Rev Jones films new video on iPhone

How much can be done with having a iPhone at hand when it comes to filming a new music video? Rev Jones has done this experiment and the result is impressive in my eyes. Never thought that such kick-ass music clip can be realized with such a limited ressource.

The cover of the album "Bakwash" by bass guitar player/vocalist Rev Jones, (c) by Rev Jones

The music is going straight and gave me a good push of power I needed. The refrain is catchy and once heard it's not going to leave your mind so quickly. Sometimes the song reminds a bit of Motörhead but this only adds to the fun of listening. The bass playing techniques shown in this video are great and should be a inspiration to all the four string heads out there. Same goes for the drums and guitars which show some nice tricks every here and there (Jim Dofka on guitar, Jeff Martin on the drums).

Rev Jones is known in the rock world for his amazing bass techniques & his crazy energetic stage presence, as seen onstage all over the world with several major acts, Steelheart, Leslie West, Michael Schenker Group (MSG), Mountain, Fuel, George Lynch, Paul Gilbert, Kottak, Black Symphony, Blasted To Static, Gundriver, Texas Hippie Coalition, and Forte, just to name a few.

It's the title track of album with the same name "Bakwash" that Rev Jones put out earlier this year. Be sure to pick a copy while having a look on his homepage that also holds more listening samples of the album.

The W.A.B. keep it short and heavy on new clip

Does a good song need to be long? I don't think so. This particular one of the brutal Punkband W.A.B. is just round 1 minute and 51 seconds in duration and kicks it heavy and straight. It reminds me of old Motörhead tracks that also got straight to the meat.

Anyway, it still has it's fine notes worked in every here and there so it's not only a brutal whirlwind all the way. There's also a surprising part coming in at the end. I love that - it freshes the whole song up and shows what the band is able to do in songwriting.

  This is already the third single the band has put out. It's taken of the record "...and kill the worms" available from Suburban Attack Records. The cool thing is that this band only consists of two people and the drummer also does the vocals. That's something I rarely came along. If you happen to know of other sticksmen that also serve the words - please let me know.

Follow The W.A.B. further with a liker on Facebook or show them your support on Bandcamp. 

P.S. Also make sure to listen to the other singles on Bandcamp, you won't be disappointed if you already liked this heavy 'n' quick introduction into the band's sound.

St Nicholas Day gift: Missiles Of October - Better Days

It's the day again where you should give your wishlist and add some bread for the journey of St Nicholas. As for me it feels as if the list of wishes get's smaller with every year because those things can not be bought in shops....

But Missiles Of October left a nice present for all of us. Their album "Better Days" is a kicking mixture of raw vocals, pounding rhythm and dirty rough guitars. It feels great and helps a lot to let some pressure burn. It's stuff like Helmet used to craft back in their prime days I also feel slightly reminded of the anger level of Motörhead recordings - this also goes for the direct sound the recording offers.

The download is available for free but please consider to give a little to this band based in Bruxelles, Belgium. Every little bit helps them to keep on the road and play a show near you or to be able to record more music for us in the future.

You may also pick a CD or vinyl. The CD comes with nice stickers in a cool package. Just have a look at the cover - think of putting one of the cats to your next letter. Wouldn't that look cool? You can order directly via Bandcamp. A detailed list of additional retailers is at the bottom of the same Bandcamp page.

Missiles Of October Better Days album cover, (c) by Missiles Of October, used with kind permission

Finally make sure to stay tuned with the band through a Facebook connection.

XII Boar return as Twelve Boar with new album

These days the news reached my inbox that a new album of UK Rock 'n' Rollers Twelve Boar is on the way. The band decided to re-brand from XII Boar to Twelve Boar and announced the release of their third effort "No Forgiveness" (this means that the band made one album each year - going strong in my eyes).

In the words of the band we can expect "brash, Motörhead-esque riffage, huge sing-along choruses and an overwhelming sense of fun injected into every song." So far they shared the artwork and new logo which reminds me of old C64 and Amiga Computer games - I loved that thing on first sight.

The cover of the new Twelve Boar record made by Rahadil Hermana, (c) by Twelve Boar, used with kind permission

‘No Forgiveness’ was produced once again by Chris Fielding and is set for release on Friday 8th September 2017.  Pre-orders are now available from the band at http://xiiboar.bigcartel.com.

Track Listing:
1.       Steppin' Up
2.       Golden Goose
3.       The Curtain Call
4.       No Forgiveness
5.       Elders From The Deep
6.       Snake On A Lead
7.       All the Heavy Griftin'
8.       Panama
9.       Hellspeed Truckin'

XII Boar show different side of their musical talent

XII Boar came along as a typical Rock 'n' Roll band to me. Their album "Pitworthy" is a record dedicated to the die hard metal fans and is serving a hefty brew of Heavy Metal mixed up with elements of Blues music. The sound reminds me of a combination of acts like Motörhead and ZZ Top that has been fueled up with a lot of intensive heavyness. A fine mixture if you like that stuff.

These days the band has come around with a brand new track "Black and Blues" of the follow-up album "Beyond The Valley of The Triclops". As the title already reveals it includes a good potion of Blues music with it but as for me it is far more.

A shot of XII Boar's video "The black and blues", (c) by XII Boar, used with kind permission

It shows how diverse XII Boar are able to perform on their instruments. They present a good potion of technical abilities aside from the all too present distortion heavy music is mostly anticipated with through the use of harmonica and acoustic fingerpicking.

The song is taken of XII Boars current album "Beyond The Valley of The Triclops". Make sure to have a look at the band's homepage or use social networks such as Facebook or Twitter to pick up more detailed info on the record.

Angerhead offer free download and insight from upcoming EP

How will things continue in the thrash sector in the upcoming months? The year is still young and for sure you thrash metal heads out there can't wait for brand new stuff to check out. :-)

Angerhead who are based in San Jose are currently working on their next EP with Juan Urteaga who is well known for his work with legends such as Machine Head and Testament. The output will be entitled "Fueled by Rage" and the band has released a nice preview into the record these days along with a free download of the Motörhead classic "Iron Fist" which will be part of the EP.

The cover of the upcoming EP "Fueled By Rage", (c) by Angerhead, used with kind permission

Angerhead guitarist Eric Beard previews the tracks of "Fueled by Rage" in a breakdown for each song:

"We decided to go back in with Juan Urteaga (Machine Head, Testament) for the new EP. He worked with us on our 2nd EP “Headful Of Hate”. Juan is metal through and through. He has worked with a lot of Bay Area bands and friends so its a good fit for us.

The EP starts out with "So Cold". This is probably our most sludgy song and also the last song in our live set. Downtuned, full of twists and turns, It is a definitely crowd pleaser and is heavy as fk!

The second song is one of oldest song I’ve written, "Face The Fear". The song has been a staple with me for a long time. I've done it in a few different ways and with other projects. I've even done it with a jazz feel and the song still holds up!! haha. I really enjoy the Angerhead version of it.

The 3rd song is called "Legacy of Hate". This is the longest song we’ve ever written. It was one that came together fully as a band and one of the favorites of the new EP.

The 4th song is "Take Me As I Am" and its a barnburner, kicks your ass from start to finish.

The Last song on the EP is a cover of Motorhead’s "Iron Fist". Paul and I loved this song, even before Ace of Spades when we were growing up, so we decided it was right. We have been seeing a lot of bands doing Ace Of Spades and wanted to do something different. RIP Lemmy. A True Legend!!"

You can download the track for free right here.

Make sure to stay in touch with the band about the upcoming release through their official Angerhead website and Facebook page.

For all streaming fans here's the Reverbnation player with the song:

A Tribute to Lemmy (R.I.P.)

Rest in peace Lemmy Kilmister. Thanks for sharing so much truth and music with us.

Italian thrashers Kontra reveal new band line-up

After communicating in March the news of their reunion, Kontra officially present their new line-up.

Next to the only original member Marco Barraco, singer and rhythm guitarist of the thrashers, now there are: Luigi Di Meglio on lead guitar, Luca Buonanno on bass guitar and Francesco Verrazzo on drums (former drummer of Manach Seherath). A first picture of the new formation has been uploaded by the band, too.

The new band line-up 2015. (c) by Kontra, used with kind permission

Kontra is currently rearranging all the old songs and has for the next months a surprise for the fans in store. Stay tuned with them via their official Facebook profile so you won't miss out on that.

Legendary thrash metal band Kontra from Italy reunites

I love Thrash! Yeah, legendary thrahsers Testament printed this saying once on one of their band T-Shirts. I'm very happy to be able to say there is a active underground scene alive these days that constantly provides us with fresh stuff from the heavier and straighter side of Heavy Metal.

Recently I've received a message that one of the legendary thrash underground acts from Naples, Italy did reunite.

They are called Kontra and did exist from 1999 to 2007. The band influenced both by Bay Area Thrash and by German Thrash Metal now has a new line-up of 3 members which the only original one is the singer/rhythm guitarist and founder of the band Marco Barraco.

(c) by Kontra, used with kind permission

Kontra played live on many stages in Naples and suburbs producing also 2 demos: “Strike Zero” in 2003 limited to only 100 copies,and ‘’Demo 2005’’ never published because the band splitted up. The band has been influeneced by acts like Metallica,Slayer,Kreator,Sodom,Destruction, Venom,Sepultura (the old ones), and Motörhead.

I'm looking forward to see what the band will do next and keep you guys out there updated on the further progress. In the meantime you can also hold an eye on Kontra's Facebook page by hitting the famous like button on their site.

Hollywood Groupies kick out straight Rock 'n' Roll with new EP

The weekend is knocking on our doors. What could be better to kick it off with some rough Rock 'n' Roll that goes very straight without any further ado?

Let's do so with the the Italian hard rockers from Hollywood Groupies. They have just returned with four solid and adrenalinic songs which follow their debut album “Punched By Millions Hit By None” released in 2010.

Their sounds reminds me a lot of W.A.S.P. with the screaming vocals all over present in the songs. Their optical presentation also brings up all the traditional trademarks of a Rock 'n' Roll formation in a positive and cool way.

(c) by Hollywood Groupies, used with kind permission

Their newest effort is the fourtrack EP entitled "Bitchcraft". Listen to the fresh release right here and have a good start into some free time (hopefully):



I love the way the band brings up the power for the songs. It's music that keeps me pushing forward and gives a positive vibe. It's like this "let's do it" feeling that you get through listening to the music. That's something only few things in life bring to you, so we should appreciate it in my eyes.

The EP features four pieces of hard rock punctuated by powerful and adrenalinic episodes like the first single "Helter Jester", or "Get It On" which proves, more than any other song, the band’s evolution with its extremely catchy chorus. Then we have "The Empress", played by an insistent rhythm section and scratchy guitars that create a hypnotic melody recalling magic somehow, which is the EP’s main theme: all the songs tell life stories in an mystic-esoteric way, giving the listeners the opportunity to have their own interpretation of the lyrics. "Sick twisted paradise" closes the record with a cool scream-along chorus which makes hope that this won't be the last tunes we've heard from this band. Keep it up!

The record can be purchased on music online stores like : iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Bandcamp, Cdbaby and Deezer.

You can stay in touch with the band through Facebook, YouTube or Reverbnation.

Hollywood Groupies are:

Foxy (lead-vocal)
Kelly (lead-guitar)
Ace (rhythm-guitar)
Condor (bass)
Mirko (drums)

Motörhead 2014 show to be broadcasted by Rockpalast TV show

This sunday in the night from 14. to monday the 15th starting at 00:15h (Central European Winter Time) the next issue of the Rockpalast TV show will air a live recording from this years Motörhead performance at Düsseldorf, Germany at the Mitsubishi Electric Halle. The show took place on 12th November 2014. The shows of both opening acts, Skew Siskin and The Damned will be shown as well.

At the moment you can already check out one full live video from "The chase is better than the catch" at the website of the show. The whole website has been reworked in the last weeks so it comes with a fresh optic these days.

There's also a webstream of the TV station available but I can't tell if the show will be available there as well or if they have a regionlock activated. Anyway, just try your luck I think it will be worth checking out. Maybe they'll also add the show to their archive later. If they do, I'll add the proper link here once it's online.

Update 2014/12/16: Alls shows have been added to the video streaming archive. Just click on the proper band name and enjoy! BTW: you can see the full setlist under the video and also select single songs if you don't want to watch the whole show.

Motörhead

The Damned

Skew Siskin

Wacken Open Air 2014 internet streams and TV shows announced

Yeah, I am pretty sure a lot of you guys outta there are preparing for the biggest event of the year in the world of Heavy Metal: the legendary Wacken Open Air!!!

For all those who cannot make it there I have good news at hand: also 2014 there will be the chance to see some of the shows! The organisers announced at the festival homepage that there will be a webstream available directly at wacken.com as well as on the sites of the media partners 3sat and arte. The streams will have no region-lock so everybody should be able to see the stuff that will be broadcasted. Read the full announcement right here.

Update 2014/08/07: Timetable for the TV broadcasts of the after-festival specials has been changed so I updated them. You can find them at the very end of this article. Think this is mostly interesting for the german visitors of my blog so I kept the german timestamps in there.

Update 2014/08/04: BIG UPDATE! Added all the links to the streaming on-demand service that the TV station ARTE offers for a limited time of 30 days. So if you missed out a show just click on the band name and a new window will open up with the stream. Added also the timetable for the TV broadcasts on german TV at the very end of the article. Have much fun!

Update 2014/08/01: Last night was great! Accept were my favorites, was a good show that simply put a smile on my face. If you missed the stuff out just click on the bandnames in the streaming schedule below. The shows have been added to the online streaming archive of the TV station!

Update 2014/07/31: These bands have been confirmed to be streamed today (Thursday 31th July 2014, all times german time). You can watch it right below in the embedded stream window of ARTE. Thanks to the people out there putting up such fine goodies as the webstream for us, you rock!

17:00h Skyline
18:00h Hammerfall
19:30h Steel Panther
21:00h Saxon
22:30h Accept

For the other days these bands are currently scheduled for streaming:

Friday 01.08.
16.45h - Heaven Shall Burn
18.00h - Children of Bodom
19.30h - Apocalyptica
21.25h - Carcass
22.30h - Santiano (Recording after Artist-Approval)
00.00h - Saltatio Mortis

Saturday 02.08.:
16.00h - Devin Townsend Project

17.30h - Emperor
19.00h - Amon Amarth
20.30h - J.B.O.
22.00h - Knorkator (Recording)
23.30h - Motörhead (Recording)
00.15h - Kreator
01.45h - Schandmaul

Sunday 2014/08/02:

Update 2014/08/02: In addition 3sat will also broadcast a big round up of the festival on 2th of August 2014. The broadcast will be shown on TV and also as a free webstream at this location.

The timetable for this extra stream goes like this:

20.15h – Slayer (Recording)
20.30h – Apocalyptica (Recording)
21.00h – Motörhead (Recording)
21.35h – Saxon (Recording)
22.00h – Avantasia

Update 2014/07/30: This year it seems to be okay and legal to put the stream also on your own page. I've found this embed code on the ARTE homepage so you'll be able to watch Wacken 2014 also here on my blog. Very cool, so everyone can watch right here. :-)
The exact time-tables are still to be confirmed so please check back at this article from time to time since I will update it with as many information as possible. Some more details (in german language) can be found at the websites of 3sat and ARTE.
You can also have a look at the running order on the festival homepage to see which band is on stage or will be soon.

Some shows have been confirmed to be streamed. Those are listed below:

Hammerfall on Thursday July 31 from 18:00 to 19:15 CET
Accept on Thursday July 31 from 22:30 to 24:00 CET
Children Of Bodom on Friday August 01 from 18:00 to 19:15 CET
Carcass on Friday August 01 from 21:15 to 22:15 CET
Kreator on Saturday August 02 from 00:15 to 01:30 CET

After the festival there will be the chance of watching selected shows through the media channels 3sat and ARTE. 10 shows have been set up for broadcasting through these german TV stations. Under the confirmed bands you can find names like Hammerfall, Accept, Children of Bodom, W.A.S.P., Kreator and Amon Amarth. These have announced to be aired on  9th of August at ARTE and the 11th of August at 3Sat. More info to come...

Update 2014/08/02: The first broadcast times (2 TV stations will sned them on different days and times) of the after-festival shows with recorded concert stuff have been released:

Samstag, 9. August in ZDFkultur
20.15 Uhr Accept
21.15 Uhr Apocalyptica
22.15 Uhr Heaven Shall Burn

Samstag, 9. August in ARTE
23.30 Uhr Slayer

Sonntag, 10. August in ZDF Kultur
20.15 Uhr Saxon
21.15 Uhr Children Of Bodom

Montag, 11. August in 3sat
02.00 Uhr Hammerfall
03.00 Uhr Accept
04.00 Uhr Apocalyptica
05.00 Uhr Heaven Shall Burn

Freitag, 15. August in 3sat
01.45 Uhr Amon Amarth
02.45 Uhr Steel Panther
03.45 Uhr Schandmaul
04.45 Uhr Kreator

Samstag, 16. August in ZDFkultur
20.15 Uhr Hammerfall
21.15 Uhr Amon Amarth
22.15 Uhr Steel Panther

Samstag, 16. August in 3sat
03.40 Uhr Saxon
04.40 Uhr Children Of Bodom

Sonntag, 17. August in ZDFkultur
20.15 Uhr Schandmaul
21.15 Uhr Kreator

Rewind to Wacken 2013 and 2012 with german TV station zdf kultur

It has just been announced that Wacken Open Air 2014 will be broadcasted by the german TV station 3Sat live. Great news!

For all those of you who would like to re-live some of the (hopefully) sweet memories of the both past events I've got great news as well:

German TV station zdf.kultur will broadcast stuff from Wacken Open Air 2013 and 2012 on the upcoming Saturday night 19th to 20th of April 2014.

For exact timetable and bands see the notices below, all times are german time. Maybe these stuff can also be seen through the webstream of the TV station at the online-webstream of the station but I don't have proper information if there is a region-lock active so go and just try your luck.

Update 2014/04/20: Missed it out? The TV station still streams all the shows on demand for free. Same here with region-lock so just click on the artist name to see if it works outside germany,too. Bandnames without a link seem to have given no permission for streaming.

Besides that there are many more goodies to find there,too. Just click on this search-string to show off what there is, for example interviews but also the big cut-together shows seem to be still up for viewing. Keep in mind that this might only last for a limited time, so better hurry.

20:15 Wacken 2013: Alice Cooper und Motörhead
21:15 Wacken 2013: Deep Purple
22:15 Wacken 2013: ASP
23:15 Wacken 2013: Lingua Mortis Orchestra Featuring Rage
00:10 Wacken 2012: Dimmu Borgir & Orchestra und Cradle of Filth
01:10 Wacken 2012: Sepultura & Les Tambours du Bronx
02:05 Wacken 2012: In Flames
03:05 Wacken 2012: Testament
04:05 Wacken 2013: Anthrax

Steamhammer Label Sampler up for free download

Wishing you all a happy and healthy new year! Hope you had a great start into the new year.

Amazon currently gives away a Compilation of Metal songs for free download featuring new songs from Running Wild and Axel Rudi Pell as well as some classic tracks from the past. Enjpy. :-)  Jump over here to see the product page.

The trak list reads as follows:

1 Loner- Eat The Gun
2 Soldiers of Fortune- Running Wild
3 Killing the Fuss- Betzefer
4 Deathwish- Pro-Pain
5 Godzilla- Mad Max
6 World Arena- Vengeance
7 Shadowmaker- Crematory
8 Dropping Like Flies- Spiralarms
9 Agent Orange- Sodom
10 Mad Butcher- Destruction
11 Ace of Spades (live)- Motorhead
12Long Way to Go- Axel Rudi Pell

Unusual Motörhead TV documentation online

A german documentation about Motörhead is currently up for viewing online. It is part of the well known "Number one" series with Markus Kavka who already portrayed other well known musicians before. The cool things on this one is that it talks a lot about the private life of Lemmy and has some funny facts in it. So head over to the streaming page of the TV station ZDF kultur to watch it, it will be available for a limited period only.

Even more streams from 2013's Open Air season coming up

It just ain't over yet! :-) Some nice streams from festival shows are going to be broadcasted through internet and TV this weekend, here's what will be up, all times CEST:

Friday, 16.08.2013, 23:20h Alice Cooper and Motörhead
Webstream: http://kultur.zdf.de/ (click on Livestream button on top right corner)

Update 2013/08/20: If you missed the stream you can still watch the broadcast online.

Friday 16. - 17.08.13 Saturday Samstag, 00:30 bis 01:30 Uhr Die Toten Hosen
Live recorded at Deichbrand-Festival
Webstream: http://www.ndr.de/fernsehen/livestream217.html

Saturday 17.08.13 Rock ‘n’ Heim – Livestream of Festival starting 20h
Bands: Franz Ferdinand, System of a Down and Tenacious D
Webstream: http://kultur.zdf.de/ (click on Livestream button on top right corner)

Update 2013/08/20: If you missed the Rock 'n' Heim stream you can still watch the broadcast from the recordings that have been added to the archive of the TV station.

Reload Festival 2013 confirms Motörhead as headliner

This festival is still a bit unknown. Even heard of it first just last summer from a friend who told me it's still a festivals where you can get in touch with the bands. That's quite seldom for today's festival who often tend to go the big, bigger and even more bigger trend.. This is the line up for 2013, actually quite a big fish was annouced when they organisators said, that Motörhead will play as headliner at Reload festival 2013.

MOTÖRHEAD
DONOTS
SICK OF IT ALL
TERROR
EMIL BULLS
BETONTOD
BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME
IWRESTLEDABEARONCE
PASCOW
DIMPLE MINDS
MARATHONMANN
HACKTIVIST
GASMAC GILMORE
SPITFIRE
CRUSHING CASPARS

It takes place in Sulingen, Niedersachsen/Germany.  Ticket price actually for early birds is around 75 Euro, including camping and a park ticket. A fair price IMHO: The festival has also a youtube channel running, so I decided to pick one band video to show you how the festival size is at the moment:

 

So maybe this has grabbed your attention, then here's the link to the homepage so you can quickly get your tickets and even more info. Make sure to give the facebook site a like to stay up to date with all the latest since the next band announcements are said to be given out soon.

Wacken Livevideos back online again

There are currently some videos of these years Wacken Open Air back online again. For a limited time (mostly a week) you can watch live footage from Trivium, Motörhead and the amazing Heaven shall burn gig again. Have a good time with these goodies.:-)

http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/beitrag/video/1395110/Wacken-2011-Motoerhead-und-Trivium?bc=kua884716;kua1527208