By Andrew Bansal
Back in the day, creating mixtapes for your own listening pleasure or that of your friends and loved ones used to be a popular activity, but with the disappearance of the cassette tape medium over the years, the mixtape has been reduced to mere nostalgic value. But in recent years, an increasing number of heavy metal bands have been pressing their new music on cassettes, more as an entertaining throwback and a collectors’ item than anything else, but Ventura, California metal trio Night Demon have taken the next step in their contribution towards the resurgence of cassettes, by compiling their very own mixtape, simply titled ‘Heavy Metal Mixtape’.
The compilation brings together the talents of 20 American old-school heavy metal bands, along with a Night Demon tune which aptly serves as the opening track. This righteous battalion of American metal includes veterans like Raven, Riot, Black Death, Hirax and Steel Prophet, along with established younger bands such as Midnight, as well as fast-rising new groups Spellcaster, Visigoth and Blade Killer, among others. This set of 21 tracks lays great emphasis on keeping it old-school but simultaneously also covers the gamut of traditional metal styles. Prime importance has been given not only to the song selections for each band but also their running order in the compilation, put forth in a manner that would engage any and every true metalhead from start to finish.
Behind the scenes, a tremendous amount of effort and planning has gone into this project. The Night Demon brainstrust came up with the idea last June during downtime on their last US tour, and constantly worked towards making it a reality on a daily basis in the midst of performing in all corners of the country on that tour, sampling a number of bands and songs before finalizing the list, contacting each band on it and for the signed bands, seeking permissions from their respective record labels, to get the music ready. Meanwhile, the cover art was also being worked on, and the end result is now in front of us.
‘Heavy Metal Mixtape’ is limited to 666 hand-numbered copies and is set for a Halloween night street date of October 31st 2015, but it will be available for sale at the Frost And Fire Metal Fest at Bombay Bar & Grill in Night Demon’s hometown next Saturday October 17. Pre-orders come with a limited edition poster and 1-inch button. For those without cassette players, this release also comes with a digital download code, but with random bits and pieces filling all the gaps between songs, bits that aren’t available for download, this is best listened to as intended, on the cassette tape format.
‘Heavy Metal Mixtape’ is every old-school metalhead’s wet dream come true, and with the support of the community, is poised to become a regular series. The coolest compilation of the 21st century beckons you.
Order your copy at HeavyMetalMixtape.com
Track Listing:
SIDE “A”
Night Demon – Screams in the Night
Riot V – Metal Warrior
Blade Killer – Lost Angels
BAT – Cruel Discipline
Raven – Fight
Spellcaster – Ghost of My Memory
Walpyrgus – We are the Wolves
Hirax – Hellion Rising
Midnight – Evil Like a Knife
Satan’s Hallow – The Horror
Steel Prophet – Trickery of the Scourge
SIDE “B”
Black Death Resurrected – The Return of the Iron Messiah
Midnight Chaser – Lion’s Choice
Visigoth – Call of the Road
Savage Master – Vengeance is Steel
Salvacion – Let Us Prey
Venomous Maximus – Through the Black
Volture – Rulebreaker
Hessian – Old Wild and Free
Harbinger – Die for Metal-Live for Death
Widow – Take Hold of the Night