THEY were amongst the first to merge folk and metal, to bring together traditional sounds with the might of metal as far back as the early 90s - they are Waylander.

And, as they prepare for their appearance at Hammerfest VII in a couple of short weeks we caught up with

THE Black Star Riders are to many an enigma. Emerging from the ashes of Thin Lizzy's dying embers, their last album 'All Hell Breaks Loose' there was a definite whiff of compromise between the Lizzy template and Ricky Warwick's powerful influence.

Certainly some hardcore Lizzy devotees (including our contributor Baal)

BACK in the dim and distant past 'eavy metaaal was not a complicated patchwork of genres and sub-genres. It was simply 'eavy fuggin' metal, played loud and proud.

Harkening back to those days are Northern Ireland's Terminus, who are preparing for a European assault.

This five piece takes