Rovio Entertainment, the creators behind the hugely popular mobile app game ANGRY BIRDS have teamed up with the one and only IRON MAIDEN this Halloween, bringing you an exclusive gaming experience! Yes, Maiden's world famous mascot and heavy metal icon in his own right; EDDIE will become a playable character in "Angry Birds Evolution" as "Eddie The Bird"...a tribute to the character.

Miika Tams, VP Games and Product Lead for the project states "Our team is filled with massive Iron Maiden fans and Eddie was both our first choice and a natural fit in Angry Birds Evolution...It's about time his status as a true rock icon was celebrated and we know that fans will love seeing Eddie The Bird raise hell on Bird Island!"

Available for two weeks as a character event celebrating Halloween from October 18th, players who successfully recruit Eddie will get to keep him permanently as a member of their Angry Birds team...Llexi Leon, Interactive Creative Director at Phantom Music Management went on to say; "When you get a call from Rovio, one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world confessing that they are Maiden fans and want to celebrate Halloween with Eddie, you just have to take notice. They have outdone themselves with this incredible tribute to Maiden and the opportunity to share the bands music with their millions of players around the world. I really can't wait to play him and skittle those pigs!"

The island in-game will become an exclusively themed heavy metal oasis with a selection of Eddie evolution's to choose from, based on classic Maiden album art work, as well as featuring 100+ new colourful characters. The game is available as a free download from the iTunes App store as well as Google Play. "Can I Play With Madness?" Bruce Dickinson once asked...probably, but you can definitely play Angry Birds. Download it now.

Back in 2014, the world of metal underwent a bit of an unexpected change…Swedish melodic death metal troop ARCH ENEMY had made a name for themselves not only with their quality, technical playing but also because of Angela Gossow…the German vocalist wasn’t like most female rock and metal singers…with the likes of Tarja Turunen and Sharon Den Adel opting for a more operatic, theatrical style, Gossow could tear it up with the very best of them, with her distinctively demonic drawl (Honestly the majority who listened to Arch Enemy without having any prior knowledge assumed she was a bloke given her set of pipes) however…in March of 2014, she stepped-down from her position as vocalist to work behind the scenes as the bands manager…who the hell was going to replace her? Cue Alissa White-Gluz…formerly of THE AGONIST, the young Canadian had had some daunting shoes to fill; would the bands trademark sound and dynamic be lost now with the new vocalist? Would it fuck…the album “War Eternal” proved she could more than handle herself and the band’s sound…so in 2017, we find them releasing their much anticipated follow up, “Will To Power”…will it be worth the wait? Let’s find out…

The album gets underway with “Set Flame To The Night” and essentially it’s just an intro track here…at little over a minute, we’re given some very smooth, melodic guitar and it’s almost enticing…with the police sirens and radio coms providing background noise, the whole thing has a feel of drama and suspense…before we’re pummelled by “The Race” and here we get our first taste of Alissa’s visceral growl…all fired up, she roars her way through a very poignant track, hitting home a very topical issue surrounding equal rights, privileges…the mistreatment of minorities, cultural segregation from the people who are meant to be leading us in office…it’s a powerful opener…”Blood In The Water” follows on and here we have classic Arch Enemy…Michael Amott shreds his way through some classic melodic metal riffs, playing with a passion that you can not only hear but feel, distinctive in style, several notes here take you back to their earlier work, showing their transition has been more than smooth…

It isn’t a 100% brutal metal onslaught however, no not at all, as the band do dabble here and there…for example “The Eagle Flies Alone” closes with some delicate piano, adding a feeling of sadness to the otherwise heavy track, whereas “A Fight I Must Win” includes subtle string sections for a similar effect…adding an extra sense of depth and class to proceedings too. That isn’t all though…”Reason To Believe” features clean vocals for the first time in the bands history and it has to be said, Alissa has a wonderfully smooth singing voice, it’s a shame Arch Enemy don’t utilise more of it, It opens up so many more avenues musically and provides a real album highlight, before we close things on a cover; “City Baby Attacked By Rats” by British punk rockers GBH…the shift in style musically is unexpected but they pull off hardcore post-punk very well…the 1982 chart success given a new lease of life here and it’s a pleasant addition. If anything, this album proves to be a frustration as too much of a tease, they’ve shown they can incorporate more melodic, softer qualities into their sound allowing for a more diverse listen, I mean Alissa can clearly sing, and I think going forward they should explore these avenues more instead of the rinse/repeat heavy hitters…like Australian comedian Steve Hughes says…you can listen to metal all day, but you need a little bit of ENYA to relax in the afternoon. [6]

When it boils down to it, being in a band is essentially like being in a relationship…it’s people coming together, giving it a go, trying to find that spark, that chemistry and, sometimes it works right off the bat. There are still, believe it or not a select few bands that have been together, unchanged since day one; bands like GARBAGE who formed in the early nineties, or more impressively, U2 who have had a consistent line-up since 1978! (Seriously guys you could get less time for murder…) but as we know, a lot of relationships don’t last, people come and go, get dumped, get replaced, and it’s the same for bands…shuffle the ranks, new vocalist etc…and it’s not always amicable. Let’s take VENOM for example…originally formed in 1979, they went on to release one of the most important metal album’s in history; “Black Metal”…it practically kick-started an entire new genre, fusing together elements of thrash and heavy metal with satanic lyricism…but, it wasn’t enough to keep them all together and subsequently they had more line-up changes than the Power Rangers…however, despite vocalist Cronos now doing his own thing, three former members (Vocalist Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan, guitarist Jeffery “Mantas” Dunn and drummer Anthony “Abaddon” Bray) have returned under the moniker of VENOM INC. and they have recently dropped their come-back album “Avé”…let’s ave’ a look shall we?

We open up very boldly on the 8-minute epic “Avé Satanas” and initially we’re greeted with the sweet, angelic tones of the Hail Mary…but the tranquility is soon shattered by the deep, demonic growl of the devil himself as he invites you to instead Hail Satan…it’s all incredibly gimmicky and a touch pantomime but there’s always been a level of theater to metal, thematically returning to their dark roots here. Musically it’s quite lethargic for the most part; it chugs along and feels every bit as long as it’s 8-minute run time which is sadly not a good thing…luckily, follow up tracks “Forged In Hell” and “Metal We Bleed” pick the pace right up as far more livelier offerings! The former utilising an up-tempo, thrash-inspired approach to classic metal, coupled with more of the rough, guttural vocals, and it has to be said the solo here is really quite captivating, this is much better, while the latter continues the onslaught with more pacey speed-metal…I can’t however get the image of GWAR and LORDI out of my head because of the vocals…

​Lead single “Dein Fleisch” uses a deep, bass-heavy riff to give-off a sense of darkness, sinister intentions, while in the back ground you can hear an almost sensual suffering courtesy of female moaning…it’s a very sultry track, focusing on suppressed urges and giving into your desires; the pleasures of the flesh, mental and physical corruption and musically it fits very well, before musically we pick up the pace again with “Time To Die”…very frenetic, it channels the likes of SLAYER in it’s unrelenting delivery, the gang vocals adding an intensity, before “War” kicks in and HOLY SHIT BRAUN STROWMAN! I jest…it opens up with a battle cry and continues to pummel the listener, another fine solo to boot, it’s very stylish this, until we then finish up on “Black N Roll”…very possibly a tongue in cheek reference to black metal and a bit of a dig but regardless, it ends the album on a strong note. They might not have the same impact now as they did in the early 80’s, but there is a respect and admiration for these veterans as has been proven on the live stage in recent years…it’s hardly ground-breaking stuff this but it’s nice to have them back, they are venom incorporated, but we are part of that too…let’s black n roll bitch! [6]

There have been countless times within these pages where I’ve celebrated the heritage of heavy metal, celebrating one of the UK’s greatest gifts to the world, but it’s not just these British Isles with a rich history of bands! Not at all…so today, we’re going to turn our attention to Germany and more specifically, to a band by the name of ACCEPT. Formed in Solingen back in the 1976, Accept helped pave the way for a lot of what we now define as speed or thrash metal, further cementing their status by celebrating a fair amount of success with 1983’s “Balls To The Wall”, but, as time went on, the fire inside began to fade and in 1997, they disbanded. Luckily for metal fans however, there was to be a second wind and a new lease of life…in 2009 they reformed with a new vocalist; Mark Tornillo and in the subsequent years they’ve had possibly their best commercial success to date with all three of their recent album charting incredibly well! They hope to continue this with their newest album; “The Rise Of Chaos”…let chaos ensue…

We open up with “Die By The Sword” it’s got a very traditional, dramatic slow-build intro…the duel attack of founding members Wolf Hoffman and Peter Baltes on guitar and bass respectively gives this a primarily classical vibe with their chugging riff approach…the chorus has almost choir-esque chanting and gang vocals accompanying Tornillo (who has a decent range it must be said) and it’s effective in its simplicity, its catchy enough and lifts the track a little…further highlights include “Koolaid” which on surface value may appear to be an incredibly random attempt at sponsorship, but in actuality Hoffman will tell you it’s derived from a mass suicide in Guyana back in 1978, where over nine hundred people drank flavoured Cyanide and took their own lives in what was dubbed a “revolutionary suicide” by the hands of settlement leader Jim Jones…a really interesting listen, while “Worlds Colliding”, while utilising some solid hard rock, combined with slick, catchy hooks perfectly captures the feel of the song’s message…it’s very spiritual and steeped in self-discovery, the ying and yang of your inner self, the good and the bad, finding where the two meet and making that separation (if you can)…and that solo too…this is very enjoyable.

Elsewhere tracks such as the album’s title track and “Analog Man” carry messages themselves, the former highlighting the issues we face worldwide in present time, the chaos we have ourselves created and the mess we’ve gotten ourselves into…the world is a dangerous place and we’re not helping matters at all, while the latter focuses on the advances in technology and in a tongue-in-cheek look at themselves as older veterans of metal, they poke fun at themselves for being old-school, preferring simpler times, mentioning 8-Tracks and iClouds…it’s quirky and proves an entertaining listen…closing track “Race To Extinction” adds to this with a sense of, having a  lack of faith in humanity…we’re tripping over ourselves with advancements and progress but we’re killing the planet, it’s really quite deep and poignant…musically, the majority of the album plods along with a traditional metal feel, looped riffs, the odd solo thrown in for good measure but other than that, there are moments here where it can feel stagnant. While the metal itself may be good, it’s pigeonholed within an era to some degree and again, targets a certain demographic of listener…it’s not to say it’s a bad album by any means, they’ve covered some strong and relevant topics here and it’s been produced well but, for the most part it goes through the metal motions. Less chaos more, rinse repeat…[7]

There’s an old saying; if at first you don’t succeed…you’re not Chuck Norris…but, all jokes aside, the idea is that if you want to become good at something or, achieve something, you’re going to need to practice. There are steps to take and it doesn’t matter who or where you are in the world, everyone starts at the bottom. For bands this can be incredibly testing; some get a lucky break with a hit single or grab the right attention through consistent local gigs (word of mouth is still a powerful thing!), some take years to get recognised and some just fizzle out before ever getting noticed, because this way of life is so competitive and demanding, not everyone can do it. If you’ve got the passion and the desire however, time is merely an obstacle…and BLIND DIVIDE make this point brilliantly. The heavy metal outfit (consisting of vocalist James Birkett, guitarists Adam Duffield and James Ponsford, bassist Dellan McCabe and drummer Anthony Ellis) formed in Cardiff back in 2007 and, over the past ten years, they’ve been in and out of the local scene, releasing low-fi home demos and generally finding their feet, finding where they belong in the world and finally, now in 2017, we find them releasing their official debut self-titled EP. Shall we follow blindly or shall opinions be divided? Let’s find out…

We open up with “Heaven’s Gallows” and good god they don’t waste any time whatsoever! We’re greeted with pummeling ferocity within nanoseconds! The riffs and percussion are intense and unrelenting, while James’ vocals are nothing short of brutal…the sheer unforgiving onslaught showing the band are done with waiting, this is a statement of intent, this is Blind Divide and you will pay attention…a blistering start this. The same too can be said for “Scourge Of Humanity”; the sinister tone of the guitar work coupled with certain thrash-metal elements entwined within the texture of the track allowing for a rich listening experience, the influence of bands such as LAMB OF GOD can be heard here too, providing a solid groove, which can also be said for EP highlight “Pathfinder”…its very “The Sacrament” era and despite it’s obvious heaviness there’s more melody and an overall smoothness to proceedings here; it’s very well balanced but loses absolutely nothing in terms of its lack of forgiveness.

If there are any faults here at all however, it would have to be “Source” and even then they’re minor…with a track under three minutes long, you’d expect them to really hammer home the aggression and take no prisoners with a really intense thrash-inspired piece, something pacey; something hungry…but instead the track feels longer than its run time. There are stripped down segments that make the track feel drawn out unnecessarily and it loses some of its bite as a result. However, in the grand scheme of things, Blind Divide have finally delivered and this can easily make a huge impact on the Welsh underground metal scene…with the likes of CHAOS TRIGGER growing and growing and events such as Eradication and Celtic Mosh both highlighting and championing artists such as this then going forward, they have all the promise in the world to make a name for themselves…uninitiated? Allow the blind to lead the blind…[7]

Apposite to the current situation regarding Womanby Street and the threats to South Wales' live music scene, it's only right that I focus my attention closer to home and remind everyone exactly why we need to stand up not only for our venues, but for the local bands that ply their trade within them. If you're a regular punter at FUEL rock bar and if you pay attention to local metal there is no doubt you have heard of CHAOS TRIGGER...for several years now they have been honing their craft having tried out numerous line-up changes but things are finally looking strong and steady for the Merthyr-based quintet...with performances at BLOODSTOCK festival and support slots with EXODUS under their belt, they look to hit the ground running with their brand new album "Degenerate Matter", hoping to bring Welsh metal out of the mines and into the minds of many...

We begin with "Skineaters" and as it's title suggests, it's rather chilling...at under two minutes it's essentially another case of the tried and tested intro spot, but it's effective here in the way it's very cold and machine-like; like something out of a Sci-Fi movie it drones on, heartless, non-organic...you can't help but picture yourself quietly stalking the decks of the Nostromo desperately trying to avoid being eaten by a Xenomorph while this plays...unsettling stuff, but my god it calls your bluff. When first track proper "Binary" kicks in, it really does kick in! It kicks your fucking teeth in! After a brief drum-fill the listener is subject to a battering-ram of riffs and raw power...the aggression here is such a swivel in tone it's all the more impressive with it's GOJIRA-esque brutality... (that bass!)

There's a smooth transition into "Rust" which allows the listener very little time to recover here and the continuation is on point, slightly slower in tempo but no less lacerating;  there's more melody in the guitar work and over all it's a touch more methodical throughout it's near six-minute run time but where it lacks pace, with sheer weight it still pummels you. The same can be said for "Gluttonizer", with it's doom-metal inspired introduction, while "Fucking Machines" with it's djent qualities finds itself slotted somewhere between the likes of CHIMAIRA and MESHUGGAH in overall sound.

The slight thrash-metal elements of "Snakes In Suits" inject a flurry of life into the album musically, and so too on tracks like "Release The Hounds"; the increased tempo giving the record momentum going forward, before we round it all off with "Use Of Weapons"...after trolling you with a gentle opening segment, it abruptly rips into more of the ferocious, unforgiving metal we've become accustomed to over the course of these eleven songs. While musically, instrumentally the band are solid, from the drumming of Jay Roberts, to the guitar work of Paul Cremin and I've already touched upon the impressive weight of Bradley Kaler's bass playing; vocally...in reality it's, a little too monotone...front-man Ben Jones does an incredible job as a heavy/death metal vocalist don't get me wrong, he kills it, but he doesn't change his approach at all throughout this record and it get's to a point where you can't help but crave a little more diversity. Yes this is purposefully heavy but SOME clean vocals aren't going to damage your product, and will prevent tracks from coming across as one dimensional at times. For the most part this is a strong release mind you and while there is room for improvement, they have their finger firmly on the trigger and they certainly aren't firing blanks. [6]