Raven
Formed: 1974
From:
Newcastle,
United Kingdom
Last Known Status: Regrouped
Latest Raven News
Below is our complete Raven news coverage, including columns and articles pertaining to the band. Some articles listed may be indirectly related, such as side projects of the band members, etc.
Displaying records 1 - 20 of 93 1 2 3 4 5 Last
Raven Debut Cover Of Metallica's "Metal Militia"
Raven have released their cover of Metallica’s classic track “Metal Militia,” now available for streaming. The British proto-thrash veterans were among Metallica’s earliest tourmates, having shared stages with them during a 1983 tour.
Their rendition appears on the upcoming tribute compilation “No Life ‘Til Leather – A Tribute To Metallica’s Kill ‘Em All”, which pays homage to Metallica’s groundbreaking debut album (not “Load,” as the band cheekily notes) and is set for release this Friday, November 14th, via Silver Lining Music.
Raven frontman and bassist John Gallagher spoke about their take on the song — which features his brother Mark Gallagher (guitars/vocals) handling lead vocal duties — stating: More...
Testament Premiere Metallica Cover Track
Testament have unleashed their take on Metallica‘s early thrash metal anthem “Seek & Destroy.” The Bay Area legends’ cover will appear on the upcoming tribute compilation “No Life ’Til Leather – A Tribute To Metallica’s Kill ’Em All,” which is set for release on November 14th through Silver Lining Music.
Frontman Chuck Billy reflected on revisiting the 1983 classic, stating:
“We had fun covering Metallica’s song ‘Seek And Destroy‘. Songs like this started a movement!”
You can find the full track-list for “No Life ’Til Leather – A Tribute To Metallica’s Kill ’Em All” below: More...
GoFundMe Launched For Raven Frontman
Newcastle heavy metal legends Raven were recently forced to cancel their plans after vocalist/bassist John Gallagher suffered a subdural hematoma. Now, in order to help the musician out during such a stressful and worrying time, a GoFundMe has been launched. A message from organiser Roy Coston reads as follows:
"My name is Roy Coston. As many of you know, Mr. John Gallagher was admitted to hospital with a massive headache on August 12th. Following a CAT scan, it was determined that he was suffering from a bleed on the brain, Subdural Hematoma. Surgery was planned for the next day, then a further, more invasive surgery was performed on August 19th.
"This of course forced the cancellation of the bands September European tour causing a myriad of financial issues due to flights, hotels and transportation that were already paid for and in most cases are non refundable.
"John is healing very slowly but steady. This has been very hard emotionally and financially for the Gallagher family. With the medical expenses incurred, being a touring musician, everything is out of pocket."
You can donate here.
Report
Girlschool, Alcatrazz & Raven Rock Tufnell Park
There are some tours which are almost impossible to pass up. When a legendary band announces a tour it's exciting, but when a team of pioneers get together, then you know you're in for something special (or an explorers expedition.) So when it was announced that Girlschool and Raven, two bands from the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal who, while not always gaining the recognition they deserve, helped lay the foundations for what metal is today, would be hitting the road with Alcatrazz, a band who achieved much success in the heyday of heavy metal, it was a no brainer. Time then to hop on the coach to London once again to visit The Dome in Tufnell Park, just a couple of stops away from Camden on the Northern Line to witness what promised to be a great night of old school heavy metal music.
As if the triple co-headlining sets weren't enough, opening the show was Airforce, who formed back in 1987 and is perhaps most notable for featuring former Iron Maiden drummer Doug Sampson behind the kit. What will immediately strike anyone witnessing them though is the absolute vocal powerhouse that is singer Flávio Lino, the former vocalist of doom metal band On The Loose. Lino has the perfect voice for this kind of metal and if one was looking to start a heavy metal band, he would be exactly the kind of vocalist you'd want. Airforce plays a fun, up-tempo brand of music well suited to this tour and it's of good quality too, leading to a number of fans in attendance singing along, even if they weren't familiar with them before. Airforce is a real treat for lovers of traditional heavy metal and I'd definitely recommend catching them live. More...
Raven, Girlschool & Alcatrazz Announce Tour Dates
New Wave Of British Heavy Metal cult favourites Raven and Girlschool have announced that they will be teaming up, not only together, but with American heavy metal veterans Alcatrazz for a triple co-headlining tour of the United Kingdom in 2024. In addition to this, London NWOBHM stalwarts Airforce will be opening the show as special guests.
The tour dates are as follows:
February 14 - Glasgow - Ivory Blacks
February 15 - Newcastle - Trillians Newcastle
February 16 - Manchester -Manchester Academy
February 17 - London - The Dome
Raven Debuts "All Hell's Breaking Loose" Video
New Wave of British Heavy Metal stalwarts Raven unleash the ear-splitting title track "All Hell’s Breaking Loose," taken from the upcoming album, out this Friday, June 30th via Silver Lining Music.
The video features co-founding bassist and vocalist John Gallagher restrained in a straitjacket with his mouth gaffer-taped shut, followed by scenes of explosions and destruction. Musically, ‘All Hell’s Breaking Loose’ twists and turns with accents and flavours buried inside the chaos, perfectly capturing the sheer desperation felt by us all especially whilst in lockdown, during the global COVID-19 pandemic.
"Lyrically the song is about the constrictions of being locked down during the pandemic and the desire and need to ‘break free’ from it all or risking going insane…" explains co-founding member and guitarist Mark Gallagher. “It’s about taking control of your freedom!" Mark exclaims.
"‘All Hell’s Breaking Loose’ is a kick-ass song starting with Mark laughing his head off, which we took from another part of the recording session and glued on to the intro ‘cause it just sounded killer crazy!” enthuses John. “It then gets into this straight, “real” Raven riff... the part before the chorus is super heavy... 100% in yer face kill your neighbors heavy metal!!" More...
Raven To Release New Album In June
Prepare yourself for a metal rampage the likes of which you haven’t enjoyed in many a year as New Wave of British Heavy Metal stalwarts Raven deliver the electric mayhem of "All Hell’s Breaking Loose," their 15th studio album, set for release June 30th on Silver Lining Music.
The Newcastle pioneers, formed by the Gallagher brothers (bassist/vocalist John and guitarist Mark) and rounded out by drummer extraordinaire Mike Heller have emerged from Heller’s own Heaven And Heller Studios in Los Angeles with 10 crisp, visceral metal classics, each fused with riffs, twists, turns, chaos and more hooks than all the Hellraiser movies combined (think hyperbole, ‘turn-it-UP’ and find out for yourself)!
Among the stand-outs are lead single "Go For The Gold" with the redline pushed hard by a cavalcade of riffs and furious, percussive madness, yet behind it all a melodic journey that makes it multi-dimensional skull-crushing.
"‘Go For The Gold’ is our first single as it really represents the new album mission statement... 100% full on Raven lunacy!" enthuses John Gallagher. "If you’ve got an initial great riff, you just build from it," explains John, "you try not to milk it to death. You want a good structure. You want a good verse with hooks, a good pre-chorus with hooks, a great chorus, and then you want little left turns here and there to spice it up. Otherwise it can sound boring. And if you have too many left turns then it turns into jazz fusion, so it’s a funny line you gotta dance on to have structure but also the chaos part as well." More...
Raven To Embark On U.S. Tour
British heavy metal veterans Raven has announced that they will be embarking on a headlining tour across the United States, beginning next month in Louisville, Kentucky in support of their latest album, "Metal City."
Founder and frontman John Gallagher comments on the upcoming run, "After an 18 month covid layoff, we had our 1st show back at the Alcatraz festival 3 weeks ago and we’re firing on all six cylinders! Really looking forward to this U.S. run ... will be unveiling some more 'Metal City' songs and dust off a few classics! Also... if you don’t see your city here -hang in as we may well be doing a second leg early in 2022!"
The tour dates are as follows: More...
Raven Announces European Tour With Wolf
New Wave Of British Heavy Metal legends Raven has announced a headlining tour across Europe in support of their upcoming album, "Metal City," which will be released through SPV/Steamhammer Records on September 18th. The trio will bring a plethora of guests along with them, including Swedish heavy metal torch bearers Wolf, as well as Crystal Viper, Kill Ritual and Cyber Strike.
The tour dates are as follows:
Thu 04.02 - Stockholm (SWE) Debaser Strand
Fri 05.02 - Linkoping (SWE) The Crypt
Sun 07.02 - Osnabruck (GER) Bastard Club
Mon 08.02 - Dresden (GER) Chemiefabrik
Tue 09.02 - Hamburg (GER) Kulturpalast
Wed 10.02 - Berlin (GER) Lido
Thu 11.02 - Freiburg (GER) Crash
Fri 12.02 - Obertraubling (GER) Airport
Sun 14.02 - Rotterdam (NLD) Baroeg
Mon 15.02 - Winterthur (SUI) Gaswerk
Tue 16.02 - Munich (GER) Backstage
Wed 17.02 - MIlan (ITA) Slaughter Club
Thu 18.02 - Marseille (FRA) Jas Rod
Fri 19.02 - Barcelona (SPA) Bovedo
Sat 20.02 - Bilbao (SPA) Stage Live
Sun 21.02 - Porto (POR) Hard Club
Mon 22.02 - LIboa (POR) RCA CLub
Tue 23.02 - Madrid (SPA) Caracol
Raven Shares "Metal City" Music Video
British heavy metal legends Raven has uploaded a new music video for the title track of their new album, "Metal City." You can check it out below. The video is a love letter to their home city of Newcastle, which spawned a number of other metal favourites like Venom and Atomkraft, as well as the famous record label, Neat Records, which played a pivotal role in the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal movement.
"Metal City" is the fourteenth album from Raven and their first studio release since 2015's, "ExtermiNation." The record will be available from September 18th through SPV/Steamhammer. More...
Raven Uploads New Lyric Video
SPV/Steamhammer will release Metal City, the game changing blistering new studio album from legendary metal maniacs Raven, on September 18th. They have released a new single and lyric video for the song "Top Of The Mountain" today. Check it out below.
Brothers John Gallagher and Mark Gallagher along with drumming phenom Mike Heller have absolutely laid down the gauntlet with this work. Ten metallic masterpieces tapping heavily into that “wiped out” vein of speed, power & insanity - while taking a quantum leap forward technically and creatively in order to make THE defining album of their career. Raw, unhinged and uncompromising!
Tracklisting "Metal City":
1. The Power
2. Top Of The Mountain
3. Human Race
4. Metal City
5. Battlescarred
6. Cybertron
7. Motorheadin'
8. Not So Easy
9. Break
10. When Worlds Collide More...
Report
Graspop Metal Meeting: Intro Night
There must be a hundred festivals in Europe by now. Every year a new one pops up, some grow, some wane, but a few sit rightfully in the hall of kings. This year, I made my sixth visit to one from the last category, travelling to the small town of Dessel in the east of Belgium, not far from the Dutch border, to once again experience the one and only Graspop Metal Meeting.
Graspop, as the name suggests, originally began as a more commercial affair, once being headlined by the likes of Simple Minds. In 1996 however, the organisers decided, having witnessed the popularity of the metal bands they'd booked previously, to steer the event entirely towards catering for metal, hardcore and punk fans and brought in the likes of Iron Maiden, Sick Of It All, Type O Negative and Slayer to kick off the inaugural brawl. Fast forward to 2019 and Graspop has become one of Europe's favourite festivals, with many bands also speaking highly of it. It boasts a consistently amazing lineup, serves as a cultural melting pot where people come from all over the globe to celebrate metal and offers fans an unforgettable weekend for a reasonable price. So was this year's event? Well...
Most festivals are advertised as three day affairs, normally the Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but at Graspop, the party gets going on Thursday, as each year, many local bands as well as a few international names descend upon the half opened grounds to welcome those who have made the journey to Dessel. Almost as soon I had set up my tent, it was off to the Marquee to see one of my absolute favourite old school heavy metal bands, Raven.
Raven has for decades, worked tirelessly on their live performances and become one of the most revered performers among their peers. The Geordie trio rolled into Belgium on the Thursday and rightly received a very strong response from the crowd, who ate up such staples as "Faster Than The Speed Of Light" and "All For One." Despite forming forty five years ago, Raven still have an energy and playfulness about them that many younger bands lack. Raven is as fun as heavy metal gets, providing sing along anthems, dry humour and plenty of crowd participation. On a personal note, the band finishing the set with my favourite of theirs, "Don't Need Your Money," made sure that this was indeed the best start to a festival this reporter could have had. More...
Obituary Posts 70k Tons Short; Napalm Death Added
Florida death metal legends Obituary has posted a new animated short online promoting their upcoming appearance at the 70000 Tons cruise. You can check it out below. In addition to this, British grindcore masters Napalm Death has been added to the lineup. The ship will set sail from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on January 31 and dock in Labadee, Haiti, before returning on February 4.
The lineup is now as follows:
Accept
Arkona
Atrocity
Bodyfarm
Carnation
Chontaraz
Convulse
Coroner
Cyhra
Dark Funeral
Delain
Dragony
Eluveitie
Ensiferum
Exmortus
Fleshgod Apocalypse
Gloryhammer
Heidevolk
In Vain
Kalmah
Kamelot
Krisiun
Max & Iggor: Return To Roots
Mayan
Mors Principium Est
Napalm Death
Ne Obliviscaris
Night Demon
Nile
Obituary
Onslaught
Paradise Lost
Perpetual Warefare
Persefone
Pestilence
Rage
Raven
Riot V
Sodom
Soulfly
Steve Grimmett's Grim Reaper
Subway To Sally
Svartsot
The Black Dahlia Murder
Tiamat
Tristania
Twilight Force
Tyr
Unleash The Archers
Van Canto
Vicious Rumors
Visions Of Atlantis
Vomitory
Warbringer More...
Three More Added To 70000 Tons Of Metal
The organisers of the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise has announced a further three bands for this year's edition of the floating festival. Joining the lineup is Belgian death metal outfit Carnation, while Colombian thrashers Perpetual Warfare and Austrian power metal band Dragony have also been added to the bill. The ship will set sail from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on January 31 and dock in Labadee, Haiti, before returning on February 4.
The lineup is now as follows:
Accept
Arkona
Atrocity
Bodyfarm
Carnation
Chontaraz
Convulse
Coroner
Cyhra
Dark Funeral
Delain
Dragony
Eluveitie
Ensiferum
Exmortus
Fleshgod Apocalypse
Gloryhammer
Heidevolk
In Vain
Kalmah
Kamelot
Krisiun
Max & Iggor: Return To Roots
Mayan
Mors Principium Est
Ne Obliviscaris
Night Demon
Nile
Obituary
Onslaught
Paradise Lost
Perpetual Warefare
Persefone
Pestilence
Rage
Raven
Riot V
Sodom
Soulfly
Steve Grimmett's Grim Reaper
Subway To Sally
Svartsot
The Black Dahlia Murder
Tiamat
Tristania
Twilight Force
Tyr
Unleash The Archers
Van Canto
Vicious Rumors
Visions Of Atlantis
Vomitory
Warbringer
Tyr Confirmed For 70000 Tons Of Metal
Faroe Islands metal outfit Tyr are the latest band to be confirmed for this year's edition of the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise. The ship will set sail from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on January 31 and dock in Labadee, Haiti, before returning on February 4.
The lineup is now as follows:
Accept
Arkona
Atrocity
Bodyfarm
Chontaraz
Convulse
Coroner
Cyhra
Dark Funeral
Delain
Eluveitie
Ensiferum
Exmortus
Fleshgod Apocalypse
Gloryhammer
Heidevolk
In Vain
Kalmah
Kamelot
Krisiun
Max & Iggor: Return To Roots
Mayan
Mors Principium Est
Ne Obliviscaris
Night Demon
Nile
Obituary
Onslaught
Paradise Lost
Persefone
Pestilence
Rage
Raven
Riot V
Sodom
Soulfly
Steve Grimmett's Grim Reaper
Subway To Sally
Svartsot
The Black Dahlia Murder
Tiamat
Tristania
Twilight Force
Tyr
Unleash The Archers
Van Canto
Vicious Rumors
Visions Of Atlantis
Vomitory
Warbringer
Three More Bands Added To 70000 Tons Of Metal 2019
The organisers of the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise has announced a further three bands for this year's edition of the floating festival. Joining the bill are Brazilian death metal legends Krisiun, American heavy metal outfit Night Demon and Norwegian progressive metal group Chontaraz. The ship will set sail from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on January 31 and dock in Labadee, Haiti, before returning on February 4.
The lineup is now as follows:
Accept
Arkona
Atrocity
Bodyfarm
Chontaraz
Convulse
Coroner
Cyhra
Dark Funeral
Delain
Eluveitie
Ensiferum
Exmortus
Fleshgod Apocalypse
Gloryhammer
Heidevolk
In Vain
Kalmah
Kamelot
Krisiun
Max & Iggor: Return To Roots
Mayan
Mors Principium Est
Ne Obliviscaris
Night Demon
Nile
Obituary
Onslaught
Paradise Lost
Persefone
Pestilence
Rage
Raven
Riot V
Sodom
Soulfly
Steve Grimmett's Grim Reaper
Subway To Sally
Svartsot
The Black Dahlia Murder
Tiamat
Tristania
Twilight Force
Unleash The Archers
Van Canto
Vicious Rumors
Visions Of Atlantis
Vomitory
Warbringer
Raven Premiere New 'Hung, Drawn & Quartered' Video
British/American heavy metal trio Raven premiere a new live video for their track "Hung, Drawn & Quartered" streaming for you below. The song is taken from the group's new live album, "Screaming Murder Death From Above: Live In Aalborg", which will land in stores via SPV/Steamhammer on January 18 as CD digipak, 2LP gatefold, download and stream.
Raven Announces North American Tour Dates
New Wave Of British Heavy Metal favourites Raven has announced a string of headlining shows across the United States and Canada this Fall, where they will be joined by Extinction A.D. and on select dates, Mobile Deathcamp.
"We are firing on all cylinders right now in Europe and are looking forward to blasting out a revised headline set with a few surprises!," says frontman and bassist John Gallagher, who was recently interviewed by Metal Underground (see video below.)
The tour dates are as follows: More...
Y&T Pulls Out Of Saxon Tour
American hard rockers Y&T has announced that they have been forced to withdraw from the upcoming Saxon European tour due to vocalist/guitarist Dave Meniketti's back injury, as he is adhering to his doctor's advice and giving himself the necessary time to heal and recover. Their place will be taken by British rock veterans FM, while heavy metal heroes Raven will also be on board.
Says Dave: "It is with great disappointment that I announce Y&T's decision to withdraw from Saxon's upcoming fall Europe/UK tour. As many of you already know, I severely injured my back in July and have been under the care of a sports doctor/back specialist ever since. After I received two rounds of cortisone injections to reduce the inflammation, we all had high hopes I'd get "back on the field" in time for this tour. But as many people know, recovering from this kind of back injury takes time.
"Given the advice of my doctor and the urging of everyone around me, really, the only course of action for my long-term health is to stay home and properly complete my recovery. This decision has weighed heavily on me - and believe me, I'd much rather be on tour playing for all of you - but getting on an 11-hour flight and sitting for five weeks on drives of up to 10+ hours every day in a van traveling 11,000 miles/18,000 km would be a reckless approach at this stage of my recovery. I can't risk another setback like I experienced last month when I played a show against my doctor's advice.
"I apologize to the fans and to our buddies in Saxon for any inconveniences and disappointments that this has caused. We're big fans of Saxon and consider them to be one of the best live straight-ahead rock bands out there, so we're all disappointed to miss what surely would've been a great time on tour with them.
"For my part, and for Y&T going forward, I'm on the mend and can't wait to get back up on stage later this year. To our amazing fans in Europe and the UK, again, my apologies. We'll be back in 2019."
Report
Relentless Raven Wrecks London
When digging through what was labelled the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, fans can find a plethora of amazing music, with so many different styles of heavy metal at a time before the likes of thrash and death metal were established genres. A common theme though is bands losing members to the point where groups such as Diamond Head, Tygers Of Pan Tang, Saxon and Venom only have one member who appeared on the first album. However, one of the era's most exciting bands, Raven, still have their backbone firmly in place, as the Gallagher brothers (John and Mark) are still going and after forty four years, making sure the Raven is flying as high as ever. Now with a new drummer, Mike Heller, the trio are on a headlining tour across Europe and all who attend are guaranteed a great show.
Opening up their final British show of the tour was Manchester based hard rockers, Heavy Sentence. I've criticised some bands in the past for offering nothing new but in this case, it was good fun to hear some no frills, balls out rock and roll in the vein of Motorhead and Rose Tattoo. As opening band, they almost naturally played to the smallest crowd of the night, though those that weren't here were treated to some hard and heavy, foot tapping rock. Sometimes the simplest things in life can be the finest. More...