The Miserable Metal Mind Podcast

Having been severely aurally beaten several times in recent years by Bloodstock main stagers Desert Storm, the temptation to go another round with only two of the band, brothers Ryan & Elliot Cole in their new instrumental project Wall seemed a no-brainer.  The decision was a good one. 13 tracks spread over 55-minutes sounds decent, but throw in a Sabbath riff or twenty, some rolling drums, and you’ve got a cascading torrent that rarely lets up. Certainly not the gentle alarm clock which eases you slowly out of bed. Wall have thrown in a couple of covers, including the kings of instrumental stoner rock, the much-missed Karma to Burn, whose track Nineteen gets the Royal treatment. Brick by Brick stems from the brothers’ pandemic experiences, when they were furloughed and locked in a small flat together. They’ve channelled this into a rolling, powerful album that follows their debut EPs and appearances at Bloodstock Open Air, Desertfest London, Masters of the Riff as well as a ...

Ragged, jagged, raw and chaotic. That's how you'd have described thrash metal in the early 1980s. A spiky rallying call against the establishment, full of piss and spit, with little respect for those who put them down. The Bay Area epitomised that aggression, although each country brought its own edge to the genre.  40 years since those heady days, the feelings remain and as each generation steps up, more bands look back rather than forward. With an average age of 18, Cwmbran's Exaust are certainly full of anger. But then, they are from Cwmbran. They're about to release their single B.T.C. (Bite the Curb) and one listen makes it obvious where the influences for this quintet are from. It's Exodus, Vio-Lence, Slayer and Sepultura that have been on these lads playlists for sure.  What's it about? " BTC (or Bite the Curb) is a track full of drive, aggression and hate. It fits how we as young people feel with the state of some entitled people in the UK and w...

"Few albums have been more anticipated than the third release from possibly the best UK metal band around today …”  My words from my review for Musipedia of Metal in July 2019, when Worldwide Negative arrived in the in-box. The band were on a roll, with a memorable set on the Ronnie James Dio at Bloodstock Open Air weeks later another huge highlight in a journey that has been in train since 2012.  Since then, it’s been a time of change for the band, with personnel shifting out and in. But having regrouped and refreshed, the Northampton five-piece are back with The River , and I’ll tell you now, you’ll need your seatbelt buckled, for this is one wild ride that bucks and throws from start to finish. But that only tells a small part of the story, for although Krysthla has retained every piece of intensity that has always pulsed beneath a seemingly calm exterior, there are some curve balls lurking within this monster of a release.  Not the exceptional drumming of Liam Turlan...

Once you press play on this debut Avmakt album, you will immediately be taken to Norway, which must be seen as a positive for this band, which includes members from Aura Noir, Obliteration, and Condor. The Satanic Inversion of…. keeps to a traditional path. Dark, evil, and haunting tunes blast around, with the drumming taking a prominent position on this recording. Many of the tracks tear and beat the listener in an Early Darkthrone style, something not missed by Fenriz himself. Peaceville Records were quick to follow and Avmakt were promptly added to Peaceville’s black metal compilation Dark Side of the Sacred Star, which was released at the end of 2022.  The Name Avmakt means “powerlessness”, the sense of being overwhelmed and not able to have any influence, without choice, voice, or hope. These six tracks manage to create this experience with blast beats and raw guitar work. The whole aura around these tunes is stripped down icy cold darkness. Sections do slow down to carry the...

The Massacre of Manchester is the advertising line for tonight. Following on from playing the main stage at Bloodstock and doing a meet and greet at the Salisbury the night before the gig, Forbidden were ready to play their first headline show in the UK for 15 years.  Opening the show, local thrashers Tortured Demon. Talk about a dream support slot!! They blast through an 8-song set with power and lots of enthusiasm. Rise Of the Lifeless is quickly followed by Virtual Death and Conflict of Interest. They then slow things down a little with Disfavour. This was only a brief respite before smashing into The Invasion and In Desperation’s Grip . A quick change of guitars and they are ripping the faces off the crowd with Global Threat. The set ends with A Knee to The Face . What a great well played set from these local youngsters.  We have 40 minutes to wait and get out breath back before the headliner’s hit the stage. A dream set of pretty much everything from the first two album...

Buffalo, New York Death Metal bruisers Morgue Terror, offer up their second EP, Violent and Murderous Thoughts,  the first to feature an actual drummer, and continue their horror themed music from January’s self-titled debut.  This EP offers us five songs, four based on sadistic serial killers, and one on a debauched abusive sect. The EP feels like they have listened to all the great nineties Death Metal acts and cherry picked some of the best bits to imitate.  The riffs of Dave Jurenovich are chunky, sometimes angular and brutal, often discordant and almost sound out of tune. The bass of Steve Lipka is pounding and really helps propel the songs along, the drums of Dustin Klimek (ex-Full of Hate) change tempo often, sometimes thrashy, other times almost hitting Grindcore speeds, and everything in-between. The vocals of Steve Lipka are impenetrable and very guttural, like early Obituary or Cannibal Corpse, but this doesn’t detract.  Check out single Neanderthal if un...

This is not a comprehensive review of the weekend from a team of media savvy writers and togs. It’s a collective of fans who were at the festival and who have spent time reflecting on their favourite performances over a stacked and packed weekend. We move onto Sunday and the last day of a great weekend.  Nursing a bastard of a hangover, Soen were the perfect way to soothe myself into the day with their melodic, melancholic, and emotional brand of progressive metal. This was still hard hitting stuff with chunky riffs and powerhouse drumming from ex-Opeth drummer extraordinaire Martin López, interspersed with calm, melodic moments with guitarist Lars Åhlund switching to keyboards. However, everyone was focused on frontman Joel Ekelöf whose stunning voice was simply captivating. It may have been a short set due to the time of day but Soen definitely won over some new fans with stunning renditions of songs such as Martyrs and Antagonist whilst the beautiful Lotus had many in the ...

This is not a comprehensive review of the weekend from a team of media savvy writers and togs. It’s a collective of fans who were at the festival and who have spent time reflecting on their favourite performances over a stacked and packed weekend.   We move onto some favourite sets from Saturday.  It had been a long time since Bay area thrash legends Forbidden had graced UK shores and with a new revamped line up expectations were high amongst the thrashing hordes at Bloodstock.  Thankfully the band did not disappoint; in fact I think there was an air of disbelief at just how damn good Forbidden were.  With a set purely comprising material from their two classic albums Forbidden Evil and Twisted Into Form it took no time at all for pits to start swirling, hair to start flying around (mainly mine) and necks to be given a severe workout.  Former frontman Russ Anderson is a tough one to replace so all eyes and ears were on Norman Skinner who delivered on all fron...

This is not a comprehensive review of the weekend from a team of media savvy writers and togs. It’s a collective of fans who were at the festival and who have spent time reflecting on their favourite performances over a stacked and packed weekend.   We move onto some of our personal highlights from Friday.  It’s Brazilian thrashers Nervosa who are first on Friday. Signed to Napalm Records, the band have changed line-ups several times but have also released five albums since their formation in 2010. They open with the blistering Seed of Death , the quiet harmonics of guitarist/vocalist Prika Amaral and guitarist Helena Kotina lead into the driving drums of new drummer Gabriela Abud and thundering bass of Hel Pyre. The thrash metal riffs flow into a more traditional feel, with the band’s evident influences crossing from a diverse pool ranging from Sepultura to Girlschool. The band look comfortable on the main stage, fully owning the space. The songs move along at pace, a pleasi...

This is not a comprehensive review of the weekend from a team of media savvy writers and togs. It’s a collective of fans who were at the festival and who have spent time reflecting on their favourite performances over a stacked and packed weekend. We start on Thursday with Richard's review of headliners Evergrey.  This was the headline set that very nearly didn’t happen with the band suffering horrific flight delays and the loss of all their equipment. Thankfully arriving at the festival in the nick of time and with borrowed gear, Evergrey brought their A game to the Sophie Lancaster stage with a stunning set of dark and melodic metal. All setbacks and stress seemingly fuelled the band to deliver a set that was one of the clear highlights of the weekend, with passionate performances all round, and frontman Tom Englund in stunning form.  The set was mainly based around their more recent material (bar a stunning A Touch Of Blessing ) but when the band has released some of the...

Sunday evening in the Welsh Capital and a steady stream of punters make their way to the Tramshed in Cardiff’s inner city on the Riverside / Grangetown border. A now well-established venue with a capacity of 1000, tonight sees two bands at very different stages of their careers, but both following the same pathway in terms of sound and attitude.  If you’ve not caught a listen to Guns for Hire , the debut album by Tailgunner, then it’s something that you may wish to rectify. Bringing heavy metal back to the masses, one fan at a time is the band’s motto. Live, they’ve been relentlessly touring since Guns for Hire was released. They’ve just played the Sophie Lancaster Tent at Bloodstock in front of around 4000 fans, whilst they are just as comfortable around the corner playing to 35 hardy souls at Fuel Rock Club.  The strains of Zorba the Greek announce the band’s arrival on stage, and for the next 45 minutes the band deliver with high energy and a powerful, passionate performan...