Harry Sword

Employed to Serve: Conquering review – thrilling, gut-churning metal

On this blistering record, which layers hardcore-infused thrash with a deadweight swing, Woking’s Employed to Serve deliver music well suited to apocalyptic times. Formed in 2014 and inspired by the likes of Converge, Meshuggah and Rolo Tomassi –…

‘Everything just kept getting bigger!’ Genesis on prog, 80s stardom and Phil Collins’s health

As they prepare what could be their final tour after 54 years, the British rock greats reflect on who they lost along the way, how they survived punk – and why Phil is skiving off his vocal practice enesis have always been slightly below the radar,”…

Iron Maiden: Senjutsu review – an ambitious, eccentric masterpiece

(Parlophone) Maiden’s creative renaissance continues in style with this playfully bombastic metal epic In recent years Iron Maiden have gone through a remarkable creative renaissance. Typified by epic prog-leaning arrangements and ambitious melodic…

No drone unturned: tracing the sound that unites ancient and modern

From the womb – where the rushing of maternal blood is heard loud and clear at 88 decibels – through myriad historical, spiritual and subcultural pathways, our connection to the drone runs deep. Many ancient instruments – didgeridoo, bullroarer,…

Venom Prison: Primeval review – potent disgust from Welsh death metallers

With their gleefully hardcore, socially astute take on death metal, Venom Prison have been responsible for some of the most energising extreme music of recent years. Musically aligned with the more melodic end of death metal (think Carcass or At the…

Riley Gale: the death of thrash metal's great idealist is a terrible loss

Fusing the technical prowess of thrash metal with the warp speed blast of hardcore – and a political stance that emphasised compassion and tolerance – Power Trip’s Nightmare Logic (2017) was one of the defining underground metal albums of the past…

How a Gin Craze Nearly Destroyed 18th-Century London

_This article originally appeared on MUNCHIES. _ Between 1700 and 1760, London was involved in a passionate but staggeringly destructive love affair with gin, popularly known as "the mother's ruin." The city was positively drowning in the stuff. By…

Exploring the History of Italy's Experimental 'Radical Discos'

Design in Italy in the mid-1960s was in an exciting state of flux. Radical Design, a movement of architects dissatisfied with the status quo, eschewed the idea of purely functional buildings, instead deciding to focus a little more on the feelings…

Yakuza, Pills and Rave: An Interview with One of Britain's Most Notorious Drug Smugglers

If you were smoking weed in the UK in the 1970s and 80s, there's a good chance you had Howard Marks to thank. Smuggler, raconteur and best selling writer – not to mention tireless campaigner for the legalisation of cannabis – Marks is a…

A Conversation with the 'Neo Naturists' – the Artists Who Celebrate the Naked Body By Getting Naked

Riding naked down the King's Road on a white horse in full rush hour traffic; streaking through the National Gallery; dousing themselves in body paint in underground clubs; distributing prawns in place of communion wafers to horrified New Romantics…

Vetkuiven en vlindermessen: opgroeien als Teddy Boy in de jaren zeventig

In de jaren zeventig en tachtig waren verspreid over Nederland verschillende rock-'n-roll-clubs actief, zoals de Rocking Rebels in Eindhoven. Lees hier het interview met Rooie Frans van de Eindhovense Elvisbende, en bekijk de fotoserie van de…

L’épidémie de gin qui a failli détruire la ville de Londres

Cet article a initialement été publié par Munchies France. Entre 1700 et 1760, Londres aura connu une histoire d’amour passionnée mais (étonnamment) destructrice avec le gin. Une idylle qui a valu à la boisson son surnom de « The Mother’s Ruin » –…

Wise up suckers! How grebo rivalled Britpop as the sound of 90s indie

The British indie timeline is well established – documentaries skip from Madchester to Britpop swifter than Keith Allen necking a pint of lager down the Groucho Club. But this was never the full story. During the late-1980s, the small Black Country…

The Guide to Getting Into Cocteau Twins, the Hypnotic Dream Pop-Pioneers

In many ways, Electric Wizard are more than a band. Yes, they’re a British doom metal institution – but they’re also a celluloid wormhole, a reading list, an aberration in the fabric of space and time who have fed generations of freaks from a…

« Au XVIII e siècle, le Fernet-Branca était utilisé pour soigner le choléra,

Mon premier contact avec le Fernet-Branca a eu lieu chez St. John, il y a quelques années. Un petit verre contenant un liquide visqueux d’un brun profond était posé face à moi sur la table. Étrange, herbacé, d’une amertume intense, sexy ; il était…

Fernet-Branca var engang en 'kur' mod kolera

Denne artikel er oprindeligt udgivet af MUNCHIES USA i 2015. Min første oplevelse med Fernet-Branca foregik på London-restauranten St. John for nogle år siden. Et lille glas ondskabsfuld, dybbrun væske blev placeret på bordet: Grumset, intenst…

Fernet-Branca Was Once a ‘Cure’ for Cholera

My first experience with Fernet-Branca took place at St. John a few years back. A small glass of viscous, deep brown liquid was placed on the table: murky, intensely bitter, herbaceous, sexy; positively medieval. The aroma was briny and…

Derfor var gin ved at ødelægge London i det 18. århundrede

Denne artikel er oprindeligt udgivet af MUNCHIES USA Mellem 1700 og 1760 havde London en intens og utroligt destruktiv kærlighedsaffære med gin – en drik der også blev kaldt for "mødrenes undergang". Byen var ved at drukne i lortet. I 1730 blev det…

L'épidémie de gin qui a failli détruire la ville de Londres

Cet article a initialement été publié par Munchies France. Entre 1700 et 1760, Londres aura connu une histoire d'amour passionnée mais (étonnamment) destructrice avec le gin. Une idylle qui a valu à la boisson son surnom de « The Mother's Ruin » -…

Cum era ginul să distrugă Londra în secolul 18

Între 1700 și 1760, Londra a avut o relație pasională și distructivă cu ginul, care era cunoscut sub numele „ruina mamei". Orașul era, practic, înecat în gin. Prin 1730, existau aproximativ șapte mii de magazine de gin și se distilau anual zece…