Mad About Rock

So the new Stencil Mag is out today (May 31st) and this was a big issue yet again for me as I got to interview frontman Christopher Bowes from Alestorm  as well as Wednesday 13 as part of the Download Festival focus! Alestorm interview here:  https://issuu.com/stencilmag/docs/issue43/94 Wednesday 13 interview:  https://issuu.com/stencilmag/docs/issue43/86 Following on from the Download Festival theme I also contributed to the festival preview and wrote about AFI , Opeth , Alter Bridge and In Flames :  https://issuu.com/stencilmag/docs/issue43/220 And as always I did some reviews: Alestorm:  https://issuu.com/stencilmag/docs/issue43/178 Six Impossible Things:  https://issuu.com/stencilmag/docs/issue43/178 Wednesday 13 :  https://issuu.com/stencilmag/docs/issue43/180 Incubus :  https://issuu.com/stencilmag/docs/issue43/180 Bleed Again :  https://issuu.com/stencilmag/docs/issue43/184 Enjoy! Check all this out and more...

Mammothfest Announce Final Line-up Including Sunday Headliners Amenra (UK EXCLUSIVE), Akercoke, Vodun and More! Mammothfest is thrilled to announce that Belgian doom act, Amenra will exclusively headline in the UK on the Sunday stoner doom main stage at this year's festival. That's right, ALL THREE of the main stage headline acts across the weekend including also Fleshgod Apocalypse and Rotting Christ can only be found performing at Mammothfest in the UK in 2017! Not only that, previously announced black metal act Tsjuder are also confirmed for a UK exclusive performance at Mammothfest 2017! As if that wasn't exciting enough, Mammothfest are proud to announce the complete lineup that will perform at The Arch in Brighton between the 6th and 8th of October . Including the likes of Akercocke , Vodun , Abhorrent Decimation , Vigil (Poland), Confronted and more as a total of 16 bands have been added to the final lineup. Check out the full poster above! So the days...

Sorrow Plagues Unleash New Single 'Departure' From 'Homecoming' Album Sorrow Plagues sophomore album 'Homecoming' is out now and available from iTunes, Spotify, Bandcamp and more, it was released self-released on May 27th. To support the release of the new album they have released their second single 'Departure' . Lovejoy talks about the meaning of the new single 'Departure' : "The second single "Departure" is about the journey of self-actualization and leaving behind the things that are holding you back in life. I also took a bit more of a different direction musically with this one, there are elements of pop in there and I experimented with some new guitar sounds." Check out the new song "Departure" below! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1KQN-H3cnY ​ Sorrow Plagues is the Brainchild of British musician David Lovejoy. The album ventures into new territory with added elements of post-rock, and e...

WEESP Have Released New Live Song Taken From Upcoming New Album 'Black Sails'! Alternative electronic rockers  WEESP   from Minsk, Belarus who formed in 2008 have been delivering their own unique sound, combining elements of electronic, alternative and metal to create their edgy spacey rock. They have since received numerous publications worldwide and have played many gigs, including festivals in Belarus, Russia and Poland. In 2015 they released their full-length debut album, 'The Void' (you can read my review here: http://www.madaboutrock.co.uk/2015/08/weesp-void-review-minsk-rockers-hit.html ) which was well received and showcased their diverse and stand out sound. It also featured guest vocals from Cory Brandan of Norma Jean on their single 'Solar Empires'. Now the band have announced they are working on their second full-length follow-up and are about to start recording this at the Polish studio Hertz (Behemoth, Vader, Decapitated). On the 29th...

EIGHTEEN VISIONS Release New Track ' THE DISEASE, THE DECLINE AND WASTED TIME' Taken From Long-Awaited New Album XVIII, Out 2nd June Via Rise Records Eighteen Visions, the seminal metal band that recently announced they had reformed and signed with Rise Records have unleashed a brand new track ' The Disease, The Decline and Wasted Time'taken from their long-awaited new album, XVIII out 2nd June. "The Disease, The Decline & Wasted time was the first song we wrote for "XVIII." It's heavy and aggressive nature definitely help set the tone for the rest of the album.” says singer James Hart. Check out the new song below! XVIII, the reunited and reenergised band’s first new album in over a decade, is both mission statement and battle cry. It’s a blistering, dense, and diverse album. Recharged and newly partnered with Rise Records, 18V sound liberated from the expectations of the outside world and driven only by their own personal and arti...

Italian Metallers Tethra To Stream 'Closed Doors' Full Show On Facebook On June 8th To Support Genre And Highlight Issue Of Venues Closing Italian metal act Tethra are passionate about emerging artists and they are on a mission to increase the numbers of people that attend smaller, club sized venues in not just Italy, but on a worldwide scale, stating: "In recent years, many small and medium-sized clubs dedicated to metal music have closed or changed their genre because of the low attendance at the concerts. It's a global phenomenon that, if it does not have a clear turnabout, will oblige all industry employees to make drastic decisions." So, Tethra , would like to raise awareness amongst all fans of this genre about this topic, assuming a catastrophic scenario for the next future: what will happen when the last live club will also close? Will emerging bands play no more or will they totally rely on live streaming from rehearsal studios and improvised venues? ...

Amplified Open Air Festival 2017 Final Line-up with Phil Campbell confirmed plus exclusive custom 'Iron Man' Harley-Davidson to be won in prize draw Amplified Open Air Festival has confirmed its final line-up with the announcement that legendary Motorhead guitarist Phil Campbell and his band The Bastard Sons will headline the Red Stripe Main Stage on Saturday night, 22nd July 2017. The group joins other stage headline acts including Puddle Of Mudd , Reef , Acid Reign , Diamond Head , Evil Scarecrow , Raging Speedhorn , Astroid Boys and Milk Teeth . "It's great to be headlining this brand new festival showcasing the best in U.K. Rock and Metal. See you guys there!" – Phil Campbell Amplified is also excited to announce that they will be giving away in conjunction with Blade Harley-Davidson , Cheltenham a unique one-off motorcycle to one lucky ticket holder at this year's festival. The 'Iron Man' themed Sportster XL833N custom built for ...

Sorrow Plagues Release New Video 'Relinquish' From Forthcoming Album 'Homecoming' Sorrow Plagues have released a new music video for the song 'Relinquish' which is the first single from the upcoming album 'Homecoming' . 'Homecoming' is the second full-length album to be self-released by Sorrow Plagues, the Brainchild of British musician David Lovejoy on May 27th . The album ventures into new territory with added elements of post-rock, and even including some contemporary influences, whilst still maintaining the atmospheric Black Metal sounds that Sorrow Plagues is known for. This is David Lovejoy's most ambitious effort so far. Lovejoy talks about the meaning of the song: "The song is about the importance of living in the present moment and realising that being stuck in the past and worrying about the future is the cause of a lot of our problems. I got the idea for writing lyrics on the topic whilst reading "A New Earth...

So I recently went to Mammothfest's second 'presents' show of the year, and this time it was death metal galore with Vader , Immolation plus supports! I'm very pleased to say that my review of the main stage has been featured on Terrorizer online! This is a very proud and cool moment for me! Check out the review here: http://www.terrorizer.com/news/live-review-vader-immolation-16-april-2017-arch-brighton/ Bands reviewed: Vader, Immolation, Enslavement, Mutually Assured Destruction, Hades Lab, Seprevation, Divine Chaos, Krysthla, Monument Of Misanthropy. To find out more about Mammothfest and upcoming Mammothfest presents shows go here: https://www.facebook.com/MammothfestUK/ www.mammothfest.uk http://mammothfest.uk/STORE/

Fresh and exciting modern metal act, Bleed Again from the south coast of the United Kingdom strike hard with their massive melodic metalcore that is comparable to the likes of American heavyweights, Killswitch Engage and Trivium in both musical style and memorable energetic live performances. Bleed Again has dropped their new video for ‘Walk Through The Fire’ , the third track taken from their highly-anticipated debut album, ‘Momentum’ . The video was exclusively premiered on Metal On Loud first on the 24th April. The album is out today (1st May 2017) through recently signed US label Sliptrick Records. Vocalist James Dawson talks about the meaning behind 'Walk Through The Fire' : "Walk Through The Fire is about facing your demons head on. Using the pain and failures in life to learn from and pass that onto future generations. I have learnt a lot from my parents and friends experiences to help me through my own issues. If I can pass that knowledge onto my own childr...