Venom – ‘Live From Hammersmith Odeon Theatre’ (Dissonance/Cherry Red Records)

Venom – ‘Live From Hammersmith Odeon Theatre’ (Dissonance/Cherry Red Records)

To understand just how influential (and indeed shocking) Venom, Newcastle’s very own masters of mayhem and metal, were back in the early to mid-‘80s you simply need to read Shane Embury’s sleeve notes which accompany this soon to be released reissue of the band’s second Hammersmith Odeon headline show from 1985. As sixteen-year-olds Venom really was the band we all wanted to be in, and alongside the Napalm Death man’s words of wisdom, Antton Lant (brother of Venom frontman Cronos/Conrad and one time drummer with the band too) also shares some insight into what it was like to not only grow up around, but also eventually be a part of, such a musical phenomenon.

With both musicians perfectly setting the scene for the madness to begin, I take a trip back in time and let Abaddon, Cronos and Mantas whisk me on the rip ride that was their World Possession Tour Part 2.

I was lucky enough to ride on the wings of the Hydra (or Fred Day’s mini bus to be exact) and catch Venom live on this very tour, attending the Birmingham Odeon show two nights before this Hammy O gig, this being a hastily arranged jaunt after the UK leg of the tour had been curtailed (and the Cardiff show I had front row tickets for was axed) following the band’s shock announcement that most of the venue’s booked wouldn’t allow the band to use their full pyrotechnic overloaded production. And having also been lucky enough to have witnessed the legendary Seventh Date of Hell show at Hammersmith Odeon back in the June of 1984, and still trying to grow my eyebrows back following that hotter than hell show, I was not about to miss the Godfathers of Black Metal return to the UK stage…so off to England’s second city we set. More of which in a second.

With the concert film having been initially released as ‘Alive in 85’ by Embassy video and then subsequently re-released on numerous formats by various companies over the years, this is, as far as I’m aware, the first time a UK record company have been audacious enough to bring together both the audio and the video from the band’s October 8th show into one hell of a value for money set. The live package capturing fifteen of the nineteen songs the trio played that night in London and fully utilising a multi camera unit to get (perhaps a little too) up close and personal with the band to showcase the metallic maelstrom that Venom always has been.

Then, newer tracks from the band’s fourth album ‘Possessed’ like set opener ‘Too Loud (For The Crowd)’, the anthemic lead single ‘Nightmare’ and a blistering ‘Satanachist’ all fit in faultlessly alongside such genre defining classics as ‘Black Metal’ and ‘In Nomine Satanas’ and whilst the show is nowhere near as chaotic as that initial Hammersmith headliner, what it lacks in levitating drum risers and bleeding/smashed guitars it more than makes up for in the band’s supersonic punch. The trio sounding and looking nothing like a band about to lose its guitarist (and resident ninja it would appear) watching the DVD once again.

The pyrotechnic bursts are conserved for a colossal sounding ‘7 Gates of Hell’ and the final flurry of ‘Bloodlust’ and encore ‘Witching Hour’, and I have to be honest and say that I distinctly remember coming away from the Birmingham show feeling somewhat underwhelmed by the band after the sonic and visual assault on the senses I had previously witnessed them deliver (it also didn’t help their cause that the Paul Baloff fronted Exodus supported them on the night and totally destroyed the place) but here thirty eight years on and without any of those “in the moment” distractions I found this ‘Live From Hammersmith Odeon Theatre’ to be one of the most rewarding (if that’s the right word to use here) re-issues I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing this year.

So, in the words of the mighty Cronos, “Come on, turn it up!”

‘Live From Hammersmith Odeon Theatre’ is released on 27th October 2023 via Dissonance/Cherry Red Records.

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Author: Johnny Hayward

Midnight – ‘Let There Be Witchery’ (Metal Blade Records)

Midnight – ‘Let There Be Witchery’ (Metal Blade Records)

“Unfiltered, savage and animalistic.” That’s how Midnight main-man Athenar describes his second long player for Metal Blade Records (his fifth studio record overall), and I for one, think he’s hit the (nine inch) nail bang on the head with that description, because ‘Let There Be Witchery’ is indeed, a total beast of a record.

From the blistering opener ‘Telepathic Nightmare’ (which sounds like Discharge jamming with Hellhammer) through to closer (and perhaps one of the album’s most “commercial?” tracks) ‘Szex Witchery’, what you get is a set of songs that are, without question, Midnight’s strongest to date. You can forget the comments I made when reviewing their last album – ‘Rebirth By Blasphemy’ – for RPM that Midnight might be about to do a Ghost and break through to the mainstream, because the ten tracks contained here are a massive middle finger to anything even remotely resembling compromise.

Working once again with producer Noah Buchanan (who had worked on ‘Rebirth By Blasphemy’) is perhaps Athenar’s master stroke this time around, largely because when saying he wanted his new record to “sound like a cross between ‘Raw Power’ and ‘Apocalyptic Raids’,” the pushback he got from the man behind the desk was “those records already exist, let’s make it sound like Midnight.” This advice proving to be very wise indeed as tracks like ‘Nocturnal Molestation’ and ‘Snake Obsession’ simply ooze Midnight malevolence. Likewise, ‘Villainy Wretched Villainy and (the superb) ‘In Sinful Secrecy’ plough a now familiar Midnight groove in the same way Motorhead did through much of their back catalogue. Well, if it ain’t broke, eh? 

Elsewhere, ‘Let There Be Sodomy’, ‘More Torment’, ‘Nocturnal Molestation’, ‘Frothing Foulness’ and (the hypnotic) ‘Devil Virgin’ all sound like they have been taken straight from a Black Metal giallo movie soundtrack, albeit one that’s playing out in Athenar’s (hooded) head. There really is no let up as the (one man) band who pride themselves on producing music to start fights to turn in one metal suckerpunch after another, making the experience of listening to ‘Let There Be Witchery’ not unlike being constantly coshed around the side of the head with an aural battering ram.

“I always want it to be loud and nasty,” admits Athenar. “That kinda thing never gets old with me. How funny will that look to see me at age 77 – if I reach that point – sitting on the porch blasting Hellhammer?” Well, with ‘Let There Be Witchery’ it’s a job very well done indeed, as this 55 year old is listening to this and feeling like I’ve just discovered Venom all over again back in my early teens.

There are not many bands out there right now as brutally honest as Midnight, and ‘Let There Be Witchery’ really is the boot in the bollocks the metal world needs in 2022.

11 out of 10. Absolutely essential!!!!!!

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Author: Johnny ‘Satans Little Helper’ Hayward

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DANKO JONES – ANNOUNCE TWO ALBUM RELEASE LIVESTREAM PERFORMANCES

DANKO JONES – ANNOUNCE TWO ALBUM RELEASE LIVESTREAM PERFORMANCES

DANKO JONES 

ANNOUNCE TWO ALBUM RELEASE LIVESTREAM PERFORMANCES FOR SATURDAY AUGUST 28TH
TICKETS & INFO HERE!

BAND RELEASES NEW SONG “START THE SHOW“
STREAM HERE! 

POWER TRIO OUT AUGUST 27TH VIA MATE IN GERMANY

PRE-ORDER HERE!

Rock icons Danko Jones announce two livestream performances in celebration of the release of their 10th studio album Power Trio, out August 27th via MATE in Germany. The livestreams are set for Saturday, August 28th at 8:00PM ET / 5:00PM PT and at 8:00PM CET and will be streamed live from Bridgeworks in Hamilton, Ontario.

To add to the excitement, the band will also be doing a Q&A for viewers after the performances. Tickets & info can be found HERE

Along with the livestream show announcements, the band has also released a new song today, “Start The Show”. Stream it HERE! And watch the lyric video HERE!

Ironically the last song on ‘Power Trio’, it is essentially Danko Jones’ answer to Cheap Trick’s “Hello There” – i.e., a song tailor-made to be the first song played at a Danko Jones show. It’s a reaffirmation of everything he was put on this earth to do. But in the wake of this pandemic-plagued year, the song also makes for a surprisingly poignant album closer, because it’s a reminder of all the shows that Danko didn’t get to play this past year, and a reminder of how much we’ve all missed that goosebump-inducing feeling of being in a packed club when the house lights go down, the music playing over the PA cuts out, and your favourite power trio emerges from the darkness to kick into their opening tune.  And yet despite this bittersweet subtext, “Start the Show” is brimming with the promise that we will experience that feeling once again—and, after the black cloud of COVID clears, Danko Jones will be there ready to give it to you.

“Start The Show” follows previously released singles “Saturday” and “I Want Out“.  Hitting #1 at German Rock Radio and Top 15 at Canadian Rock Radio, “I Want Out” has seen success with airplay around the globe. In April the band also released a fan-only track “Flaunt It”.  Album pre-orders are available HERE!

Power Trio sees Danko Jones delivering each engine-revving riff, soul-shaking stomp, and shout-it-loud hook with a sniper’s precision. It’s such a simple, self-evident title, but one loaded with significance, as it speaks to the special triangular alchemy Danko shares with his trusty bass-slinging accomplice JC and drummer Rich Knox.  It also stakes out the band’s place on a storied lineage of three-piece titans Jimi Hendrix Experience, ZZ Top, Rush, Motörhead, Venom, Dinosaur Jr., and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, to name a few.

The album follows the band’s electrifying, world charting album, ‘A Rock Supreme’ released in 2019. It also sees the band once again tapping into the production prowess of Eric Ratz, who previously amped up the bone-breaking boogie of 2017’s full-throttle rocker ‘Wild Cat’ and 2015’s bloodlusty Fire Music.
Band Photo By Dustin Rabin

DANKO JONES ONLINE:
Website // Facebook // Instagram // Twitter // TikTok

Chesty Malone & The Slice Em Ups – ‘Covered In Blood Quarantine Covers’ (Self Release)

Chesty Malone & The Slice Em Ups – ‘Covered In Blood Quarantine Covers’ (Self Release)

Hooray some good things happen in the face of adversity like we have incompetent Governments like the Tory party and their cabinet of chaos and the states have Trump and his fucked up and incestuous administration and they both have some things in common like fucking up dealing with a pandemic but out of such adversities we’ve had some great music and Stateside has seen Portland dish up some good old public civil disobedience against the corrupt man and they’ve also given us Guerrilla Teens and over on the East Coast whilst NYC has been swamped we eventually get this blinding collection of in your face fuck you covers from the inimitable and uncompromising Chesty Malone & The Slice EM Ups.

Right let’s get this out there from the top Chesty Malone & The Slice Em Ups are busting a gut to try and blow my speakers with this awesome rip-snorting fucked off and fucked up six-track digital release. Fuckin Hell if Discharge and 4 Skins covers don’t get you in the mood check this shit out! – Venom and Slayer are taken to task in the slice em ups style but wait they even dismantle a Madonna cover and kick the living shit out of it, to be honest and it never sounded so good.

Let’s start from the top and their opener, Discharge and ‘State Violence / State Control’ oh, of course, they do a nigh-on perfect rendition of this banger they could cover the likes of Discharge in their sleep. It’s got power passion and clarity that this is done from a place of love and respect. Same for ‘Evil’ by the 4 Skins – no brainer job done. but then the fun begins.  Who saw a Madonna cover being part of Chestys repertoire? well, believe it boys and girls it happened and owned it they did.  Whether it sounds like the original I haven’t a single clue nor do I give a flying fuck this version is killer!

Void and ‘Time To Die’ is the noise that a serial killer must hear when they’re off it which only leaves two tracks the penultimate is a blistering take on ‘In League With Satan’ from the mighty Venom the chorus is slung out as if they know something we don’t.  In league with Satan, I’ve no doubt they are. Which only leaves me with the final song and what a belter this one is. ‘South OF Heaven’ by Slayer is owned, dethroned, and tossed out like Beelzebub himself has channeled his thoughts through the medium of a well oiled, well-drilled bunch of Noo Yawk reprobates turning punk into metal and metal into punk and doing it well.  I bow down to Chesty Malone & The Slice Em Ups you have created a small slice of magic and in a just non-pandemic globe this would be the marker of how to cover a song or songs.  Brilliant!

 

Buy it Here

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Author: Dom Daley

HELLRIPPER RELEASE FIRST SINGLE “SPECTRES OF THE BLOOD MOON SABBATH”

HELLRIPPER RELEASE FIRST SINGLE “SPECTRES OF THE BLOOD MOON SABBATH”

TAKEN FROM THEIR NEW STUDIO ALBUM THE AFFAIR OF THE POISONS DUE FOR RELEASE ON PEACEVILLE ON 9TH OCTOBER

Album pre-orders now available

Hellripper have released their debut single and animated lyric video for “Spectres Of The Blood Moon Sabbath” from the upcoming new studio album The Affair Of The Poisons scheduled for release on 9th October 2020 through Peaceville.

 
“Spectres of the Blood Moon Sabbath” sets the scene for the new album as its themes primarily revolve around the dark & insidious underworld witchcraft and the occult, with some tracks being based on historical events. The single unfurls in an infernal storm of heavy blackened thrash. James McBain, Hellripper mainman comments “this was one of the first tracks written for the album and has a definite “rock ‘n’ roll” feel to it with its bouncy rhythm & a Motörhead or TANK vibe, and it is one of two songs on the album where Joseph (live guitarist) performed lead guitar”.

 

James, based in the Scottish Highlands, says of their forthcoming epic new album The Affair of the Poisons that “it contains the mixture of thrash/black/speed metal and punk that Hellripper has become known for, but this time I feel that the end result is more cohesive. Some of the tracks are more straight-forward while others contain some twists and parts that are new to the Hellripper sound. As always, the whole writing and recording process was done at home by myself, with a few friends of mine contributing some additional vocals and lead guitar parts. The album was mixed by myself and was mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege who did an amazing job.

 

Skadvaldur did an excellent job, as he always does, of creating a piece of artwork that both represents the album’s themes, as well as being a somewhat of a homage in style to the old B-horror movie posters that inspired a few of the album’s tracks.”
 
The Affair Of The Poisons will be released on CD, LP, cassette and digital through Peaceville on 9th October and is available to pre-order now HERE

The band has also announced that they will be touring later in the year to coincide with the album’s release, some headline shows in the UK plus as special guests to Cleveland based Black Rock ‘n’ Roll/Thrash legends Midnight.

Headline UK shows

22.10.20 – London, The Black Heart

23.10.20 – Leeds, Boom

24.10.20 – Glasgow, Nice ‘N’ Sleazy 

With Midnight

29.10.20 Gebr De Nobel Leiden Netherlands 
30.10.20 Dynamo Eindhoven Netherlands
31.10.20 Markthalle Hamburg (Heavy Hamburg Halloween III) Germany
01.11.20 Casino Sint-Niklaas Belgium
03.11.20 Le Grillen Colmar France
04.11.20 Petit Bain Paris France
05.11.20 Rex Toulouse France
06.11.20 Caracol Madrid Spain
07.11.20 La Nau Barcelona Spain
09.11.20 Caves Du Manoir Martigny Switzerland
10.11.20 Slaughter Club Paderno Dugnano Italy
11.11.20 Backstage Munchen Germany
12.11.20 Viper Room Vienna Austria
13.11.20 Durer Kert Budapest Hungary
14.11.20 Futurum Prague Czech Republic
15.11.20 Proxima Warsaw Poland
17.11.20 Lido Berlin Germany
18.11.20 Stengade Copenhagen Denmark
19.11.20 Goldgrube Kassel Germany
20.11.20 Uhrenwerk Weimar Germany
21.11.20 Junkyard Dortmund Germany
22.11.20 Live Music Hall Weiher Germany
24.11.20 Magasin 4 Brussels Belgium 

Hellripper has been fast gaining a reputation for whipping up an infectious storm of blackened speed metal greatness in the spirit of old and are one of the most electrifying young, up & coming metal acts in the scene today.

Inspired by the likes of the old-school legends including Venom, Kreator, Sabbat [JPN] and Metallica, McBain formed Hellripper in 2014 and with the release of the debut EP The Manifestation of Evil shortly after, the band were already making a very clear mission statement… Total fucking mayhem!

Follow Hellripper

Twitter / Website / Instagram / Facebook / Peaceville / Spotify / Bandcamp 

 

Midnight – ‘Rebirth By Blasphemy’ (Metal Blade Records)

Midnight – ‘Rebirth By Blasphemy’ (Metal Blade Records)

If the likes of ‘Hell Awaits’, ‘Restless And Wild’, ‘Black Metal’ and ‘Screaming For Vengeance’ got you bouncing around the room with excitement the first time you heard them then ‘Rebirth By Blasphemy’ the Metal Blade debut album from Midnight is the “must hear” album of 2020 for you.

Long term Midnight fans will no doubt already be tutting at my reference to ‘Black Metal’ but across their impressive 17 year back catalogue there is no way of distancing the band’s sound from that primal guttural roar of Cronos and Co. They are the band I once dubbed as “being able to play Venom’s back catalogue better than Venom”, and I’m going to stick by that.

‘Rebirth By Blasphemy’ then is Midnight possibly taking their first steps into “doing a Ghost” by moving away from the metal underground and into the more mainstream. Fear not though, as the title of opener ‘Fucking Speed And Darkness’ alludes Midnight main man Athenar isn’t about to be prancing about like the Pied Piper in its accompanying video any time soon. Nah, this is still very much “go for the throat” heavy metal music, it’s just this time around it really feels like Athenar has stepped up his game in the songwriting department and here all 10 tracks hit home with equal parts ferocity and finesse.

If I were to single out one thing that ‘Rebirth By Blasphemy’ has throughout its 33 minute running time it is that there is a clear focus to deliver brutal yet memorable songs, and therein lies the secret of why for me Midnight stands head and shoulders above the rest of the black metal pack. There’s still some tongue in cheek stuff going on (Devil’s Excrement’ for example – which could very easily be a Trigger McPoopshute song) but essentially this is heads down no-nonsense heavy metal celebrating everything that is great about the genre in 2020. The likes of ‘Cursed Possessions’, ‘Escape From The Grave’ and ‘The Sounds Of Hell’ would and should be instant dancefloor fillers at any metal all-nighter – if such things still exist?

Granted ‘Rising Scum’ might sail a little close to Venom’s ‘Nightmare’ in terms of being the obvious track to be pulled as a potential single, but this comparison is not being made because of plagiarism, it’s being made simply because it’s also a song driven by a drumbeat set to raise the dead. Likewise, the opening few bars of album closer ‘You Drag Me Through Fire’ are primetime Priest yet the song soon catapults the listener back into the very depths of hell with just enough time left to polish your studded gauntlets before pressing the “Repeat” button on your death deck.

At the top of this review I mentioned a quartet of heavy metal records that loom large over the metal community to this day, ‘Rebirth By Blasphemy’ has all the potential to be such an album for the generations to follow, you just need to decide if you want to buy the inverted cross CD or the limited coloured vinyl.

‘Rebirth By Blasphemy’ is released Tomorrow get the date in your Necronomicon.

Buy ‘Rebirth By Blasphemy’ Here

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Author: Johnny Hayward

 

Chesty Malone & The Slice Em Ups interview Exclusive

Chesty Malone & The Slice Em Ups interview Exclusive
Back in the old days, there were a few bands who responded well to being harrassed by some writers from this side of the pond and some who lurked in the underground punk rock scene consistently knocking out great punk rock and B movie videos. Recently one of those beasts reconnected with RPM and had some new music available so it seems only fair that we threw out a few questions to Anthony about just what Chesty Malone is up to? So here goes a quick chat whilst your waiting for the new album to drop…
Hi Anthony, What have Chesty Malone & The Slice Em Ups been up to lately?
We spent most of the spring and summer of 2019 playing east coast shows in support of our ‘Satanic Brooklyn Scum’ 7” that came out on April fool’s day this year. We played with Dr Chud’s solo band in Delaware, we headlined a record release show at Lucky 13 Saloon in Brooklyn where we had a satanic blessing just before we went on. We also played Philadelphia, PA, and Altoona and State College, PA plus a bunch more I’m currently not remembering hahaha, I think we made it somewhere in Ohio too. We also have a brand new 3 song 7” coming out on Friday the 13th in December, ‘19. It’s called ‘Destroy All Humans’ and it’s gonna be on green, purple and black wax on 1332 Records. We also have upcoming shows in Brooklyn where we’re opening for Poison Idea’s final show along with our first ever shows in Pittsburgh, PA and Baltimore, MD and more!

For those new to the band can you give us a potted overview of who you are and what brought you together?
We formed in 2006 in the very depths of Queens, NY. We (Anthony Van Hoek and Jaqueline Blownaparte) were both heavy in the NYC Punk and hardcore scene and we decided to come together to bring back a more extreme old school feel. Music wasn’t our only influence, lots of B movies, Coors Light and hanging out with cool cats (the animals, not the people) inspired our new brand of sound. We like to express our love of those things and our feelings of disgust with society and people around us. Have you ever wondered what it’d be like if the OG Misfits played a VFW show with Metallica, the Cramps, the Plasmatics, the Stooges, Venom and some Las Vegas Strip club bands from the ‘50s while a Twilight Zone marathon played between bands with a white female Dolemite MCing the whole shabang? Well, wonder no more.
The East coast around the New York area especially has been such a creative centre for great Rock and Roll? what memories have you got of getting into punk rock?
My very 1st punk rock memory is probably when my uncle Allen brought the 1st Ramones record over to our house one summer when I was about 7 years old. That made a huge and indelible impression on me for sure. The east coast is great but we still wanna make it out west one day too!
Who influenced the sound of Chesty Malone?
I mean, life in general hahaha. Walk down the street behind a bunch of inconsiderate a-holes who don’t realize there are other people trying to use the sidewalk and you can get influenced by that for sure. Be a bouncer at a biker bar in New York City where you have to listen to the same country and classic rock tunes every night for years on end and that will inevitably sink into your soul. Ride the subway every day of your miserable life alongside rats, roaches and every form of assorted degenerate the world has to offer and, well you guessed it, huge influence! Sure I could name some bands we like but that’d be a bit boring and you can probably draw some conclusions on your own anyway.

 

You have a new record on the way what are the chances of a long-player? What about live shows?
We are currently writing and rehearsing for a new full-length album, thanks for asking! I’ll even give ya a scoop: it’s gonna be called “Please Chesty Don’t Hurt ‘em” and we’re always playing shows! Comin’ at ya live!
What about 2020 any plans for the band?
Well yeah! We’ve got the ‘Destroy All Humans’ 7” coming out at the end of 2019 so we’ll be shamelessly hawking that hot slab ‘o wax along with ‘Satanic Brooklyn Scum’ and all our other stuff all year. Maybe our 4th album that I mentioned above will come out in 2020. Unless something terrible happens of course. 
On to you personally, What or Who made you pick up the guitar in the first place?  From the scene that you started out in who are still kicking about?  I’ve seen some cool footage of shows from places like Coney Island they always look like a lot of fun and a great community? where has everyone gone or are they still around?
Yeah, it’s more of a WHAT that made me want to play the guitar. I’ve always loved the dirty heavy sound of a loud distorted guitar. Literally from the scene, I started out in, I can only think of the band Slough Feg that’s still around. Look ’em up if ya don’t know.
Your videos always look like a load of fun some great B movie humour going on where do you get your ideas?
Thank ya! I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night with video concept ideas and song ideas and artwork concepts etc. I keep a notebook and pen by my bed for these purposes.
There you go, folks, a quick catch up with our Favourite Queens punk rockers check out the videos and go listen to their tunes stream them or pop along to one of the links provided and pick up an old school record – they rock!
The label’s site, where you can order the new record
All photos by Rusty Glessner

PEACEVILLE RECORDS ANNOUNCE THE SIGNING OF HELLRIPPER

PEACEVILLE RECORDS ANNOUNCE THE SIGNING OF HELLRIPPER

Peaceville Records are extremely excited to announce the signing of Hellripper to the label; one of the most electrifying young, up & coming metal acts in the scene today. 

Hellripper, aka James McBain, based in Aberdeen, Scotland, is fast gaining a reputation for whipping up an infectious storm of blackened speed metal greatness in the spirit of old. 

With the new studio album from Hellripper scheduled for release on Peaceville for early 2020, James comments on the signing and updates on how the new album recording is progressing “I am honoured to be part of such a legendary label alongside Darkthrone, Autopsy and Bloodbath to name just a few. It means a lot to me personally as some of the first metal CDs that I bought as a kid were released on Peaceville. 

It’s ridiculous how far Hellripper has come in such a short time and to be recognised by a label of this calibre is amazing. I believe that Peaceville are the right people to be working with as they understand and respect Hellripper’s sound and the ethos behind it. The creative and recording process has remained the same as it has always been for this album and hopefully you will all enjoy listening to it as much as I have enjoyed making it.” 

Inspired by the likes of the old-school legends including Venom, Kreator, Sabbat [JPN] and Metallica, McBain formed Hellripper in 2014 and with the release of the debut EP The Manifestation of Evil shortly after, the band were already making a very clear mission statement… Total fucking mayhem! 

Building on the momentum of the debut EP, Hellripper release a series of split EPs, assemble a live and touring line up and their debut album Coagulating Darkness is released in 2017 to media acclaim with the UK’s Metal Hammer hailing Hellripper as “Scotland’s King of the arcane mosh”. The band supported the release with live shows and festivals to an ever-increasing audience.  2019 has been a hectic year for the band with the release of a new EP – Black Arts & Alchemy on Reaper Metal Productions and the band embarked on their first European tour in April which included an appearance at the acclaimed Roadburn Festival pre-show.

Hellripper still have some shows lined up in 2019 including as special guests to Orange Goblin in London in December and are preparing a live campaign to promote their forthcoming new studio album.

Nov 29 – Glasgow – 13th Note

Nov 30 – Newcastle – Byker Grave Festival (https://www.facebook.com/BykerGrave/)

Dec 20 – London – Electric Ballroom – support to Orange Goblin

May 21-23 – NL – Pitfest, Resort Zuiddrenthe, Erica

Follow Hellripper

https://twitter.com/hellrippermetal
https://hellripper.bandcamp.com/

https://www.hellripper.com/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXkwGbnmrT4JtNp9pkBEP3g

https://www.instagram.com/hellrippermetal/

https://www.facebook.com/hellripper1

https://peaceville.com/bands/hellripper

Gone But Not Forgotten – Øystein Aarseth (Euronymous)

Gone But Not Forgotten – Øystein Aarseth (Euronymous)

Euronymous was a founder of and central figure in the early Norwegian Black Metal scene. He was a co-founder and guitarist of the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem and was the only constant member from the band’s formation in 1984 until his death in 1993. He was also founder and owner of the extreme metal record label ‘Deathlike Silence Productions’ and record shop Helvete in Norway.

Euronymous professed to be a Satanist and was known for making extreme misanthropic statements. He presented himself as leading a militant cult-like group known as the “Black Metal Inner Circle”. How much of this was image, bravado, bullshit or just youthful boasting to create a bigger image? We’ll never truly know.

In August 1993, he was murdered by fellow musician Varg Vikernes. Its a complicated and tangled web of who did what to whom and when and staggeringly why but ultimately several people lost their lives in all of this and today we remember one of the pivotal figures of Norweigan Black Metal Euronymous.

Recently the subject of the shocking and true film ‘Lords Of Chaos’ Øystein was one of the lead roles for all of the above.  He was possibly responsible for taking what the likes of Venom were doing in the UK and taking it across the line and making the sounds of Bathory, Hellhammer more extreme more brutal more antisocial. For the pioneering groundbreaking contribution to extreme metal, we remember Euronymous and hope he rests in peace wherever that may be.

The recent film ‘Lords Of Chaos’ loosely tells the story of Euronymous and his inner circle and depicts his horrific and violent demise at the hands of Varg. We reviewed the film Here It does depict their scene as a band of misfits bonded by dark ideals and metal.  It was Aarseth who discovered his singer after his suicide and it was he who took the picture of his dead bloodied body and took pictures and allegedly took pieces of Deads skull. However, he was also the guy who set up his own label, set up his own record shop and pioneered a network of worldwide black metal fans (remember this is pre-internet) he also set up base in his own record store Hellvete.

Its his raw and brutal songwriting that set the blueprint for many others to follow check out the riff on ‘Deathcrush’

 

This day in Rock and Roll History – In Memory of Tomas Forsberg

This day in Rock and Roll History – In Memory of Tomas Forsberg

Its no secret that we don’t always listen to Glam punk or Rock n Roll or straight up punk. Sometimes we love to indulge in a more challenging form of music. Besides, I find the whole scene of Black Metal absolutely fascinating so, on days like this, it’s only fair to tip the hat and show some respect for those who made the records and have since passed on.  As a mark of respect, we’d like to spread a little love for Tomas Forsberg better known as Quorthorn,  Multi-instrumentalist and frontrunner of the metal subgenre known as Black Metal. Frontman and songwriter of the blackest of black metal bands none other than –  Bathory.

Tomas founded Bathory when he was just 17.  But prior to that, he began his musical journey playing in an Oi! band, before turning to the darker side of Metal.

Bathory was, for the most part, a studio band releasing four albums and often cited as the fathers of Black Metal or at least Scandinavian Black Metal. (of course, Venom were the first we know that) Thomas Börje Forsberg was born on the 17th of February 1966 and sadly passed away at home on this very day in 2004 as a result of a congenital heart defect. In his short life, he managed to release 16 Bathory albums and three solo albums under the name Quorthon. He was known as ‘Ace’ early on after Ace Frehley from Kiss maybe he wasn’t so dark after all and only when he turned to the dark side did he change his name to something altogether eviler.

Managing to remain in the underground Bathroy were more in keeping with the origins of Black Metal and Venoms more NWOBHM than the breakneck blast beats and throat gargling abominations that followed from the bands that took the scene to the extremes.  Bathory will always be known as one of the forefathers and groundbreakers.  So RPM would like to say Rest In Peace Thomas and shine on you crazy diamond.

Also on this very day in 1993 the artist formerly known as Prince Rogers Nelson changed his name to Symbol! Now had he been a black metal artist he could have come up with some unreadable abomination for a symbol – lucky for us it was like a squiggle with a circle and an anchor like line.  These pop stars eh?  Nutters one and all

 

Also on this very day, The Sex Pistols reached a level of notoriety when they played a live show on a boat travelling up the Thames as part of the Queen’s silver jubilee celebrations.

 

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