And so, here we are again – at the business end of the first ever Bloodstock Metal 2 The Masses competition to be held here in Northern Ireland, and, over the course of the past nine weeks, the PlanetMosh team have counted every band in and every band out (to …

Monsters Of Rot – the PlanetMosh-backed one-day extreme metal fest being held in the darkest depths of County Fermanagh on Saturday August 1 – has just launched its very own YouTube channel. The channel features footage from the previous four festivals, and over the coming weeks will be updated with …

US thrash titans Exodus have been confirmed as the first headline band for Hammerfest VIII, which takes place at Pwllheli in north Wales from March 10 -13 next year. They will be joined by Fleshgod Apocalypse, Lawnmower Deth, Ranger and Def Con One. Tickets for the event are now on …

And so, after five intense heats spaced out over six weeks, we arrive at the business end of the inaugural Bloodstock Metal 2 The Masses competition here in Northern Ireland, with the first of the semi-finals.  Twenty bands had entered the fray back in mid-February, and now we are down …

The full line up and day splits have now been confirmed for this year’s Steelhouse Festival, which takes place outside Ebbw Vale on July 25 and 26. Legendary British AORsters FM have been added to the Sunday bill, which is topped by the inimitable Dee Snider.  Colour Of Noise, the new …

Proof that heavy metal does indeed transcend international boundaries in a way in which many other cultural experiences have not managed, Voice Of The Soul – who, of course, take their name from a track on Death’s 1999 album ‘The Sound Of Perseverance’ – hail from a part of the …

And so, here we are, at the fifth and final heat of the first ever Bloodstock Metal 2 The Masses competition ever to be held here in Northern Ireland.  After all four previous heats had been incredibly close – the last squeakily tight, with just four percentage points between the quartet …

For some artists, there is one seminal song that, in the eyes of many from the outside looking in, must surely seem to hang around their necks like the proverbial artistic albatross.  For Jim Peterik, founder of Survivor, it must surely be ‘Eye Of The Tiger’:  despite the passage of …

PlanetMosh continues its support for the Northern Ireland leg of the annual Metal 2 The Masses competition – which gives the winners a slot on the New Blood stage at Bloodstock – by interviewing the participants in the fifth and final heat, which takes place at Belfast’s Limelight 2 on …

To be honest, it’s not terribly hard to compare The Dirty Youth to the likes of superstar upstarts such as Paramore:  both bands have young – cute, if you’re so inclined to describe them so – female singers, and both play infectious pop-punk infused rock music.  The main difference, of …

Four more acts have been announced for this year’s PlanetMosh-sponsored Perverting The Innocent one-day festival in Dublin. Galway four piece Negativ Result are joined by new look Belfast groovers By Conquest Or Consent, Norwegian thrashers Escapetor and Torbay psycho grinders Demons Of Old Metal at Dublin’s Fibber Magee’s on Saturday …

Slayer have been confirmed as the headliners for this year’s Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival.  It is the third time the touring festival. They will be joined on the event’s by King Diamond, HellYeah and The Devil Wears Prada.  The second stage will be headlined by Whitechapel, and also feature …

Manchester-based melodic hard rockers Ten are to release their 12th studio album, ‘Isla de Muerta’, via Rocktopia Records on May 20. The album – the follow up to last year’s ‘Albion’ – is the second to feature the current line-up of vocalist Gary Hughes, lead guitarists Dann Rosingana and Steve Grocott, John …

Austrian goregrind/slamdeath trio VxPxOxAxAxWxAxMxC and Dublin hardcore/thrash crossover merchants Hollow Truth are the latest acts to be confirmed for the PlanetMosh-backed Monsters Of Rot V one-dayer. They join Abaddon Incarnate, Aklash, Altus, Attack The Day, Axecatcher, Guttrench, Job Seekers and Okus for this year’s fifth instalment, which takes place in Letterbreen, …

When the line-up for this, the fourth of the five opening heats in the first ever Bloodstock Metal 2 The Masses competition to be held in li’l ol’ Norn Iron was announced, it was generally considered that it would be by far the tightest yet… and so it proves to …

In the latter half of 2012, Northern Ireland heavyweights Sinocence emerged from what can be best described as a period of transition – one characterized by personal issues for certain members of the band, coupled with a (at the time relatively) recent line-up change – to produce the first volume …

PlanetMosh continues its support for the Northern Ireland leg of the annual Bloodstock Metal 2 The Masses competition – which gives the winners a slot on the New Blood stage at Bloodstock – by interviewing the participants in heat number four, which takes place at Belfast’s Limelight 2 on Saturday (April 4).  …

For any artist, the launch of a new work is a special occasion.  For Norn Iron’s premier heavyweights, Sinocence, the unveiling of their new EP – the second instalment in their ‘No Gods, No Masters’ triptych – called for that something a little extra special.  And so the band assembled …

The rock and metal community, perhaps more than any other in the field of music, always has been known for its generosity of spirit and support for worthy causes.  For the community in Northern Ireland, few are more special or better supported than Blaze’s Appeal, which raises funds for the …

Seminal British heavy metal trio Raven, who last year celebrated their 40th anniversary, have confirmed the release their first new studio album for five years ‘ExtermiNation’ will be issued on Steamhammer / SPV on April 27.  It will be available as a 14-track CD, a digipak (with bonus track), a …