True legends of the Texas metal scene, Helstar have been around for 44 years now, although with several periods of inactivity. Guitar maestro Larry Barragán and the unique vocalist James Rivera have been there from the start, drummer Michael Lewis joining fifteen years ago, Garrick Smith playing the bass since 2014 and Alan DeLeon Jr...
Paragon – Metalation (Massacre Records)
These old school power-speed metallers from Hamburg have been around since the early Nineties and have released twelve full length albums so far. Paragon’s style is typical of the German scene, with a healthy dose of gruffness, grit and speed added to their heavy metal musical foundation. Guitarist Martin Christian is the only original member..
Atrophy – Asylum (Massacre Records)
Arizona’s Atrophy are another cult thrash band from the late Eighties which vanished in the grunge haze way too soon. Their debut Socialized Hate (1988) showcased some piercing riffs, varied song structure and was a bit more thrashy than the follow-up Violent By Nature (1990), which introduced a lot more groove and even mid-tempo hardcore..
Midnight Rider – Beyond The Blood Red Horizon (Massacre Records)
Midnight Rider is an interesting phenomenon in metal. It is a fact that hundreds and hundreds of bands worship on the altar of classic heavy metal from the golden eighties and especially try to conjure the spirit of classic Accept or Judas Priest. However, when I first heard the band from Koblenz with their debut..
Firewing- Resurrection (Massacre Records)
Firewing is a new power/symphonic metal band from the United States with Resurrection being their very grand and certainly most impressive first album. For a debut, this a most assured release from a group of musicians who know exactly what they want and have to skills to back it all up. Very much a pleasing..
Thrash vets Assassin with a new album in February
German thrashers Assassin will be back with their sixth full-length album next February. Bestia Immundis will be released by Massacre Records, with the first single coming up on January 7th. According to the press release, “the upcoming album promises to be aggressive, powerful and heavy but also varied, and offers a nice mix of speed..