Vicious Rumors is known for a lot of things but certainly not for a consistent line-up. The number of musical contributors that supported Geoff Thorpe in achieving his musical vision of Metal is countless and also the new album features new members. This time it is lead vocalist Nick Courtney and guitarist Gunnar Dügrey who have... Continue Reading →
CD review DARK ARENA ‘Alien Factor’ – re-issue
Dark Arena is a band that isn't on the radar of many metal fans which doesn't mean that the guys from Cleveland, Ohio play bad music. Not at all and the the contrary is reality. The band premiered in 2006 with an album called 'Alien Factor'. Pure Steel Records is now re-releasing the longplayer that... Continue Reading →
CD review SHOK PARIS ‘Full Metal Jacket’
It has been announced for quite some time and now it is about to be reality, a new record of Shok Paris. The band from Cleveland, Ohio had produced a small US metal icon in the 80s with 'Steel and Starlight', but disbanded in 1989 after the release of 'Concrete Killers'. Over the past few... Continue Reading →
CD review BLAZON RITE ‘Dulce Bellum Inexpertis’ – EP
Blazon Rite is a new metal outfit, hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band, including Pierson Roe (b), Ryan Haley (d), James Kirn (g) and Johnny Halladay (v), released a few weeks ago their first EP, a four-track record with pure underground metal. The album starts slow and with a cinematic intro, being the starting point... Continue Reading →
CD review TYRANT (U.S.) ‘Hereafter’
The importance of live shows and festivals can't be emphasized enough. Not only that these are the moment that bring metal to life, they are also initiator and motivator for some veteran bands to return onstage and maybe more. Tyrant, hailing from Pasadena, California, is one of these bands that had some first heydays in... Continue Reading →
SHOK PARIS unleash a new lyric video
US metal band Shok Paris unveil a new lyric video. The song 'Hell Day' is taken from the upcoming album 'Full Metal Jacket', which will be released on May 29th through No Remorse Records.The song and the album is the return of a band that has with 'Steel and Starlight' a real classic being part... Continue Reading →
CD review CIRITH UNGOL ‘Forever Black’
Cirith Ungol's return ends after glorious 40 minutes with the last tones of 'Forever Black', the title track. I was lucky that I could witness the Cirith Ungol's live show at Rock Hard festival in 2018 and at the time I couldn't imagine, holding a new record in hands. But sometimes dreams turn into reality. Fans of the band and Epic Metal in general will love this album and I can highly recommend it. The underground pioneers and inventors of Epic Metal are back, hopefully for many more years.
Kurdt Vanderhoof shares details and background of the new METAL CHURCH release
A couple of days ago Metal Church released with 'From the Vault' an interesting longplayer that features new songs as well as cover versions, live songs and other stuff from the archive. Metal Church main man Kurdt Vanderhoof made some time for Markus' Heavy Music Blog to give some insights into the background of the... Continue Reading →
CD review TRAVELER ‘Termination Shock’
With 'Terminal Shock' Canadian metaller Traveler add a next album to their discography. The band, hailing from Calgary, premiered a year ago with 'Traveler' and it's the sophomore longplayer 'Termination Shock' unveiling again their passion for traditional Heavy Metal. Being enrooted in the spirit of the NWoHM, the sound of Traveler reflects pure Heavy Metal.... Continue Reading →
CD review METAL CHURCH ‘From the Vault’
A few years ago mighty Metal Church announced the return of Mike Howe as frontman of the Power Metal outfit and since then the quintet found more and more back to old strength. Two excellent studio releases have triggered very positive reactions and now it is 'From the Vault' that combines old and new. Three... Continue Reading →
Three new bands confirmed for ROCK HARD Festival 2020
With Villagers Of Ionnia City, Sulphur Aeon and Indian Nightmare, three bands have been confirmed today for the 2020 edition of Rock Hard festival. As posted earlier, Rock Hard Festival 2020 will take again place during Whit-weekend at Amphitheater Gelsenkirchen. The days are 29.05.-31.05.2020 and more information can be found HERE.
CD review ROSS THE BOSS ‘Born of Fire’
I think that a lot of things regarding Manowar that can be controversially discussed and looked upon from different angles. What I think everybody agrees to is that fact that the years with Ross 'The Boss’ Friedman have been the most successful ones, including albums that became milestones in Heavy Metal and the moment Friedman... Continue Reading →
METAL CHURCH will release ‘From the Vault’ in April
West coast metal veterans Metal Church will release "From the Vault” via Reaper Entertainment on April 10, 2020 in Europe. This latest release is a special edition compilation album that features 16 previously unreleased tracks from the Mike Howe era, which include four newly recorded studio tracks including a redux of the band’s fan favorite... Continue Reading →
Exciting news from CIRITH UNGOL
On April 24th, Cirith Ungol will release their new album, Forever Black - their first collection of all-new material in 29 years! For a preview of Forever Black, a lyric video for the first single, "Legions Arise", can be viewed at HERE. Cirith Ungol was formed in Ventura, California in the early 1970s, first appearing... Continue Reading →









