VIEW HEAVY DIGIMAG #477 HERE This week’s cover story is with legendary vocalist Jorn Lande, who joined forces with Tony Iommi to sing on Iommi‘s upcoming album From The Dark which is out next week. It’s an interesting chat and one that puts a lot of things in perspective. We also spent time with Mortiis, […]
For Brisbane punk outfit Gun Of Ishiki, making music is about more than getting a crowd moving. Armed with a politically charged message, a DIY attitude and a desire to make a difference, the band are determined to prove that punk can still challenge the system while inspiring people to take action. The band’s unconventional […]
When you talk about the absolute Mount Rushmore of heavy metal, the conversation begins and ends with the Riff Lord himself, Tony Iommi. But when the master of doom decides to unleash a brand new sonic assault upon the world, he needs a voice that doesn’t just cut through the smoke—it commands it. Enter Jorn […]While perhaps not as flash, or commercially successful as some of the others who also came up during the great British guitar player explosion of the late 60s, Richard Thompson has remained more consistently interesting than very nearly all of them.
Even putting aside his work with Fairport Convention – although something as great as their 1969 album Liege & Lief should always be kept relatively close – he’s built up an enviable catalogue since his 1972 solo debut, and copies of I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight and Shoot Out The Lights, both recorded with ex-wife Linda, belong in every sensible person’s home.
Hippies, Thugs And Heroes is his relatively swift follow-up to 2024’s acclaimed Ship To Shore, and was recorded with the same crack band, plus added horns and accordions, near the New Jersey home he shares with Zara Phillips, who chimes in on vocals. It kicks off with the 12-string guitars of Sorcerer’s Apprentice, an English approximation of Tom Petty approximating The Byrds. Thompson’s tale refers back to his spiritual searching in the 70s when not every leader was what he was looking for. Cocaine Walking, Booze Talking, the single, remembers other chancers and cads Thompson has run up against, as his Telecaster and Michael Jerome’s drums duke it out.
There’s a fallen soul who left a town called Hope long ago laid in a Pauper’s Grave, a tribute to the humble navvies in Unsung Hero, a dig at thieves in ties in the rollicking Everybody’s Stealing, and another conman scoundrel in guitar wigout Stringer. All are fine songs that testify to Thompson’s mastery of both Fender and folk.
Where he really gets you are the songs of heartbreak. Make Believe You Don’t Know Me has a love that’s best left behind, but the lonesome mandolin of The Soul In Me, which has, of course, died, is more desolate still.
Thompson isn’t finished, though. Pipe Dreams may have a jaunty tune, but he’s still dreaming about what he can’t have, and then, when you’re contemplating sticking your head in the oven and being done with the pain of living altogether, he finishes with Siren. The album’s best song – just him and his guitar – is the kind of thing you could imagine being sung 100 years from now or 100 years ago. A love keeps him from where he really should be because ‘love’s the only thing that matters’.
A master at work.
There is a point in every band’s evolution when it becomes necessary to strip everything back and ask a simple question: What is it that makes us who we are? For UK death metal force, CELESTIAL SANCTUARY, that question became the foundation for Cradle Of The Rotten, Shrine To Those Most Foul, a bold and […]
MIDNIGHT is pleased to present a visualizer for Violence On Violence live. The track comes off the band’s Satanic Attack Live! recording set for release on November 6 via Metal Blade Records. Reigning in hell, screaming like a storm, MIDNIGHT’s obscenely intense aural display of lust, filth, and sleaze ripped the Los Angeles faithful a […]
Bay Area thrash icons HEATHEN make a triumphant return, announcing their forthcoming magnum opus Lifetime in Hell, dropping February 19, 2027, via Napalm Records. Alongside the album news, they have unleashed the explosive first single, Escapegoat. Opening with a classic Let’s go! rallying cry, the track storms forward with delicious two-stepping thrash excellence, before blossoming […]
Last year, trap metal progenitors DROPOUT KINGS dropped Yokai, the final record featuring enigmatic frontman Adam Ramey following his untimely passing. After bringing together a career-spanning lineup of Kings current and past, the band took this celebration of Ramey’s life on the road to share with fans as everyone tried to heal from the shock. […]