Kranius, Dii Minores, Cruel Bomb, Apex Fallen, Matt Miller, Infest, Silius, Maxilla, and The Light Featured in Rock Hard Magazine’s Latest Issue Alongside Paula Teles, Rickert G, Helldrifter, Kuntsquad, and Helloween Cover Story - @thebeast
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Metal Devastation PR Clients Featured in Rock Hard Magazine’s Latest Issue with Helloween on the Cover
September 2025 — Rock Hard Magazine continues to champion the global metal underground, and the latest issue is packed with Metal Devastation PR clients across interviews and reviews, alongside a Helloween cover feature.
This issue highlights interviews with Paula Teles , Rickert G , Helldrifter , and Kuntsquad , shining a spotlight on rising names across the heavy music spectrum. In addition, Rock Hard delivered in-depth reviews of nine Metal Devastation PR bands:
Kranius – Foundation
He did everything alone, the singer and multi-instrumentalist Gary Mungins, taking care of all the phases related to the composition and recording of the new album by Kranius, also taking on other aspects related to the production and graphics of the work. Beyond the good will and the commendable effort, however, we have to deal with an operation with essentially artisanal traits, which has a technique that is, to say the least, basic. The artistic flight must have grown on bread and Metallica, considering the aesthetics of the songs that make up Foundation : the voice is surprisingly similar to that of the good Hetfield, and the structures of the various songs echo (at a qualitative level) the classic schemes adopted by the Four Horsemen. We are almost in the presence of a real plagiarism: that staged by Mungins is a reinterpretation without too many compliments of models dear to Californian giants. A further note of demerit, finally, is the limping interpretation of the American musician when he tries his hand at rarer atmospheres: the mid-tempo singing of “Empire” and “Memories Of Yesterday” is literally forgettable.
https://kranius.bandcamp.com/album/foundation
Dii Minores – March Of The Fallen
The intro, Forest Of The Damned , with its epic and sumptuous atmospheres, hints at the storm that the Swedish band Dii Minores intended to unleash: a triumph of classic heavy metal proposed in a manner absolutely faithful to tradition, and full of uncompromising sounds. The entire album, the Scandinavian band's debut, doesn't allow for any centrifugal digression from a model that is, to say the least, old-school: the singing is theatrical and grandiloquent, at times robotic, and manages to combine in a convincing way all those elements that have characterized the evolution of the genre from its origins to the present day. This is why it pushes tight rhythmic structures (not necessarily pushed to the extreme in terms of speed, as shown, for example, by the granite-like Firedevil ), guitar riffs that are constantly on display, and a vocal interpretation by Kenneth Larsson that is commendable for its intensity and versatility. The entire work highlights theatrical and evocative passages, reaching a quality level that is extremely appreciable: the band, for the rest, boasts over twenty years of experience, finally concretized in a work of complete respect.
https://diiminoresofficial.bandcamp.com/album/march-of-the-fallen
Cruel Bomb – Self-Titled
Active since 2018, and after releasing a long series of singles and EPs, the American band Cruel Bomb has finally decided to try their hand at a more structured work. The quartet's efforts have found concrete form in the album that bears the group's name, which turns out to be a robust tribute to the classic thrash metal aesthetic. The motivations that animated the creation of the work clearly emerge right from Target Neutralized , the title of which emblematically reflects the band's belligerent calling: once the target is identified, the sonic wave unleashed by the four hits the objective with ferocity, creating a hell from which it is practically impossible to escape. The sound is full-bodied and earth-shattering, and rests on solid pillars: the rhythmic structures shine with power and determination, the guitars draw surgically structured and furious riffs, and the microphones of Brandon James complete the proposal by adding more fuel to the fire. So much substance and quality, in the grooves of a work that should absolutely not be missed.
https://cruelbomb570.bandcamp.com/album/cruel-bomb
Apex Fallen – Sum of It All
After releasing several singles, the Houston, Texas-based band Apex Fallen has decided to print a full-length album, which naturally continues in the same stylistic direction as the previously released tracks without making any particular variations on the theme or letting any less uncompromising sounds leak through. In fact, we are in the presence of a decidedly stereotypical metalcore, which introduces little or nothing new compared to the current of reference at the time of its greatest popularity: the proposal of what today has remained a trio therefore appears irremediably dated and not able to withstand the centrifugal tensions that in the meantime have cleared (at least in part) the genre in question. The band's calling is evident from the first beaten phrases of the song, but we can confidently say that the artistic momentum is exhausted right there, as all the subsequent chapters of Sum Of It All infinitely, or if we want, to the point of exhaustion, repeat rigid replicas without a solution of continuity, between exasperated vocalizations, dissonant rhythms and harmonic passages scattered here and there without too many flashes.
https://apexfallen.bandcamp.com/album/sum-of-it-all
Matt Miller – Fiber Tormentum
The new album from the American guitarist's project is the first with a full band and a vocalist (Biko Wright). The sound is a technical death metal with power metal influences and many symphonic elements. The music is intense and rich in melody. The idea of abandoning a purely instrumental production works, thanks also to the excellent performance of the aforementioned singer, who has a great range. No less important are the riffs and solos by Miller, which are very technical and placed on a vast scale, even if they are not always powerful, and the drum grooves. The album (whose name echoes the Latin expression that indicates the taut sound of a catapult before its release) is a bit reminiscent of Rings Of Saturn and is a concept album that tells the story of an alien civilization that aims to control humanity. The sound lends itself very well to these themes with its specific and vaguely fantastic atmospheres. The new path taken by the US guitarist and bassist is the right one, and in the future, he will be able to take advantage of margins for improvement along with his new travel companions, for example, making the songwriting more varied.
https://mattmiller2.bandcamp.com/album/fiber-tormentum-2
Infest – Ambassadors of Aggression
When the album title describes the music it contains, it's a good sign. After listening for thirty-five minutes, you truly get the feeling of having witnessed, or better yet, of being the victim of a particularly brutal aggression. The Serbian band has always stood out for its raw death/thrash, reduced to the bone and made of riffs carved with an axe, and this new collection of unreleased tracks is no exception. From a technical and executive point of view, it's difficult to find fault, and this is because the technique is only a means to convey the band's devastating fury in music. The songs are thrown around at will and have many fast sections with the classic "tupa-tupa" of German drumming. The writing is minimal and essential, and the songs are almost never longer than three minutes, except for Songs of Violence , and you often have the feeling of being in front of a single block of loose songs in which it is useless to try and distinguish between the various tracks, as they are all equally aggressive. In other words, Ambassadors of Aggression is a little jewel of primordial and instinctive metal that will delight even the most uncompromising thrashers.
https://infest-serbia.bandcamp.com/
Silius – Beneath The Flesh
Silius is an Austrian thrash metal band formed in 2013 that has released two albums and played at numerous festivals supporting bands such as Obituary, Biohazard, and Arch Enemy. Beneath The Flesh is a deep immersion into raw emotions and existential anguish, all framed by a modern and ferocious thrash metal sound. The band demonstrates that they don't just focus on infernal speed; in fact, the album is enriched by a heavy and massive groove that adds variety and depth without affecting the destructive basic power. The riffs are sharp as blades, the drum rhythms are roaring, and the voice of Benji Wellna delivers a rush of pure adrenaline, alternating growls and penetrating screams that recall the influences of Pantera and Exodus, but with a well-defined Austrian identity. Tracks like Columbian Necktie are an imposing groove metal, while Captive Breeding and Reign Divide are a relentless sonic assault and highlight the band's technical mastery and executive ferocity, while the unexpected cover of Black Sabbath's Solitude is an unexpected display of versatility. It's a hard-hitting album, characterized by a raw attitude, uncompromising, and with an implacable energy for a must-listen for anyone who likes modern thrash metal with solid roots in the past.
https://silius.bandcamp.com/album/beneath-the-flesh
Maxilla – Anatomy: She – The Demos
Just as small/medium-sized sports clubs invest in promising young players, so record labels look for new talent, even among those who are a bit unpolished. To not let the rising star of Maxilla slip away, the American multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter, still a teenager, Golden Robot has decided to publish her debut album by drawing from the demos available so far. However, if you don't let yourself be fooled by a production that is quite amateurish and by some slightly simplistic arrangements, you don't have to struggle too much to see the artist's potential. First of all, in terms of personality, because where the biographical notes try to insert these songs in the wake of modern hard rock by Halestorm, The Pretty Reckless, and The Warning, it is quite evident that the girl's creative roots have deeper roots. Without a doubt, among these there are the glorious '80s of Judas Priest ( Half Life and Not Yet For You seem to deconstruct and reconstruct the riff of Breaking The Law ), but also the feminine grit and creative freedom of Heart and The Runaways (with some notable glam/punk accents). "The beginning is half the battle," as they say, and this is certainly the case for Maxilla.
The Light – Self-Titled
The debut work by the German band The Light opens with Swinging , and any doubt about the band's motivations is literally swept away: the quartet has decided to embark on the most tortuous path, distancing themselves from preconceived models or schemes, instead preferring the path of originality at all costs. It's a choice that is undoubtedly rewarding, considering the qualitative level that characterizes the entire album: the ten songs that compose it contemplate a vast range of metallic nuances, embracing diverse metallic expressions without, however, embracing any of them completely. The progress is powerful and rhythmic, the singing is dark and heavy, the atmospheres are often distressing and introspective: the rendition of songs like War or Train To Nowhere rests on personal solutions that favor a direct, rocky, and twilight impact at the same time. The speed often gives way to monolithic developments that recall the canons of a certain doom, and there is no shortage of ingenious solutions that wouldn't look out of place in a matrix context: from this magma of emotions, what emerges with decision is the character of a band that has decided to entrust its own will to music to sail against the current.
https://fastball-music.bandcamp.com/album/the-light
“Seeing so many of our clients featured in Rock Hard again is a huge win for the underground,” says Zach Moonshine of Metal Devastation PR. “This magazine is one of the true pillars of metal journalism, and having our artists alongside legends like Helloween is proof that the new generation of heavy music is alive, well, and pushing boundaries.”
The new issue of Rock Hard Magazine is available now worldwide: https://www.rockharditaly.com/
