1. Day of Death: The Final Chapter is about honoring and celebrating the life of your late brother, Brian Pattison. For those who don’t know the history, tell us all about Brian’s involvement with the scene in the early days. Talk about Glorious Times Magazine, the ’80s and ’90s death metal scene, and of course, the first Day of Death show. In the early days of the scene I was quite young. My earliest memories of that time is going down to my brother’s room and seeing what at the time I thought were gruesome posters and art. My brother was always packing up tapes from all different bands ship ..read more

If you’ve been following along with the WRETCHED SOUND catalog, you’ll know we’re huge fans of Rochester NWOBHM ninjas, Dyspläcer! Well, as luck would have it, a few of their members have managed to resurrect their other band, DAS BRUTE – another true testament to classic heavy metal being alive and well in the heart of Rochester, NY. The announcement of this band’s arrival on the scene came to an unsuspecting community without warning, so here’s what we’ve managed to learn: 1. Describe in detail the origin story of Das Brute! Das Brute was born by an evil summoning that predates the origin o ..read more

Do you remember the Buffalo thrash band Armageddon from 2014? Do you remember the Buffalo metalcore band Abyance from around 2018? Both of these bands were formed by the brothers, Anthony (Studio A Recordings) and Timothy Potenza, and had the younger crowds of our local music community really buzzing. Suddenly, however, all went quiet back in 2018. Anthony had a big business opportunity in Maryland to propel his sound engineering career, and Timothy was left alone to man Studio A Recordings in Elma, NY. Recently though, the brothers have reemerged with their bandmates to announce their newest ..read more

We’ve talked about nostalgia in metal quite a bit in this issue so far, so why stop now? Jennie Huefner is the front-woman leading the charge of Buffalo, NY melodic metallers, When Legions Fall – an immersive take on the blended styles of Killswitch Engage and Lacuna Coil, fused with WLF’s own spin on modern metalcore. Let’s get to it! 1. First off, introduce yourself and give us your personal “scene history”. Tell us about every band or musical project you’ve ever been a part of whether it was a live band or not. My name is Jennie Huefner. The first band I joined was Canto V back in 2003. I ..read more

Anyone in the WNY heavy music community should know all about the band, Wasted Space by now. These guys are making Glassjaw-era post hardcore relevant in 2023, and the nostalgia of it all is making me here for it. Fronting the project is Matt Lupkin, one of the most energetic vocalists utilizing both clean and harsh vocals I’ve ever seen on one of our stages. He’s also a major supporter of our community. I often see him at random shows making sure crowds are maximizing their movement potential during every act of the night. For this segment, I wanted to pick Matt’s brain about not only Wasted ..read more

Now, this might be the most long overdue interview in my publication’s history, going all the way back to the Metal Webzine days. Greg Burt is what you might call “a man of the people” or a “pillar of the community” in the WNY area. He’s the mastermind behind For the Music Productions (FTMP Events), lead vocalist of Digital Afterlife, and just an all around prolific dude. Greg usually has multiple shows of varying genres booked every night at different venues all starting at around the same time, so it’s possible that he possesses some kind of cloning technology that only high profile citizen ..read more

*All photos by Daniel DeLucenay Photography For the past sixteen years, DredNeks of Olean, NY have been one of the best live acts in Upstate New York, hands down. I’d even go as far as to say that they’re one of the most entertaining bands I’ve ever seen or heard of along the entire east coast. They have one of the most eclectic sounds I’ve ever heard, seamlessly fusing together elements of rock ‘n’ roll, punk rock, heavy metal, bluegrass, folk, and more. DredNeks can fit well on just about any bill. I’ve seen them play with death metal bands, radio rock cover bands, country bands, you name i ..read more

Buffalo area metalcore aficionados, Orange Grove Ave., released an insane video for their track, “All the Time” back on May 1st, 2023. Check out the madness below and follow them on all platforms! You can catch these dudes this summer at FROSTBELT ENTERTAINMENT‘s underground metalcore fest of the year (no doubt), FROSTFEST 2023 ..read more

We are greeted by some ’80s video game esque sound effects and otherwise orchestrated melodies, reminiscent of the chiptune scene, all bleeding seamlessly into harmonized, electric lead guitar. From there, we enter a brutal, chugging riff, and we’re off to the races. The dual lead guitars happening over the top of this section are very impressive, gradually harmonizing and increasing in speed until the inevitable, classic melodic death metal verse riff comes crashing in, topped with vocalist, Steven Wynn’s, thunderous growls. At last, the primary elements of this band have converged and we’re ..read more

There is a lot that can be said about a ninja-themed NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) band worshipping the timeless songwriting formulas of Iron Maiden in 2023, but instead of clinging to Dyspläcer’s comically successful gimmick of sorts, I believe that this triumph of an album will be better serviced by simply focusing on its music alone. Temple Heights is a journey back in time Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III style in the sense that each song’s lyrical content can easily evoke thoughts of Feudal Japan in the 1500s and 1600s. Vocalist, Justice Bragg, paints quite a picture with his ..read more