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Author Nick Griffiths

Having grown up on a diet of ABBA, The Carpenters, Leo Sayer (Mum), Cream, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and The Beatles (Dad), it was a stormy night under canvas in the wilds of Wales where I first heard the Winston Churchill speech that proceeds ‘Aces High’ from Iron Maiden’s ‘Live After Death’ where life changed for the better. That’s not to say that this was THE pivotal moment of my life (the good lady indoors and two children may get slightly truculent if I were to suggest as much) but it’s certainly up there. Listening, wearing, watching and being into Metal is one of life’s great honours and whilst it may be far from conventional and not a broad representation of the society where we live, I think that’s the point. We are different, we like it loud, noisy, nasty and in your face. Hearing that first chord, feeling that first double kick drum, that initial growl, your first t-shirt (Anthrax Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)) …moments of pure majesty that endure for a lifetime. Luckily, I get to ramble on here after doing so in Raw, Kerrang, Metal Hammer, NME, Rock Sound, and Terrorizer over the last 25 years. It’s still as much fun reviewing music today, as it was for my first ever published ramblings (Nuclear Assault ‘Live At Hammersmith Odeon’ - never has a 140 word review been so drastically sub edited) to the last one I did 5 minutes ago. Nice Fucking Life!

16 – Into Dust (Relapse)

Californian sludge/doom metallers 16 return with this their ninth album, following 2020’s ‘Dream Squasher’ album which was a hugely enjoyable collection of hoary, doomy, sludgy filth not unlike the stuff that collects in between your toes after a ten-mile run… Continue Reading →

Dead Cross – II (Ipecac)

Certain musical adventures, outputs, meanderings, experiments, trials, tribulations, and exercises in ego massaging are able, in certain circumstances, to fly under the radar and generally considered, reviewed, and appreciated from a musicality perspective rather than with any preconceived notions of… Continue Reading →

Battalions – King Of A Dead World (APF Records)

Hailing from the frozen tundra and icy rugby league pitches of Kingston Upon Hull, burst forth a melting pot of downturned, jagged riffs and flared jean flapping in the form of Battalions, who return with this their fourth album following… Continue Reading →

KEN mode – NULL (Artoffact Records)

There are times when you just know. When you know that something is right, just and beautiful. When it’s ripe, glowing and succulent. When it glows, pulsates, and engorges. This may sound like the prelude to either an overly dramatic… Continue Reading →

Machine Head – Of Kingdom and Crown (Nuclear Blast)

When it comes to reviews and reviewing in general, much of what informs opinion and context is predicated on a band’s relative longevity, previous releases, gigs seen, comments made, proliferous (or not) media (paid or not) presence, interviews etc. etc…. Continue Reading →

Russian Circles – Gnosis (Sargent House)

There are times, when you have to reign yourself in, take yourself in hand (not like that), look yourself in the mirror and gaze deeply upon the very essence of your being, your soul, the very fibre that holds your… Continue Reading →

Turian – No Longer Human (Wise Blood Records)

Seattle is famous for many things including Amazon’s bottomless pit of consumables, plaid shirts, heroin, all things Grunge and Starbucks, purveyor of coffee and bringer of misery to the third world. What it’s probably not as well known for, is… Continue Reading →

Mantar – Pain Is Forever and This Is the End (Metal Blade)

As with many of the bands that lay themselves bare on the operating table of criticism, many are completely unknown to me before I wield my blunted, dirty, rusty medical accoutrements in a botched operation of critical prose, that is… Continue Reading →

Wormrot – Hiss (Earache Records)

Let’s get the elephant (in this case a goat, but let’s not split (goat) hairs) out in the open, and although this represents Singaporean Grindcore trio Wormrot’s fourth album after 2016’s excellent ‘Voices’, many metal fans interactions with Wormrot would’ve… Continue Reading →

Cave In – Heavy Pendulum (Relapse Records)

There are times where reviewing certain bands constitutes more than just an item on a to do list, where it is less ephemeral than it may often be. There are some bands, that transcend our corporeal existence, and stick like… Continue Reading →

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