Metalcore 0, Wiccan Wanderers 5

(long time coming, crazy situations - P)

Well, better late than never, the review of one of the UK's hardest working band's second CD, Ravens Creed's THE POWER.

From the moment the CD starts, with an air raid siren wailing and the staccatto, Hell Awaits style riffing comes on, you know that RC are about to serve a treat to your ears, a snap to your neck and a kick to your yarbles, if you have any yarbles that is.

Worshipping at the altar of 84-92 death/power/speed/thrash/whatever, all the adjectives that Cronos used to use to describe Venom in interviews, they pick up where they left off with 2011's Nestless and Wild EP, and pummel you into submission.

Younger readers maybe haven't ever heard a band like Ravens Creed before, and their blend of Venom/Kreator/Old Sepultura music would have you thinking you were listening to a South American tape on Cogulemo, with crystal clear production that really gets behind your eyes.
But don't kid yourself, this is no rose-tinted trip down memory lane, Ravens Creed are aggressive and hungry.
Vocalist Al Osta barks out commands like Patrick Mameli encased in Dalek armour, on Wiccan Wanderers sounding like a nastier version of Moonfog-era Darkthrone, with (as we have mentioned on previous occasions) outstanding drumming from Jay Graham who must surely be one of the greatest drummers in UK metal today.

There are traces of, dare we say it, groove in some of the tracks, such as on Raped by the Graveyard, which ploughs out of the speakers, with Fraser Craske's bass bubbling underneath Steve Watson's guitar, track after track of vicious, old-style, relevant metal.
None of the tracks are more than three minutes long, leaving you reeling from song to song, like going 16 rounds with David Price.

Standout tracks: Wiccan Wanderers, Rat King Rosary and Silence in Crow Court.

The album is out on Doomentia Records orange vinyl, black vinyl and Cd available and affordable.
Get over there, and Unleash the Rat Bashers.

Exclusive: Ravens Creed at Live Evil Fest 2011

Take a knee, troops! Time to take a few minutes to check out a new communication that we have received from the mighty RAVENS CREED: Showing them tearing it up at The Underworld in Camden Town, UK during the 2011 edition of Live Evil Fest.



Das Klaw has been a big fan of Thee Creed since back as far as their appearance at The Fenton (infamous Leeds sweatbox) as a 5-piece back in 2008. The current line-up (including our friend and co-conspirator Mr Al Osta)  have been cutting their chops up throughout Europe in the past year, bring military tinged Venom-worship to a festival near you.

Your life needs more Ravens Creed. We foresee an underground revolution happening for these guys in 2012 with the release of new material and a stack of live shows.

Ravens Creed's debut album "Albion Thunder" and the "Nestless and Wild" E.P. are both available now through Doomentia Records.

Live Evil 2011 (Day 1)

Howdy from London gang. SJW here, about to hit the hay for the night... we have been here for Live Evil fest, a 2 day celebration of NWOBHM-style heavy metal. Some great acts on show here today, with lots more to look forward to tomorrow.

Okay, I am about to fall asleep while sitting on the couch, so enough of this for now. Full report to follow! Here's a couple of pics to whet your appetite.

The Devil's Church (All-day Show) Bradford, July 2011

Great gig in Bradford yesterday. Shame there weren't more people there!

Ravens Creed - Nestless And Wild

We've had it for a while now, but we're so bad at getting together to actually LISTEN to stuff......
...but then we thought, sod it, if Antisect can get together, then so can we.

So, we convened the other night with some HEAVY METAL and some BROWN ALE, partly to give a spin to our old muckers' Ravens Creed's new 7" - Nestless and Wild.
Here we have four tracks of raging old style metal from some of the most respected musicians in the British metal underground, having cut their teeth in well respected, stiff-upper-lipped-cup-of-tea-ello-guvnor institutions like Cerebral Fix, Sabbat, Skyclad etc, and regardless of a recent line-up change have gone from strength to strength. Planting one foot firmly on a monitor at the front of the stage is "recent" addition vocalist Al Osta, spitting out lines like our old mates Kam Lee (doss) or Mr Conrad Lant - indeed, such Venom worship would seem trite if it wasn't so convincing.
As such, we were grinning at each other when the line "Lay down your weed to the gods Ravens Creed" leapt out of the speakers from 1982, and when the riff followed there may even have been a fist in the air!

Put together amazingly by Doomentia, white heavyweight vinyl in a glossy sleeve with a fold out lyric sheet/unlucky-jesus-lad insert, and containing more authentic British Steel than you can shake your fist at, Ravens Creed are, as we keep telling you, a band you should be listening to, and going to see whenever possible.

In a nutshell: Kam Lee does vocals on Phantom Lord being covered by Hellhammer.

Band
Label

*and I didn't mention our mate Ben Ward once. Until now :-)

Out Now: Ravens Creed CD

Get ye some CREED! Albion Thunder is now available to purchase from Doomentia Records - THEE CLAW's album of the month!

We saw these guys in concert last year, a great show and a top gang of guys. I can hardly wait for this CD to drop through my door.

Ravens Creed "Albion Thunder" Artwork

THEE CLAW loves RAVENS CREED!


This album is going to be awesome yet under appreciated more than likely. You all know about it now though, so be sure to get your hands on it when you have the chance ok.

Albion Thunder will be available through Doomentia Records. You can get their 7", called "Neon Parasite", through that same website too.

Ravens Creed, Leeds Fenton, May 26th 2008

We knew it was going to be a good one.
It was a bank holiday and we were all off, we'd been invited to a barbecue at our friend Diz's (who has moved from Liverpool to Leeds).
We travelled down in the afternoon, stopping off on Saddleworth Moor but not finding any bodies.


We were a bit too early for Dizzy's party, so we popped along to see Dawn and Mark and Ben and Amy on the way, finally rolling up to Diz's just in time to be spoiled rotten with the spread of vegan and vegetarian (with meat for Skum and SJW) food they had prepared. Nice one Diz, it was great to see you again and meet your better half at last too!
So from here we popped up to the Fenton to meet up with Dean and get into some beer.
"Irish" John even popped in, fresh from the Planet X 25th Anniversary celebrations in Liverpool the day before, looking all windswept and dramatic.

I missed the first band, and I wasn't into the second one, sorry. Another band had to pull out for some reason or another, so after a few pints it was time for Ravens Creed.

Ravens Creed feature members of Orange Goblin, Iron Monkey, Cerebral Fix, Sabbat (UK), Skyclad.... a total who's who of the true! But put aside any idea you may have of what they sound like, it's pure early thrash worship here, total Venom/old Slayer style stuff with an unmistakably British swagger.

The crowd was a bit sparse (it was Bank Holiday Monday like I say) but those of us that had bothered to turn up were treated to war-obsessed, serial killer thrash metal, all held together with some fucking amazing drumming from Jay Graham.
Every time I turned to look at Dean he was just like "...drums..." haha.

Ravens Creed should really be massive, with all this fake nu-thrash that's currently doing the trendy magazine rounds, they could blow them all away with a true love for the music and a proper thrash metal pedigree, but they'll probably stay ultra underground in England, because this country wouldn't know a good thing if it drank all their beer, kicked it out of it's own house, then pissed in the fireplace.

Watch them, they're top notch, squire.
(extra claw points to SJW for pulling the car over on the hard shoulder of the M62 Motorway in the dead of night and making the Thee Claw strut up and down to AC/DC's "It's a Long Way To The Top" whilst trucks and cars hurtled past at 90-odd miles an hour)
Link:Ravens Creed

Two New Flyers...

...or fliers if you like.....

Raven's Creed

Holy Shit.
Mix together members of Iron Monkey, Orange Goblin and Sabbat, get them drunk and throw in a fucking big pile of "VEE, EE, EN, OH, EM!" worship and you've got Raven's Creed. They are currently planning to embark on a tour of this stinking island, see you on Bank Holiday in Leeds for some drinking cider out of skulls.

RAVENS CREED – ‘ALBION THUNDER’ UK TOUR – MAY 2008

FRIDAY 23RD – NOTTINGHAM, THE OLD ANGEL
SATURDAY 24TH – EDINBURGH, STUDIO 24
SUNDAY 25TH – NEWCASTLE, TRILLIANS
MONDAY 26TH – LEEDS, THE FENTON
TUESDAY 27TH – CARDIFF, CLWB IFOR BACH
WEDNESDAY 28TH – WOLVERHAMPTON, LITTLE CIVIC
THURSDAY 29TH – BRIGHTON, ENGINE ROOMS
FRIDAY 30TH – LONDON, BAR MONSTA

(Photo "liberated" from their myspace page where you can hear all the tracks off their Militia of Blood Sacrifice E.P.)