Beneath the crystalline glass towers of Singapore lurks a band whose musical renderings are a far cry from their 21st century island state. Rudra have been peddling the Vedic stuff since time immemorial (the late 90s actually), and garnered a substantial cult following whose membership is neither seen nor heard. That’s the allure of Rudra, they’re a gemstone wrapped in shrouds of obscurity, a diamond buried underneath the genre swamp. Only those seeking shall find.

There are tons of bands scattered across the United States whose fealty to the heavy metal cause has never been rewarded. Helstar count themselves among this unfortunate number, despite a string of solid albums in the 80s, shifts in musical tastes and the music business climate in general forced them to throw in the towel.

In 2009 things started happening for American band Scarred when additional members were brought on board and the recording of this EP took place. Haunting Memories came out two years ago but the band is getting ready to release a full length album soon so it seems it’d be a good time to check out their previous work. I liked …

I recently caught up with Nick and Billy for an interview in which they talk about the band’s origins, inspirations as well as the writing process for their 2011 debut album.

Vicious Rumors are something akin to the secret weapon of American heavy metal. They’ve been around for ages and even rubbed shoulders with the Bay Area thrash scene back in the day. Too bad the quintet never outgrew their underground notoriety and carved a niche for themselves on an international level…