Review: Under No One, ‘Bullhorns & Politics’

By Metal Dave If you wore a Sepultura patch in San Antonio during the early 1990s, you and your leather high-tops surely got bruised slamming to Alienation, Judge Mental and Scythe. As the go-to local opening acts for Anthrax, Deicide, Overkill and Suicidal Tendencies, the Alamo City’s Big Three were a whiplash squad of mortar-blast drums, blinding guitar…

Danny Lilker: Speak Metal or Die

By Metal Dave Before the budget started wheezing like Keith Richards, I was making good money as a regular contributor to online hard rock/heavy metal website KNAC.com. The year was 2000-2001 and under the free reign of Managing Editor Frank Meyer (Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs), I interviewed a lot of my favorite rockers and spent untold hours transcribing…

Paul Di’Anno: The lost interview and beyond with the banished menace of Maiden

By Metal Dave Somewhere between 1990 and 1992, I was sitting beside Paul Di’Anno on a Dumpster-ready backstage couch at the Showcase Events Center in San Antonio. Paul was eagerly devouring American-brand cigarettes and graciously obliging my unscheduled interview. A few hours later, the former Iron Maiden singer would take the stage with his then-new band, Killers. In the end, I…

Review: Kickin Valentina ‘Super Atomic’

By Metal Dave If Scandinavian sleaze rock crashed into vintage Hollywood hair metal, the shattering sonic slam might sound like Kickin Valentina. Gruff and nasty, these Atlanta-based, raunch-n-rollers are back with their second platter, “Super Atomic.” Opening with “Sermon,” which is actually a mini-narrative about the corrupting evils of rock-n-roll, the six-song “Super Atomic” gets…