RAMzine.co.uk

Bury Tomorrow ‘Runes’ is out May 26th via Nuclear Blast.

To showcase NEW Rock and Metal music! And celebrate the OLD!

What a year for Rock and Metal! We started 2013 with the highly anticipated album from Muse ‘The 2nd Law’, the album went straight to number one in the UK Rock Album Charts. We then saw new band Mallory Knox take Black Veil Brides and Foo Fighters from the number One spot with their album ‘Signals’. We had new albums from such greats as Megadeth, Dream Theater, Biffy Clyro, and Black Sabbath. We ended the year on A Day To Remembers, Alter Bridge, and Pearl Jam. With so many genres now within Rock and Metal, it is so hard to choose the best. We asked the music fans, the music journalists, and some band members what their top albums of 2013 have been. I believe this list covers it – However if we have missed any you think should be on the list, let us know in the comments box at the end of the post!

9/10

English heavy metal band Saxon are considered to be one of the front-runners of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. The band had eight UK Top 40 albums in the 1980′s including four UK Top 10 albums and two Top 5 albums. Between 1980 and 1987 Saxon established themselves as one of Europe’s biggest metal acts. They are still regularly touring and they released their 20th studio album titled “Sacrifice” in March this year.

Berit Hagen is the 23 year old Norwegian-born artist known as ‘The Commander-in-Chief.’ She is the self-proclaimed ‘First female 7-string guitarist.’ (She plays a prototype Falchion 7 string – said to be the only one of its kind in the world.) She has been roundly praised for her innovative heavy riffs, her catchy song-writing, her impressive solos, and a voice that is truly one-of-a-kind.

What an incredible Festival, this is probably one of the luckiest Festivals in the UK. For the past two years the weather has been perfect for the onslaught of phenomenal live Bands from all over the world. It’s pretty unheard of for a festival to hand out stage times of all the bands playing on the day as you usually have to pay 2-4 beers for them (Be honest, that is how everyone sees currency at festivals) and although the drink prices have risen since last year to the usual festival standards, there’s no shortage of people ‘juggling’ cups. The problems occurring last year with the huge wait times to get in for the Slam Dunklings was loads better this time round, so all in all it had evolved into a well organised monster of an event.

Without doubt the biggest and most influential metal band of the 90’s that met a sad end after their initial break up by the death of ‘Dimebag’ Darrell Abbott, a truly great loss. One that also halted any plans that Pantera could be reunited one day and from personal frustration means I will never get to see them live along with many others. Their popularity still lives on though and they’re greatly remembered and if you claim to be into metal and haven’t given them a listen then it’s something you should probably rectify very quickly. Pantera were previously a hair metal band in the 80’s but as most of those albums are not widely distributed or sold I’m going to leave them out of this Dissection as I feel they’re irrelevant to the Pantera of the 90’s. So, with that being said let’s get stuck in!

We take a look back at KISS 'Destroyer'!! \m/

They are back!!

Smiley Dave of RAMzine caught up with Dale Butler, lead sing of Malefice, at this years Takedown Festival 2013. The band have just been on a UK tour and you will be glad to know that Dale keeps the guys going by cooking breakfast for him and his crew, whilst out on the road. Malefice announce their next move exclusivly to RAMzine and that is they are next shooting a video for their track ‘Blue Prints’, taken from the new album ‘V’, none of the band are to feature in the new video. ‘V’ is out now via Transcend Music.

We paid our respects to the late Jeff Hanneman by writing our RAMzine Classic about Slayers 'Seasons In The Abyss'. \m/