01. Oblivion 5:46 02. Divinations 3:38 03. Quintessence 5:27 04. The Czar: Usurper/Escape/Martyr/Spiral 10:54 05. Ghost Of Karelia 5:24 06. Crack The Skye 5:54 07. The Last Baron 13:00

Mastodon have always been a band I’ve held in the very highest esteem; extremely technically proficient, an excellent live act, and above all the rare beast of a prog metal band who manage to avoid Lord of the Rings entirely in their subject material. So, great things were expected of their fourth full-length, Crack the Skye, when it was released earlier this year. And my god, did Mastodon deliver.

At first listen, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the Georgia 4-piece have mellowed a bit over the years. The vocals are relatively clean throughout, and they’ve shed some of the wilder, more experimental musical content - there’s nothing quite as unhinged as Bladecatcher here. It’s still much more complex and intricate than your average metal album, still unmistakably Mastodon, but you get the feeling that while Leviathan and Blood Mountain foamed at the mouth, Crack the Skye merely looks at you a bit funny. That’s until you start to explore the story a little.
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01. Pray for Villains 4:02 02. Pure Sincerity 4:38 03. Fate Stepped In 5:10 04. Back With a Vengeance 3:42 05. I’ve Been Sober 5:16 06. Resurrection Blvd. 3:59 07. Forgiveness Is a Six Gun 4:42 08. Waiting for November 5:07 09. It’s in the Cards 4:25 10. Another Night in London 3:05 11. Bitter Pill 4:25 12. Teach Me to Whisper 4:01 13. I See Belief 3:55

I should start out by pointing out that I was excited, properly excited by the release of the new Devildriver album, Pray for Villains. I still regard their previous effort, The Last Kind Words, as one of the best albums at least of 2007, and their formidable live show has only added to the wave of hype behind this latest release.

And for the most part, it does not disappoint. The album opens with title track and lead single Pray for Villains, which showcases everything we’ve come to love about Devildriver. Breakneck riffs, soaring melodies, utterly ludicrous drumming, and of course the distinctive vocal stylings of Mr Dez Fafara, who has come a long way from his dubious origins in Coal Chamber. I think it’s actually a legal requirement to bring that up at some point when discussing Devildriver. Anyway, the title track sets the theme for the album, starting as they mean to go on. The technical execution is nothing short of fantastic, with both guitarists showing off their lead and rhythm skills on every song (I‘ve Been Sober and Resurrection BLVD in particular), and John Boeklin’s drumming frankly jaw-dropping throughout. I have often observed that you could listen to just the drum parts from The Last Kind Words in its entirety and never get bored, and the same is largely true on Pray. Boecklin, despite his propensity for double-bass, rarely settles for a simple beat and spends much of his time engaged with wild breakdowns and fills, while keeping his work interesting throughout. Perhaps this is why the drums sit so high in the mix; this contributes to them occasionally drowning out more subtle moments from the guitars, such as on Forgiveness is a Six-Gun.
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01. The Feverish Alliance 4:01 02. Once Kissed By The Serpent (Twice Bitten By Truth) 3:22 03. Bloodstained Endurance 3:36 04. Triumphant Gleam 3:41 05. In The Valley Of Ashes 3:55 06. A Storm At Will 4:00 07. Take Aim. Reclaim. Prevail 3:12 08. The Desperation Corridors 4:13 09. Farewell To Sanity 4:32 10. Dead End Gaze 3:58 11. Faith Comes Knocking 4:32 12. Onward March The Merciless (Digipak bonus track) 3:08

Roughly a decade ago the world of Gothic Metal had just been revolutionised by the appearance of three Norwegian bands; Tristania, The Sins of Thy Beloved and Trail of Tears. Out of the three bands Tristania was instantly the most recognisable and went on to redefine the genre and spawned many copy-cat acts.

Fast forward ten years and things are very different. The genre of so called “Beauty and the Beast” Gothic Metal hasn’t really changed much, some claiming it has become stagnant, Tristania’s future seems doubtful with members leaving faster than rats abandoning a sinking ship, Sirenia, a Tristania spin off band, released two glorious albums before sinking to glorified goth pop with their latest two offerings and The Sins of Thy Beloved have been on hiatus since 2001.

After the release of their previous album, ‘Existentia,’ most of the members abandoned the band and many fans feared the death of Trail of Tears. However after listening to the opening tracks of ‘Bloodstained Endurance’ Trail of Tears have proved that they are neither dead nor stagnant.
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Testament, Onslaught and Warbringer - Glasgow Garage, Tuesday July 21st 2009

ome things in life are indisputable: the sky is blue, the earth is round and a good thrash bill will always go down a storm in the city of Glasgow. Despite starting ten minutes after opening time, a well packed venue and very warm reception greets Warbringer. Visibly elated by the crowd, the Californian thrash revivalists provide a perfect warm-up for the devoted bangers in the pit.

Bristol’s Onslaught then proceed to kick everything up a notch or ten. Clearly a much-beloved band within the Glasgow thrash scene, it’s a shame that their otherwise crushing set is a bit too short due to the 10PM curfew. Highlights include the opening salvo of ‘Killing Peace’ plus the timeless and anthemic ‘Power From Hell’.

No disrespect to Anthrax, but is this reviewer alone in thinking Testament are musically worthier of belonging among the thrash genre’s legendary “big four”? Possibly not judging by the response welcoming these legends as they dive straight into ‘The Preacher’ and then utterly destroy for the next 70 minutes. Classics like ‘Over The Wall’ and latter-day gems such as ‘D.N.R.’ are fired from the stage like precision-guided missiles; each causing maximum carnage on the dance floor. It’s hard to find suitable adjectives to describe the sheer intensity of this gig or how on-form Testament are. Ending with the title track from the excellent ‘Formation of Damnation’ album, the band leave a venue and crowd so drenched in sweat it’s amazing we’re not paddling our way to the exit. Testament are brilliant live, now that’s fucking indisputable.

Article by Gordon Jeans

01. Long Lost… (Single Mix)         03:29 02. The Esoteric Order of Dagon   03:48 03. Long Lost… (Optimistic Mix)    03:19

‘Long Lost…’ is the first single to be released by Sunderland based artist Synoiz. The single is a preview of the upcoming album ‘Ambients’ and if these songs are an example of what is to come then the album will certainly live up to its name as each song is rich with its own ambient feel.

The title track begins with low organs and synths, ethereal drums are added to complete the nostalgic, yet foreboding atmosphere. Also included on the single is an ‘Optimistic Mix’ of the track which uses the original as a base and builds a new, more ‘up-beat’ drum line to give a completely different feel to the track.

For me the highlight of the single was the second track; The Esoteric Order of Dagon. This dark, threatening track gives the feel of a twisted ritual, indeed the track even contains Lovecraftian chants that become more distorted as the track goes on. If the deep baritone vocals of the chants are Synoiz himself then I hope to hear them used more often in future works.

My advice for listening to this single would be to lay back, close your eyes, get some good headphones and let the ambient tracks wash over you.

‘Long Lost…’ by Synoiz can be found on both amazon and iTunes.

Genre : Experimental, ambient, progressive

Article by Ewan McNulty

Cristiano Migliore of Lacuna Coil and Firebrand Super Rock feature in episode 40 of Ragnarok Radio.

Cristiano joined Lacuna Coil in 1998 just a year after getting signed to Century Media, he talks to us about how the band rose to fame internationally, the Italian metal scene and touring with one of the most famous women in metal - Cristina Scabbia.

Our second feature is Metal Hammer favorites Firebrand Super Rock from Edinburgh, having formed in 2004 they’ve played support for such metal giants as Slayer and Mastodon. So its your turn to check out these rising stars of metal!

Episode 40 of the podcast also includes the following tunes

Lacuna Coil - Spellbound
Tarja - Lost Northern Star (Lost Northern Pain Remix)
Empyrea - Our Story
Versailles - The Love From A Dead Orchestra
Splintered Soul - Critical Mass
Firebrand Super Rock - Point Of No Return
Children Of Bodom - Banned From Heaven
Arnocorps - Terminator
Bin Laden’s Daughter - Farce Of Propaganda

 

 Episode 40 - Cristiano Migliore of Lacuna Coil and Firebrand Super Rock [98:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Mark Cross from Firewind and Matt from Highland Fire Festival join us on episode 39 of Ragnarok Radio.

Mark is of course the highly acclaimed drummer for Greek metallers Firewind, he talks to us in Glasgow about joining the band back in 2006 and the release of The Premonition last years follow up to Allegiance.

Also included is an interview with Matt from Highland Fire Festival and vocalist for Scottish folk metal act Fortrius. Highland Fire is set to take place at The Ark in Edinburgh on August 1st the bill currently features Waylander, Northern Oak and Ravenage. The myspace page for Highland Fire Festival contains more information about the event and ticket purchasing.

Also included on the show are the following tracks

Firewind - Head Up High
Pain - Zombie Slam
Thurs - Raise Your Sword
Ensiferum - Blood Is The Price Of Glory
The Unravelling - Where Will It End
Seven Thorns - Artificial Night
Sorcerer’s Spell - Lead Us To Anthror
Mystical Fullmoon - May Wisdom Bless My Path
WolfP.A.C.K - War
Raintime - Beat It

 

 Episode 39 - Mark Cross and Highland Fire Festival [77:48m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

So here we go again. 2009 marked the 7th Anniversary of Download at the historic Donington Park. With few highlights last year (Kiss, Disturbed and Spinal Tap-esque backdrop malfunctions during Judas Priest aside) 2009 didn’t need to do much to surpass

Friday
Hollywood Undead – A suitably nu-metal opening to a day featuring the Bizkit, Korn and Faith No More. Everything about this band screams 1999, from the masks to the lumpen, downtune riffs and rhymes about bitches and hoes. Still strangely enjoyable though (3/5). In This Moment – The only interesting things about this band are the delectable Maria Brink and her mighty scream. Fact (2/5) Staind (3/5) Surprising heavy showing from Aaron Lewis and co, makes you wonder why they’re so fucking morose on record. Billy Talent (4/5) really enjoyed this band. Great tunes, new material sounds ace and they got the crowd pumping. KsE (5/5) Superb, tight as hell and that’s just Adam D’s hotpants. They would have been the band of the day if it weren’t for the acts that followed. Howard’s vocals weren’t always spot but with mass sing-along’s to belters like ‘Rose of Sharyn’ and ‘My Last Serenade’ it didn’t matter one bit. Limp Bizkit (5/5) Fucking superb they were. Was curious to see how this would go down but opening with ‘Break Stuff’ was the right move. It really was genuinely exciting to see the Bizkit back on stage tearing it up. Phenomenal. Korn (4/5) Tough act to follow but Korn delivered a set with their typical vigour and passion. ‘Thoughtless’ was a very nice surprise but the Pink Floyd cover was a bit of an energy sapping misfire, especially after the one-two punch of ‘Blind’ and ‘Got the Life’. Faith No More (5/5) A set full of heaviness and wonderful eccentricity. Watching Mike Patton go from charming crooner to screaming madman was totally enthralling. Seeing the lighters out for ‘Easy’ was awesome, as was a bizarre yet brilliant cover of Lady GaGa’s ‘Poker Face’.
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Episode 38 of Ragnarok Radio features two very metal interviews with Joakim Brodén of Sabaton and Concept of Time.

Sabaton featured with their song ‘Primo Victoria’ in episode 1 of the podcast, we’re of course happy to welcome the Swedish heavy metal stars back to Ragnarok! They recently released their new album The Art of War and Joakim discusses it with us.

We’re cramming this show full of metal though with a double feature! Also included is our interview with Glasgow band Concept of Time where they talk about the Scottish scene and their upcoming release out this July called A New State Of Thought.

Also included in this show are the following streamed tracks

Sabaton - Ghost Division
Kiuas - Through The Ice Age
Redline Intensity - The Dark Disciples
Worwyk - The Mind
Brother Firetribe - Break Out
Concept Of Time - Eternal Sleep
Lunarium - Heritage Taken
Zwartketterij - Raise Hell Heavy Metal
Hiss of Atrocities - Red

 

 Ragnarok Radio - Episode 38 - Sabaton and Concept Of Time [84:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Episode 37 of Ragnarok Radio is our Sauna Open Air special featuring interviews with Perttu from Apocalyptica and Laura of Medeia who both played at the event.

One of the first during the festival season Sauna took place in Tampere, Finland from 5th to the 7th of June. If you were there checking out the Finnish metal and drinking in the rain hope you had a great time!

The show also features some of the bands who appeared on the day, hopefully we’ll be able to give you an insight into what the metal scene is like in Finland. Kiitos to everyone who made this show possible!

Apocalyptica - Grace
Tarot - Pyre Of The Gods
Evile - Enter The Grave
Swordmaster - Guardians Of The Waves
Medeia - Through Sacrifice
Finntroll - Maktens Spira
Backmask - New Revolution
The February Solution - No Escape
Beyond The Grave - Conflict Zone

 

 Episode 37 - Sauna Open Air [64:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download