Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2024 i Metal Hammer UK

ASPLATTER COMEDY fuelled by heavy metal, 2015’s Deathgasm was an unexpected runaway success. The independent film followed a teenage band who accidentally summon evil via ancient sheet music –with exceptionally messy consequences. But as writer/director Jason Howden tells Metal Hammer today, “I never aspired to make a hit movie –or even a particularly good movie! Ha ha!” Jason’s vision was fuelled not by dreams of cinematic grandeur, red carpets or glitzy awards shows, but by a lust for the gritty, rebellious essence of low-budget filmmaking. “I wanted my own war stories!” exclaims the New Zealander, reflecting on his inspirations like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Evil Dead. However, destiny had big plans, and Deathgasm shot to underground fame, resonating powerfully with metalheads and horror enthusiasts alike –a testament to…

ON THEIR 2022 debut EP, Athames, Shooting Daggers laid out the manifesto for their stomping, garage punk take on queercore insurgency, raging against sexism, the patriarchy and transphobia. It incited a rumble that quickly spread through the underground, and by the time of their 2023 split-release with fellow punks Death Pill, they were among the most hyped names in their genre. With the release of their debut album, Love & Rage, imminent, the London trio tell Hammer about the musical evolution and intention behind their new songs. After just one EP and one split, you’re already one of the most talked-about up-and-coming bands in punk. Did you feel pressure or excitement making your debut album? Sal Pellegrin (vocals/guitars): “Both. We wanted to step up musically, so that our sound is…

KICKING OFF Hanabie are great. When YouTube’s algorithms sent me their videos, my trad-metal sensibilities were entirely offended by their irrepressible melange of genres and frequent disregard for verse-chorus structures – and I presume this was part of the point. OK: challenge accepted. I was also impressed by the lyrical content treating social issues for women… Basically, all my norms were given a good kicking, and that’s probably a good thing. Carl Edlund Andersön, Facebook Glad to have you looking past the initial “Wait, what?” factor, Carl! THIS MACHINE KILLS GATEKEEPERS I’ve never heard of [Scene Queen], but it looks like another weapon against metal elitism, so I’m intrigued. a.nothing_143, Instagram Nailed it in one! Scene Queen isn’t apologetic about calling out both gatekeepers and the most problematic aspects of…

THE HOOK OF Rhythmic Demise, the single from Plaguemace’s debut album, Reptilian Warlords, invites you to ‘Get your fucking reptile on’. From a band with primitivesounding songtitles such as Cannibalicious and Cavedweller’s Soliloquy, such monstrous madness might seem at odds, but the Danish death metal newcomers have a unique way of straddling these themes. “The concept of the album is about barbarians living in a mountain that get their strength from a water source in the centre of it, but they have been poisoned and dance uncontrollably due to the poisoning,” details vocalist Andreas Truelsen. “I heard about the Spanish dance plague and that’s the inspiration.” Plaguemace’s death metal is fun and direct, all hulking, stinky grooves with catchy axe-swinging vocal parts placed firmly at the centre. It is an…

Even in a climate where black metal is getting anew lease of life, and new audiences, through bringing in outside influences, finding a band who cite both Architects’ Memento Mori track and ambient extreme metal mavericks Paysage D’Hiver as inspirations is unexpected. For The Sun’s Journey Through The Night’s shadowy frontman No One, however, the link between the two is the processing of trauma into something transformative. “Memento Mori really hit me because it was on the final album they did with Tom [Searle] before he passed away,” says the singer. “It’s so dynamic, it’s like walking over mountain ranges. It had a real impact on our song Orion, which has really taken a lot of people because it is so deeply personal, and it’s very different to what you…

ST GEORGE’S HALL, BRADFORD BETWEEN ITS FRAGRANT curry houses and naan breads you could swaddle a baby in, Bradford offers plenty of culinary delights, but those with esteemed taste will tell you nothing matches adoom double bill that serves as both a homecoming and reminder of when Yorkshire was the centre of the doom metal universe. Granted, Paradise Lost are actually from Halifax, but that stone’s-throw distance hardly matters when it comes to packing out the Victorian-era building, and there’s no shortage of local pride across the evening as the bands live up to their legendary reputations. “Good evening one and all, we are My Dying Bride, all the way from Bradford,” announces MY DYING BRIDE frontman Aaron Stainthorpe. Dressed like a funeral director and lurching around as he contorts…

ELECTRIC BALLROOM, LONDON LAST OCTOBER, GREEN Lung’s third album, This Heathen Land, quickly became a fan-favourite, its riffstrewn, folklore-flushed flamboyance contributing to a healthy number of sold-out shows. Tonight’s climax of their AJourney Into Occult Albion UK tour has seen a venue upgrade from the Scala to the 1,500-capacity Electric Ballroom –and it’s also sold out. Before the South Londoners can take on their largest headline performance thus far, however, special guests WYTCH HAZEL, sporting white mediaeval tunics and wielding crossadorned guitars, lead the way with an offering of joyous Thin Lizzy-style twin lead splendour. Paired with their Christian-centred lyrics, their evocation of Olde English landscapes is a contrasting yet complementary vision for the pagan revelry of Green Lung, whose presence is signposted by the arrival of a massive prop…

THE DOME, LONDON IT’S HEARTENING TO see that, off the back of their recent album, Left –their best collection in at least two decades –New York alt metal legends Helmet have managed to sell out The Dome even without a support band. Impressive as that is, the downside is there’s a lot of standing around listening to Page Hamilton’s jazz playlist before we get any live music, so the sense of relief when the band do walk onstage is palpable. Opening with a killer trio of Swallowing Everything, the piston-like power of Ironhead and the bobbing groove of Renovation, this may not be the ‘classic’ line-up, but, having been established for more than a decade now, this iteration of Helmet sounds as powerful as the band did back in their…

ALMOST 20 YEARS in the making, Bruce Dickinson’s epic new solo album is accompanied by a comic series featuring a frankly head-spinning story. We sent our Dave Everley to a massive comic convention in Brazil to get the inside story of The Mandrake Project. What did he find out? Well, there’s dead twins, corporate necromancy, and even sex magic –turn to p.34 for more. Maiden’s magnetic frontman continues to impress with whatever he turns his hand to, and with the comic unfolding over three years, there’s a lot more madness to play with and revelations to look forward to. Giving off similarly occult vibes, Green Lung take us on a tour of Wyrd Britain’s lonely tors and desolate moors, including a stop at scary stone tomb The Devil’s Den (p.52).…

ALTHOUGH MESHUGGAH ARE the first name people think of when they hear the term ‘djent’, the genre would not have proliferated the way it did without Misha Mansoor. The Periphery guitarist describes his younger self as “just an idiot making music in his bedroom”, but his riffs gaining notice through the growing landscape of MySpace helped establish his band as leaders for anew school of progressive metal brilliance. Misha has maintained his status as one of metal’s most ingenious guitarists ever since, Periphery flourishing beyond their initial Meshuggah worship into a distinct brand of tongue-in-cheek intensity. With the band’s 20th anniversary looming, Hammer caught up with Misha to find out what makes him tick, and what words of wisdom have helped him along the way. GROWING UP SOMEWHERE DOESN’T MAKE…

Ryujin: the name refers to the dragon god of the sea in Japanese mythology. It conjures an image of a vivid, serpentine monster, rendered in arresting colours even as it exudes menace and danger. “In the West, dragons are dark and villainous,” explains Ryoji Shinomoto, singer and guitarist with self-proclaimed ‘samurai metal’ warriors Ryujin, who named his band after the deity in question. “In the East, dragons are auspicious and peaceful. The dragon god is considered the god of water, and Japan is surrounded by the sea. Because of the proximity of oceans and mountains, he exists as a god of nature as well. The basis of my music is nature worship and a wish for peace. That’s why the name Ryujin fits so well.” The Sapporo-based trio’s self-titled new…

For ALT BLK ERA, pinpointing their highlight of last year is no easy task. Perhaps it was when the Nottingham sisters – 19-year-old rapper Nyrobi and 16-year-old singer Chaya – performed their biggest show yet at Glastonbury, taking their place among a select few heavy bands who have played the festival. Or maybe it was the moment they discovered their fiery mash-up of nu metal, hip hop and electronica had won them aMOBO nomination, in the Best Alternative Act category. “Me and mum were jumping, hugging, running around,” Nyrobi remembers of the morning she saw the announcement on social media. It’s worth pointing out just how rapid the duo’s rise has been; they only released their first metal-influenced single, Obsession : SOLAR, in May 2022, having discovered heavy music during…

WEMBLEY ARENA, LONDON THERE’S NO QUESTION that Halestorm’s largest UK headline show tonight will be an extraordinary occasion. What they deliver, however, exceeds even the highest of expectations. Priming the arena for this closing date of their European tour are BLACK VEIL BRIDES, who do more to warm things up through their excessive use of pyrotechnics than their own performance. The songs sound muddy and a little spiritless, as frontman Andy Biersack walks up and down the stage with as much purpose as a morning stroll. For HALESTORM’s entrance, a chain-sawing scream splinters through the sound system before Lzzy Hale appears centre-stage, roaring a number of lines a cappella from Raise Your Horns. It’s a confident start to any show, but there are far more head-turning moments to come. Suddenly,…

VERIDIAN 100 CLUB, LONDON CALLING AN ALBUM World Domination is a bold statement, but Norwegian death pop commandos Blood Command’s latest release was a hugely ambitious creative explosion that took in broad swathes of sound from grindcore to trance. For this tour, they’ve opted to support local scenes, with a different band every night. Tonight, Reading’s alt rock crooners VERIDIAN are up, and while they’re a far cry from the headliners’ electrifying party anthems, the crowd lap up their slow-burning songs. There’s not much movement, but a shimmering light display behind them accentuates the moody melodies and sombre hooks that sit somewhere between Dayseeker and Holding Absence. Bounding onstage in full Adidas uniform and bursting into The Band With The Three Stripes, BLOOD COMMAND give it their all from the…

MTVOID/TOOL You’ve just released an excellent new album with your band MTVoid, featuring members of Night Verses and Death Grips. Would you consider this a ‘supergroup’? “Ha! Oh god! No, it’s more like a collective, it’s much more hippie than that. That’s our idea for the future; we want to work with more people, we want to collaborate with more people, we want it to be a bit more creative. Fill the black hole with creative input and bounce it off other people, that’s the intention. Supergroup…? No.” You don’t care much for that term? “It’s a bit pompous. It’s not really about that… although I appreciate the sentiment! Ha ha.” As aman who spends most of his time playing stadiums and arenas with Tool, do you miss the intimacy…

“PAPA ROACH ARE and I from the same small town in Northern California; our families went to the same church. When Last Resort became a worldwide phenomenon, that was a tangible thing to latch onto for inspiration: that you can make something that changes the world even if you’re from Vacaville. It was super-inspirational to me pursuing music. Ænema was probably my first exposure to TOOL. It exposed me to their whole catalogue and made me want to learn about music theory. It ignited a curiosity to learn more so I could create those things. Nobody does it like them –they create musical odysseys that are complex but you can still follow. “I heard Inertiatic ESP by THE MARS VOLTA at the end of freshman year in high school. My…

Blackgold frontman Spookz doesn’t have to pause to think about his favourite moment of 2023. In a year that saw the masked and anonymous newcomers play Download, release an EP (Volume 2) and support the likes of Skindred and Limp Bizkit, one achievement towers above all. “NU METAL BREAKS DOWN WALLS” “I sang Nookie at Wembley!” he gushes, still amazed his band were tapped by Fred Durst himself to open for Bizkit on their UK and European tour. Rising stars of the Nu Wave Of Nu Metal, and the UK Wave Of Heavy (see Metal Hammer 376) Blackgold maintain the droptuned riffs and massive radioready hooks that dominated turn-of-themillennium metal. They also profess a voracious appetite for classic “dirty hip hop” groups such as Wu-Tang Clan and Cypress Hill, refusing…

Vegard Sverre Tveitan helped change the course of metal while he was still in his teens. The man better known to the wider world as Ihsahn was the vocalist, guitarist and keyboard player with black metal standard-bearers Emperor, whose landmark debut album, 1994’s In The Nightside Eclipse – released when Ihsahn was just 18 –brought a frosty grandiosity to this harshest of genres. Derided in many quarters at the time, both Emperor and the scene to which they were central are viewed as hugely influential today. Unlike Emperor guitarist Samoth and drummer Faust, who were convicted of arson and murder respectively, Ihsahn steered clear of direct involvement in the criminality and violence that gave black metal its initial notoriety. He remained with his hand on Emperor’s creative tiller until they…

CANVAS, MANCHESTER HARDCORE CROWDS ARE a different breed. Astray elbow to the ribs is the hardcore handshake, and tonight, everyone is eager to throw themselves into the sweaty to and fro of camaraderie. Pennsylvanian metallic hardcore unit Jesus Piece have quickly become infamous for their raucous sets, and this evening is set to be no different. BLOODFURY kick the night off on a high, their guttural fury welcoming in a selection of eager moshers. MERCURY serve as a calmer interlude, their grunge-y post-hardcore sound bursting with sturdy, atmospheric riffs. The air of introspection is swiftly shattered by London thrashcore punk deviants STIFF MEDS. “Everyone fucking moves, everyone gets hurt,” frontman Seth Salih howls into the crowd. “I wanna see some fucking violence!” Punters certainly listen –from frantic circle-pits to dizzying…