Diaries of Doom

Desertfest London have announced their first batch of bands for their 2023 edition, running from May 5th - May 7th next year.  The festival say: Returning stronger than ever thanks to the unyielding support of our steadfast fan base, Desertfest is now entering its eleventh year next May. Kicking off the initial 2023 announcement, we welcome cult heroes Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats to headline the Roundhouse for the very first time. As one of the most widely-requested bands in the Desertfest-sphere, the Uncle Acid amalgamation of riff-driven hard-rock & trippy melodic weavings has allowed a uniquely original, yet utterly timeless beast to form.  Swedish heavy-blues maestros Graveyard join once again, eliciting raw emotion with their lyrical prowess & introspective compositions. One of the greatest live acts of all time, German groovers KADAVAR and worshippers of vintage occult folklore Blood Ceremony , all of whose boundary pushing retro-rock sounds make a gratifying return.

Birmingham Death Metal newcomers Hand of the Host are due to release their latest song Cannibalistic Self Mutilation on 03/10/22. Following on from the success of previous single Demonic Tormentor , Cannibalistic Self Mutilation is a throwback to classic death metal with chainsaw guitars and bruising drums. It's certain to evoke the brutality of the lyrical subject matter, which takes inspiration from the 2009 case of a New Zealand man who acted upon the fantasy of amputating and eating his own body parts. With ominous bass notes in the intro, Hand of the Host waste no time in setting an atmosphere. The doomy opening chords and foreboding guitar squeals suck you into their depraved world before the verse even kicks in. The medium pacing of the track is ideal for a sea of headbangers to nod along to, with double bass drumming that pounds away and keeps the song ticking. A lead guitar section towards the end really impresses, with a tasteful, expressive performance.  C

Midlands Extreme Metallers  Ashen Crown have announced a change in their ranks.  After the departure of guitarist Jay Rogers , they faced a huge task in finding a replacement who was a good fit both musically and in personality and immediately got to work on finding a guitarist to cover upcoming shows. Sy Taplin ( Wired THC , Ex- Savage Messiah , Ex- L-Sol-Tace ) was approached by the band, having performed with him previously and being well aware of his playing ability and pedigree, to initially stand in temporarily. After a successful headline set at Beermageddon Metal Festival , Sy and the band agreed that they would like to make it a permanent fixture.  Ste Fowkes , guitarist of Ashen Crown said “ In one rehearsal, we instantly realised he was a perfect fit musically, the vibe was right and the collective decision to offer him the spot full time was unanimous - We are massively excited to begin injecting Sy's creativity into AC and working to deliver a strong follow up f