The Miserable Metal Mind Podcast

L7 were a favourite live band in the 90s, the best of the Riot Grrrrl bands, they had the greatest songs and were definitely the most subversive. So, when they announced a one-off gig in London to celebrate the 30th release of Bricks Are Heavy , we agreed to head to the Big Smoke to catch a seminal outfit from our youth. This was the third gig featuring bands whose main success came in the 1990s, and after meeting up with friends we headed over to the Electric Ballroom in Camden.  It’s a reasonably small venue, and the audience is a real mix of ages, lots of younger people dressed in appropriate Riot Girl style, balanced by several fans in the older age brackets, carrying the baton into their 50s and beyond. After an entertaining set from London based all-girl British punk / new wave band support band The Priscillas, the packed crowd were already working their way into a frenzy. Expectations were high as L7 featured three original members of the line-up: Donita Sparks (lead vocals...

I t’s been a long, long wait to see this band. Oh, I’ve seen Mike Patton in all the guises Faith No More, Tomahawk and Fantômas, but Mr Bungle has always eluded me. This incarnation of Mr. Bungle is the best, featuring Mike Patton, Scott Ian (Anthrax), Trevor Dunn (Melvins, Tomahawk), Dave Lombardo (Slayer) and Trey Spruance (Faith No More). So as super groups go, this is a doozy. Their album T he Raging Wrath of The Easter Bunny is probably the most accessible, a fine blend of Anthrax crossover thrash and Mike Patton’s crazy nonsense.  The set opens with Won’t You Be My Neighbor (Fred Rogers cover) as the band enter the stage. The crowd goes wild, reserving the loudest roar for the maestro Patton, looking like a mad locust with his hair fashioned into antenna. The intro fades and the unmistakable guitar of Scott Ian kicks and the first track Grizzly Adams bounces into action.  Patton’s vocals are sharp and the combination of Ian and Dunn’s guitars and Lombardo’s drums soun...

It’s worth noting that I’m not a mega fan of Jane’s Addiction but had bought tickets to see a band from the 90s who we’d never seen before. With a capacity crowd ramping up the electricity, it was easy to get swept up in the excitement. If we weren’t super fans, it appeared we might have been the only ones, for the crowd on this heady evening were defiantly devotees at the Jane’s Addiction temple. As the lights dimmed and the intro track kicked it the crowd erupted, and the start of the Sunday service began.  The band enter the stage with guitarist Dave Navarro strutting the stage in a kaftan and scarf but no shirt, giving the impression he had a shirt with the front cut out, but to be fair he has the body to pull off the look. But it’s the roar that greets Perry Farrell as he enters the stage that is loudest, it’s simply deafening. The opening track Up the Beach from the Nothing Shocking album meanders along with Perry’s haunting vocals almost drowned out by the audience. The ...

For those who may be unaware, White Stones is a Martin Mendez solo project, and this third album Memoria Viva sees Mendez further establish White Stones as a truly unique outfit 2021’s Dancing into Oblivion followed hot on the heels of the debut album Kuarahy , a product of lockdown, and so we’ve waited patiently for this release, whilst the collective involved have no doubt worked on other projects whilst keeping one eye firmly on this next chapter.  White Stones - Photo credits - Sandra Artigas There’s no doubt that the Opeth links remain. The progressive and Avant Garde flute and Jazz of Zamba de Orun are drenched in the kind of confusing sounds that split the Opeth fanbase from Heritage onwards. Mendez’s bass lines are a huge part of the Opeth sound, and once again they are front and centre here, but although Mendez drives the sound, at no time does it overpower or detract from the overall soundscapes created.  A myriad of styles assault the senses. This may have some d...

The third album for one man project Kvaen, The Formless Fires builds on the work of Jacob Björnfot, the mastermind behind the outfit, which initially appeared in 2020’s highly commended The Funeral Pyre and followed up by 2022’s The Great Below .  Influenced by his environment, there’s a creative blending on The Formless Fires , with a melancholic feel that intertwines and sees beauty and violence stand shoulder to shoulder. Listen through the harsh riffs and driving drumming and you’ll find some exceptional guitar work that shines. Like many Black Metal musicians, Björnfot draws from his surroundings as influences. Kvaen is named after the people who populated his home near the Finnish border in the Viking era. “Because of our surroundings, bizarre weather conditions, northern lights etc. help shape the way we see and hear things. It affects us more than we think” he explains, and one can certainly visualise the influencing landscape in Kvaen’s sound.   Assisted by dr...

We are now a mere seven days away from the 2024 Bloodstock South Wales Metal to the Masses final. The culmination of months of hard work, blood, sweat and tears from competing bands, fans, and of course, the team behind the scenes who spend many hours promoting, arranging, and everything else that makes this annual event such a success.  In the past two years, the event has evolved substantially. Last year saw heats take place at The Bunkhouse in Swansea and Fuel Rock Club in Cardiff, with the final held at Fuel. 2024 sees a huge step forward, with the announcement of the Day of Wreckoning . A bold and brave move by the promoters, the 2024 grand final will now play out at the Patti Pavilion in Swansea on 29th June, with the six finalists battling it out for the right to play the New Blood Stage at Bloodstock Open Air in August. But what makes this special, is the stacked five band line-up that follows the final. Headliners Discharge need no introduction, and if you’ve not hear...

Photo credit: Metallica.com Several factors come into play for this review of Metallica’s second show in Copenhagen. These include my disinterest in the opening bands for tonight’s show, my hope of narrowing down the window to drink the tasteless lager I had to endure on Friday and the fact we had a larger party that were in different places in the stadium. Despite one of this party being the one and only Miserable Simon from The Miserable Metal Mind Podcast, this was still a more pleasurable experience than an early entrance to the gig. If you were hoping for my opinion on these support bands, I am sorry. [the supports were Ice Nine Kills and Five Finger Death Punch in case you were wondering]  Once in the venue and with a decent spot secured, I wince once more at the price and taste of the beer but more excitedly await It’s a long way to the top. A proud dragon atop a church blazoned on the massive screens around the stadium replaces Friday’s troll artwork, and it’s not long unt...

I dislike major stadium gigs. But when your favourite band are one of the biggest in the world, it’s either that or nothing. Therefore, on June 14th, 2024, I find myself in Copenhagen Parken Stadium to witness Metallica’s 72 Seasons world tour, no repeat, two-night show.  We arrive at the venue in time to catch Mammoth WVH. His middle of the road rock entertains the reasonably sized crowd. Heads bob along while plastic containers of tasteless Danish beer are hastily downed. The band swap locations on the round stage giving all who wish to get a chance to see members of the band. All are suitably active and certainly look like they are enjoying this experience. Wolfgang gives us a demonstration of the harmonic guitar talents his father was famous for, before leaving the stage to applause and cheers. The Architects played next. [I guess Neil was so overwhelmed that he was unable to write anything about the Bloodstock headliners]  The stadium fills and we await the sounds of AC...

The dogged and determined upwards journey to be one of the most exciting and prolific bands in the UK underground shows no signs of letting up for the lads in Halberd. Straight off the back of the fantastic Drinks All Round EP a mere two months ago, the modern metal band from Southeast London are back with another vicious assault of the senses with the snappily titled new single South East Scum . If your ears have had the pleasure of the aural battering from previous Halberd releases, you’ll know what this new cut of wax is likely to offer. Halberd don’t do subtle but then they don’t need to. They do what they want to and thankfully for us, what they want continues to be a scathing communion of crushing thrash metal, monstrous riffs and good old fist pumping choruses! With more than a whiff of classic heavy metal and NWOBHM catchiness oozing through the track, the boys waste no time in instantly pulling you into their ferocious but wholly satisfying thrash metal charm. Make no mista...

Although they sit under the symphonic metal banner, Boston’s Seven Spires throw just about every style into the mix on their fourth studio album, A Fortress Called Home . With a combination of power metal, symphonic passages, orchestral elements which are weaved around bursts of extreme metal, this is an album that will no doubt excite existing fans as well as pulling in many new one.  It’s an emotional rollercoaster which begins with the dramatic intro followed by the majestic eight-minutes of Songs Upon Wine – Stained Tongues. If this dramatic and explosive track doesn’t grab you early on, then you may wish to walk on by. It’s got some phenomenal musicianship embedded in it, with the soaring vocal range of singer Adrienne Cowan tussling with the impressive guitar work of Jack Kosto. It’s certainly going to be an album that lights up the darkness, with sheer bone crushing passages that echo the likes of Wintersun alongside more balanced and calming symphonic sections.  An e...

It’s been five years since Northampton’s spine-crushing extreme metallers Krysthla blew the roof off with their third album Worldwide Negative and stormed the Bloodstock main stage with an opening set that still sounds brilliant today ( Krysthla - BOA 2019 Full Set ). However, things went a bit quiet for a while in the camp, not only due to the pandemic, and the departure of bassist Carl Davies and guitarist Noel Davies might have suggested a couple of cracks were appearing in the hull of the good ship. The good news is that is far from the truth, and shored up by the arrival of Tom Kelland and Jake Coles, Krysthla have just dropped their first single from their forthcoming fourth album The River . And it’s a beast.  There’s always been a hybrid sound to these guys, but at the base of their music is a level of groove that makes you want to bang your head. Unto the Loveless certainly pushes the band forward into the modern age, with a contemporary sound that retains the essential...

It’s been seven years since the last album by Black Country Communion. Not that the members of this genuine supergroup have been idle by any means. Just check out what Glenn Hughes, Joe Bonamassa, Jason Bonham and Derek Sherinian have been up to, and the only thing that comes to mind is how they’ve managed to find the time to get the fifth album under the BCC banner completed. This is truly a band who are even better as a unit than individually, which is some statement.  V is a superb album, from the richness of opener Enlighten through to the closing song The Open Road. Enlighten is a statement of intent, Sherinian’s lush keys working in harmony with the ferociously soulful vocals of Hughes, who simply gets better with every recording. He’s locked in with Bonham, making room for Bonamassa’s simple guitar work that carries with it a hard rock edge not usually found with this enigmatic and legendary guitarist. It’s an album of variety, such as the funk vibe on Stay Free , which...

At the age of 63, German guitarist Axel Rudi Pell shows no sign of slowing down. His 22nd album is as vibrant as much of his previous 21, full of anthemic European style hard rock with superb guitar work as one has come to expect. A pleasing and enjoyable listen, Risen Symbol is probably one of his best works in recent times. Alongside Pell, the reliable team of vocalist Johnny Gioeli, drummer Bobby Rondinelli, keyboardist Ferdy Doernberg and bassist Volker Krawczak ensure that everything is tight and professional. There isn’t a dropped note in an album that is three minutes shy of a full hour. It’s a solid opening with the vibrant shredding on Forever Strong kicking things off in grand style. A stirring cover of Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song doesn’t do anything wrong, indeed, it’s one of the better versions of a song that’s been recorded many times. Pell explains his choice, not that the self-confessed Jimmy Page fan needs to do that. “I discussed the idea with our drummer Bobby Rondinell...

I do like a bit of stoner doom and Wyndrider, from the mountains of East Tennessee fit the bill perfectly. Fronted by the deliciously soulful vocals of Chloe Gould, the band’s second album Revival is the natural successor to their self-titled debut that came out last year. Drenched in Sabbath-esque fuzziness, there’s a real high-quality style to the band’s delivery, even if it’s a genre where music can often sound similar. Gould has been compared to Grace Slick and even Elin Larsson, and I can see why, for her vocals resonate with a deep richness. Despite inevitable comparisons with the likes of Blood Ceremony, Lucifer and a host of other bands, I can hear something a little different in Wyndrider’s flavours. There’s a darkness that hangs over the album, unsurprising given the lyrical content, which focuses on their home in the Appalachian Mountains and the “smoke and mirrors of life in the Bible Belt”.  It’s a strong opening with Forked Tongue Revival setting the pace, whilst J...

Kittie is back!  It’s been thirteen years, but they have returned with a new album. I was, and am a huge fan of the 2001 album Oracle but their follow-on stuff did not appeal to me quite as much. Some of it felt a little too poppy for me. This is no elitist gate keeping statement, it just was not for me.  After watching the recent Kittie: Origins/evolution documentary on YouTube my interest was piqued, and Oracle was blasted out once more. So, it is was with a certain amount of interest and excitement that I played this review copy of new album Fire.    I was already familiar  with the single Eyes Wide Open, which I had enjoyed, and Fire b egins in a similar vein. The title track opens with an impressive riff and the familiar voice of Morgan Lander demonically whispering over the music. Music that is both heavy and accessible. Fortunately, it has none of the pop links that disturbed me and it stays on the side of heavy. The breakdown is impressive while the...