Lightfire Media

03/07/2025

🚨ALBUM REVIEW: KING 810 - Rustbelt Nu Metal🚨

King 810 are a very special and unique Nu Metal band that have emerged from Flint, Michigan in the US back in 2007. Their lyrics and themes reflect the violent and dark experiences they’ve gone through growing up in a very rough area, I always refer to their material as poetic but in a demonic way where beauty is substituted for gore and vulgarity, no shock that I’m a huge fan. This is album number 5 now so let’s jump in and take it for a ride.

“Headshot” is an absolute beauty, David’s way with words in his storytelling is something else, whilst theming about life in the streets, it cuts straight through you with lines like “Little girls sell their panties to a pedophile” and “Balloon ruptured in her stomach, And I held her while she shook and died”, the hairs stand up on the back of your neck realising that’s a haunting reality. The violent topics aren’t all there is to it, again there’s a big dark religious aspect to their writing which is still as prevalent as ever, a good example of that is “Noonday Demon” which has sharp wheezy inhales that make the hair on the back of the neck stand on end, spitting out all the ways that God uses “King David” to do the darker things to keep his name away, it’s a highly volatile yet seductive song. “Raindance” has a chorus I can really vibe with, I feel like I do a type of dance to it with how slippery and sleazy it feels, it allows David time backed by silence to spit some lyrics at the end like an angry spoken word show. Initially it was those 3 tracks that stood out for me, but with each full listen, the others started to dig their way in like. Particularly the title track “Rustbelt Numetal”, it flows like an unpredictable ocean with an onslaught of aggression that calms for a brief respite before rocking the boat again, I can’t see how it didn’t stick quicker but importantly it has now.

I’ll always be saying I want more whenever these guys drop an album because I absolutely love their style. The albums seem to have dropped in length from around Su***de King and they have seemed to favour EP style size and length since then. As I said earlier the more I’ve listened the more that adoration has grown, they are literally the definition of shock and awe, in your face with the lyrical theme and then leaving me in awe with the composition, hopefully see you soon lads for another headline show!

[7/10]

- Review by Jay

*Views Expressed are those of individuals and not necessarily those of Lightfire Media*

25/06/2025

We are absolutely blasting this at high volume today!

What are your thoughts on new Lorna Shore track, “Unbreakable” 🤘🏻👌🏻🤘🏻

LORNA SHORE - Unbreakable (Official Video). Pre-order/Pre-Save the new album now! https://ifeeltheeverblackfesteringwithinme.com/https://lornashoreband.com/h...

17/06/2025

🚨ALBUM REVIEW: Dynazty - Game of Faces🚨

Dynazty are another premium Swedish power/heavy metal band, they’ve been active for around 18 years, in which time they’ve produced what is now 9 studio albums. I only really became aware of them when they released their last album Final Advent in 2022 which caught my attention.

“Call of the Night” is a fantastic way to open an album, the thumping of the beat, the subtlety of keys boosting a fullness to the composition, it gives me Sabaton vibes but without the war and a more positive, sharper tone. I really like “Dark Angel” and it’s not just because I think of WWEs Stephanie Vaquer whenever I see the title, it’s like the Anti Frozen because the Chorus has this quality in the vocal melody that makes gives off this SLIGHT “Let It Go” energy but the antihero version, it’s a great emotionally charged song. “Fire to Fight” is the type of song they thrive in, it’s like they took the best parts of songwriting from bands like Journey and Foreigner and utilised the skills into their really epic sounding power metal, their story telling being the epitome of what Power Metal always has been, I would very much like to include “Devilry of Ecstacy”, they feel like big festival tracks. We’ve got a bit of a power ballad with “Dream of the Spring”, the lead guitar cuts through with a clean and sharp riff, the group vocals in the chorus really fill out the sound, I do love a good sing-along, so I’m sold.

I definitely favour the more traditional heavier style they’ve adopted on this album compared to their last, it just feels very natural. There more to it than that though because there are so many power metal bands, a lot stick with their well established style and just keep chugging along, but it’s bands like Dynazty that will keep the genre not just alive, but fresh.

[7/10]

- Review by Jay

*Views Expressed are those of individuals and not necessarily those of Lightfire Media*

11/06/2025

🚨 ALBUM REVIEW: Bleeding Through - NINE🚨

It’s been 7 long years, since we last had an album from Orange County heavyweights Bleeding Through, prior to that it was 6 years! This band was a monumentous part of my youth and I really grew up with them. They blew my mind with 2012’s The Great Fire, adored it, thought it was superb. Then they broke up! It was crazy to me, I thought my God look what you have here this is going to be huge. The fact that post release of that album will always be tainted with the break up really killed the momentum. I didn’t feel they’d managed to rekindle that on their returning album Love Will Kill All, I am hoping that we can find that here.

“Gallows” in it's verses take me right back to that album but the chorus feels unexpected to me, it’s dreary and haunting instead of infectious melody, it’s unusual but I think I’m into it. “Dead But So Alive” has a chorus that really throws me back to their early career in the early 00s when they thrived in writing haunting melodic choruses and it worked so well. “Hail Destruction” is a track that perfectly exhibits what those keyboards with that Organ style tone can do to fill out and change the dynamic of a song, such a perilous sensibility amongst a steady and calculated pace. “Lost in Isolation” guests Doc Coyle (a lot of people know him as the guitarist of Bad Wolves but the OGs remember him from God Forbid), the difference in effect the feminine and masculine vocals pass off onto each other is hauntingly stunning, I’m also a sucker for a good ol’ guitar solo and this one flows through the eardrums like a dream. “I Am Resistence” guest features Andrew Neufeld from Comeback Kid, it’s the one that makes me most nostalgic and remember why I fell in love with the band to begin with, it’s a touch less malevolent and whilst you can feel despair it’s as though there’s a touch of positivity and hope. One I’m really not sure on is “Emery”, now I’m not sure if that’s because it was so different and I’m stand offish with it, or because it’s odd, I see what they’re doing but it hasn’t landed for me. Especially when it’s followed by “War Time” for which they’ve wrangled another legend of the business in Brian Fair from Shadows Fall, its a methodically written travel back to the core of where these bands came from, the heavy, the melodic, the filth, the headbanging, after initially not vibing with this song it's become quickly one of my favourites.

This is I think Bleeding Through showing they still know how to do this, I really hope it rekindles the touring as it’s been a hell of a long time since I’ve seen them and I’ve got the itch, it’s like the new stuff unearthed the attachment all over again. Nothing will ever slap me in the face as much as The Great Fire did when it first dropped, or equal the sheer love I had for songs like “Kill To Believe” or “For Love And Falling”, but it’s a great advancement from the last couple of albums for me.

[8/10]

- Review by Jay

*Views Expressed are those of individuals and not necessarily those of Lightfire Media*

10/06/2025

🚨 ALBUM REVIEW: Memphis May Fire - Shapeshifter🚨

Texan metalcore mob Memphis May Fire are back with album number 8 for us in 2025, 19 years into their career. For me they really nailed their last album Remade In Misery, it reminded me why I adored metalcore so much in the first place, whilst putting a fresh exploritory approach. They certainly left themselves with a challenge to surpass it but I’m remaining hopeful, it doesn’t pay to be too sinacal all the time.

Album opener “Chaotic” has got a very strong pop feel about it which is what I think gives them that encouragement to add the extreme contrast to the degree they have in that bone rattling breakdown, it just works. “Paralysed” takes no warm up and lunges straight in with a deep but steady riff and sharp barks and growls, squatting music this is - or pecking like a constipated chicken until the chorus which resembles a champagne bottle popping bouncing you up and down like a trampoline a
Slid itself under you without your knowledge. They recruit Swedish Christian metal band Blindside to join them on “Overdose” which is right up there for my favourite track of the album, a riot that booms straight through you, beats that pound your ear drums with force, there’s synthesised sounds glazed over it giving it a little bit of it's own character, the verses whisper and bark in a perfect jekyll and Hyde fashion and that high octane energy flows tingling the senses as it goes. “Necessary Evil” does feel like it took a couple lines out of the Motionless In White playbook, but it really works in it, I’d even say it’s bloody brilliant, thick and juicy with a vocal hook at the end that has taken over my mind like a parasite. Title track “Shapeshift” is a grower, in the sense that it just seems to get heavier and heavier as it goes on, barking with venom, POINT EM’ OUT.

The style they’ve forged really affords them the ability to stretch it out and try some really different things, it feels like they’re having a lot of fun but more importantly it all works! I was worried how they would follow up Remade In Misery because it struck such a strong chord with me, I had nothing to worry about, foots very clearly still strong on the gas.

[8/10]

- Review by Jay

*Views Expressed are those of individuals and not necessarily those of Lightfire Media*

09/06/2025

🚨 ALBUM REVIEW: Stray From The Path - Clockworked🚨

Stray From The Path have been one of my most cherished bands of all time, hailing from Long Island New York, they’ve been blasting us with their politically charged justice seeking tracks for 24 years now and this will be their 11th album. My 2 favourites are 2015s Subliminal Criminals and then it was love at first listen with 2017s Only Death Is Real, what an album. This is a sad affair as they’re breaking up after this year which has been a hard pill to swallow but I am keen to see how they’re signing off.

“Kubrick State” opens proceedings, the ingredients are all there that lead to a winner, the group vocals working well for them as always giving a fuller sound, crisp and sharp in tone, steady pace and beat, in hindsight it’s a nice warmup for what is to come. “Clockwork” guest features Florent Salfati who is the vocalist for rising French metalcore group LVNDMARKS, it is a reaaaaal slick track, it was a great idea for a collaboration because their styles are similar except SFTP bring the aggressive rap and a certain type of tense groove whereas LVNDMARKS are quirky modern metalcore, the drop at the end slaps the NOS button and I love it. “Bodies in the Dark” guest features Jeff Moreira who is the vocalist from Miami Florida’s Poison the Well, he brings a very obscure occult sounding interlude to an otherwise vicious and harsh song. “Can’t Help Myself” could have easily been on Only Death Is Real, it kicks in like a stick of dynamite and maintains a level of angst and hostility throughout hitting like crushing waves, for me it’s where SFTP are at their finest because they do the big hip hop and harsh metal combination extremely differently to than most acts that try to splice it together. “Can I Have Your Autograph?” Isn’t quite as sharp but could have also been back in that era, got me strutting around like a chicken over here with how thumpy it is. “F**k Them All To Hell” gives me big President Garrison vibes, the lyrics in “Shot Caller” hit hard “may god have mercy on ya, I won’t” and of course “FACE THE FU***NG WALL”.

They’ve signed off on a great note, not quite Only Death Is Real level but this has been a really good album. I have enjoyed it far much more than the previous 2 albums Euthanasia and Internal Atomics, its more of the Stray From The Path I’ve grown to love over the years. Whatever you do next guys I wish you all the best, I pray I can see you once more before you call it a day.

[8/10]

- Review by Jay

*Views Expressed are those of individuals and not necessarily those of Lightfire Media*

09/06/2025

Inglorious
KK'S Steel Mill - Live Music
07/06/2025

Copyright - Lightfire Media // Jude

07/06/2025

We will be at KK'S Steel Mill - Live Music tonight for the incredible Inglorious with support from Marisa And The Moths 💥

If you spot Jude 📸 - say hi👋🏻

Tickets available on the door, don’t miss out!