PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal

And now we come to the third and final day of what had been an epic, epic festival. Hammerfest 2016 had been awesome so far and I personally was looking forward to the Saturday the most. I started the weekend most looking forward to Exodus, and they were to grace the stage …

It had been quite a pleasant day for mid March in Manchester when I headed to Club Academy to see Sanguine, our featured band for March (see here). This was to be the opening night of their UK tour supporting Mushroomhead and American Head Charge but after the latter had …

To say that the fourth heat of the Northern Ireland leg of the annual Bloodstock Metal 2 The Masses was something of a curate’s egg of an evening is perhaps putting it mildly.  Only three bands ended up battling it out for the two places in the next round of the …

With four previous full-length releases under their belt, Italy’s Black Rainbows are becoming a contender on the psych/stoner/blues rock scene, and for good reason. Stellar Prophecy sees them reaching for new heights. Stellar Prophecy, unfortunately, opens with what are (in my opinion) the two weakest tracks; “Electrify” and “Woman.” They …

The Stone Foxes are currently celebrating the physical release of their fourth studio album entitled Twelve Spells, which was officially released on Friday 18th March in the UK. The album is a compilation of thirteen tracks, made up from fan favourites, new material, and recently publicised singles. In the climate …

With Tuska Open Air Metal Festival almost 3 months away, we decided to put together a PlanetMosh Playlist of all the acts confirmed to play at Suvilahti on the first weekend in July. We’ve included a few songs from each of the headliners, Avantasia, Ghost and Children Of Bodom as …

The nineteenth annual Tuska Open Air Metal Festival has just added more muscle to the already heavy line up. Tuska 2016 will take place at Suvilahti, Helsinki Finland on July 1-3. See bottom of post for ticket information. Joining a stellar bill that already includes Avantasia, Ghost, Children Of Bodom, Testament, Anthrax …

This past weekend, PlanetMosh once again was delighted to be associated with the wonderful event that is Blazefest, a fundraising bash inspired by a wonderful little boy who has, in his short life, succeeded in bringing together rockers and metallers on an annual basis to raise money for the work …

They say it takes a lifetime to write your first album and 18 months to write the second. Given the overwhelming reaction to Babymetal’s self-titled debut, the pressure the girls, their backing Kami band and management would have been under to produce a second of the same quality must have bordered …

BLOODSTOCK HQ is currently a hive of activity, with even more bands being confirmed for this August’s best heavy metal weekender. Joining the Ronnie James Dio stage are the recently reformed industrial outfit, MISERY LOVES COMPANY.  The band inform us, “The UK was always special to MISERY LOVES CO, our …

It’s a Monday night in Belfast and the legions are gathering, their faces painted black and white and their armour made of leather and/or PVC.  Which can mean only one thing:  Cradle Of Filth have returned to the city after a 15-year gap, on the final night of their latest …

Norwegian metal legends ENSLAVED will mark a genre-defining 25 years together with a special ‘Spinning Wheel Ritual’ show at the 12th Damnation Festival. They will be joined by Californian powerviolence trio NAILS and Australian progressive death sextet NE OBLIVISCARIS at Leeds University Union on Saturday, November 5, 2016. The event …

The third heat of this year’s Bloodstock Metal 2 The Masses competition in Belfast brought with it one of those thankfully all too frequent, and horrible clashes, which sometimes can plague any scene, the local metallians – and, by default, your PM team, having to split themselves in two, at …

Saturday morning at Camp Hard Rock Hell dawned crisp and bright, with the day going on to prove to be warmest of the weekend.  And so, as the sun made its first appearance, and after a morning of hanging around the press area waiting on bands not turning up for …

We’ve reached the Semi Final stages of Metal 2 The Masses Ireland and tonight at Fibber Magees in the post Paddy’s Day turmoil, five bands are making their case to play at this year’s final in May. The first two slots in the auspicious final will be filled tonight, one …

Joe Bonamassa is back with a new studio album “Blues of Desperation” which features all-new material, and once again is produced by Kevin Shirley. Recorded in just five days in Nashville, Joe delivers eleven stunningly good original tracks, backed by the dual drummers, Anton Fig and Greg Morrow, bassist Michael Rhodes, …

This was recorded at Danko Jones third appearance at Wacken last year and captures the enigmatic front man at his best.  So far Danko’s quirky, alternative, electric personality has seen him become an independent commentator, spoken word artist and columnist for The Huffington Post. On this though, he is the …

After an early night due to travelling and working the day before, I woke up on the Friday of Hammerfest feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day. Determined to catch everyone, the first band of the day were Stone Broken. The room was still only half full, perhaps …

Hailing from Warsaw, Poland, Sunnata have been carving a niche for themselves in the noise/post metal scene since 2008. Blending several different textural ideas, they most certainly bring something new to the table, but does it all work? Sunnata begin Zorya with the multi-layered post metal dirge of “Beasts of …

Slabdragger return with a truly monolithic new release in the form of Rise of the Dawncrusher. With songs upwards of fifteen minutes, this release takes you through a journey of not just the concept, but heavy music itself. Strap yourselves in and hold on tight, this is a long album. First up is …