†A FIST IN THE FACE OF GOD†

Interview with Kick & Sindre of Nekromantheon

2012-01-20T14:20:00.005Z

Norwegian thrashers Nekromantheon have just released their second album, Rise, Vulcan Spectre—an album about "offering virgin's blood to the beasts, defeating your enemies with might and learning the wisdom of the dead". So it's a ritual, of sorts. Since I last spoke to them, the trio have inherited a live guitarist, enfeebled London two Octobers running, and made a name for themselves by lacerating live audiences all over Europe and America. The ancient metal-hailing Sindre (bassist and sometime vocalist) and Kick (drummer and studio wizard) chatted to me about their new album and drinking the blood of murder victims.

AFITFOG: So tell me, what have you guys been doing since the release of your debut record?
‪Nekromantheon‬: After the release of Divinity Of Death, we were keen to write new stuff as soon as possible. We'd been playing live as Obliteration quite a lot at the time, so it was more fun for us to write new stuff with Nekromantheon. I guess you could say we learned from our first album and instantly wanted to make something faster, dirtier and even more evil.

So how does this differ from the first record? Did you change any of your ideals and were you at all fazed by it coming out on the prestigious Indie Recordings?
I guess you could say we gave every aspect of the music more attention. The arrangements are more thought-through, and we were really picky about what parts we decided to use. Our ideals didn't change, they just got even darker and more screwed up, now that we've grown up, haha. When we made the songs and recorded the album we didn't have a record contract at all, so no, we weren't fazed by anyone but ourselves. We would never let a record label affect our music anyway, how should anyone else know better than us what kind of music we want to make?

Well put. So tell us about this tour you have coming up with Aura Noir and, also, I just saw you're playing Death Doomed The Age festival with Death Strike in September.
Yeah, that tour is gonna be awesome. It's a part of a concept organised by Metal Hammer Norway and Amber Booking called "Fire Walk With Me", kind of an equivalent to the Jägermeister tours you might have seen in Germany. Touring with Aura Noir is gonna be the fun part and on two of the gigs we're even joined by fellow Kolbotn thrashers Condor and our buddies One Tail, One Head. Death Doomed The Age in Germany is probably gonna kick ass as well. I mean, fuckin' Death Strike! Don't know how they're gonna perform live in 2012, but they've been a huge inspiration for us, and you probably remember us covering "Pay to Die" in London both times we've played in your neighbourhood. The lineup at DDTA seems really cool, lots of great underground bands – it'll be a treat for sure!

Definitely. How is it playing with bands you grew up listening to? Are you over it by now, or is it still exciting?
It's still strange, mind-blowing and freaky. Fortunately, the scene is still made up of down-to-earth people and most of the people we've hailed since we were kids are really cool guys with no rockstar attitude at all. And it's really cool to see when our old heroes continue to support the underground, that's something we really appreciate.

Yeah, the support is there in the underground, which is nice.
Absolutely. But the most important thing is to support real, honest, quality music, no matter if it's a demo band from Bosnia or a major act from the US.

Indeed. So who is blowing your mind, at the moment?
Almost the entire Swedish scene, haha! Antichrist, Maim, Morbus Chron, Invidious, No Future, In Solitude, Bastard Priest... It's all fantastic stuff! But we do have some superb shit going on in Norway as well, like Condor, One Tail, One Head, Black Magic, Mare, Dødsengel, Deathhammer... The list is endless, really. Funereal Presence is awesome, check them out. Occultation as well. Plus, we keep supporting the bigger acts that still do things the right way – Autopsy, Aura Noir and Darkthrone. Eternal hails!

Can you explain what the 'Kolbotn Thrashers Union' is to people who are yet to encounter the concept, please?
It's an unholy coven of bestial thrashers from Kolbotn, Norway, basically. The concept was formed before our time by Fenriz or Einar 'Necrodevil' Sjusjø, but it was nothing 'official' before we manipulated the logo of the Kolbotn sports team and put it on our records. For some reason, every musician we know from the area is extremely talented and has an amazing understanding on how to write good music. Don't really know why, but we suspect it's because of all the corpses that have been dumped in our drinking water over the years.

So that is actually true, huh?
‪H‬ell yes. Our drinking water is probably the first place the cops would search for a corpse – people have been dumping all kinds of murder victims there for years.

Ugh! So, what else you have got planned for 2012?
No more releases are planned. I mean, we will write new tracks, etc, and the Nekröthrash 7" split with Deathhammer, Black Magic, and Carniwhöre on Duplicate Records is still on, but as for releases there is nothing else planned. We will write stuff for our third album and we'll be playing a lot live. We're gonna play Inferno festival in Switzerland, and in Norway, and hopefully a lot of other shows throughout Europe and the Earth, in general...

Do you think there are perhaps more bands nowadays reverting to the old, more traditional recording methods laid down by the 80s metal gods than there was say, five or ten years ago?
Definitely. It might be a counter reaction to the madness that was going on in the late 90s/ early 00s. People have started to realise what music is about and it sure as hell is NOT about who had the most audible kick drums or how many douchebags you can get to sit on the floor and jump up and down simultaneously. Right now, people in the underground are really into music with a lot of soul and feeling, and hopefully it will last for a while. That's basically the concept of our new album—we want the spirit of the ancient metal gods to come back to life.

Rise, Vulcan Spectre is out now on Indie Recordings.

Pt. XXV

2012-01-12T11:09:00.013Z

Unleash The Demos

2012-01-09T18:15:00.001Z

Hirax (USA) Demo (1984)

Just look at the song titles—pure anthems, all of them! Killer speed metal, right here.
1.Born in the Streets
2.Battle Cry
3.Stand and be Counted
4.Believe in the King

DOWNLOAD

Hellwitch (USA) Transgressive Sentience (1986)

This is another obscure gem I think I found on Lockjaw, sometime last year. There are some absolutely INCREDIBLE riffs on this, mainly on the second and last tracks. Real weird proto-death/black/thrash metal shit here, from 86 too. Wasn't so into the other demo or the full-length either, but this is highly recommended and well worth making an impression on your hard drive, then your life.
1.Nosferatu
2.Satan's Wrath
3.Torture Chamber
4.Fate at Pain's End

DOWNLOAD

Massacre (USA) Chambers Of Ages (1986)

More deathrashing 86 lunacy here. Can't really put into words how good this is in parts. Man, the intro is also something else, reminds me of early Cure, no lie.
1.Chamber of Ages
2.Clangor of War
3.From Beyond
4.Symbolic Immortality

DOWNLOAD

Merciless (Sweden) Behind The Black Door (1987)

Swedish assault! One for all deathbangers and those who have somehow missed this legendary band or have worn out The Awakening.
1.Total Destruction
2.Bestial Death
3.Satanic Slaughters
4.Behind the Black Door

DOWNLOAD

White Aces High

2012-01-03T23:01:00.002Z

Barfly (1987) Barbet Schroeder (Iran)

This movie fucking RULES and I don't even drink, ha ha. Reminds me of the good ol' days! Mickey Rourke is on FIRE as Bukowski's alter ego Henry Chinaski, with Faye Dunaway perhaps bringing the best out in him. Need I say more?

DOWNLOAD

DTP Radio, obituary I

2011-12-31T20:08:00.007Z

As promised, setlist from today's pilot show for NTS Radio. Click to enlarge.
Just played some oldies and some newies, but once the show is up and running it will be themed and hopefully feature some guests, interviews, exclusives, etc. Will let you know when it starts properly, so keep checking back for more info.

DTP Radio

2011-12-31T12:01:00.006Z

Starting a radio show today with NTS Radio. I won't be playing any of the bands on the above flyer, hell no, but I am sure there will be time for some Deathhammer.
Show runs from 2-4pmCET, so if you're awake you better be locked right here...

Non-Remasters Of Reality, pt. II

2011-12-30T14:45:00.004Z

Voivod (Canada) War And Pain (1984) Pony Canyon Inc. [PCCY-00104]

Enjoy this early Canadian beast ripped from a FLAC of the non-remastered 1990 Japanese CD press, at 320kbps. Sounds pretty much the same as my first press vinyl.
1.Voivod
2.Warriors of Ice
3.Suck your Bone
4.Iron Gang
5.War and Pain
6.Blow
7.Live for Violence
8.Black City
9.Nuclear War

DOWNLOAD
Slaughter (Canada) Strappado (1987) Fringe Product [FPL3028]

This vinyl rip of the first pressing is insanely cool and pretty much a totally different mix to even the first CD version released the same year on the same label. Not sure why, both mixes slay, but this is slightly cooler with its echoey vocals and slightly more discordant overall sound. A true classic, top ten ever, even.
1.Strappado
2.The Curse
3.Disintegrator
4.Incinerator
5.Parasites
6.F.O.D. (Fuck of Death)
7.Tortured Souls
8.Nocturnal Hell
9.Tales of the Macabre

DOWNLOAD
Sacrifice (Canada) Forward To Termination (1987) Metal Blade Records [72223-2]

First CD press by Restless Records/Metal Blade ripped from FLAC at 320kbps, with artowrk scans. If you haven't already got this one then today is your lucky day!
1.Forward to Termination
2.Terror Strikes
3.Re-Animation
4.Afterlife
5.Flames of Armageddon
6.The Entity
7.Forever Enslaved
8.Cyanide
9.Light at the End
10.Pyrokinesis

DOWNLOAD

Next month: Brazil. No, maybe Germany.

Interview with Victor Whipstriker

2011-12-13T13:00:00.002Z

Every now and then someone comes along playing the type of music that, until you'd heard it, thought was exclusively in your head. Rio native Victor Whipstriker must be related to Freddy Kruger, in that case, as all his bands rule and everything he touches kills me. The first band of his I heard was Diabolic Force and they are still my favourite, but with each release Whipstriker is gathering pace, Atomic Roar not far behind, with Farscape still tickling my thrash sensibilities. With musical styles ranging from straight-up rock 'n' roll on the full-length, to a more blackened crust sound on the most recent demo, to say Victor is prolific would be a grave understatement. His hard-working attitude translated over to his interview too—I sent him an email asking for an interview and less than 24 hours later it was done. And here it is.

AFITFOG: Hey Victor. Can you give me some background info on yourself and your relationship with metal - how you got into it, who you grew up worshipping, and how it all made you go out and start playing music.
Victor: Firstly I would like to say thanks. I support all the zines, blogs, and all underground stuff. Well, I started to hear heavy music when I was 8 years old. My cousin showed me stuff like Venom, Motörhead, Iron Maiden, and Metallica, so I said: I like it. Since then I've been completely into heavy metal, rock 'n' roll, and punk music. I knew the guys from Farscape in our Christian school. We were friends and we decided to form a band to play heavy and thrash metal in 1998, when we were 12 and 13 years old. It was then that we started Farscape.

I read on CVLT Nation that you were once a pretty good football player. What happened to playing football?
Yeah, indeed. I knew the Farscape guys because all of us liked football and we played together in the streets. Here, it is normal play football everywhere, including on the streets. We were neighbours, studying in the same school and liking the same music. I was a professional football player until I was 14 years old. I played in some official championships here in Brazil. But when we formed the band I started to walk the other way: long hair, tattoos, alcohol, drugs, rehearsals, etc. Then I kicked the football life. My father stopped talking to me for two weeks because he wanted a son that was a football player and not a dirty headbanger.

Whipstriker seems to be a band of many faces, incorporating rock 'n' roll, crust, and black metal into its sound. Does Whipstriker transcend genres, more fitting the feeling of the time, or is more calculated than that?
I like many kinds of heavy music. I like bands from 60s and 70s like The Beatles, Thin Lizzy, Grand Funk Railroad, UFO, Kiss, Free, Bad Company, Black Sabbath, Wishbone Ash, and I like punk/crust, NWOBHM, death, thrash, heavy, and black metal too. So I try to mix all the influences in Whipstriker's music. I don't want to be restricted to play only one style. On the next album I'll try to mix all the influences together.

Can you tell me the release order of your demos and LPs with Whipstriker. It is kinda hard to keep up.
The releases until now are:

- (2010) Metalpunk's Not Dead: 7" EP split with Iron Fist (USA) released by Bestial Invasion Records (Scotland)
- (2010) Crude Rock 'N' Roll: CD, LP, tape album released by Deathrash Armageddon (Japan), Iron Bonehead (Germany), Deathstrike Records (Germany), Bestial Invasion Records (Scotland), Morbid Tales Records (Brazil), Cutthroat Records (USA), and Herege Warfare Records (Portugal)
- (2010) Midnight Crust: Demo tape release in “do it your self way” and a second version released in a split tape with Germ Bomb (Sweden). Dying Victims Productions (Germany)

- (2011) À Porta, A Guerra Civil: Demo tape released by Heavy Steel Recs from Portugal.
- (2011) 7" EP Split with Germ Bomb again. Released by Hellrocker Records from Austria.
- (2011) Tribute to Discharge: Released on CD by many Brazilian labels.
- (2011) Tribute to Hellhammer: Tape released by Morbid Hammer Productions From Colombia
- (2011) Nuclear Death: 7" EP split with Los Rezios from Peru. It's coming soon and will be released by some South American labels.

Whoa, impressive. I know many of the lyrics on the demos are a fightback against the corruption from both the government and the church in Brazil, how have things improved since you were younger and where do you see things going?
Yeah, on Whipstriker I prefer to talk about this themes because it's part of my reality. The civil war in Rio de Janeiro is so fucking sad. This war (State against the drug dealers) killed and kill many people day after day. The police is absolutely corrupt and kill innocent people, dealers, and anybody in the way. Rio is very, very beautiful, but it's a violent city. Children holding guns is normal here in the poor areas. Some things are changing now because the football World Cup will take place here in 2014, so the state is trying to get the dealers out of the tourist areas, but it will not solve the problems. About the church, you know all about it - it's the same everywhere.

Do you have any more plans to tour Europe?
 We played 26 gigs in Europe last winter. I don't know when we'll back. Maybe in 2013, I think. In 2012 we´ll play a Brazilian tour, 15 gigs from south to north Brazil. 

Are you working on a new release?
Yeah. I'm always working on new releases. I have 24 songs ready to record here. But I have no money at the moment to record them. So I think I'll record a new album and some EPs in mid-2012.

I read somewhere that you are embarking on another release with Farscape, what can you tell me about that right now?
Me and the Farscape guys play in many bands: Whipstriker, Atomic Roar, Diabolic Force, Hellkommander, Sodomizer, Apokalyptic Raids, Discenary. So we recorded nothing with Farscape since 2007, but from 2007 to now we've been releasing a lot of stuff with our other bands. We're composing the new songs to record with Farscape in the beginning of 2012. I think the album will be different to our other stuff. I think it's gonna be more death metal. The album will be released by Bestial Invasion Records from Scotland on CD and LP in 2012.

Sounds killer. I see you released a new record with Atomic Roar this year [very cool, btw], can you give some background info on the band and where it is headed?
 The album was recorded here in Rio in the same studio that I recorded with Diabolic Force and Whipstriker—HR Studio. I like this album. The line-up is almost the same of Farscape, like Whipstriker. Bestial Invasion Records released it on CD and will release it on LP very soon.

How is the scene there in Rio and Brazil? Which bands do you rate that you don't play in.
The scene in Rio is very good, I think. We have few venues to play, but no problems. We do the possible. We have good bands in Rio: Flagelador, Apokalyptic Raids, Hellkommander, Grave Desecrator, Thrasheira, Cold Blood, Corpo Sem Órgãos, Deaf Kids and many more. I think the scene is good nowadays because we have more unity between headbangers and punks. In the past it was not possible. So the gigs mix both styles nowadays.

How was touring with Toxic Holocaust a few years back? How did that union come to pass? Have you been a long-time correspondent with Joel Grind?
I had a good experience with Toxic Holocaust. We played some gigs together here and we recorded an official DVD release some time after. I already liked the band since 2002 when me and Joel traded stuff—demos, t-shirts, etc. I really appreciate Toxic's work and Joel Grind works hard, he plays very well, plays many gigs, records a lot of stuff etc. I'm happy for him! But now he doesn't answer my emails any more, ha ha! No problem, he's become a rock star now. No Problem. That's all. I like the band too much! All the best for Joel!

Haha, I actually interviewed him the other day (stay locked for that in the coming weeks) and he said it's because he changed his email address, which I will send you. Anyway. I am sorry to say that my favourite band of yours is the sadly now-defunct Diabolic Force.
HA HA, why sorry?

Well, you know, cos it is finished.
Well, I like Diabolic Force too, but we have no more time to this band. Diabolic Force stared in 2001 after a Farscape gig. Me and the 'other' Victor knew a drummer called Marcelo. He was a very cool and funny guy. But as time passed, this drummer was a completely bastard, rip-off, liar. Everybody in metal scene hates him. Believe me, I know around 200 people that hate him. So we finished the band in 2004. In 2008 we decided to record some new stuff, but with another drummer. We invited an old friend called Adelson, who played in some old death metal bands. That's all. We made the songs and recorded them. We were back just to record it and finish the band again.

Ah, I see. So hey, lastly, what the fuck is a bastard stealer?!?
"Bastard Stealer" is composed to our old drummer—a tribute to this asshole!

Victor was kind enough to donate not only his only full-length with Whipstriker so far, the excellent Crude Rock 'N' Roll, but also the incredible "Midnight Crust" demo for free download, with this message: "TOTAL SUPPORT TO DOWNLOADS... BUT BUY THE STUFFS IF YOU LIKE. SUPPORT THE BANDS AND UNDERGROUND LABELS"

Whipstriker (Brazil) Crude Rock 'N' Roll (2010)

1.Crude Rock 'N' Roll
2.The Excess
3.Live for Tonight
4.No Rights
5.The Life As it Is
6.To The Mind
7.Out of Scenary
8.Alice Bring Me Back
9.Bitch's Grass
10.Living Like a Dog

DOWNLOAD

Whipstriker (Brazil) Midnight Crust (2010)

1.Bombhead
2.Self Destruction
3.Under Vigilance
4.WCA (World Cup Alienation)
5.Christian Wimps

DOWNLOAD

Pt. XXIV

2011-12-04T17:21:00.013Z

1st Presses, pt. I

2011-11-17T17:15:00.004Z

Okay, first off, this new series is basically to highlight the glaring differences often heard between first presses and remastered versions more readily available nowadays, where, in most cases, all they've done is turn the bass up loads (hate). If there is anything you are after in particular, please leave a comment asking, but I have several more ready to go, so be patient. Thanks to all the original uploaders of these rips.

Mötley Crüe (USA) Too Fast For Love (1981) Leathür Records [LR/1281-2]

First up, the infamous debut from Mötley Crüe. This was originally released in 81, not 82 like the more well-known version with the red/bigger lettering. That version was in fact remixed and edited, the version here being the Leathür Records original, featuring 10 tracks, tracklisted differently, with an outro on "Come on and Dance", and an intro on the title track. The overall sound is different, with a way more evil (for Crüe) guitar sound ("Piece of your Action" is majestic) and the vocals almost seem to have been totally re-recorded for the 82 press. Yes, some of these 'alternate versions' were included on expanded versions, but the sound on the whole here is way better and closer to what I always imagined these guys making. According to the all-knowing discogs, there were three pressings on Leathür Records—two in 81 and one in 82. But whatever, this is, for me, one of the best metal albums ever. I can't say much for the rest of their discography, but this will always remain classic for me and this version is keeping the flame well-lit.

1.Live Wire
2.Public Enemy #1
3.Take Me to the Top
4.Merry-Go-Round
5.Piece of your Action
6.Starry Eyes
7.Stick to your Guns
8.Come on and Dance
9.Too Fast for Love
10.On with the Show

DOWNLOAD

Megadeth (USA) Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? [Test Pressing] (1986) Capitol [ST-12526]

Megadeth seem to be the uncoolest band ever for people born in 86 or after. I wasn't aware of this until I got lambasted for wearing a Black Friday shirt recently. For the record, Megadeth did NOT suck. They did shortly after this record and perhaps some of this release isn't amazing, but there is a reason they were/are so big. If they are too mainstream for you then go back to your inaudible Assassin demo, or whatever is 'cooler'. That band sucked, for the record.

Anyways, this was one of the first albums I had as a young wannabe thrasher in about 89 or 90, alongside the obvious things a 10-year-old may have had in 89/90. While I don't have as much time for it these days, it is still ranked as an all-time classic. This version I came across on the godly Lockjaw a few years back and it is, in truth, pretty different to the released version. Four of the tracks on here made it on a remaster in the 2000s, but not all eight, so if you are a Megadeth fan you will appreciate this, if not, then enjoy your Death Angel rehearsal, or whatever (they fucking sucked too). Expect a more 'blackened' sound (if you could call it that), akin to my description of the above record—echoey vocals, harsher guitar sound, more cymbals etc.

1.Wake Up Dead
2.The Conjuring
3.Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?
4.Devil's Island
5.Good Mourning/Black Friday
6.Bad Omen
7.I Ain't Superstitious (Willie Dixon cover)
8.My Last Words

DOWNLOAD

Incubus (USA) Serpent Temptation (1988) Brutal Records [BR-08959-1]

Incubus were a band who, until semi-recently, always drifted under my radar. That was until I found this vinyl rip of their debut somewhere online and my-oh-my is it an absolute scorcher. The backbone of the band, the Howard brothers, moved from Brazil to Louisiana to form Incubus in 1986. They recorded an okay demo, this album, and another, before remixing this, rewriting the lyrics, re-recording the vocals (really badly), and retitling the tracks for a 1996 reissue. I have no idea why they did this, cos for me, this album is latter 80s thrash perfection. "Sadistic Sinner" is anthemic. But seriously, steer clear of the 96 version, it is unnecessary, at best.

1.The Battle of Armageddon
2.Voices from the Grave
3.Sadistic Sinner
4.Incubus
5.Blaspheming Prophets
6.Hunger for Power
7.Serpent Temptation
8.Underground Killers

DOWNLOAD

Next month: Canada.

Interview with Ray Brown

2011-11-14T18:07:00.006Z

A few months back I interviewed Ray Brown for Vice Style, here is some of the interview...

Ray Brown, in case you didn't know, is the man behind some of rock, and particularly (hair) metal's, most memorable outfits. In the 80s he was dressing the likes of Mötley Crüe, Ozzy, Judas Priest, Guns N' Roses, Bon Jovi, Metallica... the list is endless. He never counted himself as a designer, more a visionary who would sit down and talk to the bands about what it was they wanted and then went ahead and made it. I caught up with him and talked about the 80s, lunatic managers, lunatic band members and where he is now—still making outfits for his favorite bands.

AFITFOG: So Ray, tell me about your early beginnings.
Ray Brown: When I was 16 and living in Australia, I left home and moved to Melbourne and had a clothing shop and then decided I was going to move to London in 1975. I was hand-painting shirts and had rented a studio at the Rainbow Theater in Finsbury Park. After this Rasta band Big Youth played, some guys broke in and stole all my shit. This was also around the same time that I made a couple of pieces for AC/DC's Bon Scott, before he died, and the US band Angel.

I complained about security and ended up being given the job as caretaker, and while living in the building, went on to manage the place and book bands. The Clash did four nights in a row there, so did Bob Marley, Public Image, Adam Ant—a lot of people that actually couldn't get gigs anywhere else.

So how did you start making clothes for Mötley Crüe?
Well, the theater was gonna close down, so in 1980 I decided to leave and went to LA with $300 in my pocket, a few patterns, and these shears, which were my great-grandfather's. I got an apartment, rented a sewing machine, and started making jeans for people. I made a pair for a guy called Jerry Kramer, a video director, and when I went over to have him try the jeans on, a guy called Tommy Shaw from the band Styx was there editing a video. He was the same size as me and he couldn't get clothes to fit him so I made him something - a red jumpsuit. Within a few days, they contacted me and flew me out to Chicago to dress Styx and I still dress a couple of them. The first couple of people I dressed after that were a band called Saxon and a guy called Yngwie Malmsteen who asked me to make him look like Deep Purple's Richie Blackmore. Then came Ozzy, Judas Priest, Guns N' Roses, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi - every hair band you could imagine.

This was when Ozzy had just launched his solo career, right?
Yeah. I'd gone up to where he was living, in Sharon's dad's house, Don Arden, who was this really heavy guy. I was threatened by him once. He was actually managing three or four artists I was dressing—Air Supply, Lita Ford, Vixen, and someone else? I'd made clothes for all of them and hadn't been paid, so I went up to his office one day and I'm sitting in the foyer and he's screaming at someone on the phone, threatening them, and I'm like thinking 'this is not good'. So then I get called in and I just said "Don, you know I haven't been paid," he lost it. He said "You ever come into my office again asking for money I'll have your legs put in concrete." But I ended up making clothes for Ozzy and I was making stuff for Randy Rhoads, his guitarist. He only ever got one outfit before he died. I actually still remember living in LA, driving down the 405 and they announced it on the radio. I had his clothes on the back seat. It was really weird. A lot of which my wife actually ended up wearing cos she was the only person they'd fit. He was tiny, he was like a girl—a 24" waist or something. I ended up moving to Phoenix to get away from it all a bit, kept in touch with some clients, and it started to build up again, so then I decided to drop out and retire and I went to live in Mexico for five years.

Nice.
But people found me again! I never ever approached bands, they all came to me. I've been lucky, you know, I've had disagreements with people, told them to get lost, and they still come back. I don't call myself a designer, I always refer to myself as "the clothes guy". Someone that can create music, has an idea how they want to look on stage, so it is down to them to explain to me, even if it's just in bunch of "dudes" and "cool", then I interpret it into clothes. I have always bought fabric that I like when I see it, even if I don't know what I am going to do with it, and they would just come and go "Dude, this is cool, make me something out of this".

Those garter belt pants.

Isn't it amazing that these very masculine guys wanted to dress in the very feminine clothes?
Oh God yeah and they had so many women it was ridiculous. The garter belt thing was Vince’s idea. That was years before Madonna.

[Starts showing me pics of Mötley Crüe]
I actually did Tommy Lee's wedding stuff when he married Heather Locklear. I was at that wedding, I made the white leather suit he wore. I did Jon Bon Jovi's wedding clothes for him and his wife.

Mötley Crüe and Bon Jovi all look like they dress at JC Penney or Walmart nowadays.
Quite honestly, I'm not really interested - I did them in their heyday. What I did then was the best it could be. Judas Priest are a different thing, cos I worked with them for so long, and they've maintained an onstage look and still pull it off.

Yeah, I saw them in the summer and I couldn't believe how many clothing changes Rob went through.
Most of those I did for this tour, some were from past tours as well. Basically, he just loves clothes. He also really believes it is a show and that you need to be entertained. Over the years they've always had a very defined look, which is that biker leather, studs type-thing and Rob just likes a little bit of flash. When I'm making clothes it's all about how it will look from a distance. It's all about the silhouette - to make them look as slim and skinny as possible on stage, so everything I do I think how it'll look from a distance.

So you made clothes for all the rockers and hair metal guys, but what about the thrashers?
Well, I made some stuff for Metallica, like some leather pants for Kirk Hammett, and some jeans for James Hetfield. The first pair I made for James were black stretch jeans and I put black pockets inside and he sent them back cos he wanted white pockets! What the heck! I did them for two or three tours, that was it. And Megadeth I did on and off over the years, probably three or four times. I did them first when they first formed, it was all leather with zips and stuff, and I had little skulls hanging off a jacket that I made. I moved to Phoenix and he was living in Phoenix and I made some different color leather pants for him, some browns and burgundies and stuff with shirts and vests to match, which really weren't thrash at all—quite dressy, actually. Recently again, I did stuff for him, mostly just custom jeans and leathers. Most thrashers were jeans and t-shirts guys.

I don't try to dress everybody, there's certain bands that do quite well themselves. Nowadays it seems a lot of bands are not getting the chance to express themselves in clothing, because they're not having custom stuff made. At the end of the day, it's a show, the fans wanna be entertained, they wanna see their idols up there bigger than life, they don't wanna see them wearing something that they could wear - they'd like to try to emulate what they're wearing - but to see someone onstage wearing something from a store that three or four people in the audience are wearing, I think that's kind of stupid. And that's why I want to expand what I am doing here, not because I need more work, but because I really think rock musicians need to have the choice that if they wanna have stuff made, which is their dream outfit, then they can have it done.

When did you introduce the washable leather to the line?
Early 80s. It was just a fabric I found that a company was making and it wasn't selling because it was too expensive, so I bought all of it and since then I've had them make it exclusively for me over the years. It worked out amazing for me. It is unlike any other type of simulated leathers because it's strong enough to make pants out of, skin-tight, where you can do whatever you want in them and it won't rip. It does look like leather and you can wash it or dry-clean it.

Did anyone insist on real leather?
Slash always wanted real leather. I did a lot of pants for him and most of them were deerskin, the hand-stitched ones he wore over the years.

So, tell me about Guns N' Roses.
Well, when they came to me they didn't have any money, they'd blown it all on drugs—their advance. This friend of theirs offered to buy them all a pair of leather pants each. Washable leathers. She brought them to me, they would come down with no money, Slash would ask to borrow money off me for a pack of Marlboros, Steven Adler would be throwing up in my trash can cause he'd just injected… Then they couldn't get management, as everyone they'd approached didn't wanna know. So I called a friend of mine, Alan Niven, to see them play and he signed them. Then as they began to get more popular, Axl got weirder and weirder. There was one incident where I was really busy and he wanted me to pick up some denim vest he wanted patches added on to. I'd sent a girl I had helping me out to pick it up, and he was so annoyed that I didn't come to see him personally that he threw a chair through a window at her. She came back so upset. He's bipolar, when he didn't take his medication he was nutty. He was regularly a day late to make overseas flights for tours, etc. I don't think I did any work for him after that, I just told him to fuck off.

Anyone else you stopped working with?
Nikki Sixx. I was working on stuff from this new tour and a few days earlier he'd 'died' [from a heroin overdose] and he called me and said "I don't want the clothes any more, cos I've just died and come back to life and the tour is canceled". So I said "No, you own the clothes, I'm making them now". So then I went to their management, who also did Bon Jovi's management, and said, "He's having these clothes or I am not working with Jon Bon Jovi anymore". Then I got a call from the same tour manager, when he realized Crüe's Vince Neil didn't have any clothes, even when I told them I wasn't interest and hung up, he called me back and we made an agreement—they would credit me in the tour booklet and they gave me a few gold albums and I would make some clothes.

Say, did a lot of the bands in the 80s wear that stuff day-to-day?
Well, I mean if you saw them on the street, you'd know they were in a band, from the way they put their clothes together. For instance, Guns N' Roses, all the time, would wear the same stuff during the day straight onto stage. They didn't even get changed. Crüe were the same. Even though the stuff they wore during the day weren't as outrageous as the stage stuff, you could still tell that they were in a rock band. It's a whole attitude about dress.

Did you party with all these guys?
Yeah. I am amazed I never let anyone down. Those were some pretty wild times. We were always at the same places, socializing and stuff. Over the years there's a few people that I became close with, Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi is one of them.

Did you dress their girlfriends?
Nah. Like I said, I did Vince's wife, Sharise.

They never wanted matching outfits?
It was never really in the budget. They would just go to Trashy Lingerie, or one of the stores along Hollywood Boulevard. I made some for the wives, Tommy's mainly - Heather Locklear and Pamela Anderson.

Did you find that after the 80s your workload had slowed down?
Not really. I don't ever recall not being busy. Rockers have always wanted their own look onstage. There wasn't as much extreme clothing, like all the hair band-looking stuff, which was fairly extreme, some of that stuff was pretty out there. I look back and I think 'did I really do that?' It was pretty pure, though, it wasn't contrived. It was how these guys thought.

Did you make any of the accessories too?
I did back then, yeah. I made a lot of guitar straps, In fact, I made the original heavy metal guitar strap for Judas Priest, which is now all over Camden. I gave the original to the Hard Rock Cafe in Phoenix.

Hey, if I wanted to buy some of these washable leather pants, how much are they gonna set me back?
About £550? But, they'll last you for a really long time. My styles, I think, are pretty classic. I don't make clothes that come in and out of style. I'm trying to find the right people to do my clothing line with, but in the mean time I just keep making tour clothing.

To read the full interview, click here.

Pt. XXIII

2011-11-04T13:52:00.017Z

Interview with Jon Stenson of Black Magic

2011-10-30T19:45:00.002Z

Last weekend's second annual Live Evil not only lived up to expectation, but also the heights of last year's bar-raising weekender. One of the many bands who excelled were a yong band from the mountains of Norway called, simply, Black Magic. I heard them first when they were still a black metal band back in 2008, but their 2010 demo Reap Of Evil really made me think this band could become something special. I contacted the band's chief songwriter, Jon Stenson, about an interview last year and, kind as he was, he was too nervous to do one as he had never done one before.

Fast forward to October 2011 and I managed to get not one, but two out of him - one before the fest and one after - so technically I gave him his first and second interview, but whatever, here is an alamgamtion of both. By the way, Jon is like Daniel LaRusso or something and had the most PMA of anyone ever to land in London for the first time with nowhere to crash. He is a bona fide metal apprentice worthy of claiming the throne one day.

AFITFOG: Jon san! How was it traveling to London? I hear you have a great fear of flying.
Jon: It's just the classic 'nowhere to escape' reason. But I can tell you what you do when you hate flying - you realise the drinks are free, you drink them, accept death, and listen to Heavy Load.

Haha, okay. Did you enjoy your first time playing in London?
I did, yeah. Playing in London was actually a dream come true, couldn't be more happy about getting that opportunity. And although my playing was a little more shabby than I would want it to be, I think we put on a good show. Free beer, nice people and good music—couldn't ask for more. We all had a blast.

You started the show standing on some amp covers, what was that all about?
The boxes were there to make us feel like metal gods. Being big Judas Priest fans and watching old Slayer clips from 83, we just had to do it.

Did you have a decent place to crash in the end?
Haha, I was actually kicked out of the "hostel" the other guys were staying at after only a couple of hours sleep on a bean bag. Angry, drunk, and confused, I was heading towards the airport when I suddenly realised that we hadn't played the show yet, hahaha.

HAHA! No WAY, dude, that is incredible. So what did you do?
I found my way back to Camden Town and bought a fake Casio watch. It's really nice.

Wow, unorthodox, but effective, especially if it has a date display function. So let's backtrack a little. Let's talk about the band's origin.
In 2006 I had an old band which Cato of Deathhammer liked and when I went down to the south to visit a girl in his town I contacted him. We met up and jammed and listened to music—it was the first time I'd heard Bonded by Blood—and we decided to form Black Magic.

So Exodus had a profound effect on you then?
Ah, no, we listened to lots of different stuff. The Black Magic you hear today is more influenced by heavy metal and old Slayer, compared to the Reap Of Evil demo.

Yes, I was going to say. That is very much black metal-influenced, then the second demo is thrashier, yet the new material is more heavy/speed metal-based.
Reap Of Evil was more influenced by Hellhammer and Sabbat, but of course it had some elements of heavy metal to it as well. "Voodoo Curse" is probably a good song to describe our current sound.

So how long did the writing process for the album take and are you using any of the demo tracks for it?
 A lot of the riffs are old from 2007 and up 'til now.

And it's coming out on Dying Victims? 
Yeah, I think Florian [Grill] is tired of waiting, but it will be ready pretty soon...

So tell me, you compose all the tracks yourself and then have Sadomancer of Deathhammer record drums and Salsten, also of Deathhammer, join live?
Yeah, I compose the tracks. Sadomancer has made two riffs for the new album, though, but Salsten refuses to record bass because he thinks I'm better at it, haha. But yeah, me and Sadomancer write the lyrics and he plays the drums too.

Nice. He is a wizard that guy. A true master of evil.
Ha ha, the master of evil lives in our minds and the wizard holds the key to our music.

Profound. So, aside form Judas Priest videos, what else inspires the sound and lyrics of Black Magic?
SHOW NO MERCY! Iron Maiden too. Satan, I guess. I really don't think people will hear all my influences but I get inspired by bands like Camel and Rainbow, anything really, not just the riffs but different "moods".

So will there be a tour of any sort after the album's release?
There will be no one to tour for because once they hear our album they will be dead, ha ha ha [evil laughter]. The people of London and around the world better be there when we play!

Nice. Thanks again Jon-san, you are soon to be the master, not the apprentice.

Jon was kind enough to let me post last year's pretty much already classic demo for all of you who missed out on the cassette. This is from Jon's .wma files, so they sound a little better than the tape-rip I made so I could use "Possessed" for my end of year mix, last year. It also includes a little bonus track not found on the tape, but I did include it on last week's Live Evil Mix, namely "Voodoo Curse" which, for me, is simply fucking incredible. I must've played this almost a 100 times since he sent it to me last year. Can't wait for the fucking record!

Black Magic (Norway) Reap Of Evil (2010)

1.The Ritual/Night of Mayhem
2.Possessed
3.Embraced by the Occult
4.Voodoo Curse (Bonus Track)

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The Return... Live Evil Pre-Show Shirts

2011-10-28T11:31:00.006+01:00

I'm not sure how many of you made the pilgrimage to London last weekend for, not only Live Evil, but for the pre-show, but those of you who did will know how killer a weekend it was from Deathhammer, who opened proceedings at the pre-show, to Aura Noir, who closed the festival on Sunday night. Thanks to all the bands, Marek and Mark, and all deathpipers. Can't wait for next year!

Anyway, I had some shirts printed up for the pre-show, limited to 20 pieces for each band, all with the same backprint. The Deathhammer and Nekromantheon ones sold out on the night, but I have 5 Large and 5 XL Occvlta shirts left. If you would like one please leave your email address, location, and size in the comments box and I will email you a total. Shirts are £12, plus postage, which will be £4 in the UK, £8 to Europe, £10 worldwide. Don't ask me for the other two because they are all gone and I am not reprinting more cos that would be lame.

A Fist In The Face Of God presents... Live Evil Mix 2011

2011-10-19T18:30:00.002+01:00

Yes folks, it is finally that time again—the return of Live Evil. In case you don't already know, Live Evil is a two-day metal festival held at Camden's Underworld showcasing bands from AFITFOG mixmaker Fenriz' Band Of The Week blog picks. The festival is in its second year and has again managed to come up with a hellwarming line-up, featuring many past AFITFOG interviewees. Some of the bands are relatively unknown, so, like last year, I decided to do a mix—in order of how the bands will appear at the festival—for your listening pleasure. Words from festival organisers Mark Lewis and Marek Steven after this.

So the plans are finished, the t-shirts and zines are printed and the bands are getting on their planes. The EVIL stress that is organising a festival is nearly over. Soon we will get to see some of the best metal in the world rip The Underworld to shreds.

None of this is possible without Fenriz and all the bands and friends who help us each year. Using the Darkthrone 'Band of the Week' choices as the basis of this is such a great leveller - we're guaranteed only the best no-bullshit metal. You can't fake it! Fenriz listens to more music than anyone and it's his integrity and taste that are the key factors.

So a massive thanks to all the bands who agreed to play Live Evil 2011 and to Dylan for the mix. We strongly advise you to check out these classic and new bands...

And there are still a few tickets left so get a taste of the best heavy music in the world at the weekend, all are welcome. It will be the best weekend of metal in UK for 20 years! No shit!

To international underground... "Destroy their modern metal and bang your fucking heads!"

Mark Lewis & Marek Steven

TRACKLISTING:

Saturday:

1. Age Of Taurus (England) "Unto the Hour of the Dead" (2010)
2. Witchgrave (Sweden) "Satanic Slut" (2010)
3. Maim (Sweden) "Evil Smell of Death" (2011)
4. Ravens Creed (England) "Stampede of Skeletons" (2011)
5. Em Ruínas (Brazil) "Morbid Pits" (2010)
6. Jaguar (England) "Stormchild" (1981)
7. In Solitude (Sweden) "Witches Sabbath" (2008)
8. Pagan Altar (England) "The Lords of Hypocrisy" (2004)

Sunday:

9. Revenge (Greece) "Jesus on the Cross" (2008)
10. Cruel Force (Germany) "Forces of Hades" (2010)
11. Black Magic (Norway) "Voodoo Curse" (2009)
12. Morbus Chron (Sweden) "Deformtion of the Dark Matter" (2011)
13. Bunker 66 (Italy) "Metal Redentor" (2010)
14. Antichrist (Sweden) "Victims of the Blade" (2011)
15. Elixir (England) "Treachery (Ride Like the Wind)" (1985)
16. Aura Noir (Norway) "Sulphur Void" (2005)

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Thanks to Fenriz for all his dedication keeping Band Of The Week/underground metal alive, to both Marek And Mark for all their hard work organising everything, to all the bands for playing, and to Marek for helping me out with five of the tracks for the mix.

And don't forget the pre-show at the Old Blue Last. I have done some VERY LIMITED shirts for the show, so don't be late.

Interview with Antichrist

2011-10-13T19:15:00.001+01:00

Militia of Cake

Sweden's Antichrist are not only one of the finest thrash metal acts in the world today, but over the course of their existence they've also been the most difficult thrash metal band in the world to track down, mainly due to their refusal to exist on the internet. When regular AFITFOG mixmaker Fenriz tipped me off about them back in 2009, I ordered their Crushing Metal Tape demo, but it wasn't until I got hold of their second demo last year that the obsession began.

I originally tried to contact them via the address in the first demo in order to obtain the second, but got no reply. Noticing a different email address in the second demo, which I finally tracked down, I tried again and again got no reply. Then eventually when they did respond, I sent questions, but they didn't reply to them. So, I decided to take the law into my own hands and went to Gothenburg last weekend to see them play an insane show at their album launch party at Truckstop Alaska, a crazy little venue in an industrial area of Gothenburg whose clientele looked like the band shots of every good 80s metal record there is.

I sat down with band members Sven, Anton—above, after face-planting into their cake – yes, elusive thrash metal bands eat cake too—and Gabbe some time in the day leading up to this while they were busy setting up the stage and smoking a lot of weed.

AFITFOG: So, tell me how Antichrist were formed.
Sven: We met at a Destruction concert at a festival in Sweden called Gates Of Metal. That's when me and Steken [Anton, the singer] decided to start a band – a thrash metal band – cos this is what we were listening to at the time.

What year was this?
Sven: 2005, I think. It was a very messy show, but it was a very good show either way. So we decided to start a speed/thrash metal band, but we were both drummers so we didn't know what to do. We decided if we ever found a guitarist that I would do the drums and he would do the vocals. Then we met Gobbe, I already knew Filip from school – me and him were playing in a band called Eviscerated, Gabbe joined Eviscerated, and after that we decided to start Antichrist. This was probably 2007. In 2008, we recorded Crushing Metal Tape and in 2009 we released it.
Anton: This was around the time of the first Muskelrock. I don't think we sold anything 'til Muskelrock. We had it recorded but were like, "What will we do with it now?"
Sven: Also, we in Eviscerated had recorded some material back in 2007 as well that never was released due to some problems with the recording and shit and this led to the band collapsing. Blood Harvest was gonna release it but they didn't like the down-tuned guitars/production, even though it was supposed to sound like that. This all lead to the death of Eviscerated, so we concentrated on Antichrist instead. Weirdly, though, Rodrigo at Blood Harvest released the first Antichrist tape on Zombie Ritual Tapes. We also sent it to the Hellish Crossfire guys and they sent it to their friend Melle, who has this little label called Home Taping Cruelties and he said he wanted to release it as well. He knew Steffen from High Rollers, who eventually signed us.
Gabbe: He [Melle] really helped us a lot, he is very dedicated.
Sven: He also wants to release this lost Eviscerated demo too, which is probably something we should do anyway.

Was the popularity of the demo the reason you recorded the second demo, Put To Death?
Sven: Yeah, kinda. At the first gig when we were selling the demos, we had some new songs. People hadn't even heard the songs from the first demo and yet we were playing stuff from the second demo. No one had heard of us but we had two demos out, haha.

But they old sold out, right, with two pressings of each?
Sven: Yeah, there's two pressing of each. [This leads to much debate between the three band members, to which an answer is not known how many pressings of each demo] Basically, we don't really know how many there is, of each edition, etc.

How was Raging Death festival?
Sven: It was okay. It was cold. We slept in a fucking basement with cockroaches, piss on the mattresses, sperm on the mattresses, haha, shit everywhere. It was really fucking disgusting, haha. It was so cold and everyone got sick.
Anton: The day after, when Morbid Insulter arrived to the basement, I had pissed in, like, a paper bag and there was piss everywhere.
Sven: There was beer everywhere too, we were drinking like hell.
Anton: They were just like "Oh fuck". They couldn't sleep there because of us.
Sven: It was truly disgusting before we got there anyway.

Who did the drawings on the demo covers, inlays, shirts, etc?
Gabbe: His name is David Herrerías, he's from Mexico but lives in Gothenburg. He's an insane guy but a great artist.

Let's talk about the record then. How was the recording of it?
Sven: The production is "the way it is". We had a lot of problems with the technology in the studio, ha.
Anton: Killing technology!
Sven: I don't know how it got to sound how it does, but we got to a point where we had to decide on the sound cause we had too many sounds in mind.

Nah, it sounds great. Did you have an album in mind that you wanted the sound to relate to?
Sven: I think the problem was that we had so many albums in mind.

What albums?
Sven: Every thrash metal album? Haha.
Gabbe: Stuff like Beyond The Gates and Kill 'Em All.
Sven: Also Ride The Lightning. At first, we wanted that kind of production – really fucking dark and heavy. But then, we started leaning towards this really weird Beyond The Gates production. I think we are really happy with the sound now.
Gabbe: We used some really weird stuff when recording. We used my Soviet amp, it has a special sound.
Sven: For this recording it was the first time we were able to do exactly what we wanted. Even if we had problems, the demos were way more low-budget.
Gabbe: When we were recording the first demo we just took the first sound we got, we didn't have a clue. We just recorded it in our rehearsal place, a very small basement at a friend's apartment.

Let's talk about the cover art of Forbidden World. It's handpainted, right?
Gabbe: Yeah, no stupid computers.
Sven: A friend of ours, Chris, who is guitarist of Eviscerated, painted it. It is huge, like 1.5 metres wide. An oil painting probably? So if you look at the vinyl you can probably see some brushstrokes.
Gabbe: I saw on the internet, when the artwork was released, that some people we like, "It's a shame, they must've used a computer", or something, ha ha.

Was it inspired by anything in particular?
Sven: Movies and other covers, I guess.
Gabbe: We wanted it to look like a cheap 80s cover.
Sven: Like a lot of stuff on that Mausoleum label.
Anton: Meat Loaf!

What about the logo change?
Sven: We had a friend make us a logo that we thought would look cool in 3D, cos we knew that hand would be grabbing the logo. I think we'll have a handpainted logo on every album. Maybe they'll look the same, maybe they'll be different.

What about Live Evil festival?
Gabbe: It is gonna be great, we can't wait.
Sven: Everyone who went last year said it was a great fucking festival, a lot of fun.
Anton: Most of the bands are from Norway or Sweden and we all pretty much know each other.
Sven: Yeah, so it's gonna be like big family, haha. We don't really intend to sleep, so some shit is gonna happen!

It will be killer, for sure. I like the website, by the way.
Sven: Informative and simple. Anton made it.
Anton: I couldn't do better, so… Haha.

So, how come no MySpace?
Gabbe: You get spam all the time, it's really difficult to actually do something on there, and everyone is trying to be friends with everyone and people are saying shit like, "wish you a rocking weekend", etc. It's lame.
Anton: The sound quality is terrible too. Worse than YouTube.

Have you started writing any new material yet?
Sven: We are writing some stuff yeah, maybe for an EP. We are talking about doing some mini-compilation, I guess. We haven't really spoken to everyone yet, but maybe with the Death Storm dudes.

So what about your other bands then?
Gabbe: For a pretty long period of time now we have been busy with Antichrist, but maybe if we have time we will see.
Anton: It takes time to record a demo with a side project, you know.

You got a tour lined up?
Gabbe: We want to, of course.
Sven: We may just buy a bus and book our own tour. Some friends of ours are in a grind band and they go away for weeks, months on end, booking their own shows. We want to play live, a lot.
Gabbe: That's the main reason we have a band, we love to play live.
Sven: It's always a blast! Free beer? Hell yeah.

Antichrist's Forbidden World is out Friday on vinyl and CD from High Rollers Records. It is easily my album of the year so far, so go buy it and come see them play at Live Evil the weekend after next or perish in flames. The choice is a simple one.

Don't forget the pre-show too at our own Old Blue Last next Friday. It is going to be 1986 in there.

A Fist in the Face of God presents... Sounds From The Compound, Vol. III

2011-10-07T15:30:00.003+01:00

It has been a slight rotation of the moon since I last spilled more ancient blood on the altar of metal, but guess what? I have another mix—this time of a more mixed variety, with metal from every decade since the 60s, except for the 90s—courtesy of Tom Swine of Bristol black speed metal trio—he calls it "grinding pain metal' or 'tough street metal"—Salute. That's a picture of him getting down and dirty for the never-to-be-released-even-on-DVD remake of Cobra. Words from the man after I shut the fuck up.

So I guess the diehard posse are probably familiar with almost every track on this new mix but that's not the point RIGHT!!!
This is a mix full of the real deal, stuff I love to listen to in the Salute compound whilst smashing beers and writing riffs/looking at vinyl!

Black Magic and Bunker are on there for all who are going to LIVE EVIL ROUND 2! See you in hell...

SWINE

Alright, ready? Let it loose!

TRACKLISTING:

1. Savage (England) "Let it Loose" (1983)
2. Oz (Finland) "Free Me, Leave Me" (1983)
3. Death (USA) "You're a Prisoner" (1974)
4. Widow (England) "Devil's Disciple" (1984)
5. Black Magic (Norway) "The Ritual/Night of Mayhem" (2010)
6. Warfare (England) "Dance of the Dead" (1984)
7. Bunker 66 (Italy) "Blasphemous Ignorance" (2010)
8. Hell Darkness (Israel) "Heartfelt" (2009)
9. Arson Anthem (USA) "Crippled Life" (2010)
10. Can (Germany) "Sing Swan Song" (1972)
11. Flower Travellin' Band (Japan) "Kamikaze" (1972)
12. Leaf Hound (England) "Stagnant Pool" (1971)
13. Steppenwolf (Canada/USA) "The Ostrich" (1968)
14. Sam Gopal (England) "Grass" (1969)
15. Black Sabbath (England) "Falling Off the Edge of the World" (1981)

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Sounds From The Compound, Vol. I
Sounds From The Compound, Vol. II

Pt. XXII

2011-10-06T11:24:00.008+01:00

A Fist in the Face of God presents... Thrashing Rage, Vol. II

2011-09-28T18:30:00.004+01:00

That's right, lady, eat the baby. It's been three months and over 1000 downloads of their first collaboration, but Brad and Cato have composed another trans-Atlantic mix of forgotten ancient metal all for your listening pleasure, or displeasure, depending on how you feel about obscure 80s thrash. Words from the mixmasters below...

Unheralded thrash got a shot in the arm with our first mix, so Cato and I decided that we needed to take another journey into the thrash underground, though this time it would be darker, more obscure, and ultimately more dangerous! When our two sets of selections were united I was left battered and bruised. So once again, I'll let the music take no prisoners as it shreds your eardrums.
Brad

BEWARE as another Thrashing Rage comp sweeps across the land leaving only the tormented screams of those who dare to hear it left... This is the eve of darkness!!!
Cato

TRACKLISTING:

1. Sabbat (Japan) "Bring Me the Head of Satan" (1986)
2. Sentinel Beast (USA) "Sentinel Beast" (1986)
3. Heathen (USA) "Goblin's Blade" (1987)
4. Slaughter (Canada) "Eve of Darkness" (1985)
5. Meliah Rage (USA) "Beginning of the End" (1988)
6. Carrion (Switzerland) "Demon's Child" (1986)
7. Kublai Khan (USA) "Mongrel Horde" (1987)
8. Znöwhite (USA) "To the Last Breath" (1988)
9. Violent Force (Germany) "Sign of Evil" (1987)
10. Vectom (Germany) "Open the Coffin" (1985)
11. Viking (USA) "Do or Die" (1986)
12. Warrant (Germany) "Scanger's Daughter" (1985)
13. Debustrol (Czech Republic) "Apocalypsa" (1988)
14. Sextrash (Brazil) "Seduced by Evil" (1990)
15. Schizo (Italy) "Epileptic Void" (1989)
16. Xyster (England) "Die on the Cross" (1989)
17. Fingernails (Italy) "I Don't Ally with the Devil" (1987)
18. Energetic Krusher (England) "Thrash Ritual" (1989)
19. Demolition Hammer (USA) "Corpse Content" (1988)
20. Sadus (USA) "Desolator" (1986)

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Interview with Scott of Maim

2011-09-21T17:45:00.005+01:00

Maim are one of many, many Swedish death metal bands. In fact, there are so many Swedish guys playing "old school" death metal that they have their own X Factor just for the genre. One of the bands to emerge from the steaming dung pile like a magic mushroom in season are Maim, whose second album is one of the finest releases of the year so far.

I caught up with guitarist Scott, who's also a live member for previous interviewees Morbus Chron. Both acts will be playing at this year's Live Evil festival, which takes place in Camden next month.

AFITFOG: Hey, you free yet?
Maim: Absolutely! Home from work, have had my dinner and a beer so all set!

Nice. Gotta start these things on the right foot, eh. So, where should we start?
Maybe some background info since there seems to be a very old biography out there which says that we are influenced by Defleshed and the death 'n' roll scene. No idea where that came from.

HA HA.
Yep! Me and Chris started the band back in 2006 and I pretty much invited my old friends Rikard and Otto. Rikard and Otto are cousins and NOT brothers like many seem to write. We started writing material basically straight away at the same time as we rehearsed some old death metal tracks—some Autopsy, Morbid Angel, etc. Then we had a quite long hiatus because Otto moved to Oslo. But when he got back towards the end of 2007 we recorded our first demo—which have never been released properly—some people got homemade copies on tape and a few songs ended up on MySpace, that was it.

Were you surprised by the underground being so kind to you from the off? I mean, its not like there was or still is a shortage of 'old school' death metal bands out there, particularly from Sweden.
Yeah. Out of the blue we got a comment from Scott Carlson of Repulsion on our MySpace saying something like "old and grimy death, just the way I like it", which was amazing, especially back in 2007 when the whole "retro death" scene was still in its cradle. Then we got the offer from him to release a full-length via Soulseller, which we were super-thrilled by as he had just released Epitome Of Darkness by Repugnant.

But it went from a MySpace comment to "let's release your record"?
Something like that, yes. Everything went so quick, a bit too quickly, actually. We did initially plan to release the demo recording as a full-length, but it was too short for an album so we decided to re-record some of the songs from the demo and add a few new ones. Erik Danielsson from Watain did the artwork and so forth, so we basically went from 0-100 in a few months.

So tell me, what got you guys making death metal?
We didn't have any particular ideas on what we wanted to play except that we wanted to keep it raw and straight when we first got together. It could basically had been anything from 80's punk—G.B.H., Discharge—to whatever. But it seemed like the death metal thing the way it used to sound back in the late 80s and early 90s was the one the we agreed on since we all were into that kind of music and that's what it naturally started to sound like when we wrote our first songs together as Maim. You know I'm a session guitarist in Morbus Chron, right?

No, I wasn't informed of that.
Did a show with Morbus Chron in Finland with Autopsy. Shared a spliff with Chris Reifert, Danny Coralles, and Eric Cutler - how insane is that?!

Yeah man, that is insane, ha ha - critical madness! So, what other bands are you into at the moment? What do you make of the Uppsala scene?
So many good bands out there: Obliteration is definitely one of my favourites. Nekropsalms is one of the best releases in years, can't stop listening to it. Miasmal is another great band from Gothenburg, Sweden. Great guys as well, played with them in Copenhagen, last year, at an awesome festival called Kill-Town Death Fest. Obliteration played there as well. Then you have Entrapment from Holland—Entombed/Dismember style—and Vanhelgd, a bit of a different approach to death but still great, also from Sweden. Regarding the Uppsala scene, I like the demos from Katalysator and Degial, but I must say I'm not really into the Watain/Dissection approach to metal, it's too pretentious for me. I'm more into the DIY punk/crust attitude. It lies closer to our easy-going approach to music and way of life in general, I think.

So, your second album, for me, was actually better than your debut. How do you feel it compares?
Deceased To Exist is way superior than From The Womb. As said, From The Womb was made in a bit of a rush. We didn't initially have enough material for a full-length when we were about to release the debut, so it's basically a bit patched together. Deceased To Exist is well thought through from the beginning—we knew how we wanted the album to sound like and the songs fits together a lot better. We also had the LP format in mind this time and "Crematory" is such a good break for the A-side and the title track "Deceased..." is a solid starter as the first track on the B-side, etc.

Say, on "Resurrected from Hell" there's, like, a gladiator crowd roar or something on the third chorus, is that correct?
Ha ha! Yeah, it sounds like a gladiator roar, but it's just Rikard going crazy! [I] Like the vocals on that one.

So, let's now talk about Live Evil, it is a helluva line-up again, huh?
It's great! Antichrist, Maim, Morbus Chron, In Solitude, Aura Noir… Nekromantheon as warm-up—can't wait! Such a killer line-up!

You psyched to play your first UK show?
Oh yeah! I lived in London for a couple of years so got a lot of friends there and have been to many gigs at the Underworld. Can't wait! Hope we come back for a whole tour sometime.

I notice you guys don't play in any other bands—well, you mentioned you play live in Morbus Chron—that is kinda unusual for Swedish metal musicians.
We have played and are playing in various unimportant projects, but nothing major, no. But yeah, I play live with Morbus and Chris has recorded some solos on the new Bastard Priest record, so you could say it's a nice death metal collective around here!

What stuff do you listen to outside of metal.
I listen to a lot of different music, but have been listening a lot to old American hardcore and 82 British punk over the last few months. Stuff like Inepsy, GBH, Negative Approach, Minor Threat, Antitode etc. Along with that, Blue Öyster cult and Jethro Tull. A nice mix in my world! He he. Metal got a lot to learn from punk!

And you Swedes got some great bands like Anti Cimex, Bombanfall etc.
Mmmm! Anti Cimex! Great!!! And Totalitär—best one! You should listen to it if you haven't had the chance.

Is there any friendly competition between your guys and say, Bastard Priest and Morbus Chron? Like, did you hear their album and go "FUCK! We need to come back harder next time"?
Yeah, a bit like that! I think that's why there are so many good releases out here and many to come. Good sparring!

Good to hear. Any last words? Not that I am going to send a death squad now I am done interviewing you or anything.
Well, a big hail to all the dedicated people out there! And fuck racism, sexism, and idealism! The terrorist attack in Norway is just a big proof that something needs to be done. People need to start communicating over cultural and social borders! We are not very political—leaving that to the punks—but want to take the opportunity to say something 'cause it matters!

Photos by Fredric Sommer

Pt. XXI

2011-09-16T11:07:00.001+01:00

Live Evil Pre-Show

2011-09-12T22:08:00.006+01:00

With the imminent arrival of Live Evil 2011 comes the flyer for the pre-show at London's Old Blue Last. I knocked this one up myself and if you're wondering why the nite has been titled The Return... it is because, well, it is the return of three bands that made last year's festival the legend is has already become. These appearances are exclusive to the pre-show and the all three band's only performances in the UK this year. And it's free, so you have no choice but to come and bear witness to three bands in their prime.

Below is the most recent poster for the festival itself, with Revenge (Greece), who have just been added, to make the poster still. Might be one more band still to come if there's enough tickets sold, so come on, are you waiting for tickets to sell-out, or what? Only six weeks to go!

Oi Oi!

2011-09-04T15:45:00.004+01:00

Ohlo Seco (Brazil) Ohlo Seco (1984)

I found out about these guys via Ratos De Porão's cover of Que Verginha on their Crucificados Pelo Sistema album, which is also killer btw. I managed to track down the first two EPs online and the opening track of this kills me every time I hear it still. Has that War Of The Worlds-esque guitar tone and who knows, without these guys there may've been no Sepultura, Sarcófago et al. Also, I wanted to exclude the live tracks as I HATE live recording, but the crowd singing along to the intro of "Isto é Olho Seco" at the end of "Vida Violenta" makes me wish I had been there so bad.

1. Isto é Olho Seco
2. Castidade
3. Sinto (Live)
4. Lutar, Matar (Live)
5. Vida Violenta (Live)

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Unruled (Canada) Time Is Running Out (1984)

Last year, I saw this killer Inepsy acoustic video and in it they tear down all the lame posters in the backstage area, or wherever it is they are, and replace it with some of their own—one being an Unruled one. I'd never heard them so I checked out this and it's stuck ever since.

1. Time is Running Out
2. Forced Mistake
3. Lost Cause

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Besthöven (Brazil) More Victims Of War (2002)

No idea what attracted me to this, can't have been the half-arsed Discharge rip-off cover... or was it? Ha. Anyways, this is sloppy as hell, but in the best possible way. The Portuguese-lyriced tracks are vastly superior, for me.

1. Rest in Silence
2. More Victims of War
3. Multidôes Envelhecidas
4. Silêncio Macabro
5. Vale das Sombras, Vale da Mort

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After The Bombs (Canada) Terminal Filth Stench Bastard (2005)

Thanks to Sindre for introducing me to these guys when he included them on the crust mix he and Brad Smith compiled for me earlier in the year. The four tracks on here are all absolute rippers and every time I put this on, well, I want to smash up everything in sight, ha ha. Luckily, I haven't done so, yet. If you liked the Stagnation EP I posted earlier in the year then this is definitely for you.

1. Face of Brutality
2. This is Hell
3. Centuries of Genocide
4. Life in Fear

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Pt. XI

2011-08-30T22:57:00.013+01:00

Fenriz' Metal Merchants Festival DJ Set, Vol. II

2011-08-16T17:00:00.008+01:00

So it's been just over six months since I last directed your gaze into the kaleidoscope of metal through the ages from regular AFITFOG mixmaker Fenriz aka DJ V.K.O.M., but fear not, here we have part two of his legendary Metal Merchants DJ Set mixes. Words from the man after the break.

Fenriz’ Metal Merchants Festival DJ Set, Vol. II

Metal Merchants festival in Norway Oslo keeps on giving, and it seems it will happen YET AGAIN - and for the Live Evil festival in October I've chosen two bands that convinced me when seeing them live at MMs. And so, as the first part of my Dj set for the first Metal Merchants festival HAS been unleashed here already, it's also only fair that NOW COMES PART TWO. it's been a private compilation up to now, where all you punters and all-round GEEZERS can hear it as well. Heavy metal never left, Baby!!!

TRACKLISTING:

1. UFO (England) "Rock Bottom" (1974)
2. Mindless Sinner (Sweden) "Master of Evil" (1983)
3. Karnax (Canada) "To Hell" (2007)
4. Attacker (USA) "Battle at Helm's Deep" (1985)
5. Pagan Altar (England) "Pagan Altar" (1982)
6. Em Ruinas (Brazil) "Burn in Hell" (2007)
7. Coven (USA) "General's Eye" (1987)
8. Omega (USA) "Shadows of the Past" (1987)
9. Luzbel (Mexico) "Hijos del Metal" (1986)
10. Thor (Canada) "When Gods Collide" (1985)
11. Manilla Road (USA) "Haunted Palace" (1987)
12. Ozzy Osbourne (England) "S.A.T.O." (1981)
13. Cloven Hoof (England) "The Gates of Gehenna" (1984)
14. Rat Attack (USA) "Reaper's Prey" (1983)
15. Accept (Germany) "Free Me Now" (1979)
16. Exciter (Canada) "Rising of the Dead" (1983)
17. Aria (Russia) "Antichrist" (1991)
18. Scorpions (Germany) "Robot Man" (1975)

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Speaking of Live Evil, the line-up for the Fenriz-curated festival's second billing has just been announced and this year's free pre-show will be held at The Old Blue Last. The line-up for that features Norway's Deathhammer—who tore up last year's pre-show and festival (and Daniel's pants), and Nekromantheon—who played the best live thrash set I have ever seen on the Saturday, completing the bill are Germany's Occvlta, who were featured in one of Vice's Noisey shows.

Apparently, if they sell another 100 tickets by mid-August for the festival there will be another headliner added to Saturday's bill, so come on and dig not-so-deep - it is £30 for two days of the best underground metal out there right now. I will be interviewing some more of the bands on the bill in the coming months, so keep checking back for more info and possible additions to the line-up.

Pt. XX

2011-08-11T11:11:00.014+01:00

Interview with Jim Simpson of Henry's Blues House

2011-07-31T20:00:00.000+01:00

The origin of anything always seems to be a matter of controversy. One thing in this world is certain, though, and that is that heavy metal came from Birmingham. Fact. No, The Kinks, Led Zeppelin, or The Who didn’t invent it; sure, they all had the odd heavy riff, but in reality it was Black Sabbath whose doom-laden blues would spark something quite majestic, all from the small Birmingham suburb of Aston.

The Home of Metal exhibition, celebrating metal's synonymy with Birmingham and the Black Country featuring rare and unseen metal memorabilia, has been up and running now for a number of year and to get an idea of how it all started I caught up with Jim Simpson, who ran the legendary Henry’s Blues House. It was here where all the luminaries of the future scene hung out and where Sabbath eventually played their first shows.

AFITFOG: Hey Jim. I understand you owned the first blues bar in Birmingham?
Jim Simpson: Well, we didn’t own a bar, we used to rent an upstairs room in a pub and put on a regular blues night, yeah.

What year we talking?
‘68 we started, I guess.

And that’s where all the guys who created heavy metal hung out together, correct?
Originally, I opened to showcase a band I was handling called Bakerloo Blues Line, later known as Bakerloo, who featured Dave Clempson on guitar (you probably know of him from Humble Pie, Colosseum and numerous others). I think he’s one of the finest ever blues guitar players. I’d been in a band called Locomotive, we had a hit record with “Rudi’s in Love” in ‘67 or ‘68, I can’t remember, and I quit to manage the band. I found myself with some time to spare, so we decided to create our own venue which was called Henry’s Blues House, named after my neighbour’s dog; a very glamorous Afghan hound. We didn’t just put on music – we showed stuff like Laurel & Hardy and other silent films, too – but the music was really how Henry’s Blues House came about.

How did you first come into contact with the Sabbath guys?
They were members of Henry’s Blues House.

It was a members-only bar?
No, no. You paid a shilling, or something, to be a member for a year and you got in a couple of quid cheaper. They used to come to the club to listen to blues. We got talking and I heard they had a band, and after a while they asked if they could do the intermission. I’d gotten to know them by then, so I said “Yes” and it all went from there.

Was that when they were still playing as Earth, or were they calling themselves Sabbath by then?
Originally as Earth. They played their first gig ever as Sabbath there, too.

So how did the scene change from blues to hard rock/heavy metal?
The blues boom happened very quickly. It became formulaic very quickly, and suddenly the world was full of guys who wore the same denim, had the same haircuts, played the same repertoire, smelled the same, stared at their boots the same and played the same thousand mile-long guitar solos. It wasn’t good box office, I suppose, ’cause they weren’t all good players. The blues sort of killed itself really quickly, so bands like Sabbath, who were a blues band, looked around for different directions to go in. They used to refer to Henry’s as the first progressive club outside London. Well, I didn’t quite see playing blues from the 20s or 30s as being progressive, it was more regressive, I would’ve thought, but we got the progressive label. And then the aim was to be heavy – you had to be heavy. We revelled in it. There was nobody heavier than Sabbath. On the early Sabbath publicity you’ll find one of my corny straplines, which was: ‘Black Sabbath Make Led Zeppelin Look Like a Kindergarten House Band’.

That’s kind of true…
Well, of course it’s true. Absolutely. Undeniably so. We knew we got something very special with Sabbs and they didn’t like being thought of as an ‘alternative Zeppelin’, because they weren’t. They were a totally different sort of band. Everyone says “Oh, heavy metal, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, both from the Midlands…” Oh, apart from the fact that only half of Zeppelin were from the Midlands and they didn’t come from the same roots. Also, they had totally different economic backgrounds. Half of Led Zeppelin were recruited – Bonny [John Bonham] and [Robert] Plant – from Birmingham bands by a very successful, already established, well-moneyed manager, to take part in what was a supergroup, really. Sabbs were organic, more natural. Funnily enough, the band that John Bonham left to join [Zeppelin] was my band.

So why do you think it all came from Birmingham then?
Well, we had two good venues: Henry’s Blue House was the first, and it was followed by a venue called Mothers. Mothers used to have any band that were heavy on. They had a much bigger capacity than us, six or seven hundred people, almost three times ours. That educated a generation.

What about Judas Priest? Did you know those guys?
We all knew each other. Sabbath were the best, no question. It was no contest. We knew all the local musicians, we knew Judas Priest well. I had a couple of recordings with Judas Priest’s singer, some soul ballads, funnily enough. We never released them. Rob [Halford] was well-respected round here, was for many a year. In fact, I think the drummer of Bakerloo, Charlie Hinch, went on to join Judas Priest [he did, for two brief spells in the 70s].

Wait, you said you had Rob Halford sing on a soul record?
A soul ballad, yeah.

What, just one track?
He did about two tracks, I think… three tracks? We didn’t ever release it. When you stumble upon a great song and you get one of your mates to sing it, it doesn’t necessarily mean you end up releasing it. These weren’t commercially thought-out ideas. You get inspired by somebody’s song and you want to make a recording of it, but I didn’t see any natural place for that track so it stays on the shelf.

For more info on the Home of Metal project click here.

Pt. X

2011-07-27T12:17:00.011+01:00

Time Waits for the Ripper

2011-07-01T19:02:00.008+01:00

Time After Time (1979) Nicholas Meyer (USA)

H.G. Wells, Malcolm McDowell, has his secret time machine stolen by Jack the Ripper who uses it to escape to 1979, where Wells follows him. Basically, this movie is the fucking shit and has many of the same principals for time travel Back To The Future has. Hell, the chick from the not too hot finale of the aforementioned trilogy stars as a bank teller. I don't what else to say except hit the new link below and enjoy.

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A Fist in the Face of God presents... Thrashing Rage - A Mix by Brad & Cato

2011-06-16T11:29:00.006+01:00

Okay, so it's taken me an AGE to get it together to post anything on here, but the metal Gods have blessed us with a brand new mix, of the thrash variety, courtesy of regular A Fist in the Face of God mixmaker Bradley Smith and Deathhammer's Cato Stormoen.

In a similar vein to the crust mix Brad did for me with Sindre back in March, this was conducted solely over email, as Brad is still living it up in Hawaii while Cato leaves in a cave somewhere in Norway, battling the cold winds of death. Anyways, it is an impressive line-up, with some surprises for even the most weathered thrasher out there. Words from Brad and Cato below.

So many thrash bands out there never received the attention they truly deserved, so I took this opportunity to collaborate with one of my favorite up and coming thrash maniacs to spread the word on some unheralded, yet truly explosive and corrosive bands. So I'll keep this short and sweet and let the music do the talking. Thrash Hard!!!
Brad

I have never collaborated on a comp like this before so I just piled together some killer tracks which I thought would fit. Some old favorite tracks of mine and also some stuff I came across recently, like Anacrusis. The cool thing about this für mich is the amount of new bands I discovered through Bradley's side of the comp. Hails and play it loud!
DIE HARD!!!
Cato

TRACKLISTING:

1. Protector (Germany) "Protector of Death" (1986)
2. Morbid Saint (USA) "Assassin" (1988)
3. Soothsayer (Canada) "Build the Terrorism" (1986)
4. Burnt Offering (USA) "Power of Death" (1989)
5. Hobbs' Angel Of Death (Australia) "Cold Steel" (1988)
6. Toxodeth (Mexico) "Black Doom" (1988)
7. Dolmen (USA) "The Ritual Night" (1989)
8. Pentagram [Mezarkabul] (Turkey) "Intro (Wreck)/Rotten Dogs" (1990)
9. Messiah (Switzerland) "Hyper Borea" (1987)
10. Ulysses Siren (USA) "Above the Ashes" (1987)
11. Infernäl Mäjesty (Canada) "Into the Unknown" (1988)
12. Sindrome (USA) "Rapture in Blood" (1987)
13. Anacrusis (USA) "Imprisoned" (1988)
14. Sacred Reich (USA) "No Believers" (1987)
15. Nasty Savage (USA) "Fear Beyond the Vision" (1985)
16. Lääz Rockit (USA) "Last Breath" (1987)
17. Demonax (USA) "Evil's Cast Aside" (1984)
18. Holy Terror (USA) "Debt of Pain" (1988)

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Pt. XIX

2011-06-15T22:20:00.012+01:00

Road Killer

2011-05-31T18:03:00.004+01:00

Roadgames (1981) Richard Franklin (Australia)

Stacy Keach puts in an insanely neurotic performance as a truck driver high on his own paranoia in this Duel meets The Hitcher-type movie. Not quite as intense as either, but the dialogue in parts is great. No explanation as to how him and bit-part co-star Jamie Lee Curtis wound up in Australia, but hey, I guess that is not too important. Rural Australia makes middle-America look relatively tame and eerie in its desolation.

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Pt. XVIII

2011-05-22T19:01:00.013+01:00

Dissections, May 2011

2011-05-11T12:28:00.009+01:00

Okay, so I have been writing a lot album reviews over the last few years, some of which never make it to print for the two magazines I write for, so, instead of just discarding them as I did previously, I will be posting them here. Thanks to all the people who send me promos, and to Sindre for some of these reviews.

MAIM (Sweden) Deceased To Exist
Soulseller Records

Okay. If I reviewed every band that claimed to be 'old school' I would JUST be writing about bad death metal records. However, every now and again, someone comes along with a sound that just says 'I have been hiding in a vault somewhere for 24 years'. No, I am talking about the daughters of Fritzl, but a decent death metal record that actually sounds authentic in every way, Deceased To Exist being a prime example. Continuing on almost directly from the dealings of conptemporaries Bastard Priest's LP last year, this is in no way reinventing the metal wheel—echoing Repulsion, Autopsy, et al—but what really makes this stand out is its touches of originality. Now, can any of you supposed 'old school' death metal bands go find a dictionary and look up that eleven-letter word, please.
8

IN SOLITUDE (Sweden) The World. The Flesh. The Devil
Metal Blade Records

Swedish youngsters In Solitude grabbed everyone by the hair on their balls with their fantastic self-titled debut, and now with a new album on a major label featuring newly recruited guitarist Henke Palm of Sonic Ritual on board, they’re ready to conquer the world. Continuing with an evil mixture of Merciful Fate, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden-inspired heavy metal, they somehow escape going too far with the cheesy typical heavy metal clichés like their ancestors may have done at the height of their fame. The production is huge and organic, but it sounds nether old school or modern, more or less timeless. The World. The Flesh. The Devil is most likely the best heavy metal album since the late 80s. Essential.
9.5
STRESSMINISTER

NEGATIVE PLANE (USA) Stained Glass Revelations
Invictus Productions

Negative Plane's sophomore LP since their formation ten years ago is as nightmarishly spectacular as their debut, Et In Saecula Saeculorum. Retaining much of the paranoia and chaos of their previous work might've been a challenge to many of the scene's banal forerunners, yet Negative Plane achieve a very unique sound with this effort. It is a foul and rotten album thats stench is akin to a body left to rot next to a radiator on high in mid-summer with an air of intense confusion and enough originality [there's that word again…] to surprise even the most troglodyte of metal connoisseurs. This is unlike really anything else out there, and is not another tip at 80s or 90s extreme metal, but perhaps a portal to where the future of flagging genres like black and death metal may be headed before all die and burn to ash in the apocalypse next year.
8

SUMMON THE CROWS (Norway) One More For The Gallows
Ruin Nation Records/Southern Lord

Norway’s darkest, and in my opinion, best crust punk act Summon the Crows have returned—after years in obscurity—with a monstrous new LP. I’d never thought they would exceed their previous efforts, especially The Scavengers Feast album, but, here I am, blown away again. One More For The Gallows starts off where they left off five years ago - blistering groovy crust punk with loads of extreme metal influences, and for a crust punk band their instrumental skills are extremely impressive. Intricate riffing and sweet-ass bass lines that scream of Voivod influences, but without ever being close to ripping them off. The lyrical aspect of Summon The Crows are more like what you’d expect from a crust band - dark and political with a bleak and unflattering view of the world and its inhabitants. All in all, this record will chew you up and spit you out in a dirty gutter, and send you into oblivion. Check out “Beast of the Night” or “Enter the Shadow of a Tyrant” and you’ll know what I’m talking about. In crust we trust, indeed.
8
STRESSMINISTER

ALCEST (France) Le Secret
Prophecy Productions

Okay, technically this is a reissue, but, it does feature re-recordings of both tracks to have featured on 2005s "Le Secret" EP. This, as far as I am aware, started what is now a truly insipid sub-genre—shoegaze black metal or simply metalgaze. Either totally suck, but this really does not. There is enough here to satisfy even the melancholiest of My Bloody Valentine fans and perhaps, at the same time, Burzum fans alike, looking for what his recent releases may not have delivered. Time has not affected this, but the same cannot really be said for Alcest perhaps, as the re-recordings are almost throwaway. Worth noting that Neige was only 15 when he solely composed this EP. Have that Bieber, you fag.
8

Pt. XVII

2011-04-29T11:54:00.015+01:00

Pt. IX

2011-04-22T13:27:00.013+01:00

Deathrashgrind

2011-04-08T15:00:00.009+01:00

Sacrifice (Canada) The Exorcism (1985)

The Exorcism is basically the demo of Torment In Fire, however, I've kind of always been a bigger fan of this than the full-length. "Turn in your Grave" sounds incredible on this release.

1. The Shining
2. Sacrifice
3. Turn in your Grave
4. Burned at the Stake
5. The Exorcism
6. Decapitation
7. Warrior of Death
8. Beyond Death

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Desecration (USA) Psycho (1985)

This is scorching—the vocals a little odd, perhaps—but great evil 80s thrash, nevertheless. Not many things sound like this nowadays.

1. Intro
2. Psycho
3. Death's Revenge
4. Halloween

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Hobbs Angel Of Death (Australia) Virgin Metal Invasion From Down Under (1987)

Well, much like the Sacrifice demo above, I have always been more of a fan of this than the LP that followed it. "Jack the Ripper" is killer, great drum sound.

1. House of Death
2. Crucifixion
3. Jack the Ripper
4. Bubonic Plague
5. The Journey

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Armoros (Canada) Pieces (1988)

This is a pretty random bit of dark Canadian thrash, long since out of print. Basically, if you have somehow tired of Darkness Descends, this is in the same ball park stylistically, with "Critical Mass" being the standout track for me on here.

1. Forever CDMK
2. Terminal Death
3. Euphoria
4. Apparition of Force
5. Critical Mass
6. Autopsy (Dementia)
7. The Dead
8. Shadows
9. Remember Michelle
10. Earache

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Stagnation (USA) Stagnation (2007)

Okay, I know this is considerably newer than the rest, but this is simply crushing and you should download it now and turn it up past lethal. Brusing death/grind.

1. Tempter
2. From the Fog
3. Shall Be Turned
4. Interceptor
(Bonus Tracks)
5. Farthest From
6. Thunderdrome

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Pt. XVI

2011-03-20T11:47:00.009Z

A Fist in the Face of God presents... In Crust We Trust - A Mix by Brad & Sindre

2011-03-11T19:15:00.002Z

When Nocturnal Cult scribe Bradley Smith said he and Sindre Solem—Obliteration frontman and Nekromantheon bassist and sometimes vocalist—were doing a crust mix, my first thought was: great. Given that Brad lives in Hawaii and Sindre lives in Norway, there was one small obstacle to overcome; the Atlantic Ocean. However, thanks to the internet they managed to compose it solely over email and here it is, with a little intro from Mr. Smith.

The In Crust We Trust compilation represents a cross-Atlantic crust duel between Sindre, Norwegian vocalist for Obliteration/Nekromantheon, and Brad, American editor Nocturnal Cult Webzine, each one trying to destroy the other by picking the most crushing or devastating crust track they can find in order to annihilate the opposition. So who wins this battle between metal brothers? Only you can decide.

TRACKLISTING:

1. Amebix (England) - “Arise!” (1985)
2. Axegrinder (England) - “Life Chain” (1989)
3. Holokaust (USA) - “54 Wars” (2005)
4. Hellbastard (England) - “They Brought Death” (1990)
5. World Burns To Death (USA) - “Apparatus” (2003)
6. His Hero Is Gone (USA) - “Thieves” (1996)
7. Monuments To Ruins (USA) - “Sleep Rite” (2005)
8. Morne (USA) - “Force” (2009)
9. Detestaion (USA) - “Searching for Oblivion” (1996)
10. Tragedy (USA) - “Crucifier” (2006)
11. Murderess (USA) - “Cover the Earth in Graveyards” (2009)
12. Masakari (USA) - “XII Abandoned” (2010)
13. After The Bombs (Canada) - “This is Hell” (2005)
14. The Secret (Italy) - “Weathermen” (2010)
15. Summon The Crows (Norway) - “Life is Shit” (2006)
16. From Ashes Rise (USA) - “The Mandate” (2003)
17. Sanctum (USA) - “Hault the Machine” (2008)
18. Severed Head Of State (USA) - “Dust to Dust” (2003)

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Interview with J.P. Antikrist of Deathroner

2011-03-01T18:00:00.004Z

Canada's Deathroner play some of the most furious metal to come out of Canada since the golden age of the 80s. Their new album has been killing me since it came out a few weeks back and I felt it fitting to catch up with the band to hear their thoughts and straighten out a few myths in the process. Vocalist and guitarist J.P. Antikrist was more than up for the task so here goes. I actually got the interview back a week or so ago but they promised me some new band pics, but their bassist got too wasted last weekend apparently so they only just did them: on the moon by the looks of things. On with the battery!

AFITFOG: First up, why the name Deathroner? Is it indicative of a motive for the forming of the band perhaps; i.e., to dethrone all the lame-ass bands around nowadays?
J.P. Antikrist: Of course, the moniker shows a motive, and the one you evoked is perfectly fit for us, ha ha... To dethrone fucking Christianity with infernal powers, to dethrone enemies and weak ones with total war, and when all is done and everything's destroyed and dead, death will claim its rightful throne.

Who are your main inspirations?
First of all, lots of satanic, hateful and aggressive metal bands. Also, Hitler and WWII in general, Nietzsche and serial killers... Satanism, occultism, war, hate, death and nihilism are great inspirations for us.

The LP is even more hate-filled, intense and insane than the demo - especially the vocals - was this intentional?
Absolutely. We've put shitloads of hate and aggression in the making of this demo, we knew we had to top it for the album, and we did it. In addition, the dirtiness of the low-budget production and mixing helped adding some effect to our sound.

The album cover depicts a black hole in space sucking the Earth into it, what do you make of the current state of the world? Does it feel like it is coming to an end, both in terms of natural disasters (flooding, fires etc.) and with mankind intent on killing itself (wars, religion etc.)?
Well, if this fucked up world and pitiful mankind are not already "dead", they're pretty damn close... That's the meaning of the cover art. The worst is yet to come, and this is what Deathroner stands for.

So do you think Death To All is a suitable soundtrack for the apocalypse?
Ha ha, hell yeah!!! Deathroner is sponsored by the apocalypse itself!!!

Ha ha! Canada has had a very rich history of killer metal bands over the years with Slaughter, Razor, Blasphemy etc. What new bands do you think emanate the same feeling and what bands from the old days do you hail yourselves?
New bands... We're not really getting updates about what's new in our country and the rest of the world as well. The only new band we know that is similar to Deathroner in terms of aggression and old-schoolness is Perversifier from France. Bands from the old days, that's what we're mainly listening to, even after all those years; Venom, Bathory, Slayer, Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, Possessed, the great canadian bands aforementioned, Deicide, Beherit, etc. etc.

A while ago I was talking to a friend about Deathroner and he said he liked the band but felt that "politically they are a few snowflakes short of a snowball", yet inside your new LP it states the band is apolitical. Was there some misappropriated idea in the past that you were a political band?
Fuck, yes. Some fucking group of humanists and worthless punks—namely the A.R.A.-Anti-Racist Action—started branding us a bunch of National Socialists, which had us banned from a couple shows as a result. They were too dumb to understand that we were hailing and praising EVIL in all its forms, without political afterthought or understatement. If you're judging Deathroner from a humanist and moral point of view, you're really missing the whole fucking point, ha ha.

How did you come to labeling your music as Evil Speed Metal?
Well, since the mid-80s we were listening to those fucking great cult acts - Venom, Slayer, etc. In Canada, almost every extreme band was released under a label called Banzai Records, which was based in Montreal. It was a kind of very cheap, semi-rip-off shitty label, but all the greats from the 80s we knew were on that label. They had like a 'warning sign' printed on some extreme album sleeves—like Bathory's self-titled release and The Return..., Hellhammer, Possessed, and so on. I think Banzai Recs began branding it in 1984, if I remember correctly. This sign looked like a solar cross and the moniker 'Speed Metal' was written around it. So, when we were going to the record store and saw an album with the 'warning sign' on it, we knew what we were going to buy; something raw, violent and fucking great! Then Banzai Records died and fell into relative oblivion... Still influenced by this old extreme spirit, we decided to revive this 'tradition' with Deathroner by putting that fucking 'warning sign' on our layout. We just added the "Evil" to get a more precise description of our sound and also add some character to the whole thing. So, this is the fucking Evil Speed Metal story... HAIL SATAN!!!

Will Deathroner continue to bring more of their unique unholy brand of Evil Speed Metal to the underground in the future?
Absolutely! The second album is on the way. Everything's written and composed, we're working on it and when it's ready, we'll enter that fucking Hell Hole studio once again to record it... EVIL NEVER DIES!!! 666.

Death To All is out now on cassette from Devil's Blood Production, or on CD from the band themselves via their myspace.