Loud As Hell News

Music publicist (and friend) Jon Asher (Asher Media Relations) sent this piece of news my way and I just had to share it. While I am not up to the task of attending it myself (old age, funds, and a lack of passport being just a few of the top reasons), Loud As Hell has a absolutely killer line-up going on and it sure sounds as if it will be one for the ages! Read on for all the details:



Western Canada's decibel breaking heavy metal festival Loud As Hell returns for its sixth consecutive year presented by Semchuk Productions, Jurassic Ink Custom Tattoo, Prairie Fire Events, and Asher Media Relations. Hosted in the Alberta badlands in Drumheller, this year's three day festival from August 4th-6th features 40 bands from across Western Canada and beyond. Ready to resurrect the roaring echoes of the dinosaurs that once ruled the area millions of years ago, the 2017 headliners Detroit tyrants BATTLECROSS will be melting the faces off headbangers and sure to stir a massive pit along with stoner rockers Vancouver's BLACK WIZARD will fellow city comrades sludge riffers BISON and Canadian 80's thrash legends AGGRESSION. The festival also includes various vendors, tattoo artists, suspension demos, guitar and drum clinics. Full line-up and set times listed below.

Weekend passes are now available at pre-sale price for $79 CAD until March 1st and will increase to the regular price of $99 CAD. Weekend passes include tent camping (additional onsite charges for RV's, trailers, & motorhomes).
Tickets available at http://www.loudashell.com/tickets.

Loud As Hell - 2017 Line Up & Set Times
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/572801856244503/ 

Friday, August 4
Cocaine Mustache (Vancouver, BC) - 12:45am
Bison (Vancouver, BC) - 11:15pm
Exit Strategy (Calgary, AB) - 10pm
Mortillery (Edmonton, AB) - 9pm
Sentient (Calgary, AB) - 8pm
W.M.D. (Calgary, AB) - 7pm
Leave The Living (Red Deer, AB) - 6pm

Saturday, August 5
Shocker (Edmonton, AB) - 12:45am
Aggression (Vancouver, AB) - 11:15pm
Planet Eater (Regina, SK) - 10pm
Tyrants Demise (Winnipeg, MB) - 9pm
Expain (Vancouver, BC) - 8pm
VX36 (Northern California) - 7pm
Neck of The Woods (Vancouver, BC) - 6pm
Shark Infested Daughters (Calgary, AB) - 5:15pm
God Said Kill (Port Coquitlam, BC) - 4:30pm
Burning Effigy (Calgary, AB) - 3:45pm
Social Arsonist (Chile/Vancouver, BC)- 3pm
Hammerdrone (Calgary, AB) - 2:15pm
Cell (Winipeg, MB)- 1:30pm
Tides of Kharon (Edmonton, AB) - 12:45pm
The Cadavor Dog (High River, AB) - 12pm
Concrete Funeral (Calgary, AB) - 11:15am
Nuclear Oath (Medicine Hat, AB) - 10:30am

Sunday, Aug 6
Battlecross (Detroit, MI) - 11:15pm
Black Wizard (Vancouver, BC) - 10pm
Galactic Pegasus (Vancouver, BC) - 9pm
Scythia (Calgary, AB) - 8pm
Nylithia (Vancouver, BC) - 7pm
Dead Asylum (Vancouver, BC) - 6pm
Altars of Grief (Regina, SK) - 5:15pm
Skepsis (Edmonton, AB) - 4:30pm
Tales of The Tomb (Edmonton, AB) - 3:45pm
Tyrant of Chaos (Lethbridge, AB) - 3pm
Slaughterhauser (Mission City, BC) - 2:15pm
Sovreign Enemy (Winnipeg, MB)  - 1:30pm
Statue of Demur (Calgary, AB) - 12:45pm
Gales of Avalon (Calgary, AB) - 12pm
Immunize (Edmonton, AB) - 11:15am
Caste of Shadows (Lethbridge, AB) - 10:30am

Loud As Hell 2017 social media hashtag is #LAH666.

Also check out Metal-Rules.com's live review of LAH 2016 here.

For more info, please visit these links:

https://www.facebook.com/LoudAsHellFestival

http://www.loudashell.com
@Loudashellfest #LAH666

Video Links: https://www.youtube.com/user/SlimBzTV

Festival Bio:

Loud As Hell Metal Festival in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada will be celebrating year 6 in 2017. As always the festival takes place over August long weekend from August 4th-6th. They always work their hardest to deliver the best lineup in the West ready to melt your face off. Featuring over 30 of the top Canadian metal bands you won’t want to miss any of it. And don't forget about their freak shows, burlesque dancers, clinics, vendors and dinosaurs!

Metal News: Hellraiser announces new album "No Turning Back"!

It has been a long time coming, but I am stoked to report that Alton, Illinois' Hellraiser are finally releasing a follow-up to their 1995 debut-album "Cut Yer Teeth On This"! That's right ladies and gentlemen. The very same Hellraiser that appeared in my January 8th, 2012 Forgotten Gems article* has announced the long-overdue release of album number. Man alive I never thought I would see the day that this hard & heavy outfit would treat us to another round of down-home/shot-worthy metal so imagine my surprise when lead vocalist/songwriter J.W. Street contacted me out of the blue to ask if I would be interested in covering the group's new release! Of course the answer to that question was a rousing "Hell Yeah!"! And as much as I loved the band's last album, "Cut Yer Teeth On This", there is simply no comparison between the two recordings. "No Turning Back" is not just the band's sophomore release and it sure as hell is not just another hard rock/heavy metal platter. Instead, "No Turning Back" is (hand's down!!!!) the COMEBACK album of the year! All I can say is WOW! Band members Jeff Street, Robert Thornton (Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar & Backing Vocals), Brett Hall (Bass Guitar & Backing Vocals) and Craig Moss (Drums & Backing Vocals) have outdone themselves and then some! Obviously these heavy rockers spilled some serious blood over the making of this new album as it is one ass-kicking monster of a metal album from start to finish! October 25th is it's tentative due date and for fans of Hellraiser this album will be well-worth the long wait! So, what of the album then? Well, read on! The overture "Time (Stands Still For No One)" leads right into "No Turning Back" and my first thought was was "I am totally digging the mix of Motörhead, Judas Priest, Metallica and Motley Crüe!". Heavy as it gets and a hundred times more hot than their name suggests, Hellraiser makes quick work of the naysayers who still insist that rock and roll is a young man's game with "Stand Up" serving as their battle cry! "Devil Woman" is blistering AC/DC worship (as if there is anything wrong with that!) while "Locked And Loaded" is outlaw Kiss. I must confess that by this point in "No Turning Back" I did start to wonder if this was the same band that made "Cut Yer Teeth On This". Simply put the energy of this band is off the charts! Talk about getting better with age! It's as if the years off did nothing but rejuvenate this band. I mean "King Of The Road" sounds like Dio getting shitfaced with American hard rock/blue's band The Four Horsemen while "Go Away (Bitch)" is AC/DC and/or Krokus as envisioned by a dirty gang of riff-hungry garage metalheads! Love it! "Little Bit Of Action" is Hellraiser doing what they do best. By mixing up a lethal cocktail of rock, hard rock and heavy metal and then delivering it straight to the listeners eardrums it's nothing short of heaven! The regularly version of "No Turning Back" ends strong with "Nuthin 4 Nuthin....." and it's cuts like this (where the band perfectly blends together the likes of AC/DC, Guns 'N Roses and Motörhead" that leave you aching for more! I'll tell you what. I had to hit repeat several times just because I could not get enough of the new Hellraiser! This one is just track after track of hard rock gold! Now, while the regularly album ends there (incl. my "bootleg" copy which simply reads "Radio Promo Copy"!) the digital version of "No Turning Back" looks like it will include two bonus tracks! At least that is per the group's Facebook page. The two tracks in question are on "Heatstrokes" (Krokus) and "Trick or Treat" (Fastway). As I have not heard the two cover tracks I cannot in good conscience comment on the quality (or lack thereof) of these digital album exclusives. That said, both Krokus and Fastway are like-minded acts making the choice of covers a particularly inspiring event. The thing is no matter what version of Hellraiser's upcoming album you spring for we're still talking about the strength of the group's original compositions. That is the heart of "No Turning Back" and it's a heart that will hopefully keep on pumping this kind of killer music! Let's just hope that the wait between this one and album three isn't quite so long!

You can find the band online here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hellraiser/216918791685237

*http://metalmark.blogspot.com/2012/01/forgotten-gems-hellraiser-cut-yer-teeth.html

Metal News: Dead Inside Records announces the signing of hard rock/groove metal band Muckagee!

In what will most certainly be a win-win situation for all parties involved, Dead End Records (a fantastic new independent label based in the San Francisco Bay Area that was built by musicians for musicians!) has 

announced the recent signing of San Jose, California's own Muckagee. With one full-length CD already to their name (2012's well-received "What you See") and a new EP entitled "Twisted Control" in the works, Muckagee (pronounced: "Muck-ah-jee") is all set to bring their grove-infused hard rock/alternative blues metal to the main stage for all to hear and (damn-straight!) enjoy! In the meantime the hard & heavy group has released the official video for their track "Over". Appearing on the group's 2012 debut-album, "What You See", "Over" is a groove-heavy pressure cooker where lead vocalist Mzao "Mo" Waters (a one-man wrecking machine with a powerful set of pipes!) and crew slowly turn up the heat before burning it all down! With Bob Lemos and Alvin Gatewood scorching the lines on guitars and the tight rhythm section Dave Wilson and Art Williams (bass and drums respectively) providing a blistering back end this California five-piece has all of the tools necessary to take that next big step!