Words by Rod Whitfield

Side projects are, by a general rule of thumb, pretty hit and miss affairs. They often appear to be a bit of an ego boost, or a way for an artist to get his/her cast-off songs, unwanted by the main act, released. Others can actually be superior to the main project (see Maynard James Keenan’s A Perfect Circle band, in this writer’s humble opinion).

Seminal, massively successful bands often spawn a side project or two, or more, in a similar way to which successful teams often breed coaches in later years (see the mighty Hawthorn teams of the 70s and 80s). Slipknot are one such band, having produced at least two high profile side projects since their inception in the mid to late nineties.

Words by Cameron Edney

It’s time to grab that tin of hairspray, pull out those leopard print skin tight pants, throw on that leather jacket and get ready to ‘Rip and Tear’ when Tracii Guns L.A. Guns roll into town this week! Fronted by Love / Hate vocalist Jizzy Pearl and featuring Faster Pussycat’s Chad Stewart on Drums, Jeremy Guns on bass and founding L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns, this four piece sleazy, dirty, rockin outfit are about to give Australian hard rock fans one hell of a treat! Kicking off in Brisbane on September 2^nd, L.A. Guns will do a run of shows down the Australian east coast playing all our favourite tunes from L.A. Guns and Tracii Guns assures me that there will be some surprises thrown into the set!

I had the pleasure of catching up with the legendary axe-man earlier this week to speak about the bands upcoming Australian shows, the possibility of brand new L.A. Guns material, the bourdons of life on the road and much more!

Kick back as we talk ‘Hollywood Vampires’, ‘Shrinking Violets’ and all that’s rockin’ with the one and only Tracii Guns!

Words by Rod Whitfield

Believe it or not, mighty Chicago four piece Disturbed have been belting out their melodic but bombastic heavy rock/metal sound since 1996. Since the release of their debut album The Sickness ten years ago, they have sold over 11 million albums worldwide, their previous three records debuting at number one on the Billboard Charts. In this day and age of illegal downloading, and of heavy music still being very much an underground phenomenon since it’s last renaissance well over 20 years ago, this is nothing short of incredible.

Words by Cameron Edney

Next year will mark the 30^th anniversary for English Grindcore metallers Napalm Death, a band which has certainly had their fair share of the highest highs and lowest of lows. Releasing their first full length studio album ‘Scum’ in 1987 the world would soon sit up and take notice. Defining the Grindcore genre by incorporating elements of Hardcore, Punk and Death Metal, Napalm Death early on became extremely influential and have gone on to become one of the world’s most successful and respected death metal bands! During the bands iconic career they have released such album as ‘Utopia Banished’, Diatribes’, ‘Enemy of the Music Business’ and ‘Smear Campaign’ to name just a few and have toured with metals finest artists like Kreator, Entombed and Machine Head. Growing up a fan of heavy chaotic and extreme music Napalm Death was certainly one band that had a massive influence on me, my peers and metal fans not only in Australia but all over the world.

I distinctly remember in the late nineties when Napalm Death toured Australia on the back of ‘Diatribes’, the buzz surrounding both the album and tour on the metal scene was incredible, the bands impact was felt right across Australia and those Australian Napalm shows went down as some of the greatest extreme metal shows to ever hit Australia! Extreme metal fans would have to wait almost ten years for the band to return to our shores for another series of chaotic, explosive performances done the Napalm way, but it was well worth the wait! Playing to sold-out crowd’s right across Australia extreme metal fans expressed their appreciation with rave reviews via many online forums and through social networking websites and metal webzines. In early 2009 Napalm Death released their fourteenth studio album ‘Time Waits for No Slave’ an album which is arguably one of the bands best and most defining works to date! Since its release the band has been touring non-stop, playing all over the world and now Australian fans are about to get treated to another round of Ultra-violence, Chaos, Anarchy, and good old fashioned head banging when Napalm Death hit our shores again next week!

The tour will be kicking off in Perth on September 1st playing at the Amplifier bar and takes in all the major capital cities winding down in Melbourne on Sept 5^th. With the bands return to Australia just around the corner I took the opportunity to catch up with legendary metal vocalist Mark “Barney” Greenway to discuss his love for Australia and our television shows, the band’s latest album, life on the road and the bands future plans and more!

Words by Sean Dudley

Back in January 2010 Winter’s Verge, a power metal band from Cyprus, released their latest album entitled ‘Tales of Tragedy’. Not only are Winter’s Verge one of the most successful metal bands to come from Cyprus, but also the first from Cyprus to have a record deal with a big name label (Massacre Records).

Via email, I excitedly wrote to the band, and responding to the interview questions was bassist Miguel Trapezaris, who apart from being a great guy, also answered the questions with great depth and witty humour. Let’s check it out: