News |

Guitar World Column |

Interviews |

Pictures |

Album Reviews |

Gig Reviews |

Release Dates |

History |

Articles |

Setlists |

Upcoming |

Contact

February 12th, 2011, Los Angeles CA

Background: 2005 was really when I got introduced to the world of live music. Those three gigs at a cosy little place called Unwind Center in the Indian city of Chennai played a major part in giving me a taste of just how amazing, and surreal, it feels to be part of a metal crowd. I started keeping an eye out for similar gigs even though they were very few and far between. Back then if someone told me that I would be running my own metal website, going to four shows a week, and interviewing my favorite bands, I would have laughed it off.

But truth is stranger than fiction as it's turned out in my case. I started out simply by writing about every show I went to, and the first outlet I found was the myspace blog. I used to update that blog and then post links wherever I could, on various forums across the internet. Obviously someone noticed and liked what he read, as I was brought on board as a writer for Full Metal Rock. I enjoyed my 6-month stint for them as it was my first real outlet and opened doors to the music industry. By the end of January 2010, I was feeling motivated and confident enough to start my own website, and hence Metal Assault went online on February 12th, 2010.

Stats: To say that we've achieved a lot in this one-year period is an understatement already, and here are some numbers to put things into perspective.

• Shows/events covered: 164
• Bands reviewed live: 135
• Venues visited: 70
• Countries: United States, India, United Kingdom
• US States: California, Texas, Arizona, New York
• Interviews: 487
• Albums reviewed: 118

Highlights: Although this was very hard to put together because for us every single show and every single interview is a highlight, but here are some of the major highlights from our first year in the media:

1. Interview with Lemmy [Motorhead]

2. Interview with Rudolf Schenker & Matthias Jabs [The Scorpions]

3. Interviews with Wolf Hoffman & Peter Baltes [Accept]

4. Interview with Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth [Overkill]

5. Interview with Mille Petrozza [Kreator]

6. Interviews with Devin Townsend, Doro Pesch, Neil Turbin [ex-Anthrax], Jordan Rudess [Dream Theater], Kai Hansen [Gamma Ray], Dave Brock [Hawkwind], Michael Kiske [ex-Helloween], Page Hamilton [Helmet], Jon Schaffer [Iced Earth], Paul Di'Anno [ex-Iron Maiden], Blaze Bayley [ex-Iron Maiden], Chris Poland [OHM, ex-Megadeth], Jeff Young [ex-Megadeth], Joey Jordison [Murderdolls], Geoff Tate [Queensryche], Herman Rarebell [ex-Scorpions], Frank Mullen [Suffocation], Russell Allen [Symphony X], Yngwie Malmsteen, Jeff Scott Soto, Dave Meniketti [Y&T] and Zakk Wylde

7. Multiple interviews with members of 1349, Acrassicauda, Armored Saint, Arsis, Dark Tranquillity, Death Angel, DevilDriver, Eluveitie, Enslaved, Epica, Exodus, Fear Factory, Finntroll, Forbidden, Heathen, Hypocrisy, Immolation, Kataklysm, Killing Joke, Megadeth, Nevermore, Primal Fear, Slayer, Soulfly, Testament and Vader

8. Interviews with members of Alice Cooper, Angra, Annihilator, Anthrax, Apocalyptica, Arch Enemy, Blind Guardian, Cathedral, Cynic, Decapitated, Dimmu Borgir, Drowning Pool, Ensiferum, Extreme, Eyehategod, Fozzy, GWAR, Halford, HammerFall, Helloween, Kamelot, Katatonia, Malevolent Creation, Municipal Waste, Nile, Ozzy, Pestilence, Ratt, Rhapsody Of Fire, Rob Zombie, Saint Vitus, Sodom, Soilwork, Sonata Arctica, Stratovarius, Suicidal Tendencies, The Faceless, Triumph, Turisas, UFO and Volbeat

9. Interviews with some of our new favorite bands like After The Burial, Animals As Leaders, Blackguard, Bonded By Blood, Conducting From The Grave, Darkblack, Decrepit Birth, Dreaming Dead, Evile, Goatwhore, Holy Grail, Icarus Witch, Infernaeon, Intronaut, Nachtmystium, Periphery, Philm, Powerglove, Skeletonwitch, The Agonist, The Binges, Toxic Holocaust and Warbringer

10. Providing a helping hand by promoting some of the local LA area talent in the form of killer bands like Isolation In Infamy, Scythe, Tormentor and Velosity

11. Photographer access to shoot last year's A Perfect Circle, Jason Bonham, Ozzy and Slash gigs, some of the hardest gigs to get approved for.

12.Access to NAMM 2011 as media personnel under the Metal Assault name

Future: It will be a challenge to keep up to all of that in the upcoming 12 months, but it's a challenge we will very much relish. Not only will we focus on improving upon areas like album reviews and live reviews, this period will see Metal Assault step into yet unchartered territories like the print world and mobile platforms. There are also immediate plans to open up a European section of the website, wherein the content will be published in European languages for the benefit of readers from that part of the world.

Thank You: First of all I want to thank my initial and current staff members as well as those who have contributed to the website in one way or another:

Next, I would like to thank all the bands for agreeing to be featured on our website, and their respective labels and publicists for setting everything up.

Finally, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to my biggest inspiration, Indian cricket journalist Harsha Bhogle. He never played competitive cricket, but his sheer love for the game has made him the best in his field, and it's something that motivates me every single day of my life.

Here's promising that there'll be even more to report come February 12th 2012, including interviews with Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Dave Mustaine and Metallica. Thanks for reading, and stay metal! \m/

Tweet