Mad About Rock

So earlier this week, Brighton based metal festival, Mammothfest announced their final full line-up. See the mighty poster above! It includes a special exclusive reunion show from metalcore thrashers, Here There Be Monsters who Join the stampede to get to Brighton for Mammothfest which takes place 30 September - 2 May 2016! Here is the complete festival line up and venue details: FRIDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER THE HAUNT £20.00 Textures | Heart Of A Coward | Krysthla | The Five Hundred FRIDAY 30TH SEPETMBER THE GREEN DOOR STORE £10.00 EASTERN FRONT | Necro Ritual | The Infernal Sea | Premature Birth | Vehement SATURDAY 1ST OCTOBER CONCORDE 2 £25.00 Venom Inc | Entrails | Liquid Graveyard | One Machine - official | Sworn Amongst | DIVINE CHAOS | King Leviathan | HeLL PuPPeTs | MORTISHEAD SUNDAY 2ND OCTOBER THE GREEN DOOR STORE £20.00 Conan | Black Moth | Serpent Venom | Bast | Opium Lord | Conjurer | King Goat | BongCauldron | PIST | Garganjua | Boss...

Thrice are back...and it's sweet as hell! American Rockers Thrice have premiered new song, Black Honey. The band have releashed a new song from their upcoming highly anticipated comeback album, To Be Everywhere Nowhere. This is first album in 5 years, which is due out May 27 via Vagrant. Check out the new song below and let me know your thoughts!

PVRIS are a fast and forever rising American trio from Massachusetts. They released their highly successful debut, 'White Noise' in 2014, and are still reaping the benefits and soaring to greater heights with it! They decided to release a deluxe version of their dark electro cinematic rock sound, out now (released 22nd April 2016), which luckily for us includes new song, 'Empty', which is hugely ambient and atmospheric, with Lynn's characteristic powerhouse vocals, leaving a lasting impression, and a stunning stripped down version of new single, 'You And I' , which differs greatly from the original, but is equally powerful and impressive, having a seriously emotive, beautiful and haunting raw sound.  They are certainly in the spotlight right now, having recently supported Fall Out Boy in the US in February/March 2016, they then embarked on their first ever headline UK tour which started and finished this month, which went down a storm , with many a ...

German Metal Thrashers, Assassin have been at it since 1983, and there still going strong! They have just released new song, "Back From The Dead" from their upcoming album, "Combat Cathedral" , on May 20. This will be released via Steamhammer/SPV worldwide on CD, limited-edition LP (500 copies only on red 180-gram vinyl + CD) and as a digital download. The album art work was created by Marcelo Vasco, who also worked with SLAYER, MACHINE HEAD, SOULFLY and BORKNAGAR. "Back From The Dead" is the album opener, and for good reason! As it packs a punch and asserts new singer, Ingo "Crowzak" Bajonczak vocal capabilities and energy, in a raging speed, and with some hefty riffage! A sign of good things to come for the new album, and showcasing that the band are still alive, screaming and kicking all the way!! Check out the ruthless new offering below: http://www.assassin-online.de/ https://www.facebook.com/AssassinOfficia...

DEBUT EP FROM NEWCOMERS IS HONEST HARDCORE WITH A DIFFERENCE! Seek Nothing are a Berlin/UK act, that describe themselves, 'as not so bad hardcore'. They unleashed their first EP on the 21st March 2016, and now they are looking to break out, and get their music heard further afield to scout for new fans on more home turf,  as they are heading to the UK this June! Opening song, Drunken X Wolf starts on a light hearted comical note, before it bursts into full fast chugg mode, with extremely pissed mad vocals, and chunky down tempo riffs throughout. The nice bass breakdown towards the end offers a breather, before it all kicks off again, in this blistering likeable bruiser!  The interesting titled, Actually, It's About Ethics In The Hardcore Scene , see's them bare all and snarl their teeth at the generalisations of the genre. This is thought provoking, fast and fuming, making for a good one to let some steam off too!  Caught In The Slipstream has a heavy well...

Since forming in Phoenix in 2013, DOLL SKIN, Vocalist Sydney Dolezal, Guitarist Alex Snowden, Bassist Nicole Rich, and Drummer Meghan Herring,have taken the World by storm, playing shows and touring with Social Distortion, Slunt, DRI, Metal Allegiance, HELLYEAH, Shiprocked 2016, and many more, with an international press blitz pouring in from around the Globe, and adds and spins on hundreds of radio stations around the World, including almost weekly spins since 2015 on the uber-influential LA station KROQ, where they have become a favorite of legendary DJRodney Bingenheimer, with 3 different singles in rotation on his Rodney on the Roq. On Friday, April 15th, the band releases IN YOUR FACE (Again), via EMP Label Group/eOne Distribution, a full length version of their 2015 digital EP IN YOUR FACE, produced by Megadeth bassist David Ellefson. The extended 9 track retail version features new tracks including “Furious Fixation”, mixed by Richard Easterling (American Head Charge, Fuel), ...

ANTI-CLONE GO DEEP AND DARK IN DEBUT ALBUM! To open we have the title track, which acts as the atmospheric build up prologue, before demonic drawn out vocals take over and alarming effects, showcasing their industrial sonic nu-metal madness in all its glory... Deracinated flows well following the opener, with intriguing clean vocals, until the technical franticness consumes once again, in this stomping release that will have an unconformable grip on you! Mechanical Heart chuggs away with dark down tempo memorable riffs and guitars. The subject matter, highlights the strong digital influence in the modern world we live in, where everything becomes cold and lifeless, reliant on machines. A very thought provoking number! Astaroth is simply mental, and highly reminiscent of Korn and Slipknot, which isn’t surprising as produced by Matt Hyde (Slipknot 'All Hope Is Gone' - Machine Head 'The Blackening') . With agitated fast guitars, pounding drums and crazed ...

"AIRBOURNE ENDORSED AUSTRALIAN ROCKERS UNVEIL THEIR HIGHLY ANTICIPATED SOPHOMORE ALBUM" Less than twelve months after releasing their critically-acclaimed debut album, Melbourne-based rock n’ roll nomads Palace Of The King are pleased to announce the upcoming release of their second full-length album, 'Valles Marineris'. Set to land on 15th July 2016 (vis Listenable Records), 'Valles Marineris' deepens Palace Of The King’s footprint on the international rock music scene by expanding on the “raw, energetic, imaginative and boundary-pushing” (Dedicated Rocker Society) qualities of their debut through an all-new 10 track collection of blues and psych-infused hard rock. Led by the bruising gospel-tinged riffathon of ‘Let The Blood Run Free’, Valles Marineris is both eclectic and unrelenting right through to the final eerie piano fadeout of album closer ‘Into The Black’. Vocalist Tim Henwood comments “I feel like we’re really honing in on our own distinctive ...

So the new Stencil Mag has landed! This was a busy issue for me, as it features 14 reviews that I done! I reviewed, Killswitch Engage, Black Stone Cherry, The Word Alive, Yashin, Brian Fallon, Cold Summer, Natural Strangers, Landscapes, Hollow Leg, Tantal, Tragic Earth, One Step From Falling, Holy Pinto & Rise! I also contributed to the Slam Dunk Festival preview, writing about, Mallory Knox, Young Guns, Of Mice & Men & Cancer Bats! And lastly I done a bit of subediting, helping out with the interview intros! Check all this out, plus all the awesome interviews, reviews & other features!! All free!! https://issuu.com/stencilmag/docs/issue36 https://www.facebook.com/stencilmagazine/ See my Slam Dunk preview pieces (pg 190):  https://issuu.com/stencilmag/docs/issue36/189 My reviews of One Step From Falling & Tragic Earth  https://issuu.com/stencilmag/docs/issue36/203 My reviews of Yashin, Cold Summer, Hollow Leg & Tantal  https://issuu.c...