Mattowarrior's Metal Madness

Are we alone in the universe? That's the question that BlackEternal definitely answers on their new album, Encounters, and of course the answer is, definitely NO! Encounters features a heavy influence of various strains of extreme metal including symphonic black metal and death metal. I caught up with BlackEternal's mainman Nightmare for an intriguing interview recently:  Tell me about the formation of BlackEternal - BlackEternal started as an idea that came to me when I was in my teens in the mid 90’s. I’ve been a metal head all my life, So I always knew I wanted to play black metal, I knew I wanted to write songs and play instruments. I started writing music and composing and it just went on from there. Originally BlackEternal was a 4-piece band in the late 90’s we were playing a thrash / black metal style at local underground shows for a few years before we went out separate ways. Now BlackEternal is 2 members. Myself and BloodBath. Pic: Nightmare and B...

S lang is a band/project that does a rare thing for me. Immediately in the first 5 seconds of listening to the first song on their newest album, Garden City, the song Red River, I dug them/him immensely. The song starts out like an awesome hybrid of Joe Satriani if he played for Deep Purple (he actually did for a Japanese tour) and features tasty organ licks and great shred guitars. Speaking of Japanese, if an Anime company called up Slang to use this song as a theme song for an anime film it wouldn’t surprise me, a very anthemic and catchy track. The second song, is a far funkier track that almost reminds one of a mid-eighties action movie where the camera is craning down on the city in the beginning. That’s not a knock though, as the ensuing jazzy guitar makes the song shine.  This is the eighth solo album by Slang, a guitarist/musician hailing from Winnipeg Canada who is eclectic to say the least. The album continues with songs like Heartland which feature some s...

Revilution are an up and coming band from California. As their bio states:  " They say that music is the language of the soul, and nothing could be truer for this Rock & Roll Band. Composed of a group of inspirational musicians and skillful performers, the artists behind REVILUTION have earned their reputation as a talented band to look out for. From live gigs to studio sessions and more, they continue to touch fans around the world with their distinct and enjoyable musical style." Mattowarrior's Metal Madness caught up with the group for an in depth interview:  What are you listening to RIGHT NOW? Dan Seitz, vocals, guitar : Currently listening to my collection of Nazareth cassette tapes. Marie B, vocals: I’m listening to a cd Dan made me of our songs. We have lots of live performances coming up so I want to be sure I’m ready for anything that could be included in a set list for a given time slot. Also the audio on DogTV for my dog, Chico. It’s relaxing ...

A band that I reviewed previously on these pages, Bad Bones, has just released their new video, Midnight Rider. The video is full of images of guns, motorcycles, skulls, and the moon. You're half expecting Blackie Lawless come out with a razor codpiece, but he doesn't. Nevertheless, the imagery definitely complements the song and you can get out those horns to cheer this very entertaining and fun video!

Paragon Theorem is an interesting act that is releasing its new album on January 25th 2019, Bound By Gravity. No, it’s neither a prog metal band as the name and title would indicate, nor a technical death metal act with super hyper blasts and 800 bpm sweep arpeggios. Instead, Bound By Gravity plays an interesting mix of vintage post grunge influenced slight groove metal, somewhat thrash influenced metal, and hard rock that indicates a plethora of influences. This is a mix of influences that is extremely hard to get right, and I believe that Bound By Gravity nearly does, other than a few quibbles I’m sure they’ll hammer out. But let’s focus on the positives.  The band teeters on the edge of radio ready and a sound that could cultivate a cult following, I’m more fond of the bands that cultivate a cult following, but the band could very well go in either direction.    The album starts out with the groovy and heavy Singularity, a mid paced catchy start to the album. ...

Tahazu are an up and coming Black Metal project from Madison, Wisconsin. Their music features very cold, harsh, and extremely grim soundscapes that leave the listener with a feeling of esoteric dread. It is definitely not an "easy listening" style Black Metal project, and should appeal to those who like their Black Metal or Metal in general, experimental and challenging. I recently had the opportunity to interview their mainman (also going by the name Tahazu), and this is what he had to say:  Tell me about the project, how did it start?  - I started my solo project under the name Tahazu in 2015 after going back and finishing college, had some decent free time while working and had played in multiple prior bands and wanted to start playing my own material and collaborating more consistently.  Since then it's been fantastic in both reception and opportunities, working with artists all over the globe and multiple small and underground la...

                                      Ozzy at his clownish best during the 1986 Ultimate Sin Tour.                                                         Photo Copyright:    Photo: @MarkWeissguy   By now, we live in a different world than we did in the Seventies and Eighties. There seems to be a lack of mystery in music and entertainment, when the vulturous media and twitter shame machine seems to both expose and lay bare anything about anyone with any sort of spotlight. The music business has undoubtedly suffered from a lot of the modern paradigm, but one side element of this is that a lot of our childhood myths have been exposed and debunked. With the saturation of media and exposes and the spotlight on everyone,...