Bloody News Metal Magazine have once again teamed up with GlobMetal Promotions to bring you the second edition of Bloody News Online Fest – Spring Madness. This will be a live stream taking place on 26th March 2021 and it will be available for free from their website.
Here is the line-up: Running Bot Arhat Termination Central ANGER DOSE Steel Velvet The Boy Who Cried Wolf Avoid Humanity Gwendydd Horror Dance Squad Devine Defilement Beyond Frequencies
Warrington based garage punks The Lotts announced their debut EP earlier today. Produced and mixed by Thighpaulsandra at Monmouth’s Rockfield Studios, the five track EP, titled We Are The Lotts, will be released on 24th July and is also available on 12” vinyl via Liverpool based label Whispering Pines. The tracklisting for the upcoming release is as follows:
1. We Are The Lotts
2. I Don’t
3. Dumb
4. Preacher Man
5. Mouth
It’s really cool being able to listen to the new project from the frontman of Biohazard, Billy Graziadei. Going under the new name BillyBio, he has released the new record Feed the Fire and I have to say it’s pretty good. I was interested to listen to this right off of the bat as I am a big fan of Biohazard and I’ve always like their mix of thrash metal, punk and rap metal. So, I wanted to hear what Billy could do on his own. This record is an interesting listen, it’s fast pace, heavy and filled with political statements. It’s clear Billy is a great songwriter and I have always appreciated him as a musician.
I like the production and the overall sound of the record. Right from the first song, the album hits you in the face with a blast of heavy guitars, bass and drums & the forceful presence of Graziadei. There are lots of moments on the record that get you amped up and raring for more. My particular favourite song in this regard is “Generation Z”. Which, along with the intensity, it has a catchy chorus. Everything presented here hits hard and fast. The general writing quality on display is great with Graziadei throwing in rap verses over thrash metal tones and it all fits together so well.
Although, the problem I have with the album is the guitar tone. It’s pretty much the same all the way and it can feel a little samey, hearing the same tone over and over again. It makes the album drag just a little bit. It just grinds away and that can get just a little boring here and there. Even though all of the songs are short and sweet, the never-changing tone just makes it feel like it’s longer than it really is. Only a few songs ended up sticking with me and that because of the great hooks and choruses.
So, I am a little mixed when it comes to this album. There are some really good songs when you take them individually but they just become one long mesh when put together on an album. So the album doesn’t really work as a cohesive whole. There is a lot to like, the strong social commentary, the harsh guitars and the commanding bass and drums. Billy is a fantastic frontman and his personality is what sells the album for me. If this was made by a band that didn’t know how to make these elements work it would just be so weak. Yet, Graziadei can take all these elements and throw them together to make a decent album. He’s such a forceful presence, you have to pay attention to him at the end of the day. It’s definitely worth picking up, though I wouldn’t advise sitting through it in one go.
Sweden is such a hotbed for great rock and metal music. There just seems to be no end to the great bands I get to talk about from there. A new band for me, hailing from Skövde, are Browsing Collection. A punk rock band that hits you with the force of a heavy metal outfit. These four ladies are out to claim the world of hard rock for their own. Their new EP, Don’t Want To Dance, is certainly an attention-getter. Their metal influenced punk rock immediately grabs you and leaves you breathless. It all sounds so glorious. It’s honestly been a while since a band has grabbed my attention so immediately.
The EP opens on the tune “One Time A Year” an energetic song with lots of hype and an emphatic chorus that get the hard juices flowing. That energy flows through this EP like a surge of power. It’s the kind of song that gives that kick to get you up and moving. The next single from the band is “Something To Hold On To”. This is more of a party rock anthem and keeps that sense of intensity with its well-executed guitar lines and invigorating chorus. The EP just has a great sound and the band keep up an amazing energy throughout. Other songs I lie would be “Thank God It’s Friday” for it big sound and hard-hitting guitar, also, “Hi but No” is a great tune that shows the bands charisma and personality.
The production is outstanding with every instrument coming through loud and clear. These girls know how to make rock music sound so good, with an impactful and commanding presence that demands your attention. Their music has a big anthemic quality that’s great to sing along to. If I was getting ready for a night out this would be the music that would be blasting to get me hyped. Their riffs are kickass, their sound is tight and consistent with loads of energy and creativity. I have been listening to all of their releases on Spotify as well, let me tell you now, you need this band in your life a.s.a.p.
Hatebreed
The Concrete Confessional
Hardcore Punk
Released: 13 May 2016
via Nuclear Blast Records
No matter how far away I get from heavy metal I always find that there are a few bands that drag me right back to headbanging and shouting until I have no voice. Hatebreed are one of those bands. No matter how long it is since I last listed to the genre, they always give me the one thing that I always look for in music in general. Passion, integrity and kick ass music. The music of Hatebreed and I go way back now, I think their music is so ingrained into my psyche that I can’t actually turn my head when they bring out new material. However, there is only one question to answer in this review. Is this album, The Concrete Confessional better than their previous album The Divinity of Purpose. The last album was so good and really cemented me as a true Hatebreed fan.
Well I’ll give it this…. There is certainly a more intense, almost overly aggressive, vibe to this. I mean all of Hatebreed’s albums are intense and in your face. The Concrete Confessional however, is sharper and feels more direct. For the most part Jamey Jasta is quite creative with his wordplay and the language used in his albums. Here there is more of a direct approach as if Hatebreed are directing their aggression right at the listener. Some may think that this is antagonising and abrupt. I think it’s a pretty bold way to get your point across. Being that this is a very opinionated band, why hold back your though with metaphor and imagery when you can just say how you’re feeling right there and then. The album deals with heavy issues like social injustice, police brutality and drug abuse, so why hold back?
The music is just as direct. With sharp consistent note changes and tight production the music stands as a way to punctuate the heavy subjects of the lyrics. Though I do feel that something is lost with this album. I’m not finding it nearly as catchy or musically interesting as the previous records. Nothing really sticks in your head at all, as if Hatebreed are laying it on a little too thick. Think of the Hatebreed songs that you know, “Everybody Bleeds Now”, “Destroy Everything”, “In Ashes They Shall Reap” or even newer songs like “Honor Never Dies”, “Indivisible” or “Dead Man Breathing”. They sticks in your mind because the music was creative and the lyrics catchy. This album seems to be void of that, barring say a couple of songs “Looking Down the Barrel of Today” being a great example. Even that only has one phrase though. What I’m saying is I don’t think there’s a good compromise between the message they’re trying to deliver and the creativity needed to make compelling music.
Is this a good album? Yes absolutely, without question. Is it Hatebreed? Yes, again it’s exactly what they wanted to give us. Is it as good as The Divinity of Purpose, Perseverance or The Rise Of Brutality? No, I don’t think so. The album is too far removed from what made those albums great. However, I’ll pose another question. Was The Concrete Confessional meant to be a fun heavy metal album or was it meant to make you feel uncomfortable with the way you’re living?… Sure the band may say something in a press statement, but what a band says in interview and what they say on the record itself aren’t always the same thing.
Mata-Ratos, Angelus Apatrida, Devil In Me, Simbiose, Hills Have Eyes, Reality Slap, Viralata, Tales For The Unspoken, Backflip, Dimension, Artigo 21, As They Come S.C.Casainhos, Loures (PT) 29th August 2015 Promoter: Tiago Fresco
Casainhos is a small village in the central region of Portugal (less than an hour to the north of Lisbon) that has been holding this commendable festival since 2012 – more than supporting/promoting the underground scene, it brings together its different subgenres, showing how metal, punk and hardcore are all part of a big, happy family. Like Poli (Dimension, Devil In Me) would say, a festival for open-minded people, people who won’t judge you, whether you’re wearing black or pink.
Stoner/Southern rockers As They Come opened this year’s edition, at 3:30 p.m. sharp. The punctuality at this fest gets another thumbs-up, by the way. And it proved that 15 minutes is the perfect amount of time for intermission between sets.
Despite the unholy heat, As They Come fans were restless. After all, most of them had contributed to the band’s presence at the festival, by voting in a contest promoted by Rock On Música music shop – the same shop that got a bus and organized a roadtrip from São João da Madeira to Casainhos. Singer Sick Danny even dedicated the last song, “50 Miles”, to the shop owner Vitinha, who was then carried by the crowd. Soon afterwards, that crowd would invade the stage to party up there with As They Come. The fest could have hardly begun in a better way.
Punk rockers Artigo 21 came next and they also had a fair share of fans singing along songs such as “Contradição” (contradiction) or “Espera Por Mim” (wait for me). The band is somewhat recent (2012) but the musicians aren’t exactly kids – at some point, when tuning a guitar took a little longer and someone in the audience complained, one of them said something like “take it easy, we’re old people”. On a more serious note, they announced that bassist Aureo had just become a father, to which everybody applauded. All the best to him and his family!
Another new band featuring veteran members is Dimension. Groovy hardcore “straight outta the nineties” – and for those who grew up in that decade, Poli dedicated the Sepultura cover “Slave New World”. But that was just a bonus, as their original songs, taken from the debut “Life Is A Mystery”, were enough to win the crowd over, proving the band’s worth both on stage and in the studio.
Backflip play a more straight-forward hardcore, with a female lead singer that kicks as much ass as any guy in the same position. Not sure when they were formed, but they’ve played in all editions of Casainhos so far, and their EP “New Ticket, New Journey” was released in 2011, so they’ve been around at least since then. The debut self-titled full-length saw the light of day in 2013 and features a few guests from other great underground bands, but that afternoon it was the crowd who helped Inês Oliveira (and guitarist Pedro Morais and bassist João Vidigal) sing along.
Tales For The Unspoken, on the other hand, had Raça from Revolution Within sharing the stage with them and singing “Taken”, from the band’s second album “CO2”. Their mix of thrash and death and groove metal kept the moshers busy. “CO2” was released in April, so they focused the set on it, but revisited the debut “Alchemy” with “Say My Name” and the usual closing theme “N’Takuba Wena”.
Back to punk rock, Viralata took the stage. A few problems with Ulisses’ guitar cable delayed the show for a few minutes, leading the singer to joke “what a grand start-up”. Their music is great, but it’s the lyrics – amusing as hell – that make them so popular, meaning that if you don’t speak Portuguese, you’ll miss the essence of Viralata. But if you were there, you’d certainly be carried away by the high spirits of both band and crowd. There was even a fan who climbed on stage and sang the lyrics to “Carocho” (if memory serves me well), totally unexpected but welcomed by the band. Huge fun!
Hardcore act Reality Slap latest album, “Necks & Ropes”, dates from 2012 but the band’s been working hard on its successor, hoping to release it this year still. Singer Johnny (or at least I think that’s his name – guys, please add who does what in the band in your Facebook page!) said something about not playing live in a while, but either “a while” is a little less than four months to him, or he meant playing in national territory, as the band toured through a few European countries last Spring. Whatever the case, this return to the stages was flawless, and when Johnny jumped to the middle of the crowd, pointing the mike to the fans, many were eager to take on the singer’s role.
Despite the rich bill of the festival, I confess it was only Hills Have Eyes that made me ride those 190 miles. So I won’t say their concert was the best, as more than presumptuous it would sound biased; but since I had people coming to me in the end – people who had never seen HHE before, despite their +10-year career – saying that now they understood why I liked that band so much, that I had good taste in music, it’s not the fangirl but the reporter that tells you WHAT A HELL OF A SHOW! This was probably the last gig before the release of their third album, “Antebellum”, scheduled for this month, but still only the first single “The Bringer Of Rain” was performed. The title-track of the previous album, “Strangers”, closed their set.
From the metalcore of Hills Have Eyes, the festival moved on to the crust/metal/punk of Simbiose. Formed in 1991, it was the band on the bill with the longest career, after headliners Mata-Ratos (the latter born in 1982). “Trapped” is the title of their latest, sixth album (released in March) and songs such as “Ignorância Colectiva” (collective ignorance), “Acabou A Crise, Começou A Miséria!” (the crisis is over, the affliction has started) or “Modo Regressivo” (regressive mode) are some of the new tunes – with the same old social and political critique – that were part of one of the most brutal sets of the fest.
Devil In Me are among the high-rank Portuguese hardcore bands and it will only take a couple of songs for you to understand why. Once again, Poli brought up the open-mindedness (and lack of it) subject, and staying true to one’s self – how he still loved hardcore now, as a grown man and family man, as much as when he was 15. Adding how much he missed his daughter that night, he invited all parents present to come up front and party. It seems that their new album will be out in October (“Soul Rebel”), but the title-track has been performed live several times now and everybody knew how to scream the chorus verse: “soul rebel… like a lion”.
Angelus Apatrida was the only non-Portuguese band of the fest, old school thrash metal from “country next door” Spain. But they’re part of the family, not just for the solid fan-base they’ve built here over the past years but also for recording a couple of albums here, at Ultrasound Studios, and becoming good friends with many local underground bands. One of the most notorious is Switchtense and singer Hugo Andrade even got on stage to sing “Fresh Pleasure” with Guillermo Izquierdo. Whether they were songs from the new album “Hidden Evolution” or oldies like “Vomitive” or “Give ‘Em War”, the circle pits were as restless as the thrash that was fueling them.
A lot of people left after Angelus Apatrida – not exactly because Mata-Ratos aren’t good at what they do (hardcore punk) but because they haven’t released anything new in eight years, and after eleven bands, half of them performing while the sun burnt at an average of 86ºF, it became easy to dismiss the headliners. But there was still a good handful of survivors, ready to scream their lungs out at classics like “C.C.M.”, “A Minha Sogra É Um Boi” (my mother-in-law is a cow) or “Deus, Pátria E Família” (God, homeland and family).
According to the promoters, circa 800 people attended this fest. Don’t think any had a single reason to be disappointed. I hope this fest will continue to thrive and many more editions will follow. I also hope every country has someone committed to their underground scene like we have Tiago Fresco and his crew here (among others) in Portugal.
St. Louis-based punk act Shaved Women is back with a new work, this time the full-length “Just Death”. Ektro Records will release it on 8th August with the following track list & artwork:
1. No One Gets In 2. Paranoia 3. Relapse 4. I Don’t Belong Here 5. Bottom Feeder 6. Is It Worth It 7. Tired Again 8. Just Death 9. World Of Change
And today, at the famous Noisey – music by Vice, the band premiered the track “Is It Worth It”. Listen to it here.
4 years ago, Italian speed metalpunks Children Of Technology cause quite a stir with their debut album “It’s Time To Face The Doomsday”. It’s only natural that their second album has been on eager demand, and now Hells Headbangers is proud to announce that the waiting is over: “Future Decay” will see the light of day on 19th August. Artwork & track list as follows:
1. Future Decay 2. Remembrance Day 3. Blackout 4. Hold Up Your Fuel 5. Eaten Dust Overload 6. Under the Ripping Storm 7. Last Sunshine Gleaming 8. Fear the Mohawk Reaper
In anticipation of their long awaited second album – scheduled for release in early 2014 – sleaze/punk/metal act Sister will release a new single on October 28th. “Sick” will be available digitally, but also in a 7″ vinyl version, limited to 500 copies, with an exclusive cover of Roky Erickson‘s “Two Headed Dog” as B-side.
This single comes out just before the band goes on tour across Europe, once again supporting Wednesday 13. Also The Defiled has been recently added to this For Those About To Rot tour:
In addition to the dates on the flyer above, Sister will play a headlining show in London, at The Garage, on November 30th.
Syracuse, NY pop punk outfit Of Fortune & Fame have signed to Panic Records. Forming only two years ago, the band already have an EP and two tours of the US east coast under their belt. July 24th will see the release of their newest record Perspective, which is said to have a more refine sound than their last release Earn It. You can also check out a new song from the band here.
Valkyrian Music 