WOLCENSMEN – “Songs From The Fyrgen”

WolcCDEvocative, emotional, atmospheric… beautiful. I have run out of adjectives to try and describe the feelings I have when I listen to this recording.  Written over a 5 year period, Dan Capp, the artist behind Wolcensmen, and guitarist in Winterfylleth, has poured his heart and soul into each and every track. Continue reading

ANIHILATED – “Anti Social Engineering”


Cover

Remember when you first fell in love with Metallica’s last great album, And Justice For All? What? You didn’t like it? First of all, there’s a chance we can’t be friends, and second, you could well be put off Anihilated’s freshest release, Anti Social Engineering, from the offset. There’s a more diverse character to the long-player, but the riff that primes the album is very reminiscent of that particular moment in the thrash giants’ career, and it echoes on throughout. If ‘the big 4’ had Anthrax switched out for Testament, and were merged into one band, this sound could very well be the result, instrumentally speaking. Continue reading

BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR / Catton Hall, England / August 2015

BOA 15

Festival:                             Bloodstock Open Air Metal Festival.

Date:                                  Thursday until Sunday, 6th to 9th of August 2015.

Location:                           Catton Park, Walton-On-Trent, Derbyshire, England.

Post Code:                        DE12 8LN.

Official Travel:                   Big Green Coach.

Ticket Cost:                        £127.00 (Adult) & £39.00 (Child 4yo – 11yo) EARLY BIRD.

The limited early bird price of £127.00 for Adults and £39.00 for now available for next year’s Festival, they are usually on sale each year until the middle of December, or until the allocation runs out.

The TMA Collective will keep you up to date with all the announcements, deals and news for one of our favourite Festivals.

The 15th Bloodstock, and the 11th Open Air celebration of all things metal, will take place at the usual Catton Hall site in Derbyshire, England between Thursday 6th and Sunday 9th of August in 2015.

First announcement is that Opeth and Within Temptation will be playing!

WINTERFYLLETH – “The Divination Of Antiquity”

WF14So here we are; 4 Winterfylleth albums in… yet it only seems like yesterday that these boys were playing in front of a few staunch separatists like myself in sweaty underground clubs. The band as a group, since all but the very earliest live outings, has been consistent and since the second album, “The Mercian Sphere”, the same lads have written and recorded the music.  The thing is, the band themselves have been on a bit of a journey in the last 12 months, and I believe that this has resulted in the album of their careers thus far. A tour with Enslaved, festival appearances around Europe and then time to reflect and write have resulted in something very special indeed. Continue reading

THE MORE I SEE – “The Disappearing Humans”

The More I See - "The Disappearing Humans"

I’m not really sure how it’s happened, but despite the fact that this is the fourth album from The More I See (featuring the guitar stylings of Gizz Butt – The Prodigy, Janus Stark, English Dogs, Sabbat!), it’s the first one I’ve heard. There are only four tracks from the full-length provided here, but the Earache label have uploaded the whole thing as a series of individual videos.   Continue reading

DESERT STORM – “Horizontal Life”

DesertStorm

Oxford Rockers Desert Storm are a band that should have already been in my life WAY before I finally picked up on them, but after a experiencing a stunning live performance recently when in tow with Leeds finest Bongcauldron it’s about time to get properly acquainted.

So they have two releases proper, the most recent being 2013’s “Horizontal Life” Delving back further in 2010 they released “Forked Tongues”. Continue reading

TALANAS – “Asylum”

TalanAsylumEven with a genre as narrow as Progressive Death Metal, bands taking a step back and releasing an altogether more sedate collection of tracks is by no means unique.  For example Opeth very successfully chanced their arm with “Damnation” and more recently Spires laid their souls bare with the incredible “Lucid Abstractions” EP, but this takes a different path still. Stripping back the electrics, distortion, extremity of vocal and drum, the aforementioned examples released works of beauty. Talanas did not… Continue reading

FYRDSMAN – “Omen In The Sky”

FyrdsOmenIn 2010 a very special EP was released by a gentle man called Tim Shaw under the moniker Fyrdsman (the name given to the local men who fought alongside the trained warriors in Anglo Saxon England during the ‘dark’ ages). So good was this release (available again here) the pressure to hear more from this melodic black metal musician was tangible. Whilst most of the songs were pretty much written,  a combination of funds or lack of and a re-location has made those smitten by the EP endure a long wait for the album to see the light of day. Continue reading

BYKER GRAVE FESTIVAL – The Globe, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne (08/12/2013)

BykerGrave13A true DIY event born out the ashes of Northern Darkness Festival by local promoters ‘Kin Hell Fest, Bro(UK) Promotions and Omega Warfare Records.  Essentially completely “Crowd Sourced” via Facebook, with even the name of the Festival itself being decided on from a whole manner of ridiculous suggestions referencing / taking the mick out of Newcastle, however eventual moniker Byker Grave was always a clear winner as soon as it was suggested.

Being a Northern Darkness refugee with Hotel & transport booked, fellow TMA scribe Alex and I decided to make the trek as neither of us have been to the Land Of Geordies and safe to say probably ended up having more fun than we would have had at the original event! Continue reading

WAR WOLF – “Crushing The Ways Of The Old”

WarWolfAs you may have gathered I love going to gigs, one of those many reasons is the ability to discover new and exciting bands I normally wouldn’t give the time of day to.  In this instance an Iron Witch show switched me on the aggressive Crust Punk of Brighton’s War Wolf.

Despite only forming in September 2012, they have been busy bees having already released a Split EP with Sob Story and their own “Riding With Demons EP”, and now in our hands we have début album “Crushing The Ways Of The Old”. Continue reading