Today’s From The Vault marks the anniversary of Ronald James Padavona better known as Ronnie James Dio’s death. Ronnie who passed away three years ago at the age of 67 from stomach cancer left the music world a legacy that will be remembered forever.
Photo credit: death-illustrated.net.
I don’t know how I managed to live nearly 26 years on this earth without ever having heard stoner pagan metal. All I know is that I’m glad this lengthy spell is over. Today, while looking at the Facebook wall of a casual acquaintance, I discovered that [...]
It almost felt like a cheat to write about a supergroup, but then I realized that Kuolemanlaakso is based in Finland, a country with a lower population than my home city. Kuolemanlaakso is a five-piece death/doom metal band featuring current and former members of Swallow The Sun, Barren Earth, Chaosweaver, Verjnuarmu, [...]
Today’s Hail of the Week belongs to doom metal band Ordog from Tornio, Finland. Formed in 2005, vocalist Aleksi Martikainen and guitarist, Valtteri Isometsä shared a mutual desire to play doom metal and released their first demo “I” in 2006. The band received positive feedback on the demo and in turn released two more demos (II, III) as [...]
So here I am in Worcester. I’ve blown off the New England Metal & Hardcore Fest pre-party in favor of a more local shindig. I’ve been traveling for nearly ten hours, and I’m weighed down by $1 drafts and one of the best quesadillas I’ve ever had. Necris picks me right back up, [...]
Unlike most of our Hails, Magus Beast actually has a very long history. They started out in 1985 as a band called Aggressor — not the most original name, but it was the mid-80s and that’s the way things were. Aggressor made a name for themselves in the local NYC scene, eventually opening [...]
Even as I wrote the last Hail (about Sunlord, for the record), I knew this one would be next. The Last Alliance, a power/thrash band from Queens, was the other band that opened up for Wrathchild, the Iron Maiden tribute band, at Blackthorn (formerly Arena) two weeks ago. The name of [...]
While I attend local shows very often, it’s rare that I go to a show in which all of the openers are fantastic. I went to see an Iron Maiden tribute show last week, and due to my compulsive punctuality, I arrived in time to see every second of every band. It was [...]
Photo credit: Vibek Raj Maurya.
On Heidra’s Facebook page, the band’s interests are listed as “Drinking.” I should have known right then that I’d like these fellas. That, and the folk/Viking metal orientation, of course. Heidra was formed in Copenhagen in 2006, just as I was cutting my little n00b teeth on Finntroll [...]
Photo credit: Josh Kurpius.
I discovered Mount Salem through an awesome Facebook group (yes, those still exist) called Women Of Sludge/Stoner/Doom. They’ve got Uncle Acid-esque lyrical themes and a sound that fills the void in my heart left by The Devil’s Blood. What more could I possibly ask [...]




