Austria’s Mastic Scum recently celebrated their twentieth anniversary, but the energy the members inject in their songs are far away from ‘guys being old’. The band has always been one of my favourite Alpine Grind / Death combos, with a hand full of great releases on their discography, appearing every three or four years.
Masters of Disguise is named after the album SAVAGE GRACE (1985). Same cover concept a patrol cop, the infamous officer Knutson. Maybe a return… The band is formed in 2013 with members: Kalli Coldsmith (Guitar), Mario Lang (Bass), Neudi (Drums), Roger Dequis (Guitar) and Alexx Stahl (Vocals).
I was enormously surprised by last year’s full length Uljas Uusi Maailma, Kuolemanlaakso’s debut for Svart Records. This new material was written and recorded under the same constellation and under the same moon, with producer / engineer Victor Santura taking care of the studio duties once more. And it was a correct decision to have all this stuff released as two different releases, the full album and this EP (on CD and vinyl, in both cases strictly limited).
Hirax an American thrash metal band from Cypress, California started in 1982. Current members are: Katon W. DePena (Vocals), Lance Harrison (Lead guitars), Steve Harrison (Bass guitar) and Jorge Iacobellis (Drums). They quitted in 1989 with the band after some years and many fan mail and interest which encourage DePena to reunite Hirax in 2000. After many changes of cast in 2001 and 2003.
False Prophet American band founded in Greenboro, NC at the 80’s.A trash /death metal group with members: Chris Lyndon (Bass), Tim Haisman (Drums), Mike Morrison (Guitars) and Paul Ray (Vocals, Guitars).
“The Second Death” a sort best of number from their first demo cd “Sign of the Cross (1989)”, All the numbers from “The Second Death (1991)” and “Murder or Mercy Live (1990)”.
Next year, Sweden’s Exhale (with former and current members of e.g. Anata, Inevitable End, Miseration, Cipher System or Age Of Woe) will celebrate their tenth anniversary. But first they wanted to release their third full length, after Prototype (2006, Emetic Records) and Blind (2010, Dark Balance Records).
Drugs Of Faith are a trio from North Virginia that did surprise me with their 2011 full length Corroded. On Poland’s Selfmadegod Records, Drugs Of Faith delivered different other brutal sonic attacks, which were well received within the Grindcore-undergrounds all over our detesting globe. The band was formed ten years ago by Richard Johnson, whom you might know as well from bands like Enemy Soil or Agoraphobic Nosebleed.
“The X experiment” is according to the band based on and I quote “a great futuristic concept, a modern fantastic story set in a post-nuclear world where chaos reigns and humanity does not believe in anything…a story that will further develop in the next album” , all in an epic /progressive power metal, fashion.
Finland’s Demilich were an important name during the earliest nineties. Their demo tapes got distributed all over Europe and abroad, and in 1993, Necropolis released the band’s debut full studio recording, Nespithe. This album has been re-issued a couple of times in the past, both officially and bootlegged, by the way. The band broke up a little later, and reformed in 2005 for a couple of months.
With largely 250.000 sold copies, four # 1 and seventeen top ten chart listings, and a new world tour in the pipeline, 2013 was one of the most successful and exciting years in the history of Deep Purple. The release in April of this year of ‘Now What?!’ has been regarded by both fans and critics as one of the best albums in the career of this legendary band. On top of that there’s now a special edition of this album with a live bonus disc. Titled ‘The Now What?!
