Neckbreakers Ball

@ Relentless Garage, London

7th November 2011

Review and Photos by Michelle Murphy

The roaming mini-festivals have become increasingly popular and tonight, Neckbreakers Ball hits London. Like the recent Heidenfest, it covers half of Europe over the course of a month! 

2011 - Canadian Metal - A Year In Review
By JP

On the surface it seems like it was a very poor year for Canadian Metal. There are currently over 1500 active Canadian Metal bands. This year about 150 bands released new, full-length studio albums. That’s about 9% of the active pool of talent stepped up to the plate. Not only were the numbers low but by some odd twist of fate the vast majority of major (namely international touring acts with label deals) bands were dormant this year.

Bandleader/drummer Soren “Snoppi” Van Heek

Interviewed by: Anders Sandvall

Thanks to Tom Hack at Massacre Records for setting up the interview.
Thanks to Massacre Records for providing the promo pics.

If you're into power/heavy metal music then you should check out the brand new Wizard album  ....OF WARIWULFS AND BLUOTVARWES from the German act Wizard. The band have been active for 22 years so I thought it was time to get a hold of bandleader Soren “Snoppi” Van Heek and to have a long talk about the band, its history, the new album, and of course the future.

LIZZY BORDEN

INTERVIEW BY ARTO LEHTINEN AND MARKO SYRJALA

It took nearly 30 years before the legendary American Metal icon Lizzy Borden landed on Finnish soil. The band, best known for their over the top theatrical live shows and 80’s albums like MASTER OF DISGUISE and VISUAL LIES, brought their “Death Takes a Holiday” tour to Helsinki in December 2011. Before the band got on the stage, Metal-Rules.com had the pleasure to talk with vocalist Lizzy himself about being on the tour, a possible new Lizzy Borden album, and finally took a brief return to the old days.

The third installment of the South Texas Rock Fest boasted a monster lineup of bands headlined by British legends  Saxon and UFO. Also along for the ride were Quiet Riot, Lita Ford, Dio Disciples, Stephen Pearcy, Warrant and Pretty Boy Floyd. It should be noted that the 2011 edition of South Texas Rock Fest took place in October, making for a much more enjoyable climate than previous years which were either held in the spring or summer under the hot Texas sun. A last minute venue change moved the festival location from the Backstage live venue to the beautiful outdoor Sunken Garden Ampitheatre, probably my favorite venue to see metal bands perform. I have to say that this was by far the best organized and smoothest running South Texas Rock Fest to date and I will look forward to seeing who will fill the roster for the 2012 edition this fall.