This is a mix of the set Fenriz played at the first Metal Merchants Festival. Originally it was only hand-distributed to about 50 people, but Apollyon played it one nite while we were getting lit at my old place early last year and it blew me away. So I asked Fen for a copy and he ripped me a dub and it soundtracked literally my whole summer last year. Some incredible tracks from the most obscure bands I would never have heard had it not been for DJ V.K.O.M. Does what a great mix should - open you up to bands you didn't even know existed. So, here it is, with a short message that appeared on the back cover.
Hello o ancient ones! The lame world of modern metal is left behind. Now let us enjoy the soulful fruits of our beloved lands of the past. DOOM!
TRACKLISTING:
1. Aragorn (England) “Black Ice” (1980)
2. Bitches Sin (England) “Down the Road” (1980)
3. Elektradrive (Italy) “Secrets of the Holy Grave” (1986)
4. Legend (England) “Death in the Nursery” (1982)
5. Kat (Poland) “Killer” (1985)
6. Armored Saint (USA) “Aftermath” (1985)
7. Hand Of Doom (Germany) “Rock N' Roll Close to the End of the World” (1979)
8. The Beast (USA) “The Beast” (1983)
9. Bloodlust (USA) “Ride to Death” (1985)
10. Warlord (USA) "Mrs. Victoria" (1983)
11. Jag Panzer (USA) “Death Row” (1983)
12. Luzbel (Mexico) “Por Piedad” (1986)
13. Tröjan (England) “Chasing the Storm” (1985)
14. Sarcofagus (Finland) “The Deadly Game” (1980)
15. Proud (Sweden) “No Losers” (1984)
16. Heavy Load (Sweden) “Run with the Devil” (1983)
17. Helstar (USA) “Dark Queen” (1986)
18. Liege Lord (USA) “Cast Out” (1987)
19. Ostrogoth (Belgium) "Love in the Streets" (1985)
I caught up with Stian, one of the festival's curators and member of Devil (who also play the festival) on his crusade to bring the true metalheads what they want. Devil kindly donated their demo for free download, after the interview.
AFITFOG: So, firstly, just wanted to ask you how the festival came around. How come you decided to start doing it in 2009?
Stian: Well, it was a summer night in 2008 at (fellow MMF organizer) Ronny's porch, when we were complaining about all the bands we never had been able to see. We decided to give it a shot and check with some bands and Artillery was the first band we agreed on, and luckily they loved the idea and said yes to do the first festival. From there the ball just kept on rolling.
Do you think underground metal is more popular than it was in the 80s or 90s due to it being more accessible with the internet, etc?
Totally! For instance, an extremely unknown band such as Devil have now distributed 5-600 copies of a demo that came out late last November. Back in the day, we would maybe have been able to trade 100 in a year's time. I love that bands can make their music available so easily, that helps us making sure that we seldom miss great new bands. On the other hand, it's easy to romantisize the "golden age", as there was a special thrill in trading tapes, waiting for bands you had no idea what would sound like, being the first of your mates to discover a band and such. But you know, the chase is better than the catch. All in all we're much luckier now. And people that don't understand that, really have misunderstood that it basically is about THE MUSIC!
How did the bands that are playing come about, did you select them personally? Also, aside from some of the recent cancellations, were there any other bands you wanted to play?
There are always bands we want to see but that can't make it. Equinox from Norway is a good example on bands we've been pushing on but never been able to get together for a show. Other bands come as a surprise even to us, as we thought they were dead and buried - such as Dark Quarterer. But mostly it has been me and Ronny raging through our record collections and trying to get a hold of old heroes and the occasional new band, of course. There are a helluva lot of great bands out there now that sounds as old school as anyone; In Solitude, Negative Plane, Hour of 13, Witchsorrow and Age of Taurus, to mention but a few in different genres.
What does the future hold for the Metal Merchants Festival? Are you looking at expanding it if the demand is great enough, or do you want to keep it as a small festival?
As for now, we're actually calling it quits for today's model of Metal Merchants. The other guys are getting more and more busy on other fronts, and so am I. We pay for almost everything out of our own pockets, and that's no way to run a festival when you're just a regular Joe. I hope someone will offer to take the torch and continue the festival, with me, Ronny and Sigurd involved on a lower level. I wouldn't let anyone use the name without me having a saying when it comes to booking. MMF is about no compromise, and that's how it will stay.
Also, your new(ish) band Devil is playing, how did you guys come about and what sort of show can the horde expect?
Actually, it's PRETTY MUCH the same story with Devil as it is with MMF; basically with me and Ronny drinking beer. We were talking about how we wanted to turn back time, not only on the festival, but also as a band. The first reference was Pentagram, although we've landed just as close to other bands such as Witchfinder General, Trouble and Holocaust. As for shows, we are a rock 'n' roll band playing heavy rock, so we will be trying to give the audience a good time. A decent show with classic metal effects will be high on the agenda, but no "evil rites" or "black masses" or what the fuck people call their gigs nowadays. It's all about the way of Kiss, Motörhead, Venom or Maiden. You will be more likely to see a Harley Davidson than some stinking roadkill on a Devil's night out! We might have cool shoes, but no way we're gonna stand around looking at them while there are fellow metalheads and hot chicks in the audience!
Last month myself and Ben Rayner went to Birmingham for the Home of Metal exhibition on behalf of Vice. Here are two of the moreinteresting interviews...
Mike Clement
So, you’re Tony Iommi’s guitar tech?
Yes, I’ve been Tony’s guitar tech for 18 years now.
How’ve the 18 years treated you?
They’ve gone rather fast, he’s a good guy to work for, professional.
How many guitars do you need to prep for tours?
Not very many, he tends to use one main guitar and we have a backup. When we’re out with Ozzy, there’s two different tunings so there’s a main and a backup – that’s four guitars. One for the dressing room, tour bus – you’re looking at a maximum of half a dozen, really.
Any horror stories?
Yes (pauses then laughs).
Oh okay. I’ve always wondered, he plays left handed, but he’s missing the tips of his right hand (his fretting hand).
That’s right, it happened in an industrial accident on his last day at work before he left to become a professional musician.
Do you think that has added to the dynamics of his guitar playing?
It has, with hindsight, yes. He was obviously a very gifted guitar player before that and he genuinely thought it was the end of his playing days. Must’ve been absolutely devastating to him, totally.
So he still has the tips in the tins?
He still has the tips in the tins, there’s two tins, one is spare which I keep in my toolkit and the main tin he keeps with him at all times.
Are they now prosthetically made, because originally they were made out of Fairy Liquid bottles?
That’s right, in true Blue Peter style. What we do now is we get two different types made by the artificial limb centre at a hospital in Birmingham. One is what’s called a plastic glove, which is basically a plastic hand and he cuts the finger tips off them. If we get half a dozen hands he’ll find three or four suitable tips. Unfortunately they get brittle with age, so we have to keep looking for new ones. The other type is made out of fibreglass, which he sticks a thin strip of leather on and works oil and talcum powder into it so it has a very smooth surface and that’s what gives him the ability to do those very fast hammer-ons.
Does he use particularly light strings?
He uses extremely light strings, very light. With his accident he had to be very careful as his fingertips, as they are now, are very sensitive. So that was another problem, he couldn’t find guitar strings marketed as guitar strings that were light enough so he had to use banjo strings and select his own sets. The normal gauge we use onstage for the D# tuning is 8-8-11-18-24-32.
Woah. Fuck me, that IS light, he gets such a thick sound though.
A lot of it is actual technique. He does have a very unique technique of playing, I swear some of the bass notes coming out are lower than the guitar can generate and I think, ‘How the hell is he doing that?’ We developed some pick-ups with Gibson a few years ago that were electrically a copy of some originals made in Birmingham by John Birch and John Diggins that are unique in their internal structure…
What do you think of the event anyway?
It’s great. Really, really good. Not a day goes by where I’m not doing something related to Tony’s work.
You’re one of the originators of grindcore are you not?
I suppose so yeah.
How did that all come around?
Logically really I suppose, just out of an interest in, eh - trying to express what you were hearing in your head really.
Was it easy in Birmingham, at the time, to find people of similar interests?
Not really no. One of things about liking the more extreme forms of heavy metal and punk was that in Britain at the time they were looked down upon as being less important musically. That is why people who were involved in the early grindcore movement were in very disparate cities across the country but all knew each other, because you would have to write to each other. We were just lucky in Birmingham that three of us had the same idea.
So what were you listening to at the time that you thought wasn’t quite the sound you were after?
The more extreme end of punk that developed in the early 80’s in Britain. What was originally called hardcore thrash, before that term was taken on by metal. Discharge etc. Simultaneously we were listening to a lot of the faster hardcore from America: Poison Idea, United Mutation, groups in Canada like The Neo’s. Bands that were being influenced by Discharge in Scandinavia and to an extent some of the earlier Japanese groups. Also, we were simultaneously listening to more extreme developments in metal, I suppose the bigger groups like Metallica, groups like Death and then groups from Europe like Celtic Frost. You had to search far and wide to try and find music like that. We liked industrial music, we also liked post-punk, particularly bands like Killing Joke.
How do you think the scene developed over the years, how to look at it now?
It seems very healthy, people seem to get very inspired by it. It inspires them to be creative, inspires them to do something they’d like to do which is positive. Obviously it’s solidified into a genre to some extent, which means that sometimes the element of experimentalism and more abstract creativity gets lost.
How do feel about the exhibition?
It’s quite intriguing. I think the project itself, the Home of Metal project, is a very good project, because it combines popular art forms like music with social anthropology and hopefully by involving people it allows them to be as primitive as they want to be. I feel that if you kind of extend different strands of music out to people it’s a positive thing, particularly perhaps for Birmingham where I think to some extent the development of its creativity, in terms of the history of music, largely gets overlooked. I think that’s one thing about pre-grindcore, in the three or four years leading up to it, we had no interest in London, it never produced anything relevant to us.
Do you still follow the scene?
I follow the music, yeah, yeah.
Is there anything still coming out of Birmingham?
I wouldn’t know so much about Birmingham, I’m not a 100%, I guess Anaal Nathrack etc.
You follow any other genres of metal?
Predominantly grindcore because that’s my interest in metal really. I’ve got a little bit of a soft spot for doom metal. I was really interested in St.Vitus when they first appeared back in the 80’s. A lot of metal is predicated on musicianship and virtuosity, and I’ve no interest in that kind of approach. I think it’s a little bit restrictive as well because it means that people can’t express themselves freely, when I first started I only had one string on my bass.
