The Miserable Metal Mind Podcast

German Alt-metal band Soulbound have been around since 2009 and released there first album  Towards the Sun  in 2011. Since then they have released two further albums  Myliennium  in 2016 and  Addicted to Hell  in 2020.  Their musical style is a mix of metal, electro, nu metal, amongst others. This sounds on paper as it probably a bit of a mess but I think they have taken mostly the best elements of these many types of metal and blended them in the main very well.  Signed to Metalville in 2020, this will be their second album on this label. Produced by Chris Harms of Lords of the Lost, the opening track is an unnecessary instrumental intro.  I don’t particularly care for intro tapes at live events so not really a fan on an album. The first track proper  Burn  starts with singer Johnny Stecker shouting "Burn, mother fucker" on a reduced volume before the band kick in. The driving drums of Mario Klause and bass of Jonas Lang , guitars...

Formed in 2021, Patriarchs in Black bring us their third offering, Visioning , and it’s a bit good. A supergroup of sorts, they were formed by former Type O Negative/Danzig drummer Jonny Kelly and Hades/ ex-Non Fiction guitarist Dan Lorenzo. Vocals and bass are filled by a variety of their friends from bands as diverse as Corrosion of Conformity, Dog Eat Dog, A Pale Horse Named Death, Riotgod, Watchtower and Exhorder, amongst others.  The music is a mix of genres, mostly bluesy doom, there are some thrash and hard-core moments in there too, opening with Entry , a cello instrumental, which may seem like an odd move for a metal album, but it’s a beautiful, mournful segue into the second track, What Do They Know ( For The Champions) , which has an immense Sabbath-style riff, and strong vocals from Mark Sunshine ( Riotgod). Up next, we have Before I Go , which is reminiscent of Down In A Hole by Alice In Chains. Again, the vocals are excellent, this time by Karl Agell (COC) and it’s a...

Darkness over Cumbria is a black metal festival held in Fell Foot Wood near Lake Windermere in the Lake District. Its location is perfect for many types of events and festivals but it’s woodland charm perfectly suits the atmosphere recalled with black metal music.  Oh, and it’s bloody marvellous.  Held over two days, the first begins with the plastic souvenir beaker filled with exotic cider, just in time for the first band to take to the stage.  Derby’s Ghül rip into their black metal and it’s obvious with the Witch King of Angmar's crown precariously balanced on the singer/guitar player’s head that this band play music themed around Tolkien’s tales. With early sound issues resolved, dry ice bellows around the stage adding to the musical atmosphere. Their music is pleasingly dark, and a couple of the riffs stand out as exceptional. I am not sure what I am hearing vocally, and I can’t tell if the growls are pre-recorded or not, but a good impression is left by my first exp...

Since my first encounter with Trucker Diablo way back at Steelhouse Festival in 2013, the band has never failed to pick up my spirits. In 2017 as the rain forced us to sleep in the car and abandon any hope of pitching our tent at the same festival, it was the Big Truck that kept on rolling and with the aid of a few Tudor ales got us through the dark and stormy night.  This year Trucker are a late but very welcome addition to the festival. They get the honour of kicking things off on the mountain on the first day, and their bombastic good time rock 'n' roll will be just the thing to get people dancing and moving.  So, just in time for their appearance, the Northern Irish quartet have delivered a quick-fire blast of a single in Kill the Lights . Full of the usual Trucker Diablo power and heft, there are riffs a plenty, a singalong chorus that will sound awesome on the mountain. It's got the groove, tempo, and hook to leave you humming the central riff for hours.  As a taste...

Mean Sugar is the latest album from the Manchester stoner doom heavyweights, and first to feature original vocalist Simon Scarlett. The album opens with the title track and you're instantly at home with the groove of the band.  Next up is Battle of Kompromat , which has a great blend of melody and chugging riffs. A short instrumental follows flowing straight into Who put 50p in You . Love that title!! And let's be honest, we've all thought that at times. Side 1 ends with Stitched Up , the first song and video released from the album.  Side 2 carries on with all you'd expect from them. I've seen them live a couple of times this year and heard a few of the new songs at gigs. Stranger than Fiction is my favourite song after a few listens. Heal the Tyrant closes the album - a track with yet another very catchy chorus! There's an album launch gig the day after release at Rebellion,  Manchester, and maybe we'll be there to support the band after another excel...

A delicious three-track EP  landed in our in-box, from post-rock outfit Callas who originate from Cork, Ireland. The band comprises Dom Murphy - Vocals, Guitars, Keys, Cormac Shanley – Bass, Ruairi Lynch - Guitars/Production, and Evan Prendergast – Drums.  Boldly stating that this is for fans of Anathema, Smashing Pumpkins, Deftones etc, one can only congratulate them for nailing this completely. Over the 11-minutes that these three songs take, you are instantly taken into a hypnotic phase, as the band’s dreamlike sounds envelop and caress in equal measure. Drifting from light to dark with a textured approach that sees the band explore themes including loss, death, despair and rebirth, it’s an emotional rollercoaster that showcases the band’s melding of styles and genres.  The sprawling emotion of Days starts the EP, an instant burst of melancholy that lingers, tugging at the heart strings and pushing you towards a dark corner to curl up and shiver. The soundscape is so...

When you have the raw ingredients, you always stand a chance. When it comes to thrash metal, you need a few fundamentals. Chemical Storm from Kent, have these thrash fundamentals in abundance. They have positioned themselves in the thrash market, ready to take strides forward. Digital Dementia is not the final product. We're gonna have to be patient. The opening track God Forbid is testament to this as it's got lots of groove and plenty of ideas crammed in to one song. If a superstar producer grabbed the raw materials that were in God Forbid , I think they would be rubbing their hands with glee. Call and answer choruses with double bass drumming and fine solos. This has been done before in thrash metal, but they are in the game.  Track 2, Shallow Hole doesn't slow down at all, in fact, if anything, it picks it up. Again, brimming to the top with ideas. The song slows down for the solo, but other than that this is a double bass call and answer thrash metal song. Things c...

Dark. Darker than midnight on the blackest night. The second album from Blackpool death thrashers Blacklist is one nasty, visceral and horror-filled ride. Over 50-minutes of explosive and relentless power, the quartet blast their way through ten blood-soaked tracks that are not for the faint hearted.  This is a band who provided a solid debut back in 2021, their Disciples of Time album pushing them into the mix amongst the buoyant UK thrash scene, and they backed that up with many ferocious gigs, often as part of the celebrated Trifecta tours with Hellfekted and Thrasherwolf. Littered with sound clips from horror movies, each track comes at you with an intensity and savagery that is almost impossible to contain.  The tempo is fast, really fast from start to finish whilst Tyler Larkin’s vocals are much improved. Yes, he still has a limited range, preferring to bark or spit the venom-induced lyrics, but they are more controlled and managed this time around, as he channels the ...

If you were a fan of the FX series Sons of Anarchy , and let’s face it, if you weren’t then there’s something wrong, you may have noted a song by Preacher Stone called Not Today that featured in two of the early series. Being a fan of the Southern Rock vibe, Preacher Stone were soon on my radar for a while, although I’ll admit with so much music, I did drop off their progress for a while.  That changed with the release of their latest album V , which hasn’t been off the turntable since it was released in March. With the boys making a sharp return to the UK for a short run of shows leading up to their Sunday slot at Maid of Stone Festival, I’d already caught them at The Patriot on 14th July but they were so good that night that I decided to make the hour or so drive to Swindon to catch them again, alongside the superb Sons of Liberty who are always a great watch.  I’d not been to The Victoria before and was pleasantly surprised. On one of the hottest days of the year, to have ...

The final releases of a career which spans over four decades. It’s quite something to take in, for 2024 marks the final moves for Derek William Dick before he completes his musical journey and embarks on a different chapter of his life.  He’s always been a bit of a marmite character, is Fish. Known to millions during the 1980s as frontman of Marillion, thanks to the hits Kayleigh and Lavender , his split from the band wasn’t the easiest, although it has eased over time. His fanbase has been small but loyal, increasing in numbers in recent years to the point where he is now looking at full houses on his forthcoming farewell Road to the Isles tour which will see him close out his career in a spread of iconic venues across the UK.  To mark the finale, the Scot is releasing his first two albums on his own Chocolate Frog Record Company Label, which he sees as closure in many ways. his own Chocolate Frog Record Company label. “There’s a sense of completion in re-releasing the first...

This is truly something a little different. References to Sepultura, The Hu and Soulfly are made in the accompanying blurb, and they aren’t wrong. A quick internet search finds an article that proclaims at Arka'n Asrafokor are the only heavy metal band in Togo. Now, I’m no expert on African metal, but I cannot argue with that statement, even if it’s because I simply cannot name another band from that continent.  So, what do we get in this album? Well, plenty of creativity, tribal art and a unique sound that simply gets into the soul and stays there There is plenty of heaviness, crushing groove-filled riffs that remind you of early Slipknot, plus driving death/thrash metal, as on second track Not Getting in Line . They play with an accomplished sound, mixing nu-metal with plenty of other genres, making Dzikkuh a totally engaging listen from start to finish. Releasing their debut album Zã Keli in 2019, I’m afraid they’ve simply flown under the radar until now. A listen to a few tr...

I had seen their t-shirts with a haunting hooded figure resting menacingly on them, something I found entertaining and intriguing. I then found out they would be playing at the APF Records Showcase I was about to cover in 2020, I decided to wait until that moment to check them out. I was not disappointed then and haven’t been since. I now proudly call myself a fan and owner of the above-mentioned t-shirt.  Forming in 2010, their filthy tunes often called party sludge have reached out far from their hometown of Kingston Upon Hull, entertaining crowds up and down the land. I have witnessed their live shows numerous times, and have often fans dancing, and I mean really dancing. The person to the left may be banging their head, the person to the right may be stood there grinning in awe, but all are happy. They have an infectious groove and bounce to their tunes, but Phil’s vocals always keep the vibe firmly in the extreme side of music. First release in 2016 Nothing to Lose hinted ...

Plenty do Southern Rock well, but few hit the spot as sweetly as Sons of Liberty who today release their latest single Tertulia Time . Taken from their 2024 album The Detail is In the Devil , it’s another infectious groove drenched tune that’s guaranteed to keep the interest high, the feet tapping and the high-fives going. So, what’s the song about then? “‘ Tertulia Time ’ is a party song, inspired by warm nights under the stars with friends around an open fire, talking about everything, sometimes nonsense, a little drunk, a few songs and a lot of laughing. The Spanish name felt right with the warmth of being with good friends and the uplifting feel of the music”.  The Spanish/Spanish American word for a social gathering with literary or artistic overtones, it’s the kind of song that is ripe for those hot nights that we get for about four days a year these days! So, bookmark this track, and hold it carefully until the temperature soars and the time is right.  Of course, you c...

Ah, London. The worst that arena venues have to offer. Officious, fussy security staff overpriced, poor choice beers, disgustingly stinky fast food with no nutritional value, and the most entitled gig-goers in the country. But sadly, the only place to go if you want to see the Texan legends on a rare UK show.  In over 50 years since Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard formed the lil ol’ blues band, ZZ Top have only played the UK 48 times (Source: Setlist FM) in their entire career, so it’s hardly surprising that the English Capital scoops the bulk of the shows. It’s the first time the band has played the UK since Dusty’s death in 2021, and our first chance to see Elwood Francis, long-time guitar tech for the band alongside Billy and Frank.  The setlist isn’t going to change that much. The band’s last album, La Futura , was released 12 years ago after all. And they aren’t going to extend the set time. It’s 75 minutes of superb quality rock n roll with their distinctive bl...