Guides or features aimed at helping introduce and provide points of reference for a specific scene and/or genre
Southern California had a great run with heavy metal in the 80’s. A veritable horde of bands from that time and geography legitimately earned top shelf status in true metal lore including Cirith Ungol, Savage Grace, Omen, Armored Saint and Agent Steel.
Hallows Eve is upon us, when people gather around and fable about scary stories of witches, undead monsters and The Headless Horseman, set loose on the streets instilling horror and fear to the hearts of their audience. Taking its origins from the Gaelic festival of Samhein, which signified the end of the harvest period and the start of the long, cold winter, Halloween is the time of the year that mankind explores its “strongest emotion – fear” as HP Lovecraft famously said.
When someone exchanges musical opinions within the heavy metal circle, it is not uncommon to hear expressions like “too rough” or “too melodic”, and more recently “very old school” or with a positive spin “very refreshing”. So if an album had exactly the correct ratio of melodic and rough riffs and sounds refreshing even it was released in 1986, that would mean that it will top the charts and everyone would speak about it right?
True Traditional metal, while never as hugely popular as hair or thrash, has been a field in which California has yielded an embarrassing amount of riches. While often not appreciated enough back in the day (much like Cali’s doom pioneers Saint Vitus, the number of people claiming attendance at early shows for many of these bands has inflated far beyond what the actual attendance was) names like Cirith Ungol, Brocas Helm and The Lord Weird Slough Feg are now rightly hallowed and revered in the metal underground. There is still a lot of good stuff happening.
The world has changed a lot in the past 40 years. Empires rose and fell, cultural icons appeared and disappeared, music trends come and gone. The same is true for personal musical tastes. I’ve known people 20 years ago who grew out of metal as they say, or “evolved” musically.
There is a person who evolved as well this last 40 years without succumbing to trends, without looking for the ephemeral and forgettable success. The man who stayed true to the music and the people who are following him. That man is the Tyrant, and this is his story through his music.
The final installment of a 4 piece series on Epic Heavy Metal. This segment examines the broader European scene beyond Italy and Greece. This segment also features an interview with Nuno of Ravensire.
Part 3 of a 4 piece series on Epic Heavy Metal. This segment examines the Italian and Greek scene. This installment also features an interview with Nikos Migus A. of Omen/Marauder as well as an interview with members of Dark Quarterer.
Part 2 of a 4 piece series on Epic Heavy Metal. This segment dives deeper into North American bands. This part also features interviews with Jake Rogers of Visigoth and Jason Tarpey of Eternal Champion.
Part 1 of a 4 piece series on Epic Heavy Metal. This segment defines the sound and explores the beginnings of the genre. This part also features an interview with Randy “Thrasher” Foxe of Manilla Road.
We are now half way through the year and what an incredible six months it has been. The bar has been raised for 2019 and there has been high quality album after high quality album. This quarter alone we to nearly 40 different releases across all types of traditional metal to highlight the best ones for you all. The winter 2019 wrap up was our first iteration of this, but we’ve changed things up this time around and involved all of RIG’s regular contributors!