ONSLAUGHT ARE TO BE INDUCTED INTO ‘METAL HALL OF FAME’ AT DEATHFEST MARYLAND 2022!
British Thrash Metal pioneers Onslaught will be Inducted into the 2022 Metal Hall of Fame, during their on-stage performance at Maryland Deathfest, May 28, 2022.
“We are excited to Induct British thrash metal pioneers Onslaught into the 2022 Metal Hall of Fame during their performance on stage at Deathfest Maryland,” says Metal Hall of Fame President/CEO Pat Gesualdo. “Thrash Metal is a crucial part of the entire spectrum of Heavy Metal, and also a huge foundation for the Metal Hall of Fame. We are very proud to have Onslaught represent this genre that we all love so much.”
Nige Rockett – Onslaught guitarist / founding member comments:
“Wow, What can we say, this has come completely out of the blue…! We are truly honoured to receive this extremely prestigious recognition and join a list of so many awesome and respected names from the world of metal music. This has to be right up there with the best of accolades that this band has ever received in our in our long and illustrious career, it’s a great day for ‘Thrash Metal’ and a great day for the ‘UK Metal scene’. This award could not have arrived at a more perfect time as we celebrate ’40 years of raising hell’, it really is a true validation of ‘Onslaught’ past and present.. This one is for the fans..! Thank you all.!”
UK Thrash disruptors and Moshin’ The Roof On contributors Tempashot start on their campaign for their upcoming debut album ‘Certified Dangerous’ (out June date TBC) with a brand new track ‘Social Cesspit’ that explores the mind numbing, lie spreading plague of social media! Luke from the band tells us that “it’s a self aware troll at social media, how it controls us and adds issues, with fake follows and people getting addicted to the numbers” but the band aren’t oblivious to their own usage of the social streams, and they appear in the video at the start and end, stuck to their phones.. well if you can’t beat them…..
The track is what we’ve come to enjoy and expect from the lads, a blend of solid thrash punctuated with Lukes alternative take on vocal delivery, but with the added depth of bass player (and Detoxen front man) James Lockley adding his more traditional metal vocals into the mix, something that we are likely to see further explored in the rest of the album, and in the future. The addition of Si Ellis (from Helgrind) on lead also turns the thrash elements up to max, complimenting Dio’s mosh inducing rhythm guitar work and the drumming intensity of Issac, the track arrangement and mix really does the whole package justice!
Visually, the track is kind off a traditional affair, with darkened background and the bands head banging their way through the tracks in hi resolution, perfectly member lit clarity, its nothing specifically new but its really well done, nicely edited and it a showcase of what the band look and sound like as a performing unit, which is a really important statement of intent leading up to album launch.
The Tracks goes live tonight (Friday the 29th) at 6pm UK time, at the Youtube premiere below, so go and check it out and give the band a follow on YouTube… or Facebook
Yes… reviewing your own compilation is pretty crass!! But we wanted a little something on the site to celebrate yesterdays launch. So we asked Dave Marlow to review the Double Album for us.
Now if you don’t know Dave.. or Wiggy as he is often known, he pretty much single handedly keeps bands in business through Merch sales, physical purchases and sharing his pictures of merch and tagging bands on his socials… that’s a Grade A+ underground music fan right there!!
So we gave Wiggy early access to MTRO v3, and here is what he thought….
I am not naturally a reviewer of anything, but, I have had the privilege of hearing Moshin’ The Roof On Vol. 3 a week early, and I’m here to share my thoughts on it.
UK Thrashers and 30 bands are back to loudly combat homelessness, and, raise money for Shelter. Yes, 30 bands have donated tracks to this compilation, and many of them are exclusive/advanced tracks that you won’t hear anywhere else for a while.
While the double album contains an ample sufficiency of the best Thrash Metal from the UK underground scene, it’s not all about Thrash, other metal genres are sprinkled in. From the ‘other’ category a couple of the stand out tracks for come from Gutlocker, which is brilliantly in your face, and, the heavy grooves from Scarred By Truth, which are a joy!
Hellfekted – MTRO v3 Launch Party Courtesy of Acid Dolka
On to the Thrash! Disc one starts with tracks from the tri-fecta of Hellfekted, Blacklist and Thrasherwolf, and, they don’t disappoint! Then, the riffs keep coming, all the bands smashing it! There’s even an instrumental from Acid For Blood, which totally rocks! Closing out disc one are the awesome Tempashot, while, I understand that the vocal delivery is not everyones cup of tea, I think it’s great to see a band doing their own thing.
Disc two starts of with the thrashtastic Helgrind doing what they do best…..being epic! The music continues at a pace. Riptide bring some big riffs, and, Chimp In A Box bring a real earworm to the party, in a good way!
By the time the last three tracks, provided by Devastator, Imperium and, Elimination gloriously bring proceedings to an end, I get the urge to play the whole thing again!
Imperium – MTRO v3 Launch Party Courtesy of Acid Dolka
All 30 bands smash it out of the park, for me this is a must have album. So, treat your ears, and help out a very good cause and buy a copy of Moshin’ The Roof On Vol.3 available from the UK Thrashers bandcamp page…………if you’re feeling flush, there’s some awesome merch, too!
Thanks to Wiggy from us at UK Thrashers, and all the bands he supports every payday!!
If you haven’t already pick up MTRO v3 (or 2 as we have a few CD’s left) on our BandCamp Page HERE
The Inhuman Nature lads are back at it again with their new breed of crossover, taking thrash and punk and mixing with a large dollop of NWOBHM.
Since their self titled album surfaced in 2019, the boys have continued the assault with a split with Road Mutant as well as a splattering of singles and gigs. ‘Under The Boot’ picks up the story nicely with three banging tracks that remind us why Inhuman Nature are a force to be reckoned with in the UK underground and garner such popularity in Europe and beyond.
From opener ‘City Of The Dead’ through the title track and finishing with ‘Ride The Apocalypse’ this EP is filled with power, and the recording, mixing and mastering carried out by James Atkinson at Leeds Slaughterhouse allows the tracks to really breath, there’s still the all out assault of riffs and pounding backline, complemented with Chris’s vocal rasp and spite, but there is a new atmospheric feel that weaves within the tracks and really brings them to life and elevates the tracks from those that have proceeded them.
The lads have a European tour planned for later this year, and we hope they are heading into the studio to carry on this forward momentum again soon!
‘Under The Boot’ is Out on the 11th February via Church Records or via Bandcamp, and pick yourself up a very tasty long sleeve Tee at the same time!!
West Midlands Melodic/technical Thrashers Elyrean are back with a new single this Friday.
Now a lot of things have changed in the camp since their M2TM wins and Bloodstock performances, mainly due to the departure of former vocalist and bassist Asa.
The Band now made up of Will Edwards (Vocals/Guitar), Dan Kraushar (Guitar), Daryl Payne (Drums), and new member Josh Richardson (Bass), have shown their commitment with what they do and regrouped to get them back to a position where they can release new music and take the stage again.
This new single ‘The Omniscient One’. Is focused on the topic of climate change, Will says “It’s about people being told the consequences of their actions if they do not change, global warming is a big issue and A LOT of the pollution comes from major corporations.”
The track is a good comeback for the lads, Wills new found voice is darker and more doom laden than Asa’s more blackened thrash rasp, make the track into an atmospheric brooding monster, which, whilst it adds a change in character, the technicality and melody still remains, which is what we have come to except from the band in the track overall, as well as some fabulous production.
We wait with interest to see what comes next from the lads as they continue to grow into their new roles and voices in the coming months, and we look forward to catching them live again soon!
Bludgeoning their way out of the North West metal scene, Ghost Keeper are are a fairly new thrash band releasing their debut album on the 21st January 2022
Straight away the album cover gives you a hint of what to expect, a thrasher flicking the middle finger up at an Alien invasion, surrounded by skulls and ankle deep slime/blood… all with a radioactive green glow… I already know I’m going to enjoy this!!
The album features 9 tracks of no messing modern, death tinged, thrash metal.. I hope this is what the lads set out to do as they do it well and the tracks deliver what a thrash album should do, high octane, head banging blasts with occasional slightly tongue in cheek fun!
The album kicks off with title track ‘We Conquer’ which teases you in with a gentle melodic guitar intro before the little green men kick down the door to take over the globe, this is swiftly followed by my current angry morning anthem, as lets be honest which of my neighbours doesn’t need to hear just over two minutes of ‘Fuck Off and Die’
‘Digital Lobotomy’ keeps the riffs flying with its slightly more serious tale of digital media infection of our minds and will before ‘Warmaster’ delivers a tale of mass warfare as the pawns on the ground destroy each others
The album continues to burn through some heavy tunes with ‘They Must Suffer’ , ‘The Guillotine’’ and Blackened Thrashers ‘The Blasphemous One’
With ‘Unspeakable’ and ‘Attack’ rounding of the 29 odd minutes of goodness, it’s straight up thrash, but still with a hefty variation of tempo and vibe, with no song outstaying its welcome all being less than 4 minutes 17 seconds long, this is an all out BLAST and an awesome entry into the strong uk thrash scene, look out for the album in all the normal places on release day and catch them live in the 0161 and beyond!!
Ghost Keeper will be joining us on the UK Thrashers Radio Show on Moshville Radio in the next few weeks so tune in to find out more!!
Moshin’ The Roof On Volume 1 Alumni Bangover are back with an all new 3 track EP to reward us all surviving the year!
These three tracks tick all the boxes when it comes to thrash from these London based thrashers, blending the classic Bay Area sound with a modern crossover vibe and a bit of UK humour!
Opener Close Encounters of the Thrash Kind, starts off with a thrashed up 5 note call to the mothership before the lads launch into the track proper, and what a stomper it is, sing along gang vocals, moshing chorus and legible humorous vocals, this is bound to be a crowd pleaser!
The next track continues the alien encounters, as the band head into Farmer Giles field to check out the crop circles, is it messages from a higher race… or is it just evidence of an alien crop circle pit!!
Finally the band is beamed back down from the Borg to thrash with us humans in a Bay Area homage that is Blood, Sweat & Beers… bang your head and let the violence spread… our feelings exactly!!
And before you can shout stage dive, the three tracks are done, Bangover have done themselves proud with these tracks, with great production and three fun and catchy songs, you can see why they are the UK party thrash band that everyone looks forward to catching live!!
Bangover – Close Encounters of The Thrash Kind is out on December the 17th via Big Cartel, Bandcamp and all the normal streaming sites
Manchester dirty blackened d-beat metallers Wolfbastard will be bursting into 2022 with a full length facefucker of an album! ‘Hammer The Bastards’ is everything you could want if you are a fan of dirty heavy metal, taking influences from bands such as Venom, Motorhead, Dark Throne and Discharge, Wolfbastards new album seamless blends the genres and sounds into a high octane, dark and angry slice of thrash ’n roll that will tear out your guts and make pentagrams with them to summon demons!
Featuring thirteen tracks of all out aural assault, this third album by the band takes no prisoners , with the song titles setting out the expectations, songs like ‘Nun Krusher’, ‘Black Friday’, and ‘Graveyard Slag’ all deliver the blackened party vibe guaranteed not to get played at Sunday school, whilst the cover art will ensure priests and vicars wear a hard hat when preaching from the pulpit!
If this is how 2022 is going to get kicked off… then its going to be a hell of a year!!
Check out the first release from the album – Fear The Exxxekutioner
after enjoying the single, Garath plunges in to the new Helgrind album.. here’s what he thinks of the bands latest album….
UK thrashers HelGrind return with their fourth full length album ‘Insurrection’, and first since 2011’s ‘Inquisition’. Originally conceived back in 2017, but put on hold due to various reasons, not least label issues, it now finally sees the light of day with re-recorded guitars, bass and vocals. This also marks the first with guitarist Si Ellis, both as a member and as a contributor, forming a formidable writing duo with the ever-present Paula Nelson, vocals and bass, and co-writing much of the album together.
‘Dead Shall Rise’ is an ambitious mini-epic to kick things off, starting with a sinister clean guitar motif and a newsreel reporting the start of what sounds like the zombie apocalypse, building slowly from its humble beginnings, the guitar, bass and drums escalating until around the minute mark the whole band is going at full tilt, in a wonderful thrash/death combination of aggression, with little melodic flourishes and a great chunky middle section. Next up is single; ‘Massacre the Suffering’, with a hint of Araya in the vocal delivery, and a touch of ‘War Ensemble’ in the riffing, but Helgrind are no clones, they are very much their own entity, the melody in the lead interplay is not something that was in the Slayer locker. In fact the level of musicality on the whole of this album is simply phenomenal, every track is chock full of not only technical riffs, but many of the tracks have sections that add a different dynamic into the mix, take the centre pairing of tracks, ‘Not My Enemy’ for example, with it’s majestic middle part, with a quiet acoustic with overlying solo, then a crushing stomp and piercing lead, while the solo section in ‘Breeding Hate’ is just a thing of sheer beauty, with an orchestrated and choral background, almost guaranteed to bring a shiver to your spine.
That’s not to say HelGrind are just a technical thrash band, far from it, they understand when a basic power chord progression, or a simple E string chug best serves the song; and alternate between both complex and simpler patterns for maximum effect. ‘Bitter End’, ‘Harvest’ and ‘Dead Army’ all use that basic blueprint to whip up a 1, 2, 3 punch to the solar plexus, knocking the wind from you, but also raising the adrenaline so you pick yourself back up for yet more punishment.
The last two tracks are destined to be real live favourites, ‘Raise the Flag’ could easily be the successor to Kreator‘s ‘Flag of Hate’, and after its moving bass led intro, there is in fact a nod to the Teutonic legends in the execution. While album closer, ‘HelGrind’ itself, already the live set finisher, is a real old school thrasher, guaranteed to increase the sale of neck braces once the tour commences.
This is a hugely impressive release from the band, I was unfamiliar with their back catalogue and doing my due diligence, I went and listened to all the previous albums, and the ‘Fallen Prophet’ EP, and I can truthfully say, if you’re already a fan, you won’t be disappointed. ‘Insurrection’ touches on every part of their past, from the super heavy, almost sludginess of their debut ‘Denial’, to the more technical thrash of last album ‘Inquisition’, but the biggest similarity is with their second and arguably most widely recognised release, ‘Religious Persecution’, but adding even more brutality, aggression, and yet melodic contrast, to create their most accomplished album so far. This one is for those of you who like your thrash on the most ferocious and heavy end of the scale, and it has already bullied its way onto my end of year list. Superb.
Helgrind ‘Insurection’ us out Friday the 22nd of September, order via www.helgrind.co.uk and Paula and Simon join us on Sunday nights ukthrashers Radio Show on Moshville Radio.
Whilst Doom Metal isn’t usually a staple of the ukthrashers review list, we have all delved into the Cathedral, Sleep, Penance and Trouble catalogues in our formative years, so when Simon from For The Lost gave us a prod about the latest release from APF Records we thought we’d check out this new (old) release from these Suffolk purveyors of stoner sludge…
“For us this release is a time capsule back to a long weekend, just over a decade ago. January 2010; one of the last months of a band we had formed as teenagers. It was the coldest January since the mid-80s and on the night we recorded it was -8° overnight in London, meaning that even the canals just outside the studio had totally frozen.
We smashed out all the tracks in one evening, at the studio which was part of the Uni our friend Jason (who recorded us) was studying at. I recall we had to dodge the security guards to crash in the studio overnight. The next day, we had rehearsals for a show, the day after that, at the legendary Crobar in Soho. My memory of that evening is a blur, but apparently it involved us getting a bus full of people getting kicked off of the bus because we managed to break the doors, Christ knows how.
We also ended up at the opening party for the, now equally legendary, Black Heart and at some point in the night Ted, our guitarist, got headbutted outside a corner shop. Exciting times.”
So what do we think of this 4 track glimpse that has finally surfaced… well firstly at just over 21 minutes, this isn’t one of those Doom EP’s that goes on forever, in fact all the tracks are all fairly condensed and to the point
Opening track (intro) is a reverb and delay laden atmospheric piece that builds into the launch of the first ‘proper’ track – ‘There’s Nothing Cute About Cobra’s’ which fills the air with the distinctive sludge that you’d expect, sabbath esq riffs, and pummelling bass riffs that lock into the vibe that we have all come to associate with the genre, next track ‘Mandark’ continues in the vein, with drummer and vocalist Jack discharging his tortured and tormented vocals as if the end of the world is nigh! Final track ‘Decapodiformes’ continues the assault of the ears, and bone crushing bass lines that continue to reverberate long after the effects pedals have blown a fuse!
In summary, if heavy as fuck sludge metal that makes the ground quake and the walls tremble is your thing, then blasting out some Toom today should literally fill you with DOOM !!
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