Thursday, April 16, 2026

JEFF & KING


 

MANILLA ROAD (US) (MIDWEST MILITIA #2, 1984)


 

NOCTURNAL ART PRODUCTIONS (1999)


 

WARRANT (GER) (METAL POWER #4, 1985) < TRANSLATED

Metal Power was a fanzine from Germany written in German, but here's an interview translated to English for you.



WARRANT

M.P.: Jörg, how did the lineup change in the band come about?

J.J.: It was primarily due to playing issues. Our drummer had some sort of problem with his arms, so we couldn't play any gigs without risking problems with him, and that was really shitty. There were musical disagreements with the guitarist that we couldn't and wouldn't accept. In one respect, he was also fed up with making money and all that.

H.P.: Can we expect stylistic changes from WARRANT now?

J.J.: It definitely won't stay the same style. I mean, that was already apparent with "The Enforcer" LP, where we tried to introduce new concepts into our music. It will probably all sound a bit more commercial, since we want to slow down the speed. But there will still be decent guitar parts, like there have been so far.

M.P.: Why did you get new management?

O.M.: The old one was simply too unprofessional for us, plus they lacked the necessary contacts and ambition. It was just a friendly arrangement because we couldn't find a proper manager at the beginning. So, of course, not much came of it, and in the end, we had to arrange everything ourselves—the two gigs we've played so far, and everything else that goes with it

M.P.: You've often been accused of sounding like RUNNING WIRD. What do you say to that?

J.J.: That's absolute nonsense! I would never let myself be influenced by them, because then we might as well just copy PRIEST. That would eliminate any chance of achieving anything later on.

O.M.: Independence is our goal, and that will be reflected on our next album. Okay, we kind of got swept up in this trend, but you're always evolving, so you don't even like the old songs anymore. Now we've reached a point where the old songs don't offer us anything anymore. The new material has a significantly higher musical potential.

M.P.: Is there a special meaning behind your album covers?

O.M.: Well, I'd say the interpretation of it doesn't really mean anything (laughs). They were more like stopgap covers. But this will definitely change in the future. Currently, the covers are still printed on the T-shirts, but not anymore starting with the next album.

M.P.: How is "The Enforcer" selling?

J.J.: As far as I know, quite well. We recently met with Karl Walterbach from NOISE Records, and the sales figures were around 7,000. I can't say more than that.

M.P.: Do you think you can survive as group?

O.M.: I don't know what the others think about it, but I don't think we'll have a meteoric rise to 100%. Therefore, we have to try to win people over with the music. It's clear that we won't have much say in the matter when the next LP is released

M.P.: Are any concerts planned soon?

J.J.: Yes, we're doing a few gigs in Belgium first, and then we'll participate in various competitions, which are more like test concerts since we still need to properly gel with our new lineup. After the LP is released early next year, we want to go on tour immediately so people can experience our new sound right away.

M.P.: Has the record company approached you with any plans in this regard?

J.J.: Yes, we'll probably tour with Grave Digger. There wasn't much initiative from the record company at first, but now you can tell they want to involve us more.

M.P.: Okay, that's it! Thanks for the interview.

Interview: Karsten, Jörg, Frank Editing: Karsten & Frank.






TRIBUTE TO DARKTHRONE [BY MAXIME TACCARDI]

Maxime Taccardi: Darkthrone tribute I did with my blood almost a decade ago


AT WAR (US) (OLD SCHOOL METAL MANIAC #6, 2013)

An interview from the best old school metal magazine that's still releasing print issues. It's a real beauty in full color. Please support them! Check them out here: oldschool-metal-maniac.com/eng/index.php


Wednesday, April 15, 2026

METALLICA "SONONDAGA WAR MEMORIAL, SYRACUSE, NY" (APRIL 13, 1986)

The "Master of Puppets" tour rolled through Syracuse on April 13th, 1986. Approximately 5,600 fans were in attendance at the Onondaga War Memorial that night. The show was not sold out.









 

BRUCE DICKINSON "TATTOOED MILLIONAIRE" (SOUNDS MAGAZINE MAY 12, 1990)


 

ARSIN (US/CA)


 

VROLOK (US)


 

CARCASS


 

ACCEPT'S FIRST PROMO PHOTO

Wolf Hoffmann: "This is the very first promo picture, if you can even call it that, of Accept! It's of course the singer Udo Dirkschneider, the drummer Frank Friedrich, the guitarist Gerhard Wahl, the bassist Dieter Rubach and then little me. It was taken at the playground outside our rehearsal room in January 1977".

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Monday, April 13, 2026

M.S.G. "DESERT SONG" [MUSIC VIDEO]



ANASARCA (GER) ON STAGE IN SWITZERLAND (2000)

PEST (SWE) (DARK FORCES #3, 2000) TRANSLATED

Dark Forces was a Swedish fanzine written in Swedish. But here’s an interview translated to English for you.


PEST

DIMMU BORGIR sounds about as aggressive as BOOMFUNK MC, previously safe cards are turning to the more technically advanced and in my darkest dreams ALPHAVILLE has brought in Nocturno Culto on vocals. Then it's nice to have some honest, raw black metal in the facility. PEST from beautiful Blekinge delivers just that on their latest demo "Black Thorns", and it was to its tunes that I burned away the following interview with the band's guitarist and singer C. Eskilsson on a balmy July evening. The cult of true black metal will rise again!

So, has anything memorable happened in Jämshög (Small Swedish Town) today?
— No, everything is dead.

Please introduce PEST's two monstrosities to Dark Force readers, thank you. (Type age, shoe size, favorite color, favorite line before kicking a Bolivian hockey coach, favorite line after committing the crime, etc.)
— PEST was formed in late 1997 by the same members as the band today (C. Eskilsson, guitar/vocals and M. Sällström, guitar/bass). We recorded an unofficial demo in 1998 and have since released “In Eternity Skyless” and “Black Thorns”. PEST strives to bring back the real black metal scene that existed in the early 1990s. Both members are from Blekinge, but note that neither is from Jämshög.

Your second demo “Black Thorns” came out a while ago. Since I had no idea you existed before I got the demo and had read anything about you, we have to sort out some standard stuff first… How much has this wonder sold, how many copies were printed and how many have been sold to labels/labels?
— We've been bad at advertising ourselves, but that's also felt unimportant. We barely bothered to send out the first "official" demo, "In Eternity Skyless". It's only now, after "Black Thorns", that people know it exists. The demand for it has actually become quite high now. However, it's been out of print for a long time and there are no immediate plans to press more. "In Eternity Skyless" was probably printed in about 40-45 copies, "Black Thorns" has so far been printed in 50 copies and will soon be out of print too. If there's demand, we might do a new pressing of this one. I think about 20 "Black Thorns" have gone to zines/record labels.

You've made some really flashy CD labels with your logo on them for "Black Thorns", how much did you have to cough up for them?
— No idea, I don't remember.

Your music is more than legit similar to DARKTHRONE, I have to say it myself, you are the best DARKTHRONE-like group I have heard in a long time. Is that something that seems to be appreciated, or do people think you are too similar to them?
— It is a great honor to be compared to DARKTHRONE. People have compared us to MAYHEM, GORGOROTH, ISVIND, BURZUM and DARKTHRONE ever since “In Eternity Skyless”, but only in a positive way. It shows that there are still people who want real black metal. In the early 90s there was a black metal scene, now it is all about synths, female choirs, vampires and other shit. Money has become a destructive factor. It seems that record labels hardly dare to sign real black metal bands anymore. Synthpop brings more money, I guess.

On “Black Thorns” you used a session drummer. Is there a shortage of drummers in Jämshög, or how come you don't have a permanent one?
— Around here, there are few drummers who are both competent to play and share the same views and visions. This has never been a problem, though. When we rehearse with drums, I usually take care of it, but it feels better and will be better if a "real" drummer puts it on tape. On the next demo, there will probably be a new session drummer again, who I'm not going to reveal!

In Bestialiskt Mangel #3, Ahldrathan in ISHTAR said that he is also a member of PEST... Now the question is which of you two is also in ISHTAR, or is it even the case that Ahldrathan no longer plays with you?
— Hmm, he has never been in, if I remember correctly.

In the same newspaper, there was talk that Necroplis might be interested in signing you. How has that gone?
— Then they know more than I do. I haven't heard anything about that. (I feel like there's another PEST in southern Sweden. /ed)

Any other labels that have been around and sniffed around?
— No, not really, mostly a lot of offers to participate in compilation albums. We were supposed to participate in "Voices Of Death IV", among other things, but due to various problems it didn't happen.

On the cover of "Black Thorns" one of the members poses alone but proudly, something that doesn't make the connection to DARKTHRONE any less immediate. How did you choose such a cover? How did you decide who would be the model, did you draw lots or was it someone volunteering?
— On "Black Thorns" it's me on the cover. On "In Eternity Skyless" it was both of them.

Where do you get inspiration for writing lyrics, and what topics do the lyrics deal with?
— Personally, I get inspiration from my thoughts, values ​​and visions. When the inspiration is really strong, that's when the lyrics are written. Hate rules everything actually.

What do you think about the church fire that took place in Jönköping this spring?
— Just great! It's always great. Christianity must be crushed!

There is also another band called PEST, namely a bunch of sneaky Finns who have come a bit further in their careers than you… Are there any plans to change their name, or are you trying to gradually overtake your competitors and thereby secure your place as the one and only PEST?
— We have no plans to change our name as things stand now, we'll see later, if the confusion becomes too much and people have difficulty telling us apart. Changing names also means that you have to "start over from scratch" again.

Since I'm terrified of getting beaten up by Lord Yggr because I don't know the southern Swedish black metal scene as well as he does, maybe you can help me by mentioning some cool bands "south from here"?
— I don't know… I have no idea, it's hard enough to mention any good bands at all these days.

Now my questions are running out, so now you can tell the readers exactly what you want, maybe something interesting about the future of PEST? Otherwise, I'm now completely satisfied with our little chat, thank you very much!
— A new demo was supposed to be recorded in May, but it was postponed due to various problems. The material is there, the only question is when we'll record. For info and news, visit our website. Hail!

PEST: director's cut – the questions that were too nasty to answer!

An interesting thing that can be seen on the back of the cover is an incredibly evil beech branch. Do you want to break the spruce trend, or what is the question?

Apparently, IMMORTAL used to go out into the forest and drink whiskey to gather inspiration. Does something similar happen in the PEST camp, like you go out into a rapeseed field and drink Skåne Akvavit?

BLACK SABBATH'S "SABOTAGE" ... ANGER PROVIDES INSPIRATION

 Text from the inactive/defunct website Rock n Roll Insight


BLACK SABBATH

Not all, but many Black Sabbath fans point to the phenomenal Sabotage as the Birmingham band's best album.

The interesting thing is how that progressive and doomy 1975 record was created: Out of turmoil, lawsuits and copious amounts of drugs.

Coming off their highly successful "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" album, the band became immersed in a series of lawsuits (starting in 1974) while trying to split from former manager Patrick Meehan, who had been ripping off Sabbath members pretty much since Day 1. According to bassist Geezer Butler, Meehan was trying to stop them recording and attempting to freeze all their assets.

To put it in context, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler were, then, just four lads from Birmingham who came from the poorest side of the tracks. Any cash they got up that point was gravy to them. They knew absolutely nothing about publishing rights and songwriting royalties. And they were taken with Meehan's charm and worldly knowledge. To his credit, he did take the band to the top, but stole a bunch of money along the way.

"Meehan talked a good talk," said Iommi. Osbourne has said publicly that "Patrick Meehan never gave you a straight answer when you asked him how much dough you were making."


"We felt like we were being ripped off"

And, as Butler said, "We felt we were being ripped off."

Hence Sabbath's decision to part ways with Meehan, but he wasn't about to relinquish control over his golden goose. That's when the litigation began.
The lawsuits were taking a toll, so much so, that writs and subpoenas would be handed out in London's Morgan Studios as Sabbath was working on the record.

"We used to turn up at the studio to go and write a song, and there would be like three lawyers waiting for us to put subpoenas on us, stuff like that," said Geezer Butler on bravewords.com. "It took us about ten months to do the album because of all the interruptions we were having."

Sabbath chose the title because they felt like all their efforts were being sabotaged, and the turmoil they were going through brought about an angry tone to the album, that hadn't really been on any of their previous work.

The nearly 10-minute track "Megalomania" is, lyrically, a song about the torment and frustration the band was going through because of Meehan.

With an evil, angry tone and a killer guitar riff, "Megalomania" is, indeed, like a "trip that's inside a separate mind" that explores going through hell and emerging with your freedom intact.




The Writ Takes Aim at Meehan

Then there's "The Writ", an ode to the writs coming at them in the studio. Osbourne's lyrics (yes he wrote them on that song, according to Butler), take square aim at Meehan ("Are you metal, are you man? You've changed a lot since you began. Yeah, began...You bought and sold me with your lying words...."), and Ozzy's manic vocals are full of fury. The end result is one of Sabbath's heaviest and best songs.

In his must-read book I am Ozzy, Osbourne describes what he was feeling as he penned the angry lyrics for "The Writ": "I wrote most of lyrics myself, which felt a bit like seeing a shrink. All the anger I felt towards Meehan came pouring out."

Despite all the strife and tension, Sabbath emerged with Sabotage, a brilliant album that set the table for thrash metal and has stood the test of time as one of their best records - indeed one of the best metal albums of all time.

Sabbath was able to sever the ties with Meehan, but they paid him out. Between that and the legal bills, there wasn't much cash left. But at least they were free.

EXODUS


 

DEATH IN EUROPE WITHOUT CHUCK (1990)

Allegedly the first European tour was a disaster, it was really unorganized and it probably left the band in debt. So when they booked the second tour, Chuck decided against it in the last minute. The other members in the band went on the tour without him using the name "Death". They got Louie Carrisalez (Rotting Corpse, Devastation) to fill in on vocals.

After the tour they were all fired and Chuck took them to court. This was allegedly the reason why Chuck never played with a stable lineup and started using studio musicians.

Photos courtesy of MetaliK.O. Fans Facebook page.