Theatre Young Tigers Cup November 01 Huntingdon Commemoration Hall

Hotel featuring iggy Pop How The Cookie Crumbles

1

Von Hertzen Brothers Hold Me Up

2

Anti-Clone Take This Pill (Uncut)

3

Graveyard Rockstars The Killing

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Take The throne Artificial Heart

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House Of Lords Indestructable

1

WorldView The Chosen Few

2

Corvus Chasing Miracles

3

TEN Isla De Muerta

4

Freedom Call Eternity — 666 Weeks beyond eternity

5

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Magnum

Escape From The Shadow Garden - Live 2014

Record Label

Steamhammer/SPV

Release Date

11 May 2015

Reviewer

Phil Kane

Highlight

Vigilante

As English as a jug of real ale in a country tavern, ‘The Hay Wain’ and the “Once more unto the breach, dear friends…” speech from Shakespeare’s Henry V (Act III, Scene 1, if yers wanna be clever), Magnum are almost as battered, bruised and war weary as their motherland, one of her great survivors. They've had their ups and downs, even called a day on the odd occasion, yet here they are after all these years, still defiant, standing proudly to the right of pomp's resurgent line. Melodic rock's equivalent of the Morris dance?

Perhaps. Theirs is a sound that few care to attempt replicating, as unique and recognisable as a Merlin engine at full bore, but hey nonny nonny it most certainly is not and to prove the point, they give us another live album.

The first thing to say about ‘Escape From The Shadow GardenLive 2014’ is that the title is a tad misleading as only three songs are from the studio album of the same name. Otherwise, the material is split fairly equally between tracks from

their latest three records and highlights from their earlier days.

Kicking off with the reliable chug of newie 'Live 'Til You Die', the album shows a band enjoying a renewed vigour, graceful in its collective dotage, creatively almost matching its classic periods. The first six tracks see Magnum thunder through a potted summing up of their recent creative past, until finally they mercifully put the old guard out of its misery with 'How Far Jerusalem', here extended to a ten minute melodic pomp rock juggernaut, proceedings finishing off with a rousing, indispensible 'Kingdom Of Madness'. The modern material retains the quaint charm of yore, quality stuff that despite a little stodge and modern beef possesses an arc of trajectory that carries it back stylistically to those earlier, sadly missed glory years. Yet, good as the new material is, it's the old stuff that still holds the high ground in Magnum's canon, 'All England's Eyes' summing up the bands ethos, 'La

Corvus

Mort Dansant' probably the best song they've ever written, 'Vigilante' tougher than the original. Bob Catley’s lyrics forego the usual swords and sorcery nonsense of the genre, choosing instead the pastoral linguistics and battle field phrasing of ye merry olde Englande, the melodies stirring, his voice toughened by age, ragged, still a little pitchy but none the worse for it. Tony Clarkin’s majestic guitar work is robustly dependable, unfussy, he was never a shredder, thankfully; doesn’t need to be, his style giving Catley the perfect platform from which to soar. The engine room of Al Barrow and Harry James keep it nailed to the post, Mark Stanway's keys complimenting the Rodney Matthews imagery. The fact that title plays a tad fast and loose is more than compensated for by the contents quality, but there is a question still remaining unanswered; do we really need another live Magnum album?

Chasing Miracles

Record Label

Skyfire Records

Release Date

1 June 2015

Reviewer

Stephen Brophy

Highlight

How Long

Corvus are a relatively new UK Melodic Rock band, containing a number of experienced and talented musicians that have been involved various other projects. The album Chasing Miracles contains thirteen songs that are not only strong, but also interesting and certainly a lot different to the majority of releases on the market at the moment. The recording of the album itself began a couple of years ago and it's brilliant that the material will be finally be available for all to hear.

bands that sound quite similar is the vocals of Ciaran James, and that sound manages to change the the landscape here completely, a little bit more classic Rock than what you normally associate with AOR bands, and admittedly it took me a couple of listens to get comfortable with the sound on this album, but it all comes together nicely. A mention also needs to go to the backing vocals on this album which add a lot to some of the songs. Everything here is clean and crisp, the phrasing, the delivery, guitars, keys the lot.There are One of the things that makes some excellent songs here like the Corvus quite unique in a world full of opener "All I Need", "Can't Get

42

Enough" and my personal favourite "How Long". Along with the title track and the, what some may seem out of place, well constructed instrumental "Retribution" there is something here for everyone.

Perhaps the only thing that doesn't push the album to top marks for me is that is runs through at pretty much the same pace after a rocking start, maybe we actually get too much here and eleven tracks would have worked just as well, but that's a minor point.

Corvus have tonnes of potential and this album is a great starting point, I look forward to hearing where they go next.

TEN

Isla De Muerta

Record Label

Rocktopia Records

Release Date

20 May 2015

Reviewer

Rob Birtley

Highlight

Karnak - The Valley Of The Kings

Isla de Muerta follows hot on the heels of the return to form and critically acclaimed 2014 opus Albion (an album I unusually gave 10/10). Named after the mythical 'Island Of The Dead' from pirate legend the title hints at piratical, seafaring theme. Reinforced by the album artwork. The line-up also features the same three guitar ensemble that made the sound of Albion so huge. So from the onset the dice were loaded in Gary Hughes and Co.’s favour but did they deliver the goods? Read on to find out. The instrumental ‘Buccaneers’ raises the curtain in cinematographic fashion. Conjuring up visions of daring do on the Spanish Main, cannon fire and sails billowing in the sunset. This is a fine scene setter for the classic Ten

set-piece that follows ‘Dead Men Tell No tales’ which it segues into. All the elements are there story telling on a grand scale merging myth and music much in the same way as ’A Smugglers Tale’ from the last album and you don’t need to be psychic to fathom out the two songs were written in close proximity. Next up is a hook-laden piece of melodic rock ‘Tell Me What To Do’ which is also the first single. ‘Acquiesce’ takes a harder tone and features some vivid guitar interplay. It also illustrates yet again what a fine wordsmith Gary is.

The pace is then slowed by the haunting ballad ‘This Love’. Gary wrings the every last drop of emotion out of his vocal which is echoed in the guitar solos. ‘Karnak/ The Valley Of The Kings’ follows the path of the opening track ‘Karnak’

Freedom Call

being the instrumental opening for ‘Valley Of The King’ and weaves a powerful tale of ancient Egypt set out as only Ten can. Now here comes the hard bit putting a feeling into words. This album is not as good as Albion. True it has a couple of stirring set-piece songs and the rest is really accomplished melodic rock. Diehard Ten fans for the most part will be more than happy. But for my ear it lacks tracks with the grandeur of ‘Ten Fathoms Deep’, the breath of ‘Name Of The Rose’ the sweep of ‘The Robe’. It’s Ten for the Firefest crowd, it’s a safe bet and for me just misses the mark. It could do with a little bit more swashbuckling and a little less sentimentality.

666 Weeks Beyond Eternity

Record Label

Steamhammer/SPV

Release Date

27 April 2015

Reviewer

Rob Birtley

Highlight

Land Of The Light (Live 2011)

Power Metallers Freedom Call were formed in 1998 in Nurnberg in Germany the current line-up is Chris Bay - Vocals, Keyboards, Guitars, Lars Rettkowitz - Guitars, Backing Vocals, Ilker Ersin - Bass, Backing Vocals and Ramy Ali Drums, Backing Vocals. 666 Weeks Beyond Eternity is the name of the reissued and re-mastered edition of their classic 2002 studio album Eternity, (which was released coincidently I don’t think 666 weeks before this album), along with a bonus CD including live tracks, acoustic tracks, special versions of their songs as well as a new anthem written solely for this release. All done just before they embark on a tour as special guests to Sonata

Arctica. 666 Weeks Beyond Eternity is larger than life; slightly tongue in cheek and wonderfully ostentatious. These songs don’t just materialise, they bound on stage ostentatiously with grandeur that makes Royal Hunt’s ‘Life To Die For’ seem bare naked acoustic. ‘Eyes Of The World’ makes Dragonforce sound like they have training wheels fitted.

The ballads ‘Bleeding Heart’ and ‘Flame In The Night’ have all the force of the Scorpion’s slower numbers but with more bravado.

Indisputably no album of this genre is complete without a Manowar-like battle hymn to Metal, and this one has two ‘Metal Invasion’ and ‘Warriors’ in the ranks. Disc two starts with the

43

new track ‘666 Weeks Beyond Eternity’ which is a typical Freedom Call song and is as much fun, melodic and uplifting as it is driving Metal. It also contains 3 covers from Eternity done by fellow Power Metallers Powerworld, Neonfly and Hannes Braun as well as live tracks from 2004s Live Invasion and 2011s Live In Hellvetia. All in all this is quite a package and a must for all the fans of the band. Riotous, overblown and full in your face yes but you have to admire the style, panache and audacity with which they pull it off. It’s a release that left me smiling for more than one reason and it was never dull.

Seasick Steve

Sonic Soul Surfer

Record Label

There’s A Dead Skunk Records

Release Date

23 March 2015

Reviewer

Phil Kane

Highlight

Swamp Dog

When Seasick Steve, Steven Wold to his ma, appeared seemingly from out of nowhere on our tellies in 2006 at the behest of Jools Holland's new year’s Hootenanny, he was a revelation. Playing a trancy, rough assed country blues on an old three string electric guitar (his "3-string trance wonder"), a voice as old as the blues itself and a stomp foot groove (his own foot to be precise, the "Mississippi drum machine"), he opened up blues and country roots music, and his then new 'Dog House Music' album, to whole new generations. He hasn't looked back since, becoming a firm UK and European festival favourite, getting people of all ages to shake their tushes to a dirty groove that had almost been polished out of existence.

Strangely he hasn't seen the same success in his native USA, a Warner Bros exec telling him they'd "got one of him in every state of the Union", obviously missing the point.

There may well be one in every state, but that executive missed the fact that few come close to connecting people with the visceral, life affirming dancability of the blues like Steve does. It’s their loss.

Having dallied with the likes of John Paul Jones, Jack White, Nick Cave and Ruby Turner (yes, really), seventh album 'Sonic Soul Surfer' sees him dispense with the big names (well, almost, Luther Dickinson still gets in on the act) and go some ways back to where he started, recording it with old pal drummer Dan Magnusson and a few beers at home on his farm. Where the last few albums have sounded comparatively refined (and I use the word with extreme caution), this reverts back to his rugged, down home and grubbily rootsy groove, throwing in folk of the Appalachians, not a little swamp, some stomping trance beats and a shed full of that late evening porch blues thing found anywhere in the

Worldview

confederacy. Raw, sometimes almost unhinged, using little more than homemade diddley bows, old guitars, banjos and a whole load of very little else, ‘Sonic Soul Surfer’ is literally elemental, the man himself a force of nature, his less-is-more approach sometimes possessing a power even the most artillery fuelled full on metal bands would find hard to match. I could go through the highlights, but if you took the middle section from fourth track ‘In Peaceful Dreams’ to tenth ‘We Be Moving’, you’ll pretty much hear the full spread of this album and its mix of country, surfer blues and rock. Basically showing us how basic is done, Steve has again given you the perfect album with which to spend that hot lazy afternoon in the back yard, beer in hand, a big blue sky over your head.

The Chosen Few

Record Label

M24 Music Group

Release Date

25 May 2015

Reviewer

Rob Birtley

Highlight

The Chosen Few

Worldview is a powerhouse Prog Metal band that is made up of musicians from iconic Christian bands such as Sacred Warrior, Deliverance, Recon and Vengeance Rising. The Line-up is Rey Parra Lead Vocals, George Rene Ochoa Guitars, Keyboards & Background Vocals, Todd Libby - Bass guitar & Keyboards and Johnny Gonzales Drums & Percussion. Their objective is to bombard the world with their music whilst delivering a no compromise message. The Chosen Few is their debut album and has luminaries such as Oz Fox (Stryper) playing lead guitar, Les Carlsen (Bloodgood) guest vocal, and Jimmy P. Brown (Deliverance) backing vocals swelling the ranks.

The work starts with ‘Mortality’ it’s a stark warning of the fleeting nature of life. Set in a cinematic landscape Dream Theater like in scale with a middle eastern backdrop. Next up is ‘Illusions of Love’ and we are into the realm of Queensrÿche. Powered by Todd Libby’s rumbling bass line and adorned with aggressive backing growls to produce a weighty Gothic feel. ‘‘The Mirror’ maintains the darker momentum, scary and dangerous with austere symphonic elements that give rise to a trudging outlook hinting of self-doom. Parra’s vocal delivers with almost Dio-like intensity. Back In Time’ opens with a sumptuous violin line and evolves into a refined melodic hard rocker with an eighties commercial flavor.

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Armand Melnbardis’s piano opens ‘The Chosen Few’ with Niki Bente providing the female vocal. This stunning ballad rekindles Bloodgood ballads like ‘Top Of The Mountain’ and ‘Changing Me’ it enchants and captivates pulling you in. This is an album that shreds to the bone, a rhythm section that won’t be beat, and a vocal tour de force at its core all done on the grand scale.

Production glistens with clarity and depth producing a balance of opulent refinement and the unmistakable power. Topped off with great songs full of meaning it’s almost the complete package.

Deep Purple

Long Beach 1971

Record Label

earMUSIC

Release Date

9 March 2015

Reviewer

Phil Kane

Highlight

Strange Kind Of Woman

Oh joy, I've had this gig on tape for years. ‘Long Beach 1971’ has been available before, but not officially in its entirety as far as I can recall, so the old worn out boot has been getting retrieved from the archive for the odd airing, y'know, on birthdays, bank holidays etc... Now it’s finally on CD, oh joy indeed.

I wonder what the party ready audience thought of this set at the time. Sandwiched between Southern Comfort and the headlining Faces, Deep Purple were well on course for world domination when this gig was recorded at the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California, on July 30, 1971 (for broadcast on radio KUSE 91.5 FM if you must know). Perhaps due to the support slot status, Purple sound loose, frenetic, eager to rip it up experimentally. Gillan comfortably fences with an on fire Blackmore,

who in turn swaps licks with Jon Lord on keyboards as they play through extended versions of ‘Speed King’, ‘Strange Kind Of Woman’, ‘Child In Time’ and ‘Mandrake Root’ (at 27 minutes, very nearly outstaying it’s welcome, despite threatening to rip into ‘Highway Star’ two thirds of the way through. Sadly it doesn't). The sound quality isn't the best you'll hear (it was 1971 after all), the balance variable, Gillan’s vox too far forward in the mix, Glover and Paice suffering drop-outs, and whoever did the tracking left song introductions on the end of previous tracks; that's not irritating if you've plumped for the song-a-side double vinyl format, is it?

Still, it’s good enough. With a short set list of only four songs, it's a seventy minute plus tour de force of frenzied wigged out hard rock, reputedly designed to give Rod and

Asia

da boys something to think about. I suspect the Faces crew were wondering what the fuck was going on, 'the 'heads' meanwhile self levitating in weed induced ecstasy.

With none of the songs weighing in at less than eleven minutes, this album isn't for the novice, For the toppa live experience,’ Made In Japan’ has to be the go-to album. So, for the diehards then, but even some of those are getting a bit fed up with the flood of archive recordings getting released recently.

Yet, to illustrate just how far off the mark some of today’s resurrectionist wannabes are, ‘Long Beach 1971’ is nothing short of revelatory and not a good album to be sharing the review pile with.

XXX Live in San Francisco

Record Label

Frontiers Records

Release Date

19 June 2015

Reviewer

Rob Birtley

Highlight

Only Time Will Tell

Recorded on November 7, 2012 at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, this new ASIA live release features the band’s Classic line-up of Geoff Downes, Steve Howe, Carl Palmer and John Wetton. Performing songs from their first two albums and selected tracks from the reunion albums, including the single from the XXX album, ‘Face on the Bridge’. The curtain rises with the strains of Elgar’s Nimrod from the Enigma Variations as an opening it has to be said the very Englishness and scale of the music tells a lot about how Asia view themselves. This segues into the clarion call of ‘Only Time Will Tell’ from their 1982 debut album. From the first note you are reminded what masters of

their craft these guys are. Perhaps this is the classic Asia love lost song delivered with just the right of ennui and British stiff upper lip.

Another timeless classic from 1982 follows ‘Wildest Dreams’. It’s Asia writ large in full story telling mode almost apocryphal, with a sense of grandeur. ‘Face On the Bridge’ the first single from the 2012 release XXX is next. Now I am on record in saying XXX wasn’t the band’s strongest album but this slightly faster tempo version does make more sense of this song. A nice addition to the set is ‘Easy Ride’ which was the B side of ‘Heat Of The Moment’ outside of the UK so it’s a bit of a rarity.

‘Pyramidology’ and ‘The Golden Mean’ are stunning acoustic guitar

45

numbers were Steve Howe runs the whole gamut of his silky silks.

‘Holy War’ from the 2010 Omega album complete with a Palmer drum solo is superb. There is only one way an Asia show can end with the two epics from the debut album ‘Sole Survivor’ and lastly ‘Heat Of The Moment’ which just serve as a reminder of what a magnificent album “Asia” is. As I write this news that John Wetton has just left hospital after the removal of a 1kg tumour has come out. Let’s all of us wish him a speedy recovery as this release only makes me want to as Asia Live ‘Time And Again’ a fine release capturing a Great band at Full Force.

The Crunch

Brand New Brand

Record Label

Self Release

Release Date

30 April 2015

Reviewer

Lee Walker

Highlight

Solid Rock Steady

With a sound which screams 70s old school punk ala The Clash and co The Crunch return with new album cunningly titled ‘Brand New Brand’.

Weighing in at twelve tracks ‘Brand New Brand’ continues where the earlier single ‘Neon Madonna’ left off with a mix of no frills, highly addictive old school punk with the album screaming to be added to your drive time list and played at a very silly volume with your foot slammed down hard on the accelerator as you hurtle down the motorway while singling along to the anthemic choruses.

Had this release went out in the late 70s or even during the punk reform that the likes of

Green Day kick Started during the 90s you would be tripping over songs from this album where ever you went but the question is in 2015 is the music scene ready to embrace these sounds again?

Time will only tell but this is one album that you don’t want to leave to chance so go and grab it now while you have the chance.

House Of Lords

Indestructible

Record Label

Frontiers Records

Release Date

8 June 2015

Reviewer

Rob Birtley

Highlight

Pillar Of salt

I’m not into numerology but the number 10 looms large with this new release. Indestructible is the band’s 10th studio album and this particular incarnation of House Of Lords has been together for 10 years. The question on my mind was would this album explode in the manner of the harder edged Cartesian Dreams and Big Money or be another damp be another damp squib like Precious Metal?

That said expect classic melodic hard rock with a strong metal edge, great singing and guitar pyrotechnics. After a medieval choral opening ‘Go To Hell’ erupts with driving rhythm combining power and melody with heavy riffs and lyrical solos framed by soaring vocals and an epic chorus. All in all

a great start. Next up is the title track ‘Indestructible’ which carries on the driving rock like a freight train out of control. ‘Pillar Of Salt’ follows. Suddenly its Cheap Trick meets Enuff Z'Nuff with the same 60’s Beatles vibe going on. It’s not so much of taking the foot of the pedal as going into Melodic overdrive the pace slows but the beat goes on. No surprise here that the label has chosen this track for streaming. ‘100mph’, ‘Die To Tell’ and ‘Ain't Suicidal’ are fist pumping in-your-face rockers complimented with solid arrangements, powerful performances and excellent guitar work the solo in 'Ain't Suicidal’ being a prime example. ‘Call My Bluff’ and ‘We Will Always Be One’

46

continue the ballad/anthem theme; hook laden AOR garnished with intricate solos for the Zippo in the air moment.

Thankfully Indestructible sees House Of Lords taking a step back from the brink that was Precious Metal proving that they are not at any ones beck and call.

Indestructible delivers well-crafted, well-played and expansive hard rock with huge melodies, immense arrangements and with incredible performances. It’s an album I know I will find myself delving into again and again so if you like you Rock Melodic and on a grand scale but need a harder edge why don’t you treat yourself.

Unleashed

Dawn Of The Nine

Record Label

Nuclear Blast

Release Date

24 April 2015

Reviewer

Stephen Brophy

Highlight

Let The Hammer Fly

Unleashed for me have always been one of the heavyweight names in the Death Metal scene, since their inception in the early 90's the Swedes have managed to release a number of top class albums such as Where No Life Dwells, Sworn Allegiance, Midvinterblot and As Yggdrasil Trembles, but that's not to say that there haven't been many highlights on their other releases.

Should you be unfamiliar with the band they play a brand of Melodic Death Metal containing a groove that at times is really infectious, some of the riffs just grab you and sweep you away to the lands and seas of Vikings.

Following on from the

excellent Odalheim (2012), there are some real beasts on this album, "Where Is Your God Now", "Where Churches Once Burned" and the the bludgeoning "Let The Hammer Fly" which is just a killer track, for me I think the bass runs, blinding drums and Johnny's vocals just bring me back to this track over and over. Being 100% honest the album didn't rip my throat out on first listen, but the more I've played it the more I've gotten into it, and this is a super album. With each successive release Unleashed have managed to become more polished and possibly more accessible without losing their sound and aggressive nature and Dawn Of The Nine is

Gothic Fate

their most polished release without any doubt, this is modern Melodic Death Metal played with passion, and well made.

Some fans may look back to a slightly more grim sounding band, but personally I welcome how they have grown over the years, Dawn Of The Nine is my favourite release from this genre so far in 2015, excellent job all around and just get your teeth into this album, the taste gets sweeter the more you listen, definitely a keeper, the music is addictive and more than solid throughout and the vocals are as always top notch.

Illuminati

Record Label

Skol Records

Release Date

29 May 2015

Reviewer

Gavin Griffiths

Highlight

Mental Damage

There’s a saying that goes “Don’t judge a book by its cover”… it’s also strongly suggested you don’t judge a band by their name either.

Formed in Hamburg, Germany, Gothic Fate are in fact everything but gothic, as this reviewer found out upon hitting the play button on their newest album; ‘Illuminati’. Apparently recorded all the way back in 2004, it finally gets to see the light of day thanks to Skol Records…was it worth the eleven year wait?

We start off with ‘The Enemy’ and after a quick, enjoyably melodic intro it becomes clear we’re dealing with a classic inspired heavy metal outfit. The overly emphasised vocals are present, as is traditional with the genre, drawn

out and bold but that’s not derogatory of Darius Schüler, he’s got a fair set of pipes, that you can’t deny, and musically it’s fairly straightforward in terms of usage of riffs. Coming from the same place as artists such as Helloween it’s easy to see where the inspiration lies. Other tracks such as ‘Bleed’, ‘Deny The Gods’ and ‘Nightmare’ maintain the retrospective feel of the album in terms of its sound and style, easily sounding like it could of essentially been plucked right out of metal’s 80’s heyday. Guitarists Stefan Harder and Markus Brune driving the album with their duel onslaught, a few slick solo’s here and there, alongside b assist Uwe Wessel doing his best Steve Harris

47

tribute throughout., while ‘Lies’ and ‘Mental Damage’ keep things at a steady, mildly pummelling pace.

For what it’s worth, there’s nothing necessarily wrong with ‘Illuminati’ as an album looking at the genre specifically; it’s got the sound, it’s got the feel and apart from its length (at just short of an hour, it manages to feel a lot longer) it plays well. The issue here is that it came out at least twenty years too late, probably more, because as oppose to sounding nostalgic, it comes across as dated. Classic metal fans will enjoy it because they enjoy everything like this regardless, but if you’re looking for fresh and new, give it a miss.

BirdPen

In The Company Of Imaginary Friends

Record Label

JAR Records

Release Date

11 May 2015

Reviewer

Phil kane

Highlight

Alive

The sometimes overblown 'In The Company Of Imaginary Friends' meditates on the search for freedom in an increasingly unpredictable and claustrophobic world, discovering a lifeline that lets you escape the neuroses and artificial high induced lunacy of modern life, contemplating the point of view that you only get one life, so live it. “Standing at the end of the world with a smile on your face” is how the duo sums up their sound, doing it little justice; heavy shit might be nearer the mark.

You’d therefore be forgiven for expecting the resultant soundscape to convey a bleak dystopian ‘Blade Runner’ romance, though the atmosphere does get bleak, yet the contemplative ‘In The Company Of Imaginary Friends’ is surprisingly uplifting, almost spiritual; an experimental piece that is intensely atmospheric, spatial. In places jarring, the guitars do not so much

drive the piece as embellish it, the restrained vocal weary, almost forlorn. With an interesting take on the progressive, not so metallic in the traditional sense, less pastoral than the classic line, BirdPen plough a tripped out electronic furrow that Elbow touch on (‘Somewhere’), modern Anathema bathe in (everything else), the ambient trance offset by an undercurrent of urban edginess that simmers away in the background. The synth heavy 'TCTTYA' drones, the converse 'No Place Like Drone' with its sparkling guitar line doesn’t, 'Into The Blacklight' has an electronic groove bubbling under what would almost otherwise be an inner-city paean worthy of Afro Celt Sound System.

'Lost It', broken up by a segment of industrial hum, is just Floydian, ‘Alive’ builds into a buzz saw rock out where the bulk of the album’s guitar grunt resides. The duo can, and do, strip it

Dendera

back when they want especially on the spiritual 'Cell Song' and the jangling end game of 'Equal Parts Hope And Dread'. It's a big majestic ride, haunted by an upright piano and choirs, punctuated by the odd discordant metallic crescendo rendering inevitable Cold Play ‘dream pop’ comparisons purely hypothetical.

It’s not an album of instant hits, dipping in anywhere will just strip the piece of its power, though the boys haven't allowed their progressive leanings to meander aimlessly, keeping a tight rein on the groove by applying a little pop nous. For the connoisseur of fine relaxed prog then, 'In The Company Of Imaginary Friends' has a sound that is becoming as recognisably English as those old classics, perfect for night time outdoor stages under big twinkling starry skies.

Pillars of Creation

Record Label

Metalbox Records

Release Date

22 June 2015

Reviewer

Rob Birtley

Highlight

Edge Of Tomorrow

Dendera first came to my attention when another inhabitant of Portsmouth Tony Corner played a track off their debut ep We Must Fight on his show in 2011. The line-up on this album is Ashley Edison – Vocals, Steve Main – Guitars, Tony Fuller – Guitars, Bradley Edison – Bass and Andy Finch – Drums. Their sound is driven by the twin guitar attack that favours early Iron Maiden but does have Judas Priest moments, combining monumental riffs, high intensity, and massed banks of vocal harmonies with absolutely flawless production and modern elements Metal akin to Kill Switch Engage. First track ‘Claim Our Throne’ is a statement of intent and could have originated from a Machine Head album. Laced with a Sabbath type menace it’s a fine blend of old and

new. The backing vocals highlight and bring a three dimensional depth to Ashley’s voice. Track two ‘Bloodlust’ is full-frontal assault with some fearsome guitar work, dark vocals and superb drumming. It reminds me of their last album The Killing Floor but the overall sound has evolved and grown. ‘In High Tide’ leans towards Iron Maiden and has some wonderful guitar soloing and interplay.

‘Disillusioned’ has a backbone of Sabbath heaviness and the pulse of Megadeth with the counterpoint between vocal and backing vocal giving a scale and airiness that dispels the claustrophobic elements of either. ‘The Chosen One’ opens thunderous like Dehumaniser era Sabbath. Edison drops his vocal slightly into the Dio register and ups the aggression which is beautifully

48

balanced by the harmonies of the backing chorus. Final track, ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ completes a perfect circle. Explosive, with hurtling, frenzied riffs, meticulous lyrics and some prestigious changes of tempo.

It’s an epic track that quite rightly rounds of the album with great panache. In an album of only 8 tracks Dendera have gone all out for quality over quantity. The main vocal and vocal harmonies stand out and help produce a sound that is the entirely their own regardless of the influences you can hear. Only time will tell if this release is the tipping point to making a substantial breakthrough. Good as The Killing Floor was this album is in another realm entirely and really deserves some serious attention.

Nashville Pussy

Ten Years Of Pussy

Record Label

Steamhammer/SPV

Release Date

11 May 2015

Reviewer

Phil Kane

Highlight

Up The Dosage

Described by the promo bumf as "sounding like 'DC slap boxing with Lynyrd Skynyrd while Motorhead watches" (though vice versa would be more apt), Nashville Pussy are not yer average southern boogie band, oh no.

Sleaze with a real life point of view, meant for big boys ‘n’ girls, their take on southern rocka boogie metal coupled with a wryly devilish self deprecating sense of humour makes the likes of Steel Panther sound like naughty little school boys peeping up girls skirts in the play ground.

'Ten Years Of Pussy' gives you just that; the best nuggets of driven punked out rock 'n' roll from the band’s albums since 2005's 'Get Some!', with a third of the tracks taken from the rather fabulous 'Up The Dosage', the nearest the band has come to a ‘Back In Black‘ moment. Better still, if you are lucky enough to lay your hands on the two disc set, you'll get the tail end of a

blistering 2009 show recorded in Nottingham, guitarist Ron Heathman from Supersuckers guesting, finishing off the package in riotously fine style (would’ve been nice to have heard the full show, though). For the main event however, the knockabout 'Come On Come On' flips you straight in with its Mindwarp bounce, the following Motorheadish 'Rub It To Death' putting a little more on the gas. Just to give a bit of light and shade, 'Lazy Jesus' (with Lemmy, just in case you haven't got the gist) and 'Before The Drugs Wear Off' are about as close to honking country boogie as this lot get.

'I'm So High' (with Danko Jones) and ‘Ain't Your Business’ cut in some of that old Detroit arena rock fire and 'Why Why Why' captures the yobbish glee of those great old Slade days.

'The South`s To Fat To Rise Again' is just a rip roaring rock 'n' roll blast and the whole lot is finished off with the mucky nailed chapped handed blues

Captain Horizon

of 'Stone Cold Down'. You'll hear 'DC throughout, Motorhead too, even a bit of Nugent, but in essence it's all just good time Les Paul driven trailer trash boogie, built for the rough and tumble of the roadhouse, shot through with a knowing bourbon soaked humour, resulting in one of the best party time rock ‘n’ roll records you'll hear this year, and probably next too.

Graced with a largely underground cult following found mainly in Europe, Australia, and Japan, Atlanta's Nashville Pussy has built itself a formidable live reputation using only grassroots promotion bolstered by a taper-friendly gig policy.

So, as an introduction for the uninitiated 'Ten Years...' is almost perfect, hopefully giving the band the boost they richly deserve to lift them out of the cult status, bar wars veterans category.

Imitation Sun

Record Label

Rocksector Records

Release Date

11 May 2015

Reviewer

Gavin Griffiths

Highlight

It Matters To You

Formed in Birmingham in 2008, and with a combination of styles ranging from alternative indie-pop to classic prog-rock, Captain Horizon hope to make their breakthrough this year with their brand new album; ‘Imitation Sun’.

The 4-piece (consisting of Steve Whittington on vocals, Joshua Watson on guitars, bassist Alex Thomson and drummer James Merrix) take inspiration from a variety of artists such as U2, Pearl Jam, even Tool, and after honing their craft via a handful of well received EP’s, deliver a truly intricate yet accessible sound, served up in an abundance of rock ‘n’ roll swagger…

‘Can’t You See What I’ve Become’ and “Sword” open proceedings and you immediately hear the appreciation of early U2 littered throughout the tracks, especially the latter, albeit slightly grittier.

Whittington’s vocals being emotive yet coarse provide a sound which, as a whole harks back to the glory days of 1970’s rock, a very enjoyable start. ‘Ready For The Fall’ on the other hands offers a more up-beat tempo, in places paying homage to the likes of Incubus, another of the bands influences, drawing the listener in with its hypnotic flurry of guitars layered over a solid indie-based groove, while mellower offerings such as ‘My Town’ and closing

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track ‘Work Out Right’ provide ample ambience to an otherwise energetic album. Essentially, if you’re a fan of classic rock as a whole, and you’re looking for that old-school sound with a fresh lease of life, Captain Horizon are for you.

This Brummie quartet ooze a sense of modern nostalgia that could easily bridge age gaps within musical eras, and ‘Imitation Sun’ could be the album to do it.

Captain Horizon; reporting for duty…

Palace Of The King

White Bird/Burn The Sky

Record Label

Devil’s Music Records

Release Date

19 June 2015

Reviewer

Phil Kane

Highlight

Leave Me Behind

Though this Australian outfit has popped off a handful of EP's this is their first full blown album.

The Palace Of The King boys have been doing their homework.

They've taken the heavy groove of the mighty Zeppelin and Deep Purple, splicing in some of that backwoods soul of The Black Crowes, a pinch of Hughes' and Coverdale’s funk, occasionally just a little Sabbath aesthetic, Tim Henwood's glorious wailing vocal falling some way between Plant and Marriott. They've gone the same route that The Answer have been rambling down for a long time now, and showed 'em how it should be done. 'White Bird/Burn The Sky', is a heavy bruiser of a rocked up Hammond soaked white boy blues/soul album, a retro groover that decades ago would have seen them damned as copyists (just as Kingdom Come were in '88). But now? Well, with a heady mix of bottleneck, harmonica and funk tacked onto the grunting, bluesy classic rock frame, it's just a fine

piece of retro art that isn't afraid to show its heritage. ‘Devil’s Daughter' has an old smacked out Aerosmith swagger touched up with a subdued soul food keyboards. The honking harmonica of 'Get Back Up (Burn The Sky)' gilding its strutting blues and 'If It Ain't Broke' tries to go for that trade mark Crowes funky psychedelic, but the lack of finesse drags it back a bit.

The vocal melody gives 'Ain't Got Nobody To Blame But Myself' hints of that old Sabbath angst. The only thing 'White Bird/Burn The Sky' lacks is a real 'Highway Star'/'Speed King' style barnstormer, so never really shifts out of forth gear, though 'No Chance In Hell' threatens. It's a problem that sees the album run out of steam a little towards the end. That's not to say there isn't a killer track because there is, 'Leave Me Behind'. Why? 'Cos it's got sax. Not a lot, but enough to lift it a good head above the rest of this album. Just a touch of something like that doesn't half give some lift.

You could argue that there are echoes of Humble Pie and Faces in

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there too, but their lightness of touch is missing giving the lie to the promo bumf’s claim Palace Of The King "has seized the opportunity to explore every intricate corner of their influences". They haven't, not yet.

They've certainly been studying, but there's still a canny bit of work to be done.

Nowadays some might label this psych (ugh, that word), even doom, but it’s really just great tub thumping classic rock and though the boys give it a good go, they just lack the advantage of innovation the pioneers enjoyed in the 70s. That's not to say Palace Of The King hasn’t got the nous and talent to up its game though. So now they've got 'White Bird/Burn The Sky' out of their system, there's no reason not to expect the next album, and I hope there is one, to be anything less than an absolute ball breaker.

Zebrahead

The Early years Revisited

Record Label

Rude Records

Release Date

21 April 2015

Reviewer

Gavin Griffiths

Highlight

Devil On My Shoulder

Punk rock seems to be going through some sort of nostalgia trip of late… earlier this year, everyone’s favourite fun-loving pop-punks Bowling For Soup took a trip down memory lane, re-releasing early material in the first half of a re-recorded greatest hits, covering their first ten years as a band, and it would appear that they’ve started a trend…California’s Zebrahead have themselves recently released a new album; ‘The Early Years: Revisited’ and like its predecessor it pretty much does exactly what it says on the tin…let’s get re-acquainted.

As if the concept wasn’t simple enough, they’ve simplified things even further by having the track list more or less in chronological order, which I guess benefits the uninitiated, taking you on a journey through the bands

back-catalogue from the very beginning, albeit with current vocalist Matty Lewis. Tracks such as ‘Check’, ‘Jagoff’, ‘Get Back’ and ‘Someday’ from ‘Waste Of Mind’ profit most from being freshly recorded, given a new lease of life almost 20 years since they were initially released.

‘Playmate Of The Year’ is represented with its title track, for fans of New Found Glory this one, big on the pop-punk, alongside ‘Now Or Never’, before we get the heavy hitters from ‘MFZH’. ‘Rescue Me’ sounds as infectious as it’s ever been; such a huge chorus and always a highlight, probably one o f the best punk songs of the modern era, whereas on the contrary, ‘Hello Tomorrow’ just doesn’t work here. It’s lost its slick appeal, Matty’s vocals, especially during the intro just don’t live up to

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the original, turning an absolute tune into a somewhat timid affair. There is of course the obligatory new track, in this case ‘Devil On My Shoulder’, which rounds things up but despite being catchy enough in its own right, seems just a little run of the mill.

If you’re new to Zebrahead, there’s no harm in starting here if you want a crash course in the band, but ideally you’re better off going back to the beginning and investing in the originals, given the change in vocalist and all, but die-hards will love this regardless. ‘…Revisited’ serves its purpose but there aren’t enough hits here to make it a truly quality compilation.

Nordic Giants

A Séance Of Dark Delusions

Record Label

Kscope

Release Date

4 May 2015

Reviewer

Phil Kane

Highlight

Evolve Of Perish

Imagine, just for a minute; it's late at night, cold, you are driving, alone with your thoughts, the road, and the car.

No lights on the carriageway, cities drift by, people sleep, distance street lights flicker their vigilance. Detached, mind wandering, for all you know the edge of your oblivion could lay just beyond the probing fingers of your headlights.

Pretentious? Yep, and arguably so is ‘A Séance Of Dark Delusions', but it would make an apt soundtrack.

Kscope have done it again, unearthing a fabulously evocative elctro-progressive outfit that really should be bloody huge. Nordic Giants are a duo of faceless "mythical creatures" who hail from the not so Nordic or even remotely mythical Brighton. Their penchant is for playing gigs in such diverse locations as disused Victorian music halls and converted seaside bandstands, dressed as crows, accompanied by award-winning short films, multi-screen visuals, and strobe lighting. Their shows are not so much gigs as multi sensual experiences

described by some as almost religious. 'A Séance Of Dark Delusions' goes some way to illustrating why and in some ways why not.

Featuring vocal contributions from Beth Cannon, Nadine Wild-Palmer, Saturday Sun and regular contributor Freyja, 'A Séance Of Dark Delusions' is a predominantly instrumental album that fits comfortably into the modern progressive niche where Anathema reside, seemingly Kscope’s forte. Its sweeping soundscapes are apocalyptic, ‘Blade Runner’ dystopian, cold, stark. You could almost write a thesis on this album; its deep mood swings dramatically cinematic, at times plumbing the depths of desolate ambience before soaring on the voices of cascading angelic choirs and driving guitars and synths. If you want trig points, think Enya (try ‘Elysia Skies’ or is it ‘Elysian Dreams’?) and James Horner and the flouncy festival grandees Cold Play thoroughly getting it on over a spread of heavily orchestrated, sometimes strident

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prog arrangements steeped in haunting Floydian electronics, sometimes even in the same song; ‘Futures Dark’ and ‘Evolve Or Perish’ for instance. There is a soaring joy to this album that is underpinned by an eloquent melancholy, a deep sense of despair even, expressing a suspicion that no matter how much we wish, we will never discover the humility and grace in ourselves to recognise the moment when we might be able to reach out, and touch the face of God. Nordic Giants are not going to appeal to the fan of the more, shall we say, earthy rock ‘n’ roll experience, myself included. It’s not an immediately easy listen, but if your tastes are want to ebb and flow like spring’s high tides, as mine are, then you'll find 'A Séance Of Dark Delusions' captivating, charming and immersive, just like that road; your head just has to be in the right place, like mine was.

Satyricon

Live At The Opera

Record Label

Napalm Records

Release Date

1 May 2015

Reviewer

Lee Walker

Highlight

Mother North

Among the pile of review material that has popped up over the past month or so Satyricon’s ‘Live At The Opera’ stands out for its strange mix on paper combining the traditional Norwegian black metal sounds that you have come to expect from Satyr and company with the orchestral sounds of the Norwegian National Opera Chorus Festival.

Recorded 8th of September 2013, as part of the Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music ,‘Live At The Opera’ captures the band in full flow with the dark, brooding black metal sounds merging seamlessly with the operatic sound of the Norwegian National Opera Chorus creating an eerily orgasmic creation while following a cherry picked set list designed to

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make this performance something special, which has to be played loud and proud to fully appreciate the greatness of the performance.

With this release being available as a double cd and as a dvd package there is no excuse for not adding this stunning release to your collection.

GAME launches exclusive Steam Commenting on the news, Hardware preorders in the UK Charlotte Knight, UK Retail and Spain Managing Director at GAME, Customers can now preorder at said: “For years, Steam has been GAME to receive the Steam at the forefront of PC gaming and Controller and Steam Link weeks so we’re excited to be able to before everyone else UK and Spanish gamers can bring our gaming communities and Steam fans products that get ready to experience a new allow them to enjoy the full level of control of their favourite Steam games with the launch of experience in the comfort of their the Steam Controller and Steam living room, or indeed any room with a television.

Link. A new agreement between As always, those who GAME and Valve means that purchase from GAME will also GAME will be making the new earn 2% back in technology available for preorder from today under a UK and Spain Reward points on every transaction, which they can then retail exclusive.

In addition, GAME and Valve use to spend on even more great will be offering a limited number of games!”

To preorder either of these ‘early bird’ preorders to gamers UK retail exclusive bundles or to who put their deposit down first, find out more about Steam meaning they will receive the Wallet, visit your local GAME store hardware on the 16th October or check out game.co.uk. nearly a full month before the 10th November general release.

The new Steam Controller emulates the use of a mouse and keyboard to facilitate PC gaming through the TV and features trackpads, dual-stage triggers and fully customisable control schemes. Gamers will also feel feedback through the controller to enhance their gaming experience.

The Steam Link allows gamers to connect any TV to their Steam host PC, Mac or Steam Machine at 1080p, expanding their full gaming collection around the house.

The Steam Controller will be available from GAME as part of two bundles, one for £59.99 including £20 of Steam credit and a second for £99.99 with Steam Link and £20 of Steam Credit.

Villagers and Heroes: REBORN Mad Otter Games is very excited to announce Villagers and Heroes: REBORN, the latest in a long line of changes that brings a whole new life to the game. Not only can veteran players find exciting new content and features with this patch, but we have re-designed the entire game and especially the starter zone to make those first several hours in the game more exciting and immersive.

REBORN will launch on Monday, June 8th, at 11 am Eastern / 8 am Pacific.

REBORN includes these major new improvements: · A Mystery to Solve- Who is the Malicious Miscreant, and why

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are citizens of Summer's Hollow mysteriously disappearing? · The Circle of Life - An all new gathering supply system that completely replaces the unpopular ENERGY / Vim system formerly featured in the game. Worms for fishing, Nectar for bug collecting, Grind Stones for your plant sickle, etc. · Voice Acting and Musical Score – Professional voice actors for the major quests in the game · Complete Face Lift: Literally and otherwise- most of the world has been completely redone with new artwork (models and painted texture), completely new User Interface, and new character facial choices have been added. · Wider Breadth of Choices for your Character – Apart from choosing your appearance and class specialization, you can now choose your personality type (complete with appropriate body pose), your origin, and your skills as a villager. · Be Reborn! Enter the Temple of Rebirth to unlearn all your combat skills and start anew, but this time with the advantage of more skills to unlock, and without losing all of your character’s knowledge of gathering, crafting, gear and items, and greatly accelerated learning!

More information on REBORN can be found here: www.vhreborn.com

Square Enix Unveils Batmantm: Arkham Knight Play Arts -KaiAction Figure Square Enix, Inc. today revealed the limited color edition Batman: Arkham Knight figurine, the newest addition to its Play Arts Kai- line of collectible action figures. Created and designed in collaboration with Warner Bros.

Consumer Products on behalf of DC Entertainment, the Batman: Arkham Knight figure will be available for purchase exclusively at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) 2015.

The Batman: Arkham Knight Play Arts -Kai- figurine features a beautiful, highly-detailed design true to the iconic hero's realistic look in the upcoming Batman: Arkham Knight video game. The exclusive San Diego Comic-Con 2015 limited color edition is adorned with metallic blue and gold paintwork to emphasize the character's dynamic textures and battle scars.

The Batman: Arkham Knight figurine will be available for purchase at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) 2015 at the Square Enix booth (#3829) and is also available for pre-order at the Square Enix Online Store HERE About Square Enix, Inc. Square Enix, Inc. develops, publishes, distributes and licenses Square Enix, Eidos and Taito branded entertainment content throughout the Americas as part of the Square Enix Group. The Square Enix Group operates a global network of leading development studios and boasts a valuable portfolio of intellectual property, including: Final Fantasy, which has sold over 110 million units worldwide; Dragon Quest, which has sold over 64 million units worldwide; Tomb Raider, which has sold over 42 million units worldwide; and the legendary Space Invaders®. Square Enix, Inc. is a U.S.-based, wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. More information on Square Enix, Inc. can be found at http://

www.na.square-enix.com

Bios, the first ever Racing-Fps, release today on Steam Early Access Pixyul a Montreal based independent videogame studio, today announced that BIOS, the studio’s first title, is now available for Early Access PC digital download on Steam.

Bios offers the fantasy of a Racing First Person Shooter (RFPS). The player needs to complete the different simulated hostile environments the fastest way possible. Bios puts a refreshing twist on the FPS genre by integrating racing games elements in its core design. The Early Access single player mode pushes the player to use all of their gaming skills to complete the different maps and challenges. The Early Access of BIOS includes a total of 7 environments and 21 map challenges.

Bios takes place inside a training simulator called the VRFS Software (aka Virtual Reality Fighting Simulator).

“Bios is a fast paced, high octane asynchronous competitive game. Your goal is simple, make it to the end alive the fastest way possible. The player will develop strategies and refine their skills to constantly make better times. We strongly believe that we are bringing something new into the FPS landscape.” said LP Pharand, Co-Founder of Pixyul.

The game’s core concept revolves around 2 main game

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pillars: Racing & Shooting.

“With the game’s objective to make the best times, players will have to master the levels by manoeuvring and shooting the enemies. Your first few runs on a map are more like recon missions or like a repetition to achieve greatness and to finally make the perfect run!” said Julien Cuny, Co-Founder Pixyul.

Bios is powered by Unreal Engine 4 and takes full advantage of Epic’s ecosystem. “Unreal has allowed us to quickly deploy a whole range of AAA features from the get go. Working in such a stable and feature-rich environment has been a blessing for our project.” said Philippe Leblanc, Technology Director of Pixyul.

BIOS is available now on Steam http:// store.steampowered.com/ app/350600/ For the latest news on Pixyul, please visit www.biosgame.com Hitman: Sniper Scopes In On Mobile Devices From the studio that brought you Hitman GO, comes the next title from Square Enix Montreal, Hitman: Sniper.

Launching today on iPhone, iPad and Android devices, this brand new Square Enix Montréal product offers a fresh take on the classic Hitman franchise. Available on the App Store and Google Play for $4.99, this creative, leaderboard-driven sandbox sniping game allows players to take on the role of Agent 47 in a fixed position shooting game set in beautiful Montenegro. Scope in on your marks using skill, subtlety, subterfuge and the environment to complete your contracts and become the ultimate sniper.

Hitman: Sniper is a brand new leaderboard-driven, competitive sniping game. As Agent 47, you will need to observe your targets’ movements across an expansive mansion and execute them in creative ways.

Complete more than 100 missions and unlock new deadly sniper rifles equipped with new abilities to rule the leaderboards.

Find smart ways to use accidental and environmental kills, X-Ray kills, lures, double headshots and body disposals, all the while remaining undetected, to make your way to the top.

Download now: • On the App Store: http:// apple.co/1KEHItY • On Google Play: http:// bit.ly/1Q7vFvZ After receiving critical acclaim for Hitman GO, the first mobile Hitman game to be released by Square Enix Montréal, the team has continued to expand the franchise into mobile with a completely new Hitman game. Hitman: Sniper focuses on the subtlety of execution and includes a series of scenario-driven contracts, which contains 11 targets and over 100 assignments to complete.

from Mathew Kumar (Knight and Damsel, exp. zine). It also includes a new set of novice difficulty levels in story mode, making the game accessible to more casual players.

After a fantastic showing at AGDQ earlier this year, we’ve added more support for the speedrunning community with gameplay recording, playback and sharing features for our online leaderboards. We’re looking forward to watching some record-breaking runs!

Full Crimson Update feature list: [*] New engine rewritten in C for 60fps gameplay on netbooks and older computers. [*] Shorter and easier Novice Difficulty levels. [*] New bonus levels! Winter’s End and exp. 666. [*] Record, play and share your best runs on the leaderboards.

Watch the top players to improve your runs! [*] Enhanced blood effects!

Double the blood particles!

They Bleed Pixels Crimson Update [*] Support for both DirectInput Released + Now Available for Mac and XInput controllers. and Linux! [*] Lots of other little bits of Spooky Squid Games’ gothic, low-fi polish, from save games to graphics options. platforming beat ’em up They Bleed Pixels celebrates Mac and Linux release with the Crimson Update for all platforms and a WizKids Partners with week-long 75% off sale on Steam.

Nickelodeon for Teenage Mutant Check out the creepy cute Ninja Turtles Tabletop Games live action trailer for the update, created in collaboration with At Origins Game Fair today, cosplay photographer Paul WizKids announced a partnership Hillier: https://youtu.be/6r2ygRIBGY4 with Nickelodeon, the number-one entertainment brand for kids, to Mac and Linux users can produce multiple tabletop games finally get their claws on PC based on the Teenage Mutant platformer They Bleed Pixels! All platforms will also be getting the Ninja Turtles franchise. The first two games developed under this long-awaited Crimson Update partnership will be a special which offers new levels, difficulty series of TMNT HeroClix figures, settings, features and general and a TMNT Dice Masters game, polish. both set for release later this The update includes two year. new bonus levels: Winter’s End, “We are very excited to an action-oriented level set partner with Nickelodeon on amongst icy hills blanketed in snow, and exp. 666, an incredibly expanding the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles brand,” said Justin challenging guest level

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Ziran, President of WizKids. “We expect fans of both Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and WizKids will be very pleased with the lineup of games we have in store, and we can't wait to get them in players' hands in the coming months."

WizKids has seen great successes in its HeroClix collectible figure-battling and Dice Masters Dice Building products, and is very excited to bring fan-favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters, spanning all iterations of the comics from classic to present day as well as the classic cartoon and current hit CG-animated series on Nickelodeon, to both games.

"The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are classic and beloved characters, and we can't wait to see them integrated into WizKids' tabletop games," said Manuel Torres, Senior Vice President, Global Toys and Publishing, Nickelodeon. “We are as excited as our fans are to see Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Donatello, Shredder and more come to life in HeroClix and Dice Masters." .Bethesda

Announces Fallout 4

World’s Most Anticipated Game in Development at Bethesda Game Studios Full Details to be Unveiled on June 14th at Bethesda’s E3 Showcase Bethesda, a ZeniMax Media company, today confirmed the upcoming global release of Fallout 4, the next generation of open-world gaming. The world premiere of the game will take place during Bethesda’s E3 Showcase being held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on June 14th beginning at 7.00pm PST, and streamed live around the world via Twitch and YouTube Fallout 4 is being developed for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system and PC by award-winning Bethesda Game Studios under the direction of Todd Howard. This eagerly-awaited game is the

follow up to the 2008 ‘Game of the Year’, Fallout 3, and the first title from the world-renowned studio since the release of their global phenomenon and 2011 ‘Game of the Year’,The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

“We know what this game means to everyone,” said Game Director, Todd Howard, “The time and technology have allowed us to be more ambitious than ever.

We’ve never been more excited about a game, and we can’t wait to share it.”

Studio Wildcard Enlists Nvidia Gameworks To Add Visual Effects To Ark: Survival Evolved Studio Wildcard announced today that it is working with NVIDIA GameWorks Studios to add stunning special effects to the upcoming open-world dinosaur survival game ARK: Survival Evolved . Working together, both NVIDIA and Studio Wildcard will optimize the experience for PC-gamers, Virtual Reality (VR) and integrate NVIDIA GameWorks technologies.

“When we first got a look at ARK: Survival Evolved, we we’re instantly hooked. Riding Dinosaurs while shooting guns, enough said,” stated Dane Johnston, GameWorks content manager, NVIDIA. “The team at Studio Wildcard has created a uniquely challenging world and we’re incredibly excited to be working hand in hand to enhance the PC experience."

ARK: Survival Evolved is powered by Unreal Engine 4 (UE4), so Studio WildCard is using custom UE4 branches on GitHub to easily integrate GameWorks technologies into its game and deliver drastic image quality or visual effects improvements in a very short period of time. GitHub is a popular Web-based Git repository hosting service used in the game development industry to share code.

ARK looks better and is more immersive thanks to NVIDIA GameWorks,” said Jesse Rapczak,

co-founder and co-creative director, Studio Wildcard. “NVIDIA has made it possible for teams like ours to drop in state-of-the-art, high-quality solutions to tough visual effects problems, which is often the difference between having a feature and not having it at all.”

In ARK: Survival Evolved players fight for every breath amongst the most ferocious creatures to ever walk the earth, and is available on Steam’s Early Access program, where survivors can now begin exploring the vast, formidable environment and its many secrets.

ARK: Survival Evolved takes on the survival genre with a unique blend of emergent multiplayer cooperation and competition.

Players awake naked and starving on the beach of a mysterious island among a herd of other confused humans. On ARK, they must then hunt, harvest, craft, research technology, and build shelters to protect against scorching days, freezing nights, volatile weather systems, dangerous wildlife, and potential enemies. Players can tame and ride one of 70 amazing dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts, including gargantuan creatures on a scale never before seen in video games! Fly a Pterodactyl squadron over the snow-capped mountains, race through the deep jungle with your pack of trained Raptors, tromp through a fortified enemy base along a convoy of gigantic Brontosaurus, or chase down prey on the back of a raging T-Rex. ARK: Survival Evolved will launch in summer 2016 on PlayStation 4 with Project Morpheus support, Xbox One via the ID@Xbox program and Steam, including Oculus Rift VR support and a thorough integration of Steam community features such as Steam Economy and Steam Workshop for custom maps and mods. The world of ARK is designed to be player-oriented and ever-expanding!

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EVE Online’s Carnyx Release Begins the “Summer of Sovereignty” Today Carnyx was deployed as the first half of EVE Online’s “Summer of Sov.” In June and July, EVE’s stars will alight with glorious spaceship explosions thanks to dramatic improvements in the way player alliances capture, hold, and defend space in EVE. Next month’s Aegis release will complete the overhaul of EVE’s Sovereignty design, the system with which alliances, ranging in size from hundreds to tens of thousands of players, battle over the riches of the vast, lawless nullsec regions surrounding the core of New Eden’s Empire space.

Carnyx begins the Sov rush with new modules and gameplay for the theatre of war. Massive player empires have fortified themselves in strategic solar systems in anticipation of changes that encourage active use of space through an occupancy-based defense multiplier. The new Sovereignty brings opportunities for those wishing to get into nullsec and offers plenty of mayhem for small gangs to skirmish with their enemies.

Carnyx’s changes will ease players into the new capture mechanics by first affecting station services.

Come Aegis, all Sovereignty structures will be under the sway of those willing and able to use an Entosis Link on capture objectives and wrest control away from foes.

Carnyx isn’t all about Sovereignty though. Other changes released today include: Physically Based Rendering: A complete reworking and repacking of all ship texture maps into a new system that works with new shaders. The result: EVE’s gorgeous spaceships become even more gorgeous.

Caldari Jackdaw Tactical Destroyer: The third tactical destroyer to leave the shipyard, the Jackdaw is as malleable and powerful as its rivals, dynamically switching between defensive, propulsion and sharpshooter modes.

New Burner Missions: The infamous Angel Cartel crime syndicate brings fresh cruiser-level challenges.

Redone Overview Icons: Brackets and overview indicators are more intuitive and uniform.

New Skins: The powerful Marauders and the intrepid Sisters of EVE ships get new patterns for their hulls.

In addition to dozens of other changes mentioned in the patch notes, Carnyx also includes several surprises from the deadly, wormhole-based Sleepers and the proliferating, mysterious Drifters that players will have to discover on their own.

To learn more about how Carnyx fits into the massive universe of EVE Online, visit the EVE Updates page and Squishing Rod, Gungenir, recent developer blogs Slime-on-a-Stick, Gooreat Sword and Splat O’Nine Tails ● Bonus quest items, including Rise Up Against The Odds In the Gold-digger’s Map and Happy Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Map Tree’s Woe And The Blight Below Day One Edition This October ● Helpful Slime-themed downloadable content for Collector’s Edition and Day One characters to equip including: Edition Announced; Available for Slime Sword, Gooey Gloves, Pre-Order Now Goomerang, Squishing Rod and Square Enix, Inc. revealed today that the Day One Edition and Gungenir the Slime Collector’s Edition of Dragon Quest Heroes: The Story World Tree's Woe and the Blight When a dark shockwave sweeps Below will be available this through the city of Arba, the October. monsters that once lived The Slime Collector’s Edition alongside the people in peace are will include a premium treasure driven into a frenzied rage. As chest-style box and exclusive either the hero, Luceus, or the downloadable content to help heroine, Aurora, the player joins players navigate the Dragon forces with a cast of iconic cast Quest franchise’s first full-scale from previous Dragon Quest action RPG, as well as exclusive titles, such as Alena, Bianca and Slime-themed physical items.

Yangus, to bring the rampaging Details of the full offerings, hordes of monsters to their include: senses and to restore order to Slime Collector’s Edition the kingdom. ● Slime Plushie, Slime Key The Slime Collector’s Edition Chain and Slime Lanyard. are available now for pre-order ● Helpful Slime-themed exclusively through the Square downloadable content for Enix Online Store (https:// characters to equip including a store.na.square-enix.com/ Slime Sword, Gooey Gloves, product/285007/dragon-questGoomerang, Goopid’s Bow, heroes-the-world-tree-s-woe-and-

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the-blight-below-slime-collectorsedition-ps4).

Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree’s Woe and the Blight Below will be playable at the SQUARE ENIX booth #2001 at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). The game will be available for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system on October 13, 2015 in North America for $59.99. The Slime Collector’s Edition is available for $99.99 and the Day One Edition is available for $59.99.

This title is not yet rated.

Please visit the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) website at www.esrb.org for more information about ratings.

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AC/DC June 28 Glasgow Hampden Park National Stadium July 01 Dublin Aviva Stadium 04 London Wembley Stadium

Corrosion Of Conformity June 14 Dublin The Academy 15 Belfast The Limelight

Annihilator September 30 Birmingham O2 Academy October 02 Glasgow O2 ABC 03 Sheffield O2 Academy 04 London O2 Academy

Deftones November 21 London SSE Arena

Anvil July 12 London O2 Academy Islington 13 Birmingham O2 Academy 14 Sheffield O2 Academy 15 Glasgow O2 ABC Biohazard July 08 Wolverhampton Slade Rooms Black Star Riders June 11 Yorkshire The Picturedrome December 07 Belfast Odyssey Arena 09 Newcastle Metro Radio Arena 10 Glasgow SSE Hydro 12 Birmingham Genting Arena Clutch November 20 Dublin Olympia Theatre 21 Belfast The Limelight Combichrist August 10 London O2 Academy 11 Manchester Academy 3 12 Bristol Fleece

Deadly Circus Fire June 24 London Barfly

Delain October 22 Bristol The Marble Factory 23 Birmingham The Institute 24 Manchester Academy 2 25 London O2 Academy Islington Doro November 20 Norwich Waterfront Enslaved September 23 The Marble Factory 25 Wolverhampton Slade Rooms 26 Dublin The Button Factory Epica November 11 Bristol O2 Academy 12 Manchester The Ritz 15 London The Forum Faith No More June 14 Glasgow O2 Academy Fleetwood Mac June 08 Birmingham Genting Arena 09 Birmingham Genting Arena 12 Manchester Arena 16 Glasgow SSE Hydro 17 Glasgow SSE Hydro 22 London The O2

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24 London The O2 26 London The O2 27 London O2 Arena 30 Leeds First Direct Arena July 01 Manchester Arena 04 Birmingham Genting Arena 05 Leeds First Direct Arena 08 Glasgow SSE hydro Fozzy November 24 Reading Sub 89 26 London O2 Academy Freedom Call October 11 London The Borderline Gun October 04 Leicester O2 Academy 05 Liverpool Arts Club 13 York Duchess 15 Plymouth The Junction 16 Southampton Talking Heads Hanzel Und Gretyl London 13 Edinburgh Bannerman’s Bar 14 Glassgow Audio 15 Newcastle The Clunny 16 Sheffield Corporation 17 London Electrowerkz Hatebreed September 04 Reading Sub 89 Joe Satriani November 01 Manchester O2 Apollo 02 Birmingham Symphony Hall 03 Glasgow Royal Concert Hall 04 Sheffield City Hall 05 Cardiff Saint David’s Hall 07 Southend Cliffs Pavillion 08 Bristol Colston Hall 09 Portsmouth Guildhall

10 London Eventim Apollo Kobra and the Lotus June 25 Manchester Ruby Lounge 28Glasgow King Tuts Korn July 16 London O2 Academy Brixton Leaves' Eyes November 03 Southampton Talking Heads 04 Bristol The Marble Factory 10 London O2 Academy Nickleback November 13 Sheffield Motorpoint Arena 14 Glasgow SSE Hydro 16 Newcastle Metro Radio Arena 17 Manchester Arena 19 Liverpool Echo Arena 21 Birmingham Genting Arena 22 Nottingham Capital FM Arena 24 London The SSE Arena Wembley Nile September 09 Bristol Marble Factory Orange Goblin December 03 Wolverhampton Slade Rooms 04 Bristol Bierkeller 06 Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms 07 Oxford O2 Academy 2 10 Nottingham Rescue Rooms 13 Newcastle O2 Academy 15 Glasgow King Tuts 17 London Electric Ballroom Paradise Lost September 27 Dublin The Academy 28 Belfast The Limelight 30 Manchester Academy 2 October 03 Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall 04 London Koko 12 Liverpool O2 Academy 13 Nottingham Rock City Queensryche August 05 Bristol Marble Factory 07 Brighton Concorde 2

Rival Sons July 01 Northampton Roadmender 07 Sheffield The Plug Slayer November 21 Newport Centre 22 Plymouth Pavillions 24 Manchester O2 Apollo 25 Glasgow O2 Academy 27 Birmingham O2 Academy 28 Leeds O2 Academy 30 London O2 Academy Soulfly July 25 London O2 Academy Islington 27 Birmingham O2 Academy The Darkness November 30 Norwich Open December 01 Cambridge Corn Exchange 02 Nottingham Rock City 04 Newcastle O2 Academy 05 Glasgow O2 Academy 09 Leeds O2 Academy 10 Manchester Academy 11 Birmingham O2 Academy 13 Bristol O2 Academy The Misfits August 04 Bristol Motion 05 Southampton Engine Rooms The Moody Blues June 06 Plymouth Pavillions 07 Cardiff St Davids Hall 08 Brighton Centre 09 Bristol Colston Hall 11 Bournemouth BIC 12 London Eventim Apollo 13 Ipswich Regent Theatre 14 Oxford New Theatre 16 Manchester O2 Apollo 17 Nottingham RCH 18 Sheffield City Hall 20 Birmingham LG 21 Liverpool Philharmonic 22 Newcastle City Hall Toto May 21 Glasgow Royal Concert Hall 25 Manchester O2 Apollo 26 London Eventim Apollo

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Tyketto July 25 Liverpool O2 Academy U2 October 25 London The O2 26 London The O2 29 London The O2 30 London The O2 November 06 Glasgow The SSE Hydro 07 Glasgow The SSE Hydro UK Subs May 14 Wolverhampton Robin 2 16 Manchester The Ritz November 27 Doncaster Leoart Uriah Heep May 05 Southampton Engine Rooms 06 Bristol Marble Factory 08 Brighton Old Market Whitechapel May 05 Manchester GB Academy Ugly Kid Joe September 20 Reading The Bowert District 22 Bournemouth Sound Circus 23 Plymouth the Hub 24 Bristol Marble factory 25 Brighton Concorde 2 W.A.S.P September 12 Leeds O2 Academy 13 Newcastle O2 Academy 18 Glasgow O2 Academy 19 Nottingham Rock City Wednesday 13 October 30 London The Garage 31 London The Garage Wishbone Ash October 13 York Fibbers

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Y&T October 30 Wolverhampton Robin 2 31 London O2 Academy November 06 Newcastle O2 Academy 07 Nottingham Rock City 08 Buckley Tivoli 13 Oxford O2 Academy

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