Devil's Horns Zine

  Fantastic interview with Jay Weinberg on the eve of the Infectious Grooves tour by Mark J. I was stoked to speak to this drumming legend who is now a part of the current Infectious Grooves and Suicidal Tendencies lineup. He has played in some amazing bands, such as Madball, Slipknot,  Against Me!,  Bruce Springsteen, and the E- Street Band. But one thing for sure this is a solid dude full of utter authenticity, determination and drive. This was a relaxed and deep conversation on many topics including: -How it came about that he joined Infectious Grooves, then Suicidal Tendencies -How easily the process was from the first jam with IG and how it is always about energy, being yourself and bringing you to the table -IG even recorded a new track given the high energy of this new lineup -While the members bring a high amount of experience to the band, it's more about energy, vibe and the pure essence of why we make music -Jay's incredible musical journey so far; including Mad...

  Machine Head and Fear Factory- Gig Review Melb 14/6/24. Sensational Metal show in every way. First up, cheers to John from Nuclear Blast for the media pass. Secondly, Melbourne had terrible parking in the CBD. Thirdly, AFL game attendees took all the parking spots. When I finally arrived at the Forum, Fear Factory opened with their sensational opener Shock. If you, for some insane reason, think Fear Factory fans had an issue with the new line-up and Milo as the new singer, you would be wrong. I had friends who went both nights and the same observations were very clear, the mosh pit at times was even crazier than the Machine Head one and the deep love for this band hasn't faded one bit. The energy level was awesome from start to end, tight and engaging with the audience. The setlist was a brilliant mix of most of their albums, with a heavy quota from Demanufacture-the title track, Zero Signal and the timeless fave, Replica, and Obsolete; with the mighty Edgecrusher (2nd track ...

  X's for Eyes-In Horrid Waves album review by Mark J. FFO: Wild, insane and frankly mindblowing extreme metal/noise/industrial chaos. Wow, wow, wow have to say I loved finding this gem; this is  X's For Eyes the one-man-band project by Melbourne tech metal band Five Star Prison Cell’s drummer Marc Whitworth, incorporating elements of scathing metal, noise electronics, brutal sludge, & technical dexterity. and we all know how sick and clever Five Star Prison Cell were. In case you didn't read this bio: Riding at the peak of the Australian metal wave until their dissolution in 2011, Five Star Prison Cell unleashed three highly acclaimed albums between 2005 and 2010, with Whitworth and the group taking out MusicOz’s 2006 award for “Best Metal/Hardcore Artist” alongside an imposing national and international touring support rap sheet with the likes of The Dillinger Escape Plan, Danzig, Arch Enemy, Cephalic Carnage, The Black Dahlia Murder, Karnivool, Spiderbait and countl...

 Aborted-Vault of Horror album review by Mark J.  FFO: Guts in a blender-type metal brilliance. This classic Deathgrind band are simply unrelenting and their last five albums are searing beasts and they add more intensity with each album. Live they are killer and having interviewed their singer Sven previously, I can attest to this band is the real fucking deal. But this record is just ferocious as fuck, so sick be it the high level of guitarwork, the crushing drums /bass or the 10 guest vocalists on the album. The brilliant album art says it all. This insane album is horrifically brutal and so damn enjoyable. These are top-quality guests on this banger, but seriously it could stand alone without half of these-not a criticism, but the mere fact is the music is perfect for their well-refined mix of ghastly death metal meets goregrind. The production is chunky and not too overproduced to me, it is a wild mix of aggression and very clear instrument recording-wise, but a very obvi...

  Morphine-Dysphoria 2.   This solid release appears to be the conclusion of the Transition Trilogy from DSBM masters Morphine and is as solid as the previous releases, but more confident and brutal. The thematic lyrical content is very obviously about gender identity and LGBT+ topics,(if these topics bother you, take a long hard look at yourself, it's 2024) but musically follows suit in the abrasive black metal of the previous releases. If you are a fan of classic black metal band style this is definitely for you. The production is more refined than the earliest black metal period which I despised because of the lack of any form of production.  Gender, HRT  and  Never Passing  are all go for the throat bangers with minimal variation between them, but hey that’s how Black Metal generally is.  Never Passing  thankfully has some tempo variation towards the end to add some differential flair to its ending. Life in Loathing  is a great track, bec...

  Suldusk-Anthesis.  We previously reviewed and utterly worshipped Emily's ( as it was more of a solo artist project then)album Lunar Falls and also had the pleasure of interviewing her; finding a passionate, grounded and articulate artist who had a very clear vision of her goals on that album; whilst at the same time declaring how much of a metalhead she is also!!. Much time has ticked by and Suldusk is very much a full band experience now, they have also signed to Napalm Records and dropped this atmospheric beast of a sophomore album. The overall tone and atmosphere is more deep, emotive and vigorous, even in the album's quieter moments. But regardless of all the grandiose superlatives you may use to describe this masterpiece, this album is gloriously stirring and so visceral. Take  Crystalline , a touching track that is equally brooding and acidic with the perfect balance of doomy folk and black metal. Just when you think you have a track all worked out, Emily and crew...

  Ministry-HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES. Apparently, this could be the final album for the band, with rumours also floating around the band redoing their first album as a final bow. Thankfully if this is the last album, what a grand finale. The last few albums were quite underwhelming and quite dull, but HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES is a thunderous, raucous and classic for the band. It utilises all that is glorious for Ministry and covers or touches on the important stuff this band delivers. Remember this band has been kicking since 1981 and that was the same year as Metallica and whereas that now lame band has only had 4 decent albums out of 11, this industrial metal tour de force has at least 10/16 cracking albums, and can still crush most audiences on the live front. This has the landmark characteristics, solid and well-placed samples, absurd but punky vocals, wild beats and acidic riffs all in a catchy manner, even Jello is on this. Is it still political, yes of course but if that’s woke for you, ...

  Eight Count- Out for Blood. FFO: Tough and gritty hardcore. Eight Count-Out for Blood. As previously stated, the waters of nasty Frankston produce some of the hardest and most aggressive hardcore we have heard in years. Out for Blood builds on the solid catalogue this band has produced and each release steps it up two or three levels. Now we have their best release, six uncompromising tracks of muscular and warlike straight-down-the-line hardcore, free of all the trendy bullshit that is polluting hardcore worldwide at present. The additional guitarist to the lineup adds the brawn to the lineup and Oz's current best vocalist at the wheel is a foundation of deep and belligerent bass/drums that sound like an armed regiment.  King Hit  continues with their boxing-titled tracks and is exactly what an intro should be; forceful and knuckle-dragging tough hardcore. Then we have Sir Scott Vogel of Terror guesting on the second track,  Revenge  which is fully Melbourne ...

  Interview with Brendan Preston of All This Filth-FFO: Hectic Industrial/Metal music, great conversation and inspiration. Anyone with a passing interest in Australian metal, particularly passionate extreme metal that dips into groove and industrial metal, must know of Perth's almighty All This Filth. They recently dropped easily the album of the year-Tomorrow Will Be Better? which we recently reviewed and it is essential and a certified classic. I had the opportunity to have a very long-form conversation with their singer, Brendan Preston and we certainly covered many topics including: -the history of the band, the initial concept, prior bands and main influences -the stylistic changes over their very solid catalogue -the differences between all the releases -we chatted about some of his favourite songs off the album at this point in time -the production and mastering of the release, including the legendary Alan Douches (Hatebreed, Devil Driver, Grandmaster Flash, Buzzcocks, Conve...