METALLICA IN BELGIUM (1984)

 

CUERO Y METAL (MEX)

NUCLEAR DEATH (US) (CHARONTAPHOS #1, 1993)

 

VENOM ”POPERING, BELGIUM” (17TH NOVEMBER, 1983)

 Metallica was the opening act. Courtesy of The Power Age

ASTAROTH (ITA) (METAL SHOCK #9, 1987) < TRANSLATED

Metal Shock was a metal magazine from Italy, written in Italian. Here is an interview translated to English.

ASTAROTH (ITA)

By Klaus Byron

When Roman band Astaroth released the mini-album The Long Loud Silence in 1985, released by Dutch independent label Rave-On Records, many believed that Italian heavy metal had finally found the right path to greatness. The five Roman warriors had many positive factors in their favor: great professionalism, excellent technical ability, a decidedly original image, and above all, a reputable label that firmly believed in them. Despite all this, today, almost three years later, that remains the only vinyl track from the Roman combo. Intrigued by this inexplicable and prolonged silence, we tracked down Shining, the band's bassist, and learned some very important news from him, just on the eve of a new adventure that will bring Astaroth to the United States. 

So, can you tell us what really happened in these last few years of relative silence?

"The dark period began when the boss of Rave-On decided to stop producing heavy metal bands. From that moment on, we worked hard to find a new contract that could offer us more, first contacting major labels like EMI, CBS, and Virgin, until we landed in Paris with Black Dragon, then in Holland with Roadrunner, and in Germany with Steamhammer. Unfortunately, at the moment, Astaroth plays a musical genre that is neither Glam nor Thrash, and so we were unable to secure any kind of contract, ending up wasting two years in this stubborn search. For this reason, we came to a so-called "supreme" decision: to abandon Italy and move to Los Angeles. We already have a flight booked for October 20th, which is right as you are reading this interview. I would like to point out that this is not a betrayal, but given that after two years of intense searching, we have not been able to find someone who will give us Trust, we decided not to give up and try the California card.” 

There must have been something positive in these last two years...

"Of course, we had the opportunity to play with Motorhead and receive compliments from them, which is always gratifying. The experience of meeting Deep Purple and receiving useful advice from them was also very positive. Apart from a few concerts and a few Rai appearances, there is nothing else worth remembering.”

Which lineup will you be leaving for the United States with? 

"With the one from recent times: singer Bob Cattani, guitarist Max Cipicchia, drummer Jan D'Amore, who is the only new member compared to the "The Long Loun Silence" lineup, and myself, Shining, bassist. We decided not to bring a second guitarist after the release of Simone Triscari, since we got along very well with the four-piece lineup.”

Will you also be bringing all your gear, i.e., the ancient Roman costumes, to America?

"Certainly! We firmly believe in the image we've created; it's original and we like it, so we'll bring everything Los Angeles has to offer, confident that it will also resonate with American audiences.”

Do you think this overseas adventure will impact Astaroth's musical style?

"I think it's very difficult, because we've had our experiences in Italy and we certainly won't be able to improvise as poseurs. We'll probably continue on our own path, and if changes occur, I think they'll be dictated by direct experience and not by adapting to a certain music market.”

Is leaving Italy temporary or permanent? 

"For now, we're not considering this issue, since we already left Italy a few years ago to go to Holland for a while, and last January we spent a long time in Germany, so we're not very impressed with this American adventure. It could be a trip, an experience that will prove useful in any case, or, if things turn out in our favor, a necessary abandonment of our homeland. On the other hand, the phrase "nemo profe in patria" seems appropriate for us too, given our recent experiences, and that's why we're trying the American card.” 

Is this a sign of not wanting to give up, then?

"Of course, before throwing in the towel, we want to try everything, and after the States there's always Japan, don't you think?"

DEATH SQUAD (BEL) ”AWAITING THE SENTENCE” [DEMO TAPE]

Genre: Thrash Metal
Year: 1987
Country: Belgium
Notes: Short lived Thrash Metal band from Belgium, active between 1985-1986 (as Aquila), 1986-1987 (as Death Squad). They released two demotapes and had a couple of tracks on the split album "Power Metal - Heavy Metal from Benelux" that was released after their breakup in 1988. Pretty good second demo, personal favorite is the closing track ’Death Squad”.

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Side A

1. Evil Force 05:35  

2. Love Canal 03:23

3. Death Squad 05:08

YOU CAN ALSO LISTEN TO IT ON YOUTUBE HERE

DEATHROW (GER) (METAL FORCES #21, 1986)

 

TEMPERED STEEL (US/CO)

 

PENTAGRAM ”PENTAGRAM” ALBUM REVIEW (DEMOLITION #2, 1985)

Review of the bands first full-length album, originally named ”Pentagram”, but when reissued in 1993 it was renamed ”Relentless”. Here they write ”Evil 4” as the album name, but that was the catalogue number on Pentagram Records.

MEGADETH (METAL HAMMER VOL.3 #11, 1988)

TONY IOMMI (METAL HAMMER VOL.3 #11, 1988)

EUROPE

 

YNGWIE MALMSTEEN (KERRANG SPECIAL 'KONTAKTZ', 1992)

 

CANNIBAL CORPSE

 

CRAFT (SWE)

METAL CHURCH (KERRANG #135, 1986)

SAXON (METAL DREAMS #2, 1998)

 

BLACK SABBATH WITH DAVE WALKER (1977)

In late 1977, while in rehearsal for their next album and just days before the band was set to enter the studio, Osbourne abruptly quit the band. Iommi called vocalist Dave Walker, a longtime friend of the band who had previously been a member of Fleetwood Mac and Savoy Brown, and informed him that Osbourne had left the band. Walker, who was at that time fronting a band called Mistress, flew to Birmingham from California in late 1977 to write material and rehearse with Black Sabbath. On 8 January 1978, Walker made his only live performance with Black Sabbath, on vocals, when they played an early version of the song "Junior's Eyes" on the BBC Television programme Look! Hear! Walker later recalled that, while in Birmingham, he had bumped into Osbourne in a pub and came to the conclusion that Osbourne was not fully committed to leaving Black Sabbath. Walker has said that he wrote a lot of lyrics during his brief time in the band, but none of them were ever used. Osbourne returned shortly thereafter. 

All credits to YouTube user 'DoomMetalSludge’ 

GRAVE (SWE) (UNI-FORCE #7, 1990)

 

CORONER

 

MÖTLEY CRUE IN THEIR GOOD OLD LEATHER DAYS

DAVID ”BLACKMOON” PARLAND (1993)

David "Blackmoon” Parland (R.I.P.) with Thomas Skogsberg at Sunlight Studios in Stockholm. This was taken during the recording of Necrophobic's "The Nocturnal Silence" album back in March ’93.

Courtesy of Black Death Nostalgia

UNPURE (SWE) (TALES OF THE MACABRE #1, 1993)

A YOUNG ZAKK WYLDE

 Courtesy of Frederick Moulaert

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TOXODETH (MEX)

HALLOWS EVE (US) (UNDERGROUND HEAVY METAL HOTWIRE, FEBRUARY 1987)

This was an appendix to the US version of Aardschok magazine and bears all the similarities to a classic fanzine, It was one of the most informative publications dedicated to the 80's US Metal underground, with reoccurring scene-reports from familiar profiles such as Ron Quintana, Don Kaye and Dennis Bergeron.

DEATH ”INFERNAL DEATH” DEMO TAPE REVIEW (DEMOLITION #2, 1985)

DARBY "THE OLD HAG” LAHGER & JOHAN ”SHAMAATAE/EKORTU” LAGHER

In the world of Black Metal Johan Lahger is known under the name Shamaatae and his band/project Arckanum. He is is also the author of several books on Chaos-Gnosticism, Anti-Cosmic Satanism, Old Norse religion, etc. under the pen-names Vexior 218 and Ekortu. His first book, called "PanParadox: Pan Towards Chaos", was released through Ixaxaar Publishing in 2009. Arckanum was split up in 2018 in order for Shamaatae to focus solely on his authorship and spiritual ventures.

Darby "Old Hag" Lahger & Johan ”Shamaatae/Ekortu” Lahger lives in Mora, Sweden.

Darby "Old Hag" Lahger is a painter and photographer that moved to Sweden from the US about 20 years ago. Her focus is the subjects that illuminate her Thursian path. She has had several exhibitions throughout the years, mainly in the states. She has also made several artworks for albums covers.

Visit Shamaatae
Ekortu: https://ekortu.com
Ekortu Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ekortu/?hl=en
Ekortu book releases: https://www.ixaxaar.com

Arckanum Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arckanumofficial/

 

Visit the Old Hag
Website: https://oldhag.squarespace.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oldhagslore/?hl=en

HELLOWEEN (METAL FORCES #22, 1987)

 

DESTROYA (UK) ”DEMO 1983” [DEMO TAPE]

Genre: N.W.O.B.H.M./Heavy Metal
Year: 1983
Country: England
Notes: N.W.O.B.H.M. that came out of London, England in 1981, they only released this 4-track demo tape the first time around. Since the 1990’s they have reformed a couple of times, and even changed the bandname. This is another one of these more obscure demo tapes that I hold in high regards. I think it’s fantastic and deserved more recognition. I can day dream about things like this, what could have been? How would a entire album sound like? Where they a good live act? etc. etc.

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Side A

1. Violent Streets 05:06

2. Victims of War 07:04

3. Stay with Me 06:05

4. Destroya 06:11

CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE

REPUGNANT (SWE)

 

NME (US/WA)

 

OVERKILL (METAL DREAMS #2, 1998)