HEAVY FECKIN’ BELFAST

LET’S face it, with all this unseasonal sunshine and the thermometer sitting at stupid hot degrees centigrade, we rock and metal fans are left to glower at the showers of summer frocks and pink-skinned spides stalking Northern Ireland’s streets.

Well, you know what? They can piss away off because the only fashion sense you need is a black t-shirt and jeans of cammos. And if it really is too warm, get the scissors out. Instant cropped top tour shirt and trim those trous to shorts.

Because when you step inside the hallowed halls of metal, the temperature already is at boiling point and the bands just crank it that wee bit further, because when it comes down to it metal is stoked from the fieriest pits of hell.

Tonight, things get even hotter that any of Danté’s imagined circles of hell when Machine Fucking Head descend on to unsuspecting mortals in their pre-Download attempt to rip the Ulster Hall a new arsehole.

Hard to imagine it, but Rob Flynn and his merry band of metal monsters have been crushing like the proverbial two ton hammer for almost 20 years, but over the last three albums they have become a real force – like the plague of locusts that

And the allegory of locusts now stands as not only the band’s new(ish) album title track, but also like the fans who are becoming more ready to devour any output from the band.

And as far as Roby Flynn goes, playing metal, for as long as he has done now, ripping it up for fans is the only course he knows. He told one interviews:

“I’ve been playing in bands since I was 15 years old. I’ve been on tour since I was 18. I don’t really know anything else, so I’ve never had a Plan B — this kind of had to work.

“I think when you try and tackle something with that much tenacity you make it work. A lot of people told me how I should get a Plan B, but I don’t want a Plan B, this is what I want to do.”

If you want to see why Mr Flynn and his Machine Head compatriots do not need a Plan B then get down tonight to the Ulster Hall to see Machine Fucking Head, with retro-thrashers Evile and and Dead Label…

And  if that isn’t enough, think on fellow madmen and madwomen of the metal flock. Post-Download we have the mighty Lamb of God to come…Heavy Feckin’ Belfast indeed!

Win tickets to Machine F**ckin' Head!

WE'RE too generous, we know it, and the good folks at Shine/CDC are way too generous. We have two pair of tickets up for grabs to see the awesome, the wonderful, the heavy as a ten-ton hammer Machine Fucking Head in Belfast.

Let's face it Machine Head have practically defined heavy metal in the 21st Century with lead breaks to die for, guitar harmonies to sear your face, intelligent and challenging lyrics and most of all they love Belfast. Why else would they keep coming back.

Machine Head, with Evile play the venerable Ulster Hall on May 28th. If you haven't got your tickets yet, then why not?

If you have already got your tickets then enter this competition and help a friend discover Machine Head's heavy glory. Better still buy your tickets right now, and enter this competition to share in the heaviness with a couple of friends.

So what do you have to do to win one of these heavy as fuck tickets?

The question: name Machine Head's latest album. Email us here with your answer and full name.

Winning answer will be drawn on 19th May.

Feel the thunder!

SWEDEN’S Amon Amarth are – as sensible fans know by now – playing the Spring & Airbrake on 23th October. The Distortion Project have confirmed Swedish death ‘n’ roll veterans Entombed and Brit retro thrashers Evile as support.

And if that isn’t enough for a pre-Hallowe’en knees up we don’t know what is!

Amon Amarth have been a band that displayed the patience of the proverbial saint to rise from relative obscurity and twitterings in specialist mags to the front page of Metal Hamster as acclaimed leaders of the New Wave of Traditional Metal (whatever the hell that is!).

Johan Hegg’s towering presence fronts a band that appears immersed in Nordic paganism, but read deeper and the allegorical nature of the lyrics from the atheist frontman are intriguing.

Having dabbled with the occasional offering from Amon Amarth for some time ‘With Oden on Our Side’ was a revelation. ‘Runes to My Memory’, ‘Cry of the Blackbird’ and ‘Prediction of Warfare’ were among the tracks that showed a clear evolution of their style and songwriting form.

But last year ‘Twilight of the Thunder God’ was unleashed. It was rated on this site as one of the top CDs of 2008, with due cause. The strident title track will, undoubtedly, prove immensely popular, the rest of the platter pounds. ‘Guardians of Asgard’ has a riff to accompany the conquering of nations. ‘The Hero’ has a unique lyrical take on what makes a warrior, while closer ‘Embrace of the Endless Ocean’ has a concept that many a prog act would die for…slave freed from toil at the oars dies happily at sea rowing!

Amon Amarth may not be one of the most important metal bands of the decade, but they are pushing the envelope and will help shape the Swedish ‘death’ scene and beyond for years to come. Respect not only to the band but to the Metal Blade label for keeping the faith and allowing Amon Amarth to grow into potential world conquerors.

Entombed have been knocking about for years (20+!). The Swedish act started off as a straight death metal, but evolved through the course of nine studio albums to their present domination of death ‘n’ roll – which even has its own Wikipedia entry as a genre!

Evile are the snotty nosed bastard son of 80s thrash, with a lot more credibility that some of the US bands knocking about. While many will have stumbled across Evile via sampler CDs from magazines, their Earache release, ‘Enter The Grave’ is worth checking out. While lyrically it can be a wee bit embarrassing at times, and the Slayer references are a little too far forward, Evile can, with a fair wind and plenty of live experience be at the forefront of reinvigorating thrash.

Tickets for this October extravaganza are now available from the usual outlets…neck braces and liver transplants are not covered in the ticket prices and good luck trying to persuade BUPA to cover the costs of excessive metal fun after the 23rd!