Mad About Rock

With one of the heaviest line-ups announced for Mammothfest’s return to Brighton for 2014 to tide you over until the main epic event there are a series of awesome live warm up shows in the run up the main festival taking place on August 30th and 31st ! This weekend ( Sunday 6th July  - see above) sees possibly the biggest and mightiest of the warm up shows as it includes a partnership with friends UK Tech Fest, who are working with Mammothfest to bring No Consequence, Felix Martin, Drewsif Stalin’s Musical Endeavours, DispersE, Friend For A Foe, Aeolist, Core of iO, Stone Circle and Valis Ablaze to an epic all day event at Mammothfest’s venue, The Green Door Store, on Sunday 6th July, so this really is a true taste of what lies ahead for the big event! Head down to this big event! Tickets £5 in advance, more on the door and available from http://vanitasdirect.com/ home/ 713--mammothfest-warm-up.ht ml Also check out Tech-Fest 2014 here: www.uktechfest.com...

Collapse hailing from London are set to go down a storm following the success of their debut album, ‘Arms and The Covenant’ and having performed at many big festivals and supporting heavyweights such as Devildriver and Anthrax, the crowd at upcoming Brighton metal festival, MammothFest are in for a hell of a show! I caught up with lead guitarist, Andrew Ongley to speak about the festival as well as their album and more.. So you released your debut album, 'Arms and The Covenant' last year, how happy have you been with the reaction to the release and what have you been up to since? The reaction was absolutely astounding. There was such a long delay between recording and releasing that we got used to the tracks, so it was almost like re-discovering the album when everyone else heard it. Since we released it, we've been grinding it out around the UK, at Les-Fest, Headbangers Balls, Rock & Metal Circus festival as well as shows with the cream of the current UK metal...

London based, Abhorrent Decimation are fairly new to UK metal scene only forming back in 2013, but already they are creating quite an impact with their debut EP, 'Infected Celestial Utopia' and have been added to the line up of the rebirth of Brighton's metal Festival, MammothFest, with this coming up I caught up with vocalist, Ashley Scott in advance to talk about it, amongst other things.. As you only formed last year you have currently only released your debut EP, 'Infected Celestial Utopia', but what has the reaction been like so far for this release? GREAT! We are really pleased with the response to our debut release. Our intention was always to grow from home outwards, work hard on the spreading the name and get the product out into the hands of fans and the UK has certainly received it well. We consistently deliver a brutal performance live and people have seemed to really catch onto what we are aiming for and trying to achieve here....

Belgium heavy metal band, Channel Zero have had many difficulties in their career, most notable disbanding in their prime in 1997, reforming again and tragically losing a member, but through all that the band are back and stronger than ever, with their new album to be released via Metal Blade Records on the 24th June 2014 and helping to embark them on a new journey as a band. I had a lot to ask lead singer Franky De Smet-Van Damme following all that has happened, discussing the past, present and the future of Channel Zero... You have quite a history, forming back in 1990 and then disbanding at the height of your career in 1997, what were you reasons for this and reflecting back on this how do you feel about it now? Well at that time we had it … the differences musically were so intense that there was no other way then stopping back then … we didn't come along anymore … so at a certain moment its better to stop … I still believe that was the best thing we did then … no...

I interviewed guitarist, Ade Mulgrew of Northern Ireland's Darkest Era back in 2012 and since then they have been busy and released a new album, 'Severance' which was released on the 13th June 2014. I done a follow up interview with Ade to see what the band have been up to since and to find out all about the new album... Its been three years since the release of your debut album, 'The Last Caress Of Light', what have you all been up to? We spent the subsequent year doing a couple of UK tours, a European tour and some festivals and one off shows. After this we had some lineup changes and we wrote and recorded Severance at the end of this period. So the last year or so has basically been spend rebuilding the band and finding the right label to release Severance. Now it's out and we're beginning a new and exciting chapter in the bands existence. In this time you have acquired some new members, how do you think this changed the dynamics or sound of new...

    'Kill All Kings' is the sixth studio album from Belgian Heavy Metal band, Channel Zero. Regarded as one of the biggest Metal bands in Belgium the band have had many trials and tribulations leading up to this new release; disbanding at the height of their career back in 1997, then embarking on reunion tours in 2010, and more recently in 2013 they tragically lost their former drummer Phil Baheux, who died aged 45. Later that year they announced they were working on a new album with Roy Mayorga playing drums. With all that the band have been through now they are back to honour Phil with their new album and start a new chapter in their career....   Opening track, 'Dark Passenger' comprises of heavy thrashing groovy riffs, raw energy and impressive and varied vocals from Franky, ranging from vicious to highly melodic and all resulting a seriously catchy metal offering that sets the bar high for this release!..   The interes...

WEAK13 frontman Nick J Townsend is heading off to LA in September to promote the bands latest single, 'Joke' in which the video to accompany it sees the three-piece grunge rock outfit create a replica of the White House press room for the video, starring frontman Nick as president of the USA, which was filmed at Wolverhampton's Lighthouse Centre and Stourbridge recording studio Base Studios in Rufford Road by indie production company 57 Studio. The band are known for their strange thought provoking videos, which i n the past have featured frontman Nick Townsend dressed entirely in newspaper in 'Prouder Than U 2' and even a massive budget mini movie style video inspired by World War 1 trench raid with 'Wakedown' which won the award for ‘Best music video’ in the London Limelight Film & Arts awards (2010). And despite 'Wakedown' being their biggest budget video, their new video, 'Joke' may well be their most impressive and eye catching...

  MammothFest have today unleashed the final additions to the existing line up of the festival! Having originally stated that 22 bands will be on line up, its actually 24 and in a epic surprise have added two bigger bands Basement Torture Killings and Exist Imortal along with all the other final acts, Stone Circle (returning to MammothFest once again!), Core Of iO, Hole In The Sky, Taken By The Tide, Exile The Titan and Headface. www.mammothmetalfestival.co.uk To purchase tickets and merchandise for festival go here http://vanitasdirect.com/home/711-t-shirt-package.html   for some mighty packages & hurry as the ticket prices are going to be going up as we get nearer to the main event! Also if you can't wait until the festival there are some MammothFest warm up gigs to get you ready! To find out details visit the MammothFest site or the facebook page for the event here: https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/1447538778813134/?fref=ts  or https://www.faceboo...

Irish celtic metal act return with their much awaited Sophomore album, 'Severance' which will receive a worldwide release via Cruz Del Sur Music on June 16th in the UK and as the follow up to their 2011 debut, ‘The Last Caress Of Light’ which was released via Metal Blade Records and received positive press the stakes are high!.. Opening song, 'Sorrow's Boundless Realm' displays strong celtic instruments with an old school style sinister sound with great guitar work from Ade & Sarah throughout, pounding mental drums and huge vocals from Krum! Its not just Krum's vocals that tell the story as the instruments have so much depth and emotion. This is an epic hit the nail on the head opening track; they pour everything into this and if you haven't heard the band before, you will immediately be struck by their powerful Celtic metal... 'Songs Of Gods and Men' keeps up the momentum and has great tempos that keep you enthralled and with a mix of intr...

      Check out Stencil Mag's one day min fest with a great line up and this is all for free! This takes place on the 27th July in the heart of Chepstow at The Smirnoff Bar that supports some fantastic upcoming talent! Event start time is 2pm up to 11pm! The following bands have been announced so far (see above also) with more to be announced, so check out the bands and get yourself down there: Stencil Stage: Darko http://darko.bandcamp.com/ Forever Can Wait https://soundcloud.com/ forevercanwait Trails http:// trailsofficial.bandcamp.com / Nathan Detroit http:// nathandetroit1.bandcamp.com / Alaska Alaska http:// alaska-alaska1.bandcamp.com / Holy Pinto http:// holypinto.bandcamp.com/ Clean Young Mess +More TBA Monster Press Stage: Lay It On The Line http:// layitontheline.bandcamp.com / CAMBION https://www.facebook.com/ CAMBIONOFFICIAL/ app_2405167945 Murder Circuit http:// murdercircuituk.bandcamp.co m/ Depth https://so...

    So back in 2010 Brighton in the South East of England saw the arrival of a much needed and appreciated new metal festival which featured bands such as Entombed, Sylosis, Orange Goblin, Malefice and more! The festival was a hit but it failed to return the year after, and the next year and so on..but now it is making a mighty return! The man behind Mammothfest, organiser/promoter, Steve Dickson discusses his journey as a promoter including the difficulties he faced, his plans to rebuild and the future of the festival!... So reflecting back on Mammothfest 2010, how do you think it went both personally as a promoter and from a festival attendees point of view? Ah, haha straight in with the silver bullet! To be honest this is THE question I have asked myself most. As a promoter and a business man I lost some money so you could say it did not go as well as I would have liked. However, most festivals are expected to lose money in the first year and considering I wen...