It sucks being in the UK sometimes. Take this example: Dave Mustaine’s autobiography isn’t even out yet in our stinking country. How hard can it be to give a book a simultaneous worldwide release?

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When Norwegian black metallers Dimmu Borgir came to town, we sent Tom Dare off to chat to guitarist Galder about new album, Abrahadabra

After three years and the departure of two band members (keyboard player Mustis, and bassist & clean vocalist ICS Vortex), Dimmu Borgir are about to release new album Abrahadabra. At a top-secret location in London (i.e., a Travelodge), we got to listen to this vast and ambitious slab of evil. After recovering, we sat down with Galder, guitarist with arguably the biggest Norwegian black metal band going, to discuss the band’s new record, Aleister Crowley, touring with Korn and potentially being spat on.

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From: London
Sounds Like: Spastic noise assault
Website: Myspace.com/runwalk

Thrash Hits Verdict: Straight outta the Holy Roar stable, which has previous brought you good shit like Rolo Tomassi and Throats two piece lunatics run,WALK! are here to smash you apart with their Daughters-esque noise then glue you back together with some tasty ambience. Catchy, driving and VERY FUCKING LOUD. Go see them, but dont say we didn’t warn you. Tom Doyle spoke to Matthew P-C…

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It was in January 2010 that Vice ran around east London spray-painting that clearly-quite-imitable Slayer logo all over the place. The one that really stood out at the time was this one on Shoreditch Tabernacle Baptist Church. Metal is bad. Religion is good. That’s the juxtaposition. Right? Well, this week, even a Manchester reverend was extolling the virtues of Heavy Metal.

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Outer space – not particularly “metal”, is it? The things about space that are pretty metal – aliens, big freaky robots, whatever it is Bruce Dickinson is singing about on the latest Iron Maiden album – aren’t really what space is about. Space is really about science, satellites, and very, very slow spacewalks. But if we have our way, on November 1st 2010, for 5 minutes 32 seconds outer space is gonna be Metal.

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Abigail Williams
In The Absence Of Light
Candlelight Records
27 September 2010

by Tom Dare

The overuse of symphonic keyboards is something of a bugbear amongst those of us who delve into the world of the filthy and wretched. While some bands use them to ornament and texture their work, others either end up smothering their guitar parts with them, or as a smokescreen to obscure a scarcity of ideas. Abigail Williams have previously been accused of the latter, but can be no longer. It’s much worse than that.

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Yep, Offset Hardcore is stretching its liver out at The Old Blue Last this Friday, 03 September 2010 in preparation for this weekend’s mighty Offset Festival 2010 and Thrash Hits DJs are going to be rocking the house with a disgusting megamix of crap songs.

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Remember The Armed? YOU BLOODY WELL SHOULD – we’ve basically thrown a massive eargasm every time we’ve posted about them. Anyway, they’ve gone and made a video for ‘Liar’, one of the tracks from their superb Common Enemies EP, and to use a phrase we often find ourselves using in description of all things related to The Armed, it is 100% badass.

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Eastern Front
Blood On Snow
Candlelight Records
13 September 2010

By Tom Dare

In already packed black metal market – especially given the rather niche nature of the movement in the first place – there are a limited number of ways to get noticed. It is especially difficult if you’re British, given the UK’s (somewhat undeserved) poor reputation when it comes to Black Metal. You’ve got to do something brand spanking new, or wow people with sheer quality. Eastern Front make noises in the direction of the former, but in the long run though, is the strength of their music able to keep that attention once it’s been gained?

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The chance to go see Norwegian legend, Ihsahn, play a solo show in London should’ve been something of a no-brainer, but we were still in bits following a weekend of carnage at Bloodstock. So it’s a good job our man Amit Sharma had the stamina for it then, isn’t it?

At the extreme end of metal, there are few musicians as highly regarded as Ihsahn. He has maintained perpetual artistic integrity throughout his 20-year career, despite the mass recognition of his former band, Emperor, as one of Europe’s premier metal exports. Even Peccatum, his more gothic flavoured venture with his wife Ihriel, was never really easy listening – if anything, it was less accessible.

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