Opinion

Arriving for their third time at Hard Rock Hell, Logan were due to play Stage One at 4pm, but before then I sat them down for a little chat.  Their new album is due out in 2014 and is currently in the final stages of production.  I was interested to …

Just the second night of their ten date UK tour, Skarlett Riot played Stage 2 at Hard Rock Hell in the early evening…but before they got to do that it was down to the press area for interrogation by the waiting media.  Here Planetmosh caught up with Skarlett (vocals, guitar) …

Arriving at Hard Rock Hell 7 and heading straight into a day of interviews, Planetmosh managed to grab some of that interview time with Alx (bass) and Philty (drums) from Fatal Smile before their set on Stage 2 later that evening.   This was the penultimate show for the UK …

  The Mars Chronicles and Klone were the first two bands of the night. To be honest neither really were my cup of tea. While both were both technically good bands, they lacked that ‘umph’, or something remarkable. Some sections were either too generic or a bit maidenly – that …

Early afternoon on Friday before their  set on Stage One I spoke to Benji Webbe (Vocals) and Arya Goggin (Drums) to hear more about their new album Kill The Power, how they met and what their highlight was for 2013. Their new album is due for release on 27 January …

Regular visitors to the Hard Rock Hell stages, Spit Like This were back again this year.  Their second album Normalityville Horror was released in May 2012 and I was interested to hear how the song writing process goes for the band and their highlight for 2013.  For those of you …

The night kicked off with American alternative rock band American Fangs.  They kick off the night with lots of energy and noise.  Quite early on in their short set, the singer jumped down off the stage, climbed the barrier and jumped into the audience.  He then made his way through …

With the Northern Ireland rock and metal scene on somewhat of a high at the moment – no fewer than six bands from this small part of the world performed at the recent Hard Rock Hell, leading to rumours that next year’s event may be moved to Belfast – the …

Mia Klose’s acoustic set on Friday at Hard Rock Hell 7 went down a storm even with a bit of a power cut at the end.  After a full day of interviews I dragged them back to the media center on Saturday for another interview to find out what has …

There hasn’t been as much controversy about a Download headliner since My Chemical Romance topped the bill in 2007; even Feeder and The Offspring got better receptions in 2005 and 2008. But with a new album that reached #1 in both the UK and the US and a near-sold out …

With the grey clouds broiling overhead heralding the true onset of a wet Belfast winter, and even the hardiest of ‘fleg’ protestors scurrying for the comfort of the gluhwein tents in the nearby Christmas Market to which they so vehemently object, the the most diehard warriors from the city’s metal …

Zombie Lake are a trans-Atlantic old school thrash metal outfit, instigated back in 2003 when bassist Derek Schilling, from New York hatecore crew Neglect, made contact with Martin Missy, vocalist with German thrash legends Protector:  as the pair’s personal friendship evolved so did their musical relationship and now, a decade …

NiteRain a promising Glam/Sleaze band from Oslo, Norway released their début album NiteRain last month. The idea for the band came from singer Sebastian (Baz) Tvedtnæs back in 2006 and he joined forces with a classmate. However the band really started out in 2010 when Frank and Morten joined with …

First up tonight were King King, a blues rock band who have won the Best band award at the British Blues awards two years running – impressive stuff for a band that has only been around for a few years.  Taking to the stage in Kilts, they make it clear …

After two and a half days of hard rocking music, Lawnmower Deth were charged with closing this year’s Hard Rock Hell with their set on Stage 2.  Given that their stage time was not until 1.45am they had a little time free for interviews beforehand and I hope you’re sitting …

A cold Friday at the end of November finds me back in the Cathouse in Glasgow for the UK leg of Michael Monroe’s Horn’s and Halo’s world tour, but the temperature doesn’t matter when for my money you have one of the best front men in the rock scene at …

Possibly one of the nicest people in this industry I was happy to be able to speak to Pat McManus after the band’s set on Saturday.  Kicking off their current tour at Hard Rock Hell 7 in Wales, The Pat McManus Band packed out Stage One; starting their tour with …

Opening up the second stage at Hard Rock Hell on Saturday were The Jokers who recently finished their Spanish headlining tour.  We caught up with Paul Hurst (Guitar) and Wane Parry (vocals) later in the day to talk about their musical influences, song writing, first impressions and their very first gig, …

The last band to play Stage One at this year’s Hard Rock Hell, The Answer were at the end of a 40 date tour; wrapping things up in Wales for the Hard Rock Hellions….and what a last show it was.  I managed to catch the last 50 minutes of their …

After what can only be described as an absolutely cracking set on the last day at this year’s Hard Rock Hell, I caught up with Pete Spiby from Black Spiders.  Having just finished around six weeks of touring it was good to hear their set being described as one of his …