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By Andrew Bansal

Los Angeles has been synonymous with a plethora of heavy metal over the years, but one band that has stood out in its own unique way is Armored Saint, for their brand of music that garnered them a fan base three decades ago and to this day lets them maintain a cult following which results in sold-out shows whenever they decide to take the stage on rare occasions. The album that played an indispensably crucial part in launching the band’s career was their debut full-length record ‘March Of The Saint’, which was released via Chrysalis Records exactly 30 years ago, on October 9th 1984. Continue reading “30 Years Of Armored Saint’s ‘March Of The Saint’”

By Andrew Bansal

Following the long drive from Los Angeles and the extended buildup in Atlanta, Night Demon’s North American tour with Raven is now well and truly under way. In this part of the blog, while I sit at the Night Demon merch table and listen to Raven rocking New Orleans, I’m recounting the events of the past five days (read part 1 first if you haven’t yet): Continue reading “[Blog] On The Road With Night Demon – Part 2: Getting Down To The Ritual”

By Andrew Bansal

On September 29th, I set out on a two-month North American tour with Ventura CA based NWOBHM trio Night Demon, comprising Jarvis Leatherby (vocals/bass), Brent Woodward (guitar) and Dustin Squires (drums), trekking across the continent as sole support act for British classic metal veterans Raven, not only in my capacity as journalist to document the tour through words and images but also to handle merch and roadie duties for Night Demon. Through the next eight weeks I’ll be bringing you a series of blogs to share my on-the-road experiences. Night Demon’s first show of the tour happens to be in Atlanta GA on Saturday October 4th, so this inaugural part of the blog is about our journey to Atlanta, and even though we didn’t get to do any shows along the way, it’s been an extremely eventful period as we went through the same cities and states we’ll be returning to very soon for actual shows later in the month, only this time we had plenty of chances to indulge in some touristy activities which was an interesting way to start the tour. Continue reading “[Blog] On The Road With Night Demon – Part 1: State Lines & Injury Scares”

By Andrew Bansal

In the year 1983, British classic metal group Raven, comprising the trio of John Gallagher (bass, vocals), brother Mark Gallagher (guitar, synth, vocals) and Rob Hunter (drums), released their third studio album ‘All For One’ in America on Megaforce Records and in the same year arrived here for their first Stateside adventure titled the “Kill ‘Em All For One” tour, named after their album and “Kill ‘Em All”, the title of the debut album by a then fledgling band called Metallica, who were on their first ever tour. 31 years later, while Metallica is one of the biggest bands in the world and quite far removed from their Kill ‘Em All days in every sense, Raven are still soldiering on through the efforts of the Gallagher brothers and longtime drummer Joe Hasselvander and are set to repeat history. Continue reading “Raven & Night Demon: Repeating Metal History DIY Style”

By Andrew Bansal

September 15th 2014, Downtown Independent, Los Angeles CA: Over the last three years, New York thrash giants Anthrax have redeemed themselves in a manner not even their most die-hard fans could have expected or imagined, coming out with their tenth studio album ‘Worship Music’ which matched and arguably surpassed any and all of their previous studio efforts, followed by a multi-leg world tour which saw them perform hundreds of shows, presenting the new and old material and winning their fans all over again, establishing themselves as the strongest of the so-called ‘Big Four’ of thrash in terms of the quality of new material and as a live band. It was only fitting of them to document this tour somewhere along the way, and they did so at the Teatro Caupolican in Santiago, Chile on May 10 2013, which is releasing in stores today September 16th 2014 on DVD and Blu-Ray as Anthrax’ ‘Chile On Hell’. Last night, on the eve of the release, Anthrax held theatrical premieres in New York and Los Angeles, the LA event (open to fans who pre-ordered the DVD/Blu-Ray through Amoeba Music) taking place at the Downtown Independent in the presence of guitarist Scott Ian and producer Jay Ruston who also indulged in a highly entertaining 45-minute Q&A session with this small audience after the end of the screening, gladly answering any and every question thrown at them, Chile On Hell-related and otherwise. Continue reading “Anthrax ‘Chile On Hell’ Premiere + Scott Ian Q&A Held In LA”