Author Archives: Mark

Hatesphere reveal first studio webisode

The Danish Thrashers Hatesphere (imagine a sphere of hatred, how awesome would that be?) have entered the studio to begin recording their new album, scheduled for a September release.

Is it me or is every single new album coming out in September? Must be because it’s Dose of Metal‘s birthday that month and all the cool bands are preparing new albums in celebration of that fact. Thanks guys.

Check out the video above. How awesome does the music sound? I’m looking forward to this one.

System of a Down go Dire

In case you haven’t heard (and how is your rock, BTW?) System of a Down have reunited and they’ve begun playing some shows.

The band recently decided to play a shortened cover of Dire Straits‘ ‘Sultans of Swing’ at the Nora Rock festival on June 13th in Austria, which you can view above. The original is a classic track, one of my favorites, this on the other hand, really puts the emphasis on dire.

As always, you can watch more videos and get more news over at Blabbermouth.

Blast from the Past: The Haunted – The Dead Eye

The Haunted were once a well respected Metal act, but that all began to change with the return of original vocalist, Peter Dolving, in 2004. That isn’t to say Dolving is a worse, or even bad vocalist, because he isn’t. The fact is though, some of his online rantings have proven to rub some Metal fans (particularly Blabbermouth users) the wrong way. In addition to this, his return to the band also came at the same time when the band decided to explore other territories, that haven’t gone down well with everyone. Whilst 2004’s rEVOLOVEr was met with almost universal critical acclaim, not everyone was a fan, and when The Dead Eye was released in 2006, there was even less fans, including the critics.

Fast forward 5 years, and The Haunted have just released, arguably, their worst album yet (if you choose to believe the internet). 2008’s Versus didn’t have many fans either, and most people point to The Dead Eye as the point in which everything started to go wrong. So with that in mind, it’s about time I had a hard look at this album myself and offered my own opinion on this controversial album. Make the jump for the review.

Weekly Dose of Metal: Sylosis

This week’s Dose of Metal is from the UK’s Thrash Metal act, Sylosis. Some of you with a good memory will remember I reviewed the band’s second album Edge of the Earth a couple of months ago, and I really enjoyed it.

The Weekly Dose of Metal this week is the song ‘After Lifeless Years’ taken from the band’s first album, the 2008 Conclusion of an Age.  This features an older lineup of the band, prior to the leaving of vocalist Jamie Graham. You can check out this awesome slab of Metal below.

The Velvet Metallica

Metallica have revealed a very special, secret, new album has been in the works, which guitarist Kirk Hammett allegedly hinted at a month or two back. If I still followed the band like a teenager follows a pair of breasts, then I may have known that.

So what’s the secret album? A collaboration with Dave Mustaine? A Big Four all stars album? A return to actually releasing decent Metal?

Nope, none of those things. It’s a collaboration album with Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed. Wow, sounds exciting…

The album as of yet does not have a release date. In addition, the majority of the music is apparently sung and written by Lou Reed, so please excuse me whilst I don’t give a rat’s ass. If you’re interested, more information can be found at Blabbermouth and Rolling Stones.

You can watch a video of Metallica performing with Lou Reed above. If it’s an indication of what the album will sound like, I won’t be checking it out.