Chicago-based instrumental metal trio AZIOLA CRY is set to release their third album “The Ironic Divide”, on late March through New Jersey-based progressive metal label Sensory Records. Today we are premiering their single for the track “Hollow Reflections”, which can be seen below. Looking into a mirror, the protagonist begins to appear unrecognizable, as only a fragment of who they once were. The good that once existed is now fading and being replaced with hatred. This is the basis of “Hollow Reflections.” “Intended as a somewhat break in heaviness, this was the last song written for the album. I like to write…

The Keep it True festival has existed for almost two decades now, and it’s held in Lauda-Königshofen in Germany, and the whole philosophy behind the event is to have a cast of bands who in the minds of the organizers, should have had better luck in the metal ranks. The festival seems to focus on bands from the 1984-1994 period, and organizer Oliver Weinsheimer takes pride in how successful it has been in terms of creating a captive audience. Over the years, Keep it True has featured headliners like Cirith Ungol, Fifth Angel and Agent Steel. Pretty much all the…

IRON MAIDEN’s “Killers” turns 40 today. Follow me as I revisit the track-list, the recording process, the turmoil surrounding the band at the time, and much more. There’s an old saying about sophomore records: “you have your entire life to write your first album, but six months to write the second one”. That thought didn’t seem to worry Steve Harris and co. as they entered Battery Studio in November 1980 to record the follow up to their much-incensed self titled debut. Right before the beginning of the recording, the band had to cope with a lineup change, and one that…