Author Archive

Show Recap

DECAPITATED Slay London

decapitated-2011-promo-pic

The wet pavements of a London October were filled with steel toed boots pattering towards a tiny venue that was about to filled by the legendary masters of technical death metal that are Decapitated. An evening of budding death metal talent and musical sorcery ensued and chronic tinnitus awaited the unprepared. Bloodshot Dawn kicked off the evening with some killer tunes from their debut album and wowed the uninitiated with their catchy melodic style. 'Godless' was by far the stand out track of their set, whipping up the crowd with an onslaught of disjointed chugging that was almost akin to a Meshuggah riff. (more…)

Reviews

Album Review: DETHKLOK Dethalbum III

Dethklok - Dethalbum III

Some people are often too busy laughing at the ridiculous music videos and comedic novelty of the animated series Metalocolypse to realise that Dethklok are actually a great band. Nearly every metal fan is familiar with the archetypal members of Dethklok, yet Dethalbum III may well shift attention away from the characters to rest more on the music and Brendon Small's talents. (more…)

Interviews

Interview with clothing designer Sharan Ehman AKA Toxic Vision

tumblr

It is very likely that you have seen Sharon Ehman on the internet already, her clothes and her style have caused quite a stir in the world of metal recently. She creates her own clothing line, known as Toxic Vision So far this completely self taught designer has clothed Iced Earth, Dimmu Borgir and Morbid Angel and will no doubt be able to add more classic acts to her list of clients in the near future. Here is what she has to say on the Canadian metal scene, her love of metal and to new designers trying to break into fashion. (more…)

Reviews

Album Review: UFOMAMMUT Oro "Opus Alter"

page1-4

Ufomammut, the Italian experimenters of space and sound, have returned with their second album of the year: Oro – “Opus Alter”. This album follows on seamlessly from Oro – “Opus Primum” released five months prior. The depth of meanings present in the wordplay involved in the naming of the albums is worth noting in that the albums are intended to be alchemic variations of one another. Ufomammut state that the concept behind the album name is a play on the palindromic ‘Oro’ which means ‘gold’ in Italian and ‘I pray’ in Latin. The etymology of the word ‘alter’ derives from the medieval latin meaning ‘other of two’ and semantically indicates a difference without a change. Ufomammut present Opus Alter as the dark twin of Opus Primum and develop musical as well as linguistic motifs from Primum in Alter. (more…)

Interviews

Getting To Know ALCEST

alcest

Metal Injection scribe Nina Saeidi caught up with Alcest at Bloodstock Festival and asked them some questions for your eyes only. Read on to hear what Alcest is, has been and will be. (more…)

Interviews

Interviewing George Kollias of NILE

nile-band-feature

George Kollias, the superfast drummer from Nile had a lovely chat with us at Bloodstock festival. Nile have just released their seventh album, At the Gates of Sethu and it's well worth checking out if you haven't already. I got to speak to George recently about his drumming style, the new Nile record and his Greek background. (more…)

Show Recap

Bloodstock 2012: The Metal Injection Report

Bloodstock2012

In the searing heat of English summer approximately 15,000 people flooded a tiny patch of field to wreak chaos, drink too much beer and be part of the UK’s biggest independent music festival. The usual mix of mankini wearing drunkards, corpse painted serious people and average joe metal fans partied from Thursday to Sunday in a celebration of the best music has to offer from the most obscure of bands to the most iconic names in music.  (more…)

Reviews

Album Review: OM – Advaitic Songs

om_advaitic_songs_1333634565_crop_550x550

Al Cisneros of stoner titans Sleep and Emil Amos have created a sonic masterpiece with Advaitic Songs.  Om don’t really seem to fit into a genre, they shouldn’t. Genre classifications are useless here, this music is not designed for marketing, it is pure spiritual and artistic exploration. Their sound certainly takes influence from stoner doom and drone, but the way in which they approach lyrical themes and instrumentation is so different from the average metal band that calling them a droney stoner doom band would be limiting. Evidence pointing to Cisneros’s membership of Sleep and Shrinebuilder can be heard but Om’s sound stands apart here. They have evolved away from Sleep and other stoner acts since their first album Variations on a Theme in 2005 and Advaitic Songs proves that their evolution is taking the band to new heights. (more…)

Reviews

CD Review: MANOWAR – The Lord of Steel

Manowar-The-Lord-of-Steel

Manowar are famed for their loyal fanbase, record breaking live shows and slick leathered up baby oil warrior style. Fans have been awaiting another classic Manowar album to add to their generous discographies for years now and finally, The Lord of Steel has been released The album launches straight into a fast paced and hard hitting intro for title track ‘The Lord of Steel’. Featuring simple yet effective pounding drums, on further listening the bassline doesn’t quite work as it crackles and falls into a tone that sometimes sounds like an 80s arcade machine.   (more…)

Reviews

Album Review: TESSERACT – Perspective

Tesseract - Perspective EP

Tesseract are a band that have broken the boundaries of as many genres they can with their highly technical djenty prog infused experimental music. Just one glance at the name Tesseract tells you that this band is going to mess with your mind a little, and they certainly do so with their acoustic album Perspective. New vocals provided by Elliot Coleman create a completely different dynamic to the music. Tesseract still sound like themselves, but Coleman’s voice brings out new colors and emphasises aspects of the music which weren’t so obvious before.  (more…)

Show Recap

ELECTRIC WIZARD Shatter London

Electric Wizard

A deep gloom spread across London one late spring evening and residents of Kentish Town felt shivers creeping up their spines like spiders intent on spinning webs of fear in their discontent minds. Little known to those uninitiated, the HMV Forum was being infiltrated by the dirtiest, doomiest bands known to human ears. This was the night that Electric Wizard came to town.  (more…)

Black Metal History Month Show Recap

ALCEST Stun London

Les+Voyages+De+Lme++European+Tour+2012+Final+Flyer+klein

Alcest finally played London once more after several years of teasing yearning fans with their absence.  Their appearance in the grimy bowels Camden Town excited the city to the point of selling out the Purple Turtle and cramming the small venue with hungry ears. Unfortunately it seemed more like support band Soror Dolorosa had chosen to play the wrong venue and their artificial attempts at a lackadaisical emulation of The Sisters of Mercy were lost on a disinterested audience who were instead hypnotised by the impossibly thin heroin chic the ageing singer was exhibiting. Badly made leather jackets aside, Soror Dolorosa don’t do a bad job of copying an already copied to death sound but were not particularly suited to the mood of the evening.  (more…)

Black Metal History Month Reviews

Album Review: ALCEST Les Voyages de L'âme

alcestlesvoyages

Niege has once again metamorphosed into a new sound by creating the third Alcest album and almost completely shed his black metal roots. Les voyages de l'âme – roughly translating to the Voyage of the Soul – is a stunning piece of work that is almost nothing like the raw black metal beginnings of a band which has captured the attention of many fans over the past few years. (more…)

Reviews

CD Review: VILDHJARTA – Måsstaden

1321697201_cover

Vildhjarta are a Swedish troupe of double vocalled, triple guitared Swedes with a large drumkit and a souped up bass. They sound like a darker, more disjointed Meshuggah with lashings of prog and a sprinkling of deathcore. Their new concept album Måsstaden is a fable about an unknown and isolated village, a moral tale of darkness and light. The album artwork depicts strange looking mice smoking pipes and gnarled trees hiding woodland animals with walking sticks and dark looking grimoires. (more…)

Reviews

CD Review: ANIMALS AS LEADERS Weightless

aal-weightless

Animals as Leaders have slowly been building momentum since the release of their self-titled debut album in 2009. Just two years later Tosin Abasi has gained a cult following and dropped jaws around the world with his technical style and virtuosic experimental compositions.

The production on this album is phenomenal, the band have been seamlessly fused to create a flawless ride through unpredictable time signatures and complex song structures that suck you straight into the heart of the album. Animals as Leaders may not be the easiest band to listen to for those unacquainted with technical progressive metal, but their inimitable blend of jazz, metal, and even classical Spanish guitar at one point, makes for an oddly relaxing listen. (more…)

« Older Entries