Sonic Ritual singer/guitarist Henrik Palm isn’t your typical metal-punk character. In fact, he’s quite far from the stereotypical bullet belt, denim-and-studs-wearing, Motörhead-worshiping punk rocker. Now that it’s cool for underground bands to call themselves metal-punk, Palm sees it differently.

“I think ‘heavy metal punk’ is a cheesy description for Sonic Ritual’s sound. I’d rather say we play D-beat heavy metal,” says Palm. “In fact, I don’t even like our band name because it doesn’t really represent how we sound—it makes us sound like a stoner rock band. But I guess we’re stuck with it.”

To say that Palm and the rest of his Swedish band—which also includes guitarist Linnéa Olsson and drummer Viktor Bergman (also of Nitad)—are an anomaly in the punk and metal scenes is an understatement. Too fuzzed and tripped out for Motörhead purists, too fast for Hawkwind diehards, too hardcore for metal fanatics and too dynamic for the punks, one can say that the guys and gal in the band must have a deep passion for music all across the board.

“I like bands such as Venom, Bathory and early Voivod, but I also like Poison Idea and GISM,” declares Palm. “I think metal and punk have the same feelings, except one’s called metal and the other called punk.”

While MetalKult was in Bergen, Norway for the insane Hole in the Sky festival, we caught up with Palm (who was also attending the five-day event) where he shed some light about the punk and metal scenes in his native Sweden, gaining respect from Darkthrone’s Fenriz, Sonic Ritual’s unique sound and what’s in store for him and his band in the near future. —Henry Yuan

What was it like for you to be mentioned in Fenriz’s Band of the Week blog?
HENRIK PALM [laughs] I wasn’t that surprised with Fenriz enjoying our music. I was surprised that we got friend requests from diehard black metal fans from the U.S. These are people who wouldn’t have heard of Sonic Ritual otherwise and I was shocked to see that they had our songs playing on their profile. It was just weird, you know? It was funny, too. It was cool. I know he likes metal and punk, so I wasn’t that surprised. Nonetheless, it was an honor and still is. We got more attention than ever because of him. I owe it all to him.

Can you give a brief history of Sonic Ritual?
PALM Linnéa [Olsson, guitars] and I are really close friends. I hadn’t played in a band in a while since I moved to Stockholm and we talked about starting a band. We started with another guitar player but he quit, and we went through many line-up changes like every other band out there. Then Christoffer [Jonsson, bass] joined and we became the band. We just started out as friends, like any other band, and wanted to play music together. We didn’t get serious until our first demo [Red Eyed Ghoul], which eventually became Mother Hearse.

Mother Hearse’s artwork is pretty significant, as famed artist Alan Forbes [Queens of the Stone Age, White Stripes] did it. How’d you manage to get him to do the art for you?
PALM Scott from Tank Crimes Records actually got the artwork for us. He was supposed to release it, but couldn’t due to economic troubles. He does posters for bands and knew Alan Forbes. He traded some prints with Alan, which is how he managed to get the art. I had no idea who Alan was until I checked his MySpace, and I saw that he has done work with some really big bands. It’s a good cover. People seem to like it.

Sonic Ritual’s sound is pretty unique, as it blends all styles of punk and heavy metal. Is it difficult to blend styles together?
PALM It’s not that hard, really. Heavy metal punk could be crossover or thrash, and we aren’t either. It just comes naturally to me to fuse metal and punk together. I don’t think about it. I really like d-beat but I can’t exactly write punk so this is what happens.

From left: Henrik, Christoffer, Linnéa and Viktor; Photo by Linda Åkerberg

What are the punk and metal scenes like in Sweden?
PALM The punks like metal but the metalheads don’t like punk. Punks seem to be more open-minded. A lot of hardcore and punk fans really like black metal. It seems weird, in a way. Those guys really like bands like Funeral Mist and Watain, for example.

Look at Amebix. If you play that to a metal fan for the first time, they’ll think it sounds like Venom. They would never discover them only because they are labeled as “crust punk.” There’s no [united] “scene” in Sweden and I hate that. I think it’s bullshit. However, I meet people like Christoffer—who’s not in the band anymore, which is a huge bummer—who shares the same views as I do with music. We’re just in our own little world doing what we do, you know?

Your first official release was a split LP with Sanctuary in Blasphemy via High Roller Records. How did that come about?
PALM I’ve already known Anton, the singer of Sanctuary in Blasphemy, and we actually tried him out as a drummer. Linnéa also knows Jens, the bass player, pretty well from his other bands, such as Martydöd. But yeah, they were in the punk scene for years and we just knew them. We like them and they like us so it was a no-brainer. Plus, High Roller Records was interested in both bands very early on and we got everything we asked for, basically. [laughs] I think everything turned out very good. We’re two different bands but we play metal and punk so it worked out.

Finally, what’s the future looking like for Sonic Ritual?
PALM To be honest, the future looks a bit…bleak. [laughs] Ever since we lost Christoffer, things have slowed down considerably. We haven’t done much but we’re going to be playing the Live Evil Festival [in London, October 23-24], which is going to be very cool and very fun. We also have a new 7-inch in the works. It’s the best recording we have done so far. It’s also the last one with Christoffer. What you will hear is my perfect imagination of what the band truly sounds like. I hope we get a label to release it before Live Evil so we have something to sell. [laughs] Those are the two main things right now. Then we’ll see what happens.

Kolbotn, Norway’s up-and-comers Obliteration are an anomaly in the modern death metal scene. Not only do they stick out like a sore thumb in their native country—where black metal is Norway’s number one cultural export—they don’t exactly fit in with the rest of the world’s typical modern death metal formula either. Triggered drums? Rectified guitar tones? Processed vocals? Nope—you won’t find any of that here.

Not only does the band’s latest full-length, Nekropsalms (Fysisk Format), have one of the most bizarre death metal album covers ever (courtesy of painter Sindre Foss Schanke), but the songs themselves each possess uniquely twisted characteristics. Nekropsalms has the sonic characteristics of an extreme metal record from the Eighties, where the drums sound like drums—and not machines—and the bass really drives the groove of the riffs. The guitars themselves produce a rich and warm sound; a trait that’s lost in many of today’s overly processed metal albums.

Album-opener “Ingesting Death”—in all of its claustrophobic and dissonant glory—sets the mood for the rest of Nekropsalms. Cuts such as “Catacombs of Horror,” “The Spawn of a Dying Kind” and the title track have the kind of dynamic, mood changes not found in death metal since the debut albums from the Autopsy, Severed Survival, and Entombed, Left Hand Path.

From crushing doom parts that harken back to the power of Saint Vitus, to a riotous attitude reminiscent of U.K. crust punks Doom, to the breakneck speeds and technicality of Human Waste-era Suffocation, this Norwegian group is out to destroy the cookie-cutter, fast food mentality of modern metal while forging a sound that is completely and unmistakably their own. —Henry Yuan

Obliteration are set to obliterate Bergen, Norway’s prestigious Hole in the Sky festival next week, and MetalKult will be present to witness the carnage. Stay tuned for a complete account of Hole in the Sky and exclusive content.

I still remember the first time I came across the young Swedish classic metal band Helvetets Port. My friend and I were skimming through the vast metal section at New Jersey’s music haven, Vintage Vinyl, and Exodus To Hell, Helvetets Port debut full-length, caused me to stop flipping through the records. I was initially intrigued by the seriously Eighties-inspired cover art—of four spandexed dudes standing on a bizarre chess board under a two-mooned sky (which for some reason reminded me of Torch’s 1984 album Electrikiss)—and wanted to see if these dudes were for real.

So I rolled the dice and bought the album. When I got home and threw it on my turntable, there was no doubt in my mind that this band—singer/guitarist Witchfinder, bassist Inquisitor, drummer O. Thunder and guitarist Kongo “K. Lightning”—was serious about their heavy metal.

The album’s opener, “The Shogun,” is a call-to-arms—replete with classic metal riffs, choruses and production—that announces Helvetets Port are on a mission to keep the old metal ways alive. Cuts like “Diamond Claw” and “Killers in the Sand” are loaded with riffs that could easily be featured in any early Mausoleum Records releases and the title track contains a chorus that sounds like it was made specifically for all the fist-pumping, alcohol-fueled heavy metal lifers around the world. Even the music video for “Lightning Rod Avenger” was shot using old-style, 35mm film. Of course, the band’s wardrobe and epic set designs alone will transport you back to 1983.

MetalKult reached out to Helvetets Port for a brief chat so they could shed some light on their brand of retro-loving, forward-looking heavy metal. Oscar Thunder took some time to explain why they’re hellbent on keeping it true during these plastic times, the current Swedish heavy metal scene, Exodus to Hell and the future of Helvetets Port. —Henry Yuan

It seems true heavy metal is experiencing a “reawakening” with the younger generations in Sweden, with bands like In Solitude, Enforcer and Portrait. How do you explain the rising interest of old-styled music?
OSCAR THUNDER I think it is something that has been building up for years and when a few bands get attention, others follow and the scene naturally expands. The whole scene has grown steadily for the past 10 years with more and more old bands reuniting, new festivals emerging and smaller festivals expanding. Of course, there were always bands that never gave up and new bands delivering heaviness even in the darkest of times—regardless of the lack of common interest for heavy metal. I myself was caught by heavy metal at an early age and have since held it as the highest of styles.

Do you remember a specific moment in your life that made you swear an oath to this music and lifestyle?
THUNDER I remember receiving a Metallica single as a birthday present at an early age. I was actually sitting with my ears to the speaker making the music as loud as possible. When I borrowed a Judas Priest record from a friend a while later, there was no turning back. Together with a couple of friends, I had a period of listening to a lot of thrash bands, but the moments that gave me the most satisfaction were when I discovered bands like Anvil, Ostrogoth, Thor, Parasite and so forth.

Sweden is a country best known for its death metal. Are you a fan of more extreme music? Is there a “scene unity” in modern day Sweden?
THUNDER Yes I am, but not extensively. I do enjoy the extreme forms of metal, but I don’t buy a lot of records or keep myself very updated in terms of new bands in that category.

Hard to say if you can call it “scene unity.” The metal scene isn’t completely divided since most fans listen to quite a wide spectrum of styles. Of course, there is always the modern commercial crap that is marketed as “metal” but this has nothing to do with our scene and their fans seldom have any respect at all for the real deal. So in that sense, the scene is definitely divided.

Helvetets Port is based in Gothenburg, on the west coast of Sweden. Places like Stockholm and Uppsala, which are on the east coast, seem to be more of the “hot spot” for metal scenes. How does geography play in the band’s activities?
THUNDER I actually don’t see the east coast of Sweden as a hot spot for metal scenes at all. I can only think of a few good bands originating there. Maybe you’re talking about the girly metal scene on the east coast? [laughs] There were a bunch of glam bands coming around over there a few years back. They also had a growing number of old school thrash bands a while back but that seems to have settled now.

In general, bands really are scattered all over the country even though some have moved to the Stockholm area. Kongo [guitarist] is actually the only one in Helvetets Port originating from Gothenburg. Sweden isn’t an enormous country so there is a lot of interaction going on between bands and fans regardless of location. In Gothenburg, it’s hard to even call it a scene. We have Ram and the new uprising heavy metal band called Katana, who we shared the stage with at a couple of occasions and who you should keep an eye out for in the near future.

Exodus to Hell has an intense old-school vibe to its songs and production. Are there certain “touchstone” bands that you draw inspiration from when composing the songs?
THUNDER Tomas [Witchfinder, guitarist/singer] writes most of the songs and all the lyrics. I think he has a bit of uniqueness to his song-building process. He focuses a lot on what feeling or atmosphere the song should have rather than on any particular band, but I also know that Gotham City and Mercyful Fate are in the back of his mind when generating riffs. Inspiration comes from so many directions that it’s hard to name them all.

I don’t think we sound like any particular band in the way that some bands do. When it comes to recording, we go for what fits the music and that is the warm, old sound of bands in the early Eighties. I don’t like how productions tend to sound nowadays. I especially hate the way people tune and mix their snare drums! To hell with that—that is not how a snare should sound. Really, they can fuck off!

What was the reaction like when Exodus to Hell was released?
THUNDER I think you could call it a love/hate reaction. Either way, I think the album made an impression.

Visually, Helvetets Port looks like a real band from the early Eighties. There aren’t many bands, if any, in modern metal that focus on the visual aspects of the band for fear that fans would just pass off visuals as a joke or a gimmick.
THUNDER This is, to me, one of the greatest enigmas of the world. Why would people rather go see a bunch of guys dressed up onstage as if they were going to work at a car mechanic shop? The bands I favor the most have a complete package of visuals that fit their music and imagery. Take Sarcofagus from Finland, for instance. Their mysterious and occult atmosphere…it’s perfect and well thought through. People often seem to have the argument that the music is more important. Well, of course it is, but the visuals are enhancing the complete experience. No one can disagree to that. We’ve put a lot of effort into the visuals over the past two years in Helvetets Port: financing photo shoots, stage props and doing the “Lightning Rod Avenger” video ourselves. Take a look at Dio’s stage show for the Last in Line tour in 1984. Who dares call that a joke or gimmick? It’s as dead serious as it gets.

Your friendship with Enforcer seems to be pretty strong, with Exodus to Hell featuring guitar solos by Enforcer guitarist Adam Zaars and produced by singer Olof Wikstrand. How did you first meet those guys?
THUNDER We’ve known Olof for a few years. I think I first met him around the time when he had recorded that Evil Attacker demo. We had some mutual friends, shared the same music interest and the heavy metal scene isn’t exactly infinite. It’s a good relationship we have with Enforcer, as well with the rest of the bands. Olof helped us with recording and Tomas has contributed lyrics on the recent Enforcer album [Diamonds].

Kongo is currently serving the military and is stationed in Afghanistan and the Middle East. How does this affect Helvetets Port?
THUNDER Since the next obvious step for us was to record a new release anyway, that is what we’ve taken the opportunity to do at the moment. We recorded three songs just before Kongo left for a 12” Maxi due for release on High Roller Records this autumn. We only have one gig booked during the summer and it is on home grounds in Gothenburg. We’ll probably play with a stand-in guitarist.

We’re already in the writing process for the next full-length album and we’ll record everything this autumn. Kongo will be recording his solos when he’s on leave. I feel that we’ve made the best of the situation and we’ll start the next year with a strong hand with newly released, fresh material and ready to take the stage.

Deep within the heavy metal underground, there exists a place where the old style of heavy blues-based doom rock is still practiced, where the hellish sounds of early Black Sabbath, Flower Travellin’ Band, Coven, Blue Cheer and demo-era Pentagram still ring as loud as they did in the Seventies.

This is exactly where Uppsala, Sweden’s Noctum reside. One listen to their two-track promo (which can be listened at their MySpace), and it becomes obvious that they have done their homework… And goddamn if they aren’t A students. In fact, they just might be too good at replicating the old gods of metal.

But, if you’re gonna worship, where better than at the throne of the mighty Black Sabbath, which Noctum do to good effect on the opener “Children of Darkness.” This heavy track emits a Black Sabbath vibe, punctuated by riffs—courtesy of guitarist Per Wikström—that would surely make Tony Iommi proud. Wikström is supported by bassist Tobias Rosén and drummer Gustaf Heinemann, who also do their best to conjur the Sabbathian rhythm section.

But rather than sounding like the Ozzman, singer David Indelöf has a voice that’s somewhere between original Witchfinder General singer Zeeb Parkes and Witchcraft’s Magnus Pelander. The Witchcraft comparison doesn’t end there, as heard on “Fortune Teller” ’s guitar tone and groove.

The excellent German label High Roller Records have picked up Noctum, and the band is scheduled to issue its first full-length release later this year. And if this two-track promo is any indication of what’s to come, I can’t wait for the thick riffs and spot-on Seventies production.

Though Noctum have not yet found their unique sound within this small genre (especially with Witchcraft and Graveyard around), this young band has potential. Expect to be hearing lots of good—and heavy—things from these guys soon. —Henry Yuan

Earlier this month, we reported about the release of Death Invocation Records’ Invocation of Death Volume 1 compilation cassette tape, which features 10 of today’s best-kept underground death metal secrets. One of the finest moments of the tape comes from the Netherlands’ Entrapment.

The band is made up of just one person, Michel, who handles all the instruments. That alone is an impressive feat, especially if you listen to tracks such as “The Plague,” “Ripping Flesh,” “Infernal Blasphemies” and the brilliant cover of Nihilist’s “Supposed to Rot.” It may not be the most technical music you’ve ever heard, but its execution and directness will hit you like a sledgehammer to the face. Entrapment is all about summoning the putrid, deadly feelings of old, and Michel (thankfully) understands this. The tracks feel a little too much like Nihilist/early-Entombed, even down to how the legendary bands’ vocalist LG Petrov “sang” back then. Had I not have known, I would assume Entrapment was based in Stockholm!

Entrapment is currently on the Belgian label Detest Records, which currently has some of today’s best death metal bands in its roster. As of this writing, the band’s only physical release is on Invocation of Death Volume 1, but expect the debut demo tape to be unleashed later this year via Detest Records. Of course, you can speed up the entire process by purchasing a shirt (limited to a mere 25 pieces) through Entrapment’s MySpace. —Henry Yuan

In the past couple of weeks, the new Swedish band Ghost has crept into the radar of many in the heavy metal underground (with a major help from Darkthrone’s Fenriz on his Band of the Week blog). The mysterious black metal group, whose band members are unknown and nameless, are showcasing a sampling of their cryptic sounds via their MySpace, and we strongly suggest that you give a listen.

Tracks like “Prime Mover” and “Ritual” are very much rooted in the heavy sounds of the Seventies (think Blue Oyster Cult meets Coven) while their new single, “Elizabeth” (out now on Iron Pegasus Records), displays an even heavier and sinister sound much like the early Mercyful Fate. The B-side, “Death Knell,” is the band at its gloomiest. By the time you get to the hypnotic chorus chants of “six-six-six,” Ghost will have conjured some pretty sinister thoughts in your head.

And that’s why this band rules…they know how to effectively invoke evil, without sounding corny. The vocals are romantic and haunting, while the songs have enough hooks and melodies to get stuck in your head for days, or in my case, weeks! This is black metal in its original and purest form, full of grim feelings, haunting atmospheres and diabolical overtones galore. It’s going to be interesting to see this curious band perform at Germany’s Hammer of Doom Festival and the Fenriz-curated Live Evil Festival in London this fall. —Henry Yuan

We get a lot of mail over at the MetalKult headquarters: promos, press releases, magazines… But it’s not very often that I receive a black package with a burnt piece of paper on which our office address is scrawled. Naturally I was curious.

And my intrigue only deepened upon opening the package to find the album Antihuman Manifesto, by North Hollywood’s Willow Wisp, along with a plastic bag containing two sticks of incense, two bloodied Band-Aids, a candle and honest-to-goodness snakeskin—making it officially the weirdest package in MetalKult history.

Incense + candles + bloody Band-Aids + snakeskin = party time

That fact alone merited a spin of their album. What I found was a bit less original, imagine Italy’s Death SS playing Cradle of Filth-style gothic/black metal. But I guess anything less than Heavy Demons will come up short when you lead with that kind of grim packaging.

Willow Wisp Antihuman Manifesto

The 50-minute, 10-track disc starts off with the Cradle of Filth-ish “Prisoners of Technology” and follows up with the acoustic “The Dead Man’s Ballad.” Thankfully, the entire album isn’t just ballads, and is balanced out by metal songs like “7734999” and “Supreme Narcissist.” Then the album closes with a techno cut “Let Me Eat Your Dead,” which isn’t my thing either.

Willow Wisp: Ready for rock…and rainstorms

I will say that the songs are made up of tons of riffs and contain some decent guitar leads, but mostly I found it lacking. But seriously, who can deny the awesomeness of a Ziploc full of bloody Band-Aids and a snakeskin! —Henry Yuan

It’s a well-known fact that Europeans take their metal pretty seriously. From the United Kingdom to Finland, and from Germany to Greece, European bands are known to stick true to their roots and bash out uncompromising metal in its heaviest, fastest and most extreme forms.

Enter newcomers Möbius from the little country of Slovakia: a two-piece drone/doom outfit that features Daniel handling guitar and amp duties while Michal is in charge of “drums and hell.” Unlike your typical Euro-metal band, these guys have a sound that’s rooted in the noise of Sunn O))), Electric Wizard and the ever-so-filthy Eyehategod. The guitars are fully-loaded with as much fuzz as possible, and I bet they sound even more punishing live.

One listen to the 14-minute epic “Seven Deadly Sins” (from their demo which they’re offering as a free download here) and you’ll find yourself immersed in a surreal world of noise and all around uneasiness. There are no vocals or lyrics present in Möbius’ music. As Daniel explains, “For now we haven’t any lyrics or exact thoughts so it’s about feelings and emotions. It’s about us. And I think it’s everything.”

Möbius take a cue from Burzum mastermind Varg Vikernes, and employ repetition to induce listeners to a dream-like state of mind. Daniel and Michal weave in and out of their riffs as they please, and together with the slow tempos, create a rather haunting and unreal listening experience. However, that’s only part of the plan. “[Our] philosophy is that we want [to] play Möbius music mainly for live performance and we never play same song twice…there is always some differences,” Daniel describes. “Just some riffs/parts and improvisation and communication between us. And primary feelings!”

To listen to Möbius’ take on drone, visit their official MySpace to sample their demo, as well as download it for free. Keep an eye out for these guys! —Henry Yuan

“I recommend… amputation!” If a demo tape starts off with one of the best quotes from Hellraiser 2, you pretty much know it will be amazing. Such is the case with Splendour of Disease (Dybbuck Records), the second demo from Sweden’s Morbus Chron. This recording—without a shadow of a doubt—captures the true essence of what death metal was, and can be again: merciless, putrid, gore-infested, rotten, flesh-devouring and zombie infested.

On first listen, you can hear that this young group—vocalist/guitarist Robba, lead guitarist Edde, bassist Dag and drummer Adam—are well educated in their death metal circa 1986-1989, when the genre was uncompromising, raw and horrific. The opening track, “In Obscuritas,” starts off with a haunting passage reminiscent of Autopsy (well, to be honest, you can hear Autopsy all over this tape).

“Lidless Coffin” adds a bit of demo-era Death to the mix as well as some much-needed thrash elements (think early Sodom and Destruction), which were crucial for the death metal of the ancient days (or, as I like to say, the g[l]ory days). The final track, “Death Strikes,” makes me wonder if this is a tribute to the pre-Master band of the same name. Nonetheless, it’s another fine tune that contains memorable and thrashing riffs that would fit perfectly on Possessed’s Seven Churches. Jeff Becerra would be proud.

The production on Splendour of Disease was eerily similar to that of Death Breath’s. When I looked inside the booklet, it turns out that DB’s own Nicke Andersson and Dismember’s Fred Estby lent their production skills, and the results couldn’t be any deadlier. Another interesting fact is that Nicke also illustrated the band’s logo. Lastly, I can’t help but mention the fine old-school artwork found throughout the insert (see above image).

For those of you interested in getting a copy, good luck. The band has sold out of them. They only received 126 tapes from the label, which they hand-numbered (I snagged number 97 in the nick of time). The good news is that Mexico’s Dybbuck Records has more, so you should contact them if you want one. By Henry Yuan

Last year, Earache Records released Heavy Metal Killers—a compilation of the best up-and-coming traditional heavy metal bands around the world. Not surprisingly, most of the bands that were featured hail from Scandinavia and Europe. Only two bands—Cauldron and White Wizzard—represent North America, with the latter being the only one from America. I asked myself, where the hell are the other American bands? For a country that spawned such great bands as Manowar, Agent Steel, Riot and Abattoir, there must be some young bands out there carrying the torch. Well, there aren’t many but I have found one. That band is Rhode Island-via-Brooklyn’s Natur.

Natur’s sound can be best described like this: Roky Erickson, after having one drink too many, singing over the heaviest riffs from the Judas Priest and Mercyful Fate catalog. Unlike White Wizzard, who in my opinion are too polished and glam-sounding, Natur are extremely raw, aggressive and full of attitude, similar to Iron Maiden’s Paul Di’Anno years.

The self-titled demo starts off with “Metal Knights,” an intro/instrumental track that sounds as glorious as the title. In true heavy metal fashion, it’s packed with lots of solos and melodies—thanks to guitarists Dino Destroyer and Weibust (who also supply the great vocals). Immediately following the intro track is “Zorched,” which is very reminiscent of early Angel Witch and Diamond Head, if “Fast” Eddy Clarke (Fastway, Motorhead) was swinging the ax. Which is to say: the song is built upon lots of different riffs rather than ideas, and has a punk-ish, “fuck you” attitude. More importantly, the songs are memorable. The excellent rhythmic foundation is layed by drummer Tooth and bassist the Mexicutioner, and is best demonstrated on “Goblin Shark” and the closer “Spider Baby.”

The reason why I love these four tracks so much is that it’s heavy metal done the way it’s supposed to be done. Not only does the band have loads of authentic attitude, and just the right amount of catchiness (if you heard Tank’s “Honor & Blood,” you’ll know what I mean). The lyrics and themes are not the usual Satanic or H.P. Lovecraft themes employed by so many bands in the genre. But Natur’s tongue-and-cheek humor doesn’t take away from the actual music.

Natur reminds me why I got into heavy metal in the first place—the riffs hit so hard that you can’t help but headbang. True heavy metal isn’t dead, and these guys prove it. But don’t just take my word for it: head over to their MySpace page to stream this demo for yourself.—Henry Yuan