UK metal legends HELL are putting on one hell of a show, to celebrate the start of the recording of album two. This special performance coined as The Greatest Show On Earth, will be filled with “fire, brimstone and pyrotechnical madness”, with support coming from the epic WINTERFYLLETH and A THOUSAND ENEMIES. The show will also be filmed live and mixed in 5.1 for a special DVD release, later in 2013. Next year, on February 23rd, the UK will see HELL stage their full Church Of Hell at Derby Assembly Rooms, Darwin Suite.
“Over the last year and a half with HELL, we’ve always put on as much of a show as possible, but with limitations due to festival billings, Health and Safety and venue size”, says guitarist Andy Sneap. “We felt it time to unleash the band’s full potential to the UK as it’s something we feel is missing more and more.The theatrics and the bombastic stage productions of old remain with the Monsters of Rock, but is something a lot of the newer breed of bands seem to overlook whilst onstage staring at the floor.”
“The first headline show I ever saw was IRON MAIDEN on The Beast On The Road Tour at Derby Assembly Rooms. It used to be a regular Midlands show on every bands touring schedule when they passed through the UK and anyone frequenting the first couple of indoor Bloodstock festivals will know how great a venue for metal this is. We can’t wait to bring a full on, unashamedly over the top metal show back to the Assembly Rooms on Feb 23rd 2013.”
Following the immensely successful “Human Remains” tour of 2011/2012 which saw the band gracing the stages of no less than 16 different countries across Europe and Scandinavia, legendary British occult metal act HELL has announced its only confirmed U.K. show of 2013 — on Saturday, February 23 at the Assembly Rooms, Darwin Suite, Derby. This gig will showcase the band’s biggest-ever stage production, featuring a 100-minute lunacy-fest of epic proportions — including fire-breathing, stilt-walking, a four-truss movable lighting rig, some astonishing new additions to the “Church Of Hell” stage set, along with their full-on (and previously unseen in the U.K.) firestorm and pyro show — all belted out through the biggest PA rig ever crammed into this venue. There will be a few additional surprises which are being kept under wraps.
HELL‘s concert at Assembly Rooms will see the band unveiling brand-new tracks from their forthcoming second album, and the whole show will be filmed/recorded for a live DVD release, so front-row looney-tune crowd surfers are even more welcome than usual. The venue, the Derby Assembly Rooms Darwin Suite, is the spiritual home of Midlands metal where Bloodstock all started way back in 2001. It provides the perfect combination of a big-stage production platform, but without losing the “up-close-and-personal” vibe which is so important to the band and fans alike. There will even be a special HELL beer for this event — a fabulously dark 6.66% ABV 5-malt real ale called “The Devil’s Deadly Weapon” created especially for this show by the band’s fans at the Northstar Brewing Company. This will be available at the venue both on cask and in commemorative bottles for you to take away and keep. Or drink. Support at the concert will come from WINTERFYLLETH and A THOUSAND ENEMIES, while the event will be compered by Bloodstock Open Air‘s very own Master Of Ceremonies Rob Bannister. Extremmetal‘s ace Swedish photographer Soile Siirtola will also be in residence, snapping anyone wearing a HELL shirt for inclusion on a commemorative photo wall which will appear within the DVD cover artwork.
HELL‘s last U.K. headline show attracted fans from a staggering 34 different counties of the U.K., along with a healthy scattering of overseas diehards from Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and even Brazil, so if you really want to make a night of it, the band has provided links which give a whole raft of low-cost accommodation in the area. Several of the listed hotels partner with the Derby Live organization, and offer special cheap rates (like £25 per person including full English brekkie at the Days Hotel) for gig accommodation if you mention “Derby Live” when booking.
A 10-minute video clip featuring highlights of HELL‘s July 21 performance at the Zwarte Cross festival in Lichtenvoorde, The Netherlands can be seen below.
HELL‘s latest album, “Human Remains”, entered the German Media Control chart at position No. 46.
Cited as a huge indirect influence, and as one of the true founding fathers of occult metal, HELL formed in 1982 from the carcasses of U.K. metal bands RACE AGAINST TIME and PARALEX, whose “White Lightning” EP was listed by METALLICA as a favorite, and which was subsequently included on the Lars Ulrich, Geoff Barton “NWOBHM ’79 Revisited” sampler album.
Despite over five years of constant touring, the band was cruelly overlooked by the ’80s music press, who just didn’t get it. HELL were too different, too extreme, too musically intelligent and far too thought-provoking for all but the most enlightened to understand them. The final crushing blow came when their long-awaited 1986 album deal with Mausoleum collapsed as the label went bankrupt, followed by the tragic suicide of singer/guitarist Dave Halliday in 1987. The remaining members drew a line in the sand and stopped playing overnight.
A teenage Andy Sneap was a permanent fixture on the front row of almost every show HELL played and was also taught to play guitar by Halliday. He then went on to form SABBAT and become a renowned metal producer. Upon meeting again, the remaining members of HELL — Kev Bower (guitar/keyboards), Tony Speakman (bass) and Tim Bowler (drums) — talked with Andy about re-recording the old material to release in conjunction with the old demos. With Sneap replacing Halliday on guitar and David Bower on vocals, the band has recorded 10 HELL classics from the ’80s.
UK Midlands-based melodic metallers A THOUSAND ENEMIES have issued the following update on band’s Official Facebook Page:
We are excited and proud to announce that after months of searching, we have finally found our man! It gives us great pleasure to welcome Paul Gore into the family.
Paul triumphantly takes his rightful position behind the drum kit and joins A Thousand Enemies as the permanent driving force, steering us onwards and upwards.
When asked about Paul’s recruitment, our manager Tracy Holland remarked “He has the perfect skills, commitment, ambition and personality. Anyone would think he has been with us from the very beginning. We owe an undying debt of gratitude to our brother Owen Thornton of The Winter Hill Syndicate / Dirty Beard who has until now undertaken the role and a special mention to the awesome Josh Windsor of Fahran for standing in. both Owen and Josh will always be an ‘Enemy’. I am so proud of everything the guys have achieved so far and there are more announcements in the pipeline.”
We ask that all our ‘Enemies’ join us in welcoming Paul into the fold.
Please keep your eyes peeled for even more awesome news over the weekend \m/
On a very hot Saturday 26th May 2012 at the Intake Club, Mansfield, England, the stage was set for a very metal all day festival. It was the second year of the festival organised by Mick ‘The Beard’ Staley of Metal Gods TV and partner of Metal Shock Finland.
The bands appearing were a great mix of all metal styles, two of them making very special trips just to play at the festival – Bulletsize from Sweden and Arctic Flame from the USA.
The bands who played are listed below, along with their show times:
Stage 1
Mirror Black 3 – 3.30
15 Times Dead 3.50 – 4.20
Black Acid Souls 4.40 – 5.10
Revolter 5.30 – 6
A Thousand Enemies 6.30 – 7
Def Con One 7.20 – 7.50
G.O.A 8.10 – 8.50
Stuka Squadron 9.10 – 9.50
Arctic Flame 10.10 – 11
Evil Scarecrow 11 – 12.20
Lockin 12.40 – 1 20
Despite the extreme heat and the bands busy either preparing for their sets or playing, I managed to conduct several interviews, the first being with Swedish thrash band, Bulletsize:
I also had a chat with Bane Holland from UK melodic rock/metal band A Thousand Enemies and found a much quieter and cooler spot in the car park, which was very welcome! Unfortunately the band only managed to play several songs of their set when it was cut short due to a member of the crowd collapsing and an ambulance having to be called. The man was ok luckily and you will hear Bane’s opinions on this and much more during the following interview!
Stay tuned for part two coming soon! For more information about Metal Gods TV, check them out here: www.metalgodstv.com
