EMI's 'Now That's What I Call Music!' Series Opens Trademark Dispute With Steampunk Band

London-based Steampunk band The Men That Will Be Blamed For Nothing have found themselves on the wrong end of a trademark infringement accusation by EMI's 'Now That's What I Call Music!' brand.

The time-travelling Neo-Victorian band released their debut album 'Now That's What I Call Steampunk! Volume 1' back in 2010, and in January they were given just days to either change the name of the album or to face legal action. The band, fronted by 'occult comedian' Andrew O'Neill (seen on the stages of Download, Sonisphere, Golden Gods etc), canvassed their fans for a new name for the album.

The album will be re-released both digitally and on CD with its new name 'The Steampunk Album That Cannot be Named for Legal Reasons'. In the meantime, there are less than 50 copies of the originally named CD available for fans to get their hands on.

The band's follow-up to their debut album is due for release on March 12th via Leather Apron Records, and will be entitled 'This May Be the Reason Why The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing Cannot be Killed by Conventional Weapons'.

Read more »

Everything Burns Sign with New Label

Cornwall metalcore band Everything Burns are now striking a new deal with new independent label Meshhead following last year's release of their debut album 'Home' on Rising Records.

The videos to their first two singles 'I'd Die' and 'Scars' appeared on the Scuzz, Lava and Kerrang music channels, and the band have now finished recording their new single 'Ghost & Angels' for their new label and started on the studio video shoot. Once the location is confirmed for the second live video shoot the band will be asking some of their fans to appear in the video. The single is scheduled for release in October to coincide with their UK tour. 

The band are also booked into the studio in September to finish recording the rest of their second album which will be released early next year.

Read more »

Revenant Dead Video Release and EP Download

To accompany the release of their latest single for download, Birmingham-based rock band Revenant Dead have posted a new video on their YouTube channel. A cover of the 1985 release 'Opportunities' by synthpop duo the Pet Shop Boys, the band have injected their own style into the track whilst maintaining the message about over-commercialisation and unwarranted greed.

Revenant Dead are a critics favourite, receiving accolades such as: "...high energy, almost like the best action scene in a movie." Metal Magdalene

"Revenant Dead make you proud to be British again." Loucifer Speaks Biography

Revenant Dead released their full-length CD 'Imperial Rape March' in September 2007 to outstanding reviews.

"Birmingham's Newest Metal Gods" Ultimate Guitar

"A promising debut from a band that clearly have massive potential..." Metal Discovery

"A ripping new metal band that for sure will rip the life out of all of our ears." Rock City News

In March 2010 they released their second CD, 'Two Evils' which enjoyed equal rave reviews.

"Basically, this whole album is just so damn good I don't think any of them are still in possession of their souls." EGL Magazine

"It is obvious they have soaked up...the world of metal’s heritage, before turning it into flavours to spice up their own taste of rock..." Rock Pulse Magazine
"I would highly recommend this one to anyone" Soundsheavy.net

"...their songs are not only amazingly well written, but they are talented as musicians & artists..." Rock N' Roll Experience

You can download the band's current EP by visiting the site: www.revenantdead.com or visiting www.facebook.com/revenantdead1 and hitting 'Like'.

Read more »

The Birthday Massacre Announce Release Date for Imaginary Monsters

Canadian band The Birthday Massacre have become one of the most popular scene-related bands of the past decade with their energetic mix of eighties-electronica, aggressive guitar riffs and catchy, lyrical melodies, accompanied by mesmerizing visual concepts and an impressive stage presence.

The band’s new EP 'Imaginary Monsters', promises to be full of teenage angst, daily horrors and the proverbial monsters under your bed contained in three irresistible, new alt-pop-epics, delicately skipping the boundaries between gothic, metal and new wave.

Furthermore, five bands - SKOLD, Combichrist, Tweaker, Assemblage 23, and Kevvy Mental & Dave Ogilvie - have been invited to develop their own perspective on the group’s songs and deliver their own highly creative and club-compatible spins on classic tracks from The Birthday Massacre.

As a special bonus, the EP also contains a data track with a HD-resolution version of the elaborate video for 'In The Dark'.

'Imaginary Monsters' will be released on August 15th via Out Of Line Music. You can find out more about The Birthday Massacre on their website: www.thebirthdaymassacre.com

Read more »

Living the Dream?

This August will see the launch of a brand new rock festival down in our neck of the woods; Devonrox at Powderham Castle near Exeter. The tickets include overnight camping.

It did get me wondering about the increase in more comfortable and up-market camping alternatives at the big festivals - for a mere £6,100 you can even rent a Buspimp Luxury Bus at Download this year, complete with its own hot tub and HD flatscreen TV.

At weekend festivals, you can easily tell the people who simply have 1 day passes rather than camping tickets - they're the ones who actually look good!

So, are people becoming more used to their creature comforts, becoming less keen on 'roughing it'? Surely the overflowing portaloos are part of the whole festival experience, aren't they? Well, perhaps, but, speaking from experience, they're far from the highlight of it. There are a lot of hard-core festival goers who would say it's all part and parcel, but wouldn't they want their own hot tub given the chance?

Personally, I'd take the hot tub, or, indeed, any kind of accommodation that means I can use my hair straighteners. The music is the heart of the festival after all: so plonk me into the middle of that sweaty, surging crowd in front of some top live bands, and I won't feel at all like I'm missing out on something as I fall asleep in my luxury festival accommodation!

Read more »

Rock and Roll is Multilingual

The vast majority of our modern music has been imported from America and has nicely blended in amongst our home-grown talent. We've been able to laugh at the difference between our musical influences and those of our European cousins every year on the Eurovision Song Contest (until Lordi that is, who were fully capable of laughing along with us). But more and more these days we're turning our ears across the English Channel for our fix of rock and metal.

At EGL Magazine we get a lot of CDs to review from European bands; such as Lillith, Undecimber, Midnight Caine, Evestus, Kitty in a Casket and Eisheilig. In previous years, European bands have gently slipped across the border and surreptitiously edged their way into our CD collections, largely without us even noticing. They've sung in English (as ever there are exceptions, the biggest being, of course, Rammstein), they've sounded not that different from British bands, and they may have come dressed in some odd fashions, but then, so do all metal bands. But more recently, we're consciously seeking out the foreign bands. And with the ever growing Western obsession with modern Japanese culture, J-Rock bands are making a huge splash on our little island too. Of course, all of this interest in foreign bands is helped by the constant growth of the internet which makes all of them so much more accessible to us.

European bands have something that British bands don't; a darkly exotic edge. If you think about Germany, or Norway, or further east; Romania and Estonia, you think about huge, brooding forests with a backdrop of razor-sharp mountains, castles and ancient fairytales. Even when you can't understand the lyrics, you can totally appreciate the atmosphere. It's something that sparks our imagination and makes us re-establish our interest in our own country's gothic past, one that tends to become mundane because we see it every day.

Plus, of course, it's always pretty cool to be able to rave on about obscure bands your friends have never heard of.

Read more »