Spellbinding Heavy Metal

Cleveland, Ohio… A town where sports come to die and metal comes to live. A city that has seen it’s share of metal titans by their own rights. Destructor, Nunslaughter, Purgatory, Midnight, Soulless, Black Death and many more. In two thousand five the city would give birth to another bastard of speed and aggression… Vindicator would tear down the walls and burn the scene to the ground. Quickly earning respect from the old guard and garnering new fans with every show, the band quickly propelled to the forefront of the thrash resurgence with acts like Warbringer, Merciless Death, and Bonded By Blood.

Vindicator continue to unleash their signature brand of thrash metal to die hard fans of the genre and the unsuspecting alike. Years of consistent touring has created a solid fan base amongst the truest of metal warriors. Following the release of 2008’s There Will Be Blood, 2009’s split Outbreak Of Metal (with tuetonic terrors, Metal Witch), and 2010’s The Antique Witcheries, Vindicator cemented their place in the U.S. thrash scene.

Some retooling of the band’s lineup has them poised to launch their next assault on the metal masses in the form of Vindicator’s upcoming third full-length release. Fans can expect a sound that is true to the roots of Thrash, yet fresh and exciting with a new level of energy and musicianship.

Hailing from Chicago and the UK, CRUSADER is relatively new to the metal scene in Chicago, although they are all veterans of playing live music, having only been officially a band since spring of 2010. Tired of hearing run-of-the-mill corporate produced ‘metal’, CRUSADER decided to raise the flag and rally the troops to their banner.
Raised on classic rock, speed metal and thrash through to doom, and everything in between and beyond, CRUSADER proudly and unashamedly wear their influences on their sleeves.
Early 2011 saw the release of CRUSADER’s self released EP ‘Rise of the Templars’ which has received rave reviews:
‘If you close your eyes, you can picture hundreds of spiked gauntlets, punching the sky, lock step, united in war against poseurs. When the song takes off, it’s a groove thrasher with crooning vocals that reminds me a lot Death Angel’ – American Aftermath Webzine
‘Rise of the Templars’ is one great epic metal release, I do love the bass sound, this is indeed everything I want from a metal release in all fairness right down to the Grave Digger inspired EP cover artwork. The gauntlet is laid down and the challenge is accepted. Setting their stall out to emulate the metal giants (credit vidovic at dhead tech), Crusader makes a good account of themselves and I for one simply love this EP’ – Brutalism Webzine
‘This is prime NWOBHM inspired heavy metal taking you back to the days of Black Axe and Angel Witch…’ – Powerplay UK Magazine
‘Their NWOBHM sound, the epic-driven song titles and the cool performance are enough to guarantee you that you are gonna have great time when these guys are onstage. During their 30 minutes’ performance, I enjoyed “Templar” and “Asgard’s Fire” and the sure thing is that I’m going to dig their EP asap. Just a perfect way to warm up for ANVIL’s invasion, don’t ya think? – Metal Kaoz review – show with ANVIL
2012 will see the band recording their full length album and taking their sound all over the country. Think of a Crusader tank driving over a minefield littered with the skulls of the enemy dead…they’re taking it back to the roots: Drinking beers, throwing the horns and playing metal…