Mad About Rock

Mammothfest Brighton UK Announce First Acts Confirmed! Mammothfest 2016 was a resounding success with heavyweight acts such as Textures, Venom Inc and Conan leading the metal assault that resulted in a near complete sell out, and saw the festival nominated for three festivals award nominations, including the UK Festival Awards in two categories, Best Metropolitan and Best Small Festival 2016 as well as the TBFM Best Independent Festival 2016. The festival continues to expand and grow each year and this year will be no exception… Only one month into 2017 and Mammothfest have already announced the first 'Mammothfest presents' show in April, along with redesigning the artwork and concept. Now armed with the metal mammoth, we are getting straight to what we all want to know…the line-up for this year’s festival! FRIDAY 6th OCTOBER 2017 ROTTING CHRIST UK EXCLUSIVE 2017 PERFORMANCE  That is right, in 2017 the only place you will be able to see Rotting Christ is ...

Threatpoint from Pennsylvania formed through the ashes of other bands in 2012 and pulled together to bring their array of influences within the genres of metal and rock to create their groove metal sound today. Since their formation they have unleashed two offerings, 'Careful What You Wish For' in 2014 and their debut self titled album in 2013. The band show they are still alive and kicking with their third full length album, 'R.I.P' which was unveiled to the world in October 2016. New single title track ‘R.I.P’ opens the album and gets straight to the point with an ominous effect intro, before the melodic thrash guitars and crashing drums take control. Chris James' vocals spill out in a ferocious and speedy manner with an impressive screeching guitar solo taking hold also, all adding up to make sure this opener makes a hell of an impact. ‘Deadend Machineland’ is full of melodic riffs paired with thumping groove sections and packs a hefty chanted anthemic choru...

British heavy metal five-piece, Synaptik from Norwich, UK have a mighty sound that combines thrash, power and progressive metal elements, forming to make their own unique concoction, that they have been delivering since their origins in 2012. Following their critically acclaimed 2014 debut album “The Mechanisms of Consequence” , they are back to make an huge impact with the anticipated new album, “Justify & Reason” which is released on March 10th. 2017 is the year of Synaptik, having already signed with DeFox and Heart Of Steal records as well as landing a US deal with Divebomb records and re-releasing a remixed heavier version of their hit debut. The sophomore album sees the band reach new heights, truly honing in on their already distinct sound, with a bigger focus on progressive depth and darker sounds… Opening track, ‘The Incredible Machine’ kicks into action furiously with rich melodic vocals from vocalist, John Knight to accompany the intricate guitars and changeable bac...

German guitar virtuoso and songwriter, Marc Vanderberg strikes with his debut album, "Devil May Care" following the success of his EP, "The Four Elements". Both his EP and the anticipated debut consist of collaborative offerings from his friends and fellow like minded musicians to assemble an impressive collection of metal songs... Opening song 'Godfather' is a sorrowful and beautiful atmospheric instrumental to set the tone for the rest of the album... The title track has a menacing, melodic and progressive sound, reminiscent of Dream Theater and old school metal with exceptional lead guitar and licks throughout as you would expect from Vanderberg. However impressively the guitar solo featured here is actually the work of eleven year old, Dustin Tomsen who Marc spotted on TV and asked to play. No regrets here I'm sure! 'Key To Your Heart' was Marc's first ever song he wrote, and one that he should be proud of, as it has a br...

Satisfy Your Metal Appetite With Feed The Rhino Plus Loads Of Incredible Diverse Support Acts! Following the huge success of last year’s Mammothfest which took place in October 2016 and marked their biggest event to date, with larger venues and well known metal acts, Textures, Venom Inc and Conan leading the brigade that led to the victory and accolade of being almost a complete sell out and going on to earn them three festivals award nominations , including the UK Festival Awards in two categories, Best Metropolitan and Best Small Festival 2016 as well as the TBFM Best Independent Festival 2016 . The winners are yet to be announced for TBFM so watch this space! Mammothfest doesn’t leave us in the dark for long as they are thankfully back rearing their menacing head in 2017 and ready to make a massive impact (complete with a metal mammoth concept) and to fulfil a promise. Unfortunately FEED THE RHINO had to cancel their performance at Mammothfest 2015 due to ill health. But n...

German Epic Symphonic Metal stalwarts XANDRIA have found lineup stability with singer Dianne van Giersbergen and are ready to take things to the next level with their seventh studio album Theater of Dimensions . The album is a hyper-emotional affair that digs deep, lyrically speaking. It's also an incredibly metallic effort. There is a soundtrack-like, orchestral finesse inherent to the compositions, echoed by pounding groove and sophisticated shredding. You can experience it for yourself with the brand new music video for the track “Call Of Destiny”: Theater Of Dimensions Album Artwork Theater of Dimensions will be released worldwide on January 27th 2017 via Napalm Records! You can get your copy of the album via Napalm Records site: https://shop.napalmrecords.com/xandria Make sure to join XANDRIA o n their very special release shows end of January , presented by Sonic Seducer : 28.01.17 DE - Bochum / Matrix 29.01.17 DE - Hamburg / Bahnhof Pauli Get your ticke...

Synaptik Reveal Details Of Upcoming Album ‘Justify & Reason‘ & Give Taster With New Video! British heavy metal five-piece, Synaptik from Norwich, UK show no signs of slowing down, as they are set to make a huge impact in 2017, with the already announced special remix of their successful debut, ‘The Mechanisms of Consequence’ out January 30th worldwide through DeFox Records and Heart Of Steel Records . With this exciting news came a glimpse of other big events for the band, being the release of their anticipated sophomore album, titled ‘Justify & Reason’ out March 10th. Not many details were given recently, but luckily now we have all the details to reveal… For US fans it’s a double dose of metal, as the remix album and the new album, ‘Justify & Reason’ will be released as a double album directly via Divebomb Records at www.divebombrecords.com . The first pre-orders for this collection will be available on February 1st 2017 from the bands website: http://...

Check out my review of genre defining London act, Keroscene of their new single, 'Like The First Time' which I reviewed on behalf of Dark Art Conspiracy . Check it out: https://darkartconspiracy.com/2017/01/11/keroscene-like-the-first-time-single-review/ Dark Art Conspiracy Links: https://www.instagram.com/darkartconspirac/ https://twitter.com/darkartconspira https://darkartconspiracy.wordpress.com/ http://www.myspace.com/darkartconspiracy www.facebook.com/darkartconspiracy https://www.facebook.com/DarkArtConspiracyBrazil http://www.reverbnation.com/label/darkartconspiracy http://soundcloud.com/darkartconspiracy

Scallywags Alestorm Temporarily Dock To Start Next Musical Adventure Titled "No Grave But The Sea"! Popular Pirate Metal act Alestorm from Scotland have just revealed they are heading to the studios to work on their next swashbuckling release. The band said:  " We are very thrilled to announce that we have entered the studio to record our fifth full-length album, entitled "NO GRAVE BUT THE SEA"!  We will be spending the next month at Alpaca Ranch Recording Studio in Orlando, USA, with producer Lasse Lammert once again at the helm. This will also be the first full release featuring our grandiose guitarist Máté Bodor! This is the point where we would usually tell you this album is going to be darker and heavier than our previous works, but that's probably not true. It is, however, full of epic songs about pirates, drinking, and pseudoscientific cryptogeography. We'll have a bunch more updates for you over the coming weeks and months, including ...

Synaptik Unleash Heavier Remix Of Debut Album With Extra Footage Out Worldwide 30th Jan! British heavy metal five-piece, Synaptik from the east coast of England have an impressive sound that combines thrash, power and progressive elements, shaping their own distinctive sound. They have just signed with DeFox Records and Heart Of Steel Records, who will be re-releasing their critically acclaimed debut album, “The Mechanisms of Consequence”, originally released in September 2014. The special remix edition by Brian Spark will be available digitally worldwide on January 30th, 2017 via DeFox Records/Heart of Steel Records on all major outlets including iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Deezer, Google Play, iHeart Radio and more. The album features some extra treats, along with the original nine technical metal masterpieces, including single, “Your Cold Dead Trace” (featuring guest vocals from Alan Tecchio of Watchtower/Hades and more) - except with this new remix, there will be a re-edited video...

Bleed Again Prepare To Conquer Following Latest Annoucements UK Metal five-piece Bleed Again are well known on the South Coast metal scene and continue to build their ever impressive reputation, especially through their energetic mental live performances. Now they have just signed a worldwide deal with Sliptrick Records proving they on our the radar. Along with this announcement they have unleashed their blistering new video which was filmed at this Mammothfest 2016 UK in Brighton for ‘Through My Eyes’ . I was lucky enough to be there during filming and it was one of the best crowd reactions of the whole festival and they really stood out. They say things come in three and that is the case here, as they also will be releasing their debut album ‘Momentum’ through Sliptrick Records on May 1st, 2017. Widely recognised for their live sets, they have already graced the stage with bands such as Soil , Darkest Hour and Devil Sold His Soul as well as landing various festival sl...