PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal

For me, the highlight of Firefest 8 (2011) was without a doubt Coney Hatch, I had resigned myself to never seeing this band live, however the people behind Firefest have an unnerving knack of pulling rabbits out of hats, so this was very much a magic moment for me, and …

Now the dust from the public lawsuit between Kyuss Lives! (John Garcia, Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri) and the remaining ex-Kyuss men Josh Homme and Scott Reeder has died down, the newly named Vista Chino can do what they do best. And damn, do they do it well. Named after, …

One of the joys of music journalism is constantly coming across new bands about whom you want to know more:  one such act is Pilgrimage. The County Mayo four piece first came on to PM’s radar at the recent Monsters Of Rot III festival in Fermanagh – and we definitely …

Northern Ireland death metallers Rex Shachath made a rare live appearance at the recent Monsters Of Rot III festival in County Fermanagh. PlanetMosh took the opportunity to sit down with vocalist Dave Connolly and guitarist Andrew Pennington to catch up with events in the band camp, including the lowdown on …

Apparently, the Norwegians (and their Swedish neighbours) have got it all wrong, and have been wrong all along, when it comes to black metal… it’s not all about inverted crosses, burning churches and raping virgins.  At least, that’s the view of the “sexiest man in BM” – the one and …

Pelgrim is a 5 headed band from Tilburg (Netherlands). They are growing fast and only with less than 2 years in existence, are making big progress. With a  mix of styles like prog, djent and hardcore, they bring forth a good example of the younger metal scene in the Netherlands. …

Once upon a time Ministry were the leaders in their field with imitators a long way behind. With a career that spanned 25 years + until they decided to call it a day a few years back. They now appear to be hellbent on tarnishing that solid gold reputation with what …

To celebrate the release of Turisas’ new album ‘Turisas2013’ that came out yesterday, we have three goodie bags that contain a Tee, a patch, a sticker and a poster to give away. To win one, just answer this simple question. Which country are Turisas from ? This competition is now …

This album is Sammy Hagar’s first album since 2008, and he’s chosen to fill this ten track opus with award-winning artists from across the musical spectrum. So this could go either of two ways, be self indulgent enough to alienate his fans, or be open enough to please his existing …

Whole is 2013’s release by Chicago modern metallers Soil. The nicely-produced disc is well balanced, with the full band audible and appreciable. A natural progression from (and successor to) 2001’s Scars, the disc stays true to the band’s downtuned, crunchy, catchy form. I hear two cross-disc highlights: the emotive, powerful, …

Badmotorfinger, an Italian hard rock band, released It’s Not The End, a brazen 13-track disc. It’s straight-ahead, catchy, anthemic, guitar-driven hard rock. Modern, confident, and in-your-face music. With no frills, keyboards, or ‘studio effects’, it’s loud, crisp, flashy music for the guitar-friendly audience. With gruff, gritty, lower-register vocals strongly reminiscent …

With the recent release of Watain‘s sensational new album, “The Wild Hunt“, PlanetMosh had the opportunity to conduct an interview with enigmatic frontman, Erik Danielsson.   How do you think “The Wild Hunt” differs from earlier albums? It has different songs, different sound, different lyrics and different artwork.   You refer …

On “Satyricon”, Satyr and Frost have realized their own roaring declaration of ambition.

Annihilator re-release two of their earlier albums ‘All For You’ (2004) and ‘Schizo Deluxe’ (2005), along with the ‘Live Annihilation’ live recorded album. I decided to look at these three albums with fresh eyes and discuss the relevance it has to date. ‘All For You’ was the first on my list. …

Battlecross is an American modern death metal band showing European flar. With War Of Will, they offer a bit more melody and atmosphere then most. There’s a crisp, punchy sound with a triple vocal tone attack – from a hatecore screech to a brutal low growl. Battlecross offers unusually inspiring …

Veteran German thrash mongers Protector scorch a blazing trail of old-school death-thrash through Swedish woods, taking no prisoners. They channel all that is good from thrash metal into tunes like “Reanimated Homonculus” and “Antiman”, snapping necks furiously and without remorse. The competent, tight band delivers blood-curdling goods on this disc, …

Eternal Torture is a young death metal band from Munich (Bavaria), Germany. This band is part of the “we are faster and more extreme then anyone else” movement, with hyperspeed double-bass drumming, low guttural (and unintelligible) vocals, and downtuned guitars. Their twist on this pun intended, done-to-death schtick is that …

What would happen if you repackaged trendy pop music with a little bit of emo, and some of burlesque subculture’s image? You’d end up with something like Bad Pollyanna. Sugary sweet, digitally perfect female vocals merged with a litany of electronica sounds and effects comprise 2013’s release, Monstrous Child. The …

A bizarre, mellow blend of alternative rock mixed with electronica and industrial elements make up 2013’s Asymmetry, by Australia’s Karnivool. Moods range from a free-floating ambient to an ‘industrial meets emo-pop’ tangent. The oddly sequenced record of longer-length songs seems to take pride in dissonance. There are many quirks and …

Equilibrium‘s Waldschrein is an interesting twist on the folk or pagan metal subgenre. This five-song EP, released in 2013, runs the gamut from entertaining folk metal, to an epic movie soundtrack type tune. This Bavarian band’s rapid ‘riff factory’ idea shifts tend to be jarring or choppy – in the …