Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Protector: The return of thrash and madness
Monday, May 13, 2024
The Troops of Doom: Poetry of death metal
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
Stygian Shore: A place for the lost souls
"Wichita s the most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas", says Wikipedia. "Points of interest: the Exploration Place science and discovery center, the Mid-America All-Indian Center, the Old Cowtown living history museum, and..." And to hell with that! The real points of interests for us metalheads are Manilla Road and Stygian Shore who put Wichita on the map of heavy metal. They were close friends and it was Greg Marshall, the Shore's bass player/singer, who christned Mark Shelton as Shark. But even without that Manilla Road connection Stygian Shore deserve your attention. They played that rare brand of metal which takes you by the throat from the first note and leaves you breathless in the end. The band remained unnoticed by labels but carried on despite everything. They worked hard and kept gigging and recording even when Greg Marshall lost his right arm — he just started playing bass with a hook. So here we are talking with Greg about all the ups an downs of his career wit Stygian Shore and other bands.
Friday, May 3, 2024
Malice: Godz of Thunder
Malice. This band still means a lot to me. I remember how happy I was when I discoveerd them and how I almost wrecked my neck banging my head to "Air Attack", "Stellar Masters" and "Godz of Thunder". They had everything: awesome songs, cool image, incredibly talanted musicians, a deal with a major label. And yeah, they rocked like the greatest bands of the era. But after two outstanding albums they split, and it is probably the most unfair thing in the show business. There is also a very personal story. Some 15 years ago I was offered a chance to write an article for a printed music magazine. That was my very first attempt in writing. Of course, Malice was my first choice. That was the time when Myspace rulled the music world and I contacted Mark Behn via that platform to get some information about the band. He was very kind and answered my questions. Imagine, how happy I was! The article was done in time and I even got paid for it. 15 years later I decided to bother Mark once again to do an in-depth interview about Malice and to pay a tribute to the late Mick Zane. And here is the result — almost 3 hours long interview !