Savage Lands – Nonprofit featuring members of Megadeth, Sepultura, Obituary and other legends of metal to support forests in Costa Rica 🇨🇷
Artists occasionally support causes through donations to organizations. With SAVAGE LANDS, Megadeth drummer Dirk Verbeuren teamed up with his guitar-wielding friend Sylvain Demercastel to create their own US 501(c)3 non-profit.
Savage Lands raises money for reforestation & the creation of sanctuaries free of human destruction. Using their own royalties, donations and other fundraising efforts, the organization builds nature sanctuaries, establishes green zones and other land preservation projects. They partner with other non-profits, scientists and forest engineers, as well as Decibel Magazine and Season of Mist.
“If you want to make a difference, take action! Our greatest hope with Savage Lands is that it will inspire you to join us, and if you can, to start your own initiative to help preserve animals, forests, and our planet”, says Dirk.
Fittingly, “The Last Howl” is a howling tribute to the howler monkey, which are endangered in Costa Rica. The song features Savage Lands co-founders Sylvain Demercastel & Dirk Verbeuren, as well as support from John Tardy (Obituary), Andreas Kisser (Sepultura), Poun (Black Bomb A) & Etienne Treton (Black Bomb A).
100% of the song royalties will help fund nature sanctuaries, establish green zones and other land preservation projects in Costa Rica.
Lineup Dirk Verbeuren (Megadeth) – drums
Sylvain Demercastel – guitar
Andreas Kisser (Sepultura) – guitar
John Tardy (Obituary) – vocals
Poun (Black Bomb A) – vocals
Etienne Treton (Black Bomb A) – bass
Recording
Savage Lands / Adair Daufembach / John Tardy / Andreas Kisser / Steeven Corsini
Do you want to make an Iron Maiden fan truly happy? How about giving that person a deluxe edition of five of the band’s most beloved albums, including a figurine and a patch?
If there are still a few Iron Maiden albums missing in your personal collection and you want to complete it before Senjutsu is released on September 3, or if you want to give an extra touch of awesomeness to your memorabilia, our third (and probably last) special review in preparation for the band’s highly anticipated seventeenth studio album will not only focus on The Studio Collection – Remastered, released back in 2018/2019, but more specifically on the DELUXE EDITION of five of the band’s most beloved albums, those being Fear of the Dark, A Matter of Life and Death, The Number of the Beast, Somewhere in Time, and Live After Death, which also come with a kick-ass figurine, a very cool patch, and of course the remastered versions of the albums in digipak CD format, because as you all know it’s all about the music in the end.
Covering Iron Maiden’s sixteen-strong studio albums across their career to date, plus what’s in my humble opinion the best live album of all time, the recordings were taken from the same remasters as the 2015 hi-res digital releases and with the track listing matching the original UK releases, all reissued by Parlophone Records (or BMG in the United States). The albums from The Studio Collection series were released chronologically in batches of four (as you can see below), plus Live After Death which was released separately, with one CD from each batch of releases also optionally available in a specially artworked box featuring the aforementioned 1:24 scale figurine and the exclusive patch. “We’ve wanted to revisit these for a long time and I was delighted with the remastering we did in 2015. I thought it was the best that our albums have ever sounded and it was only right that we made them available on CD now too,” said the one and only Mr. Steve Harris.
First batch Iron Maiden / Killers / The Number Of The Beast (option of standard or collectors boxset edition including TNOTB Eddie figurine and patch) / Piece Of Mind
Second batch Powerslave / Somewhere In Time (standard/collectors) / Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son / No Prayer For The Dying
Third batch Fear Of The Dark (standard/collectors) / The X Factor / Virtual XI / Brave New World
Fourth batch Dance Of Death / A Matter Of Life And Death (standard/collectors) / The Final Frontier / The Book Of Souls (not remastered, but appearing in digipak for the first time)
The remasters are an amazing choice for newcomers to the world of Iron Maiden or to fans whose CD’s or LP’s are not in good condition anymore due to the repeated plays, but even if you feel your collection is already complete I think there’s still room for the collectors/deluxe edition including the figurine and the patch. The figurine is pretty much an “add-on” to the Legacy of the Beast figurines collection, being made of the same material and displaying the same size and finishing, which means if you’re collecting those then this is the only way you have to complete your Legacy of the Beast set, as the figurines from the deluxe editions are not sold separately anywhere (unless you go to eBay, of course, but then it’s up to you how much you’re willing to pay for those). Regarding the patch, they’re beautiful and will make your metal vest shine even more whenever you’re wearing it, with the only “issue” being the fact they’re iron-on patches, not sew-on ones, which means it will be almost impossible to take them out if by any chance you decide to move them to a new vest or jacket. Not a big deal, but it’s important to keep that in mind if you’re a patch lover.
You can find all five deluxe edition boxes on Amazon Canada, for example, but pay good attention to the prices as they vary from around 25 to 90 Canadian dollars based on the availability of each item. Furthermore, you can also try your luck on other online stores worldwide such as Siren Records, Waterloo Records and Easy Street Records, which might not have all five albums but will be very helpful if you don’t have any issues buying from multiple sellers. And as the delivery is quite fast in all cases, you’ll have plenty of time to listen to all of the remastered albums, add the patches to your vest, place your new figurines together with your other items such as the Funkos from Funko Pop! Rocks: Iron Maiden (Wave I), drink a nice pint of Red ‘N’ Black, and be more than ready to blow your speakers with the release of Senjutsu on September 3! Does that sound like a good plan to you?
The amazing first wave of Iron Maiden Pop! Vinyl figures is gonna get you, no matter how far.
Our second special review (after Iron Maiden’s Red ‘N’ Black) in preparation for the release of Iron Maiden‘s seventeenth studio album Senjutsu on September 3, will be dedicated to the first wave of Eddies from the Funko Pop! Rocks: Iron Maiden collection, something that took way too long for Funko to release (and even longer for The Headbanging Moose to review it). After probably tons and tons of requests sent to Funko in the past few years to create a series of Funko Pop! figures in honor of the most beloved mascot in the history of Heavy Metal, they finally launched what they called “wave one” back in 2020 with the classic Eddies from the band’s first four albums, and the final result is beyond what we all could’ve expected.
Measuring around 3 ¾ inches tall (or 9.5 centimeters tall if you prefer) and packaged in a window display box, each one of the Iron Maiden Pop! Vinyl figures released, those being IRON MAIDEN, KILLERS, THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST and PIECE OF MIND, is a thing of beauty, a mandatory item in the collection of any Maidenmaniac, and the perfect gift to any metalhead from all ages. The quality of the material is outstanding and all Eddies are extremely well-crafted and detailed, not to mention Eddie looks badass even as a cute Funko. My favorite one is undoubtedly the Piece of Mind Eddie due to its uniqueness compared to the others (as I’m a fan of the bald Eddie), and my one and only complaint is the fact the little devil that comes with The Number of the Beast Eddie doesn’t stand properly like the main Eddie, but who am I to complain about that? They could’ve simply ignored the devil, right? So, as an add-on, it’s quite cool (even if it keeps falling all the time).
You can also try your luck to grab your Funko Eddies from several online and physical retailers such as Pop In A Box, Amazon, Hot Topic, Mind Games, Sunrise Records, and EB Games, among many others all around the world, but keep in mind that due to their very fair prices, which vary from 8 to 15 US Dollars, and due to the fact it’s Eddie, which means people don’t think twice to buy an item like that, the Eddies from the first wave might be either sold out or being sold by a much higher price, some even higher than 40 US Dollars. Furthermore, get ready as the second wave of Iron Maiden Pop! Vinyl figures is coming later this year with another round of awesome Eddies for us fans (and that will certainly mean another review on The Headbanging Moose), which usually means the first wave will become even more difficult to find anywhere. Having said all that, what are you waiting for to buy your Funko Eddies from the first wave and proudly display them together with your other memorabilia? They look cool anywhere you place them, even if it’s inside your shower I might say. Invest some of your disposable income into all four of those cute big-headed, little Eddies and… UP THE IRONS!
The morals of life and the perils of death in the form of a delicious porter style beer full of “the red and the black.”
“The red and the black, people don’t want the truth, look in their eyes and you send them away The red and the black, fate and hypocrisy, burden’s a heavy load there is no doubt The red and the black, all out of luck again, how many chances can anyone have The red and the black, treachery out to win, there in the wrong place and at the wrong time.”
As we’re getting closer and closer to the release of Senjutsu, the seventeenth studio album by the one and only Iron Maiden, let’s have a round of special reviews in celebration of their new album that will see the light of day exactly one month from today, on September 3, starting with our (belated) review of Iron Maiden’s Red ‘N’ Black porter, one of the best creations from the list of Iron Maiden beers so far by the indomitable Bruce Dickinson and Robinsons Brewery. After having tasted the original Trooper Beer, plus the excellent Hallowed and Sun and Steel, I was finally able to grab a few bottles of Red ‘N’ Black and, although I’m not a big fan of dark beers, I must admit this one provided me a very pleasant drinking exercise.
Having its name inspired by one of the best compositions by Iron Maiden after the return of Bruce on vocals over 20 years ago when Brave New World was released, that being The Red And The Black from the majestic The Book Of Souls, Iron Maiden’s Red ‘N’ Black is a modern take on a recipe that dates back to the 1850’s, a time when porter style beer was becoming increasingly popular in Britain. At 6.8% in bottle or 5.8% ABV in cask, Red ‘N’ Black is the first dark beer in the Trooper ranks and the strongest beer in the range to date, showcasing a blend of chocolate and crystal malt that gives this full-bodied beer a roasted malt and caramel backbone, while the Robinsons’ yeast provides hints of both liquorice and honey to create a delicious warming brew. “I like tasting outside the box. Stouts and porters were virgin territory for me so I just went by feel. Martyn and I hope we have created a new take on a classic beer and one which I hope will tickle the taste buds of ale fans in a pleasantly unexpected way,” explained Bruce when the beer was about to be launched.
As I already mentioned, I had a very good time savoring all the 500mL from the Red ‘N’ Black bottle (while of course listening to The Red And The Black) even not being a huge fan of dark beers, and the reason for that is mainly due to the lack of that (way too) strong bitterness that several porters out in the market have. Bruce and Robinsons Brewery managed to turn Red ‘N’ Black into a very easy-drinking beer, and you won’t even notice its 6.8% ABV. Furthermore, this is an amazing option to pair with an aged or fruity cheese, to taste it right after you devour some good old ribs, or to simply enjoy it by itself while watching a football match on TV. I still consider Sun and Steel as my top Iron Maiden beer so far, but as I said that’s due to my personal taste for lighter beers; however, I can also state that Red ‘N’ Black is by far my top dark beer, being very tasteful, smooth and, as mentioned in the official description of the beer, pleasantly warming.
Good luck trying to find it now, though, as the beer was advertised as a limited edition back when it was originally launched, which means it’s going to be tough finding a bottle for sale anywhere. For instance, you can’t find it using the UK Trooper Finder nor the US Trooper Finder, it’s not available from the Iron Maiden Beer webstore, from the Robinsons Brewery official website, nor from Iron Maiden Beer Canada (where The Headbanging Moose is located). But who knows? Maybe you live in a privileged country or area where there are still a few bottles of Red ‘N’ Black available, right? And if you find at least one bottle, save it for September 3 to celebrate the release of the highly anticipated Senjutsu. Unless you want to go full samurai and drink a pint of Sun and Steel on launch date instead, of course.
Beer details
Style: Porter – English
ABV: 6.8%
From: Robinsons Family Brewers
Country: England, United Kingdom
Sun, steel, Iron Maiden and a nice and cold saké-infused beer. What else do you need in life?
“Sunlight, falling on your steel, Death in life is your ideal, Life is like a wheel, rolling on and on.”
Let’s celebrate the news of another round of the superb Legacy of the Beast Tour by the one and only Iron Maiden, which will conquer pretty much the entire world except for the Americas in 2020, with a review of Sun and Steel, the sixth beer from the unstoppable Bruce Dickinson together with Robinsons Brewery. And let me tell you that after having tried the original Trooper Beer, the amazing Hallowed, and now Sun and Steel, I must admit this saké lager by Mr. Bruce Dickinson is in my opinion the one with the best taste, aftertaste, freshness and punch. I still have to try the other Iron Maiden beers I haven’t found yet such as Trooper Red ‘N’ Black, of course, but I doubt those will be as good as Sun and Steel. And do you want to know why?
Sun and Steel is the first lager in the Trooper range and is one of the most complex beers that Robinsons Brewery has ever produced, a double fermented lager created with authentic Japanese saké yeast. The idea for the beer, designed once again by the one and only Mr. Bruce Dickinson along with Robinsons’ Head Brewer Martyn Weeks, was first conceived during the autumn of 2016 following a meeting between Bruce and a friend of the band and long-time Iron Maiden fan George Yusa, owner of the 300-year old family run Okunomatsu Saké Brewery in Fukushima, Japan. Bruce became intrigued with the idea of putting the two flavor profiles together, and thus Sun and Steel was born. George was able to deliver a sample of the saké yeast to Iron Maiden’s 2017 concert at London’s O2 Arena, which Bruce took up to Robinsons Brewery. Having obtained permission from the Japanese government to brew with it, Martyn and the team had carefully cultivated the strain ever since. “This has been such an exciting project. I had a crazy idea to try and make a saké infused lager and over two and a half years later, here we are! I know Martyn and the team at Robinsons have had to become mad scientists to make this work but the end result is a really unique hybrid beer that tastes fantastic. Trooper fans have been asking for a lager, and here it is. I bet you would never have guessed we would do it like this though,” commented Bruce about his newborn “baby”.
Needless to say, if you’re a diehard Maidenmaniac you already know Sun and Steel takes its designation from the Iron Maiden song of the same name that appears on their 1983 masterpiece Piece Of Mind, which was in turn inspired by the life of Japanese Samurai Miyamoto Musashi, hence the idea of uniting a lager yeast, for the initial fermentation, with a saké yeast, as saké is Japan’s national beverage, for a second fermentation. The result is a crisp and refreshing 4.8% double-fermented, saké-infused pilsner style lager with a flash of honey and fruit that will please from the most demanding beer connoisseur to the average social beer drinker, showing how much effort Bruce and Martyn put into brewing such delicious beer. Of pale yellow color, gooseberry and honey lychee smell, and smooth and delicate taste, Sun and Steel is not too sweet nor too bitter, being the perfect beer for the winter while we all wait for the Legacy of the Beast Tour to kick off in 2020, or for the hot and sunny days of summer when Bruce, Steve & Co. will take several cities and countries all over the world by storm with their unparalleled live performances. For instance, you can find Sun and Steel on sale at selected LCBO stores if you live in Canada for 2.85 Canadian Dollars each 500ml can, at several other importers from all over the world, or simply go to the Robinsons Brewery official website to grab 12 bottles of 330ml each for £20. Having said that, what are you waiting for to purchase a few cans or bottles of Sun and Steel and enjoy them while listening to the song Sun and Steel itself and all other Iron Maiden classics we all love so much? UP THE IRONS AND…KANPAI!
Beer details Country: England
Brewer: Robinsons Brewery
Style: Saké Lager
Alcohol Content (ABV): 4.8%
Color: Pale yellow
Smell: Gooseberry, honey lychee
Taste: Smooth, complex and delicate
Sweetness: 3 out of 5
Bitterness: 2 out of 5
Contains: Malted barley and wheat
Witness the birth of True Norwegian Black Metal and its most notorious practitioners in the vision of award-winning director Jonas Åkerlund, despite the annoying fact the entire movie is spoken in English.
“A teenager’s quest to launch Norwegian Black Metal in Oslo in the early 1990s results in a very violent outcome.”
That’s how the producers of the good movie Lords Of Chaos, which was screened at several film festivals in 2018 and released in theaters on February 8 and on demand on February 22 this year, are promoting their version of the birth of True Norwegian Black Metal and its most notorious practitioners, those being Kristian ‘Varg’ Vikernes (also known for his revolutionary one-man project Burzum), Pelle ‘Dead’ Ohlin and, above all, Øystein ‘Euronymous’ Aarseth, the founder of and central figure in the early Norwegian Black Metal scene, the co-founder of the Norwegian Black Metal band Mayhem, and the founder and owner of the Extreme Metal record label Deathlike Silence Productions and record shop Helvete. All of them were members of one of the most infamous bands of all time, Mayhem, being part of a militant cult-like group known as the “Black Metal Inner Circle”.
If you’re a longtime fan of True Norwegian Black Metal, there’s nothing new to you in the movie that you don’t already know, but it’s still interesting to see how director Jonas Åkerlund, a Swedish director and drummer known for music videos like Madonna’s Ray of Light, Rammstein’s Pussy and The Prodigy’s Smack My Bitch Up, and a member of Swedish Black Metal institution Bathory from 1983 to 1984, portrayed all the trademark chaos, rebelliousness and violence of the Norwegian scene in the 90’s. Featuring Rory Culkin (yes, he’s the younger brother of Macaulay Culkin) as Euronymous, who did a great job trying to humanize such distinct character of the Black Metal universe, Emory Cohen as the untamable Varg, Jack Kilmer as the disturbed Dead, Sky Ferreira as Euronymous’ girlfriend Ann-Marit, and Valter Skarsgård as Emperor’s drummer and convicted murderer Bård Guldvik ‘Faust’ Eithun, as well as Anthony De La Torre as Jan Axel ‘Hellhammer’ Blomberg and James Edwyn as Kjetil ‘Manheim’ (considered by many the true founders of Mayhem in 1984, when the band was still named Musta), Lords Of Chaos is far from being a masterpiece, but it’s still a very entertaining movie that provides (to a certain point, of course) a very good view of how Black Metal changed the lives of those reckless kids that had a fairly decent life in Norway.
Despite the real Varg being completely against Lords Of Chaos, even stating in a 2016 video that Mayhem, Burzum and Darkthrone all denied the movie rights to their music, the movie is indeed a compelling ride that transforms Mayhem’s iconic guitarist Euronymous into a normal person like any of us, focusing on his fears and personal strugles as a young guy living in Norway, having won the jury prize best film award at the Molins de Rei Horror Film Festival in 2018 and being nominated to several other awards worldwide. However, if there’s one thing that really bothered me throughout the entire movie was the fact that all actors in the film speak in English (and with their American accents) all the time, despite the movie being entirely shot is Oslo, the capital of the beautiful Norway. In my opinion, they could have selected a few good Norwegian actors and done the whole movie in Norwegian to give it a much more realistic vibe, as it was sometimes pretty inconsistent and cringeworthy (at least for me) watching people in Norway, with the TV, newspapers and everything else in Norwegian, speaking like if they were all born and raised in Los Angeles or New York. That small but important detail doesn’t necessarily ruin the movie, but whenever you watch it I’m sure you’ll also have that feel that you’re watching a “Black Metal edition” of Beverly Hills, 90210 being aired on a Tuesday at 3pm on a random public access TV channel. I understand the use of English was somewhat essential for reaching a broader audience and having better support to promote the movie, but I still think the Norwegian language would have made the entire movie a thousand times more entertaining.
Apart from that language issue, Lords Of Chaos is extremely well produced, presenting a fantastic photography, including some stunning scenes from Norway’s unique nature and landscapes and, of course, strong colors and imagery to represent the main characters’ depression, madness and fears, and the story flows smoothly with very few plot holes (and historical inaccuracies) until the end. Furthermore, it’s nice to see how human all those musicians were, despite the fact many of their fans like to idolize them (as we pretty much do with any member of our favorite bands no matter which type of music they play). For instance, in one of the first scenes of the movie, we can see Euronymous, Dead and the others partying outdoors like any regular teenager, listening to some ass-kicking, old school metal hymns, having a lot of beer and trying to impress the girls around them. No murder, no arson, nor anything like that, only kids enjoying life and trying to find their place in society. As simple as that, just like many, many Black Metal bands reviewed here at The Headbanging Moose who focus on their music rather than on violent or illegal activities.
In addition, although Jonas Åkerlund stated in a 2018 interview that he used little Black Metal in the movie in part because “it’s kind of painful to listen to black metal music if you’re not used to it or don’t love it,” there’s still a lot of good Black Metal and other types of extreme and not-so-extreme music played throughout the entire movie. While watching it, get ready to bang your head and raise your horns to classics such as Funeral Fog by Mayhem, Inri and Satanic Lust by Sarcofago, Fast as a Shark by Accept, Stand up and Shout by Dio, Born for Burning, Sacrifice and The Return of Darkness and Evil by Bathory, Outbreak of Evil by Sodom, Serpent Eye by Cathedral, and Exhume To Consume by Carcass, among several others. Not only that, there are obviously some very entertaining scenes where both Mayhem and Burzum are either rehearsing, recording in the studio or playing live, which by the way is one of my favorite musical moments of the movie, with Mayhem’s chaotic sound mixed with the bloody and demented performance by their frontman Dead being the undisputed depiction of True Norwegian Black Metal.
Anyway, the main topic presented during the whole movie is obviously the extremely delicate relationships between Euronymous and Dead during what can be considered the first phase of Mayhem (until the always perturbed Dead loses it and commits suicide by blowing his brains out with a shotgun, with Euronymous taking a picture of his deceased friend and turning it into the disturbing cover art of their 1995 bootleg live album Dawn of the Black Hearts), and especially between Euronymous and the one who would become his arch nemesis in the end, the beyond controversial Varg. I mean, Dead was absolutely nuts from the very beginning, and apparently he’s always been like that due to a very tough childhood where he was bullied and beaten all the time at school, and Euronymous was just a regular musician until turning into a Black Metal beast with excellent sales, marketing and promotion skills, but the transformation of Varg from a chubby guy who liked Scorpions into a total lunatc who would reach the point of burning churches in the name of Black Metal is simply fantastic. For instance, pay good attention to the whole scene where Varg invites the press to his “lair” and tells them his name is “Count Grishnackh”, among other ridiculous comments and statements he makes. That’s hilarious and could have easily been included in any American teen movie.
And Jonas Åkerlund keeps humanizing all characters the entire movie, showing how Euronymous got some money from his father to open Helvete and start his record label, how Varg got money from his mother to help record a Mayhem album (and kept asking Euronymous for that money to pay his mom back), and how Faust couldn’t stop watching horror movies, which was one of the reasons why he got so interested in killing someone, or as he said, in piercing a knife through someone’s body like in the movies. And unless you come from a different dimension and knows absolutely nothing about True Norwegian Black Metal, you’ll be relatively shocked with how things turn at the end of the movie when Varg, feeling betrayed by his former friend Euronymous, who according to Varg himself turned his back not only to him but to the “Black Metal Inner Circle” and to the entire scene to focus on his musical career and on his girlfriend, decides to put an end to their relationship for good (or I should say not good at all). Let’s say Euronymous was what Dani Filth, from Cradle Of Filth, and Nergal, from Behemoth, are nowadays, an excellent performer and musician with a normal life backstage, which somehow sparks a lot of rage from the ones who consider themselves “true Black Metal fans”, got it?
There are many interviews and videos online where Jonas Åkerlund, Rory Culkin and Emory Cohen discuss Lords Of Chaos, like this one with BUILD Series NYC, and you can also find more information about the movie directly from their Facebook page, Twitter and Intagram. However, I highly recommend you avoid all that before watching Lords Of Chaos (don’t even watch the trailer below), as a few of those interviews and videos might “ruin” some important parts of the movie for you. Put differently, turn off the lights and light up some candles, turn off your smart phone, put on your most diabolical metal shirt, grab a beer or some red wine, and dive deep into the beautiful but somber Norway together with Euronymous, Dead and Varg, and become a “lord of chaos” yourself. You’re going to love this movie or completely hate it, but at least give it a try and then see what you think about it.
Best moments of the movie:Every scene where Euronymous interacts with either Dead or Varg is excellent. Rory Culkin, Emory Cohen and Jack Kilmer do a pretty solid job playing those three iconic characters.
Worst moments of the movie:As aforementioned, the fact that all dialogues are spoken in English and not in Norwegian, despite the entire movie being set in the beautiful Norway and based on Norwegian characters.
Released in 2018 Gunpowder & Sky/Arrow Films
Directed by Jonas Åkerlund
Cast
Rory Culkin – Øystein ‘Euronymous’ Aarseth
Emory Cohen – Kristian ‘Varg’ Vikernes
Jack Kilmer – Pelle ‘Dead’ Ohlin
Sky Ferreira – Ann-Marit
Valter Skarsgård – Bård Guldvik ‘Faust’ Eithun
Anthony De La Torre – Jan Axel ‘Hellhammer’ Blomberg
Jonathan Barnwell – Jørn ‘Necrobutcher’ Stubberud Full cast & crew
Are you already on your personal countdown to become part of the legacy on the upcoming Legacy of the Beast Tour 2019?
As there are only a few days left until 2018 comes to its inevitable end, it’s time to get ready for the year that’s about to start with the already classic annual calendar by Heavy Metal titans Iron Maiden, allowing you to properly count the days until Bruce, Steve & Co. take your city by storm with their undisputed Legacy of the Beast Tour 2019. And although the Iron Maiden 2019 Calendar might not be a masterpiece, mainly because the manufacturer, your friendly neighborhood Danilo Promotions Limited, missed a fantastic chance of crafting the entire calendar based on all the different Eddies from their critically-acclaimed, epic mobile game Legacy of the Beast, it’s still a fun piece to add to your collection.
As I said, instead of assigning a distinct (and ass-kicking) Eddie from the game to each month of the calendar, such as the Eternity Eddie, the Vampire Hunter Eddie, the Grim Reaper Eddie or the Samurai Eddie, they decided to take a more conventional path by simply adding pictures of the band members taken during their Legacy of the Beast Tour 2018. The front cover and the photos chosen to be part of the calendar are amazing, no doubt about that, especially the ones from February, April and September, but as a Maidenmaniac I still believe the Eddies would have been a much more suitable choice. Well, we can’t actually complain about that if you take a look at all previous versions, as it seems the manufacturer alternates between an Eddie-themed calendar (like their amazing 2018 edition) and a version containing solely band photos from year to year. Having said that, who knows, maybe next year when the 2020 version of the calendar is released we get all those fancy Eddies from the game, right?
Iron Maiden 2019 Square Global (Multilingual Edition)
Anyway, just like in all previous years, the 2019 calendar dimensions (30.4 x 1.5 x 42.4 cm) and weight (299 g) are quite standard, and you can purchase your copy of it from your regular retailers such as the Iron Maiden webstore, Danilo.com, Amazon (US, Canada or UK, for example), and Calendar Club. In addition, don’t forget there’s always the 12 x 12 version of the calendar named Iron Maiden 2019 Square Global (Multilingual Edition) if you prefer that specific format, although I believe it will be hard for anyone to find it online for purchase (it’s sold out in most locations) unless you go for the alternate version with a different front cover sold by BrownTrout. The price of the calendar, that being either the regular A3 version or the 12 x 12, varies depending on where you buy it, but I would say anything between 15 and 20 US Dollars should be fine.
Iron Maiden 2019 Square Global (BrownTrout Version)
In a nutshell, this is another good quality merch released by the one and only Iron Maiden that will certainly please most of their diehard fans (like this guy here who’s writing this review to you right now), also helping them count the days to their upcoming Legacy of the Beast Tour 2019 as already mentioned, especially if you live in North or South America. I’m already on my personal countdown to the two concerts in a row I’m attending here in Toronto, eager to see them performing their all-time classics mixed with some of my favorite “underground” hymns such as Where Eagles Dare, The Clansman, Flight of Icarus, Sign of the Cross and The Wicker Man for the first time after so many years and, as a consequence, becoming part of the legacy together with one of the most important bands not only in the history of metal, but of music in general.
Be part of the legacy with the new collection of first-class figurines inspired by Iron Maiden’s award-winning RPG mobile game.
If you’re an avid Iron Maiden follower, always eager to see what’s next in the career of our beloved Heavy Metal behemoths, I’m pretty sure you have already seen online or even downloaded and played their mobile game Legacy of the Beast, released in 2017, where you are able to battle as Eddie across several different worlds inspired by the band’s unique imagery and music. What you might not know is that Iron Maiden, in a partnership with a multi-faceted production company called Incendium, are also offering their fans a collection of high-quality action figures called Legacy of the Beast Figurines, based on several characters from their award-winning RPG game. There are two types of figurines available, the ones you can see what you’re buying and the ones that come in a blind box, something tons of other manufacturers do for different collections based on movies, cartoons and TV shows where they lower the cost of the blind box, but you always end up spending more money than you have available by buying several boxes (because you never know what you’re going to get).
The ones you can see what you’re buying are a no-brainer, highly recommended for embellishing your “altar of Heavy Metal” together with all your other metal-inspired memorabilia, those being the SHAMAN EDDIE (inspired by their 2015 masterpiece The Book of Souls), the VAMPIRE HUNTER EDDIE (inspired by their 1980 instrumental classic Transylvania), and the TROOPER EDDIE, all costing around CAD$ 32.43 (or US$24.95). These highly detailed 1:24 scale PVC figures measure about 4-inches tall and come on a special theme base, packaged in a diorama-style window box. As I said, whenever you see one of those, simply buy them because they kick some serious ass. However, while searching for those Eddies you might actually find a blind box containing one of the 12 different individual characters featured in the Legacy of the Beast Wave 1 Limited Edition Figurines, and that’s when the “problem” beings because as already mentioned you have no idea what character you’re buying. Those 12 figurines and the chance of getting a particular one are:
Heights of figurines vary, and are typically 9cm high including the stand, but of course the selection is absolutely random (based on the chances listed above) and you cannot ask the manufacturer for a specific item, nor can they accept returns on opened items. This means once you buy a blind box, it’s yours forever (unless you sell it on eBay or Kijiji), and that you may receive duplicates when ordering more than one item. For instance, I bought only one box and got the Clairvoyant, by far the most boring of all characters by the way, but it is what it is, and if I had bought two boxes I might have gotten two Clairvoyants. You can buy only ONE BLIND BOX for around CAD$ 19.43 (or US$ 14.95), or you can try your luck buying a special BLIND BOX MASTER CASE containing 12 individual blind boxes for around CAD$ 233.92 (or US$ 179.95). But again, keep in mind if you buy the carton with 12 blind boxes, you might end up getting 12 Clairvoyants instead of the Samurai and the Cyborg you wanted so much.
“I’m waiting in my cold cell, when the bell begins to chime Reflecting on my past life and it doesn’t have much time Cause at 5 o’clock they take me to the Gallows Pole The sands of time for me are running low”
British Heavy Metal legends Iron Maiden are not only a metal music machine like everyone says, but in the past few years they’ve also mastered the art of craft beer brewing in a beyond fruitful partnership with independent family brewers Robinsons Brewery. Once again, the dynamic duo of Robinsons’ master brewer Martyn Weeks and Iron Maiden’s multi-talented, restless and wild lead vocalist and ale aficionado Bruce Dickinson have teamed up to create something very special for beer and music fans alike, the brand new Belgian style beer Hallowed(available from October 2017 for a limited period of four months according to the band itself), following on from the success of the original Trooper Beer, which has sold over 15 million pints since its launch in 2013, and previous limited edition beers Trooper 666, Trooper light Brigade and Red ‘N’ Black, all part of the already imposing collection of Iron Maiden beers. As a matter of fact, Hallowed is obviously named after Iron Maiden’s all-time classic Hallowed Be Thy Name, from their 1982 cult album The Number of the Beast, and just by that you already know this beer kicks some serious ass.
At 6.0% ABV in a 330 ml bottle, Hallowed is a Belgian inspired beer that’s brewed in England and also one of the first beers to be brewed by Robinsons Brewery that uses Belgian yeast. Furthermore, Robinsons haven’t changed the yeast used in their beers since 1942, which makes Hallowed even more special. “What makes this brew pretty special is that we’re adopting a Belgian yeast for the first time. I’m a big fan of Belgian beers, so I jumped at the chance to brew my own. While I get very excited about experimenting with new formulas and ingredients, the thing about Belgian beer is that it’s as much a way of life as it is a drink. We’ve tried to bottle that philosophy in Hallowed, albeit with a British twist”, explained Bruce. Martyn complemented Bruce’s thoughts by saying that “it’s all in the yeast. Belgian yeast yields a very distinct taste and presentation. You can sniff out a Belgian beer simply from its aromas: fruity, spicy and earthy. Belgian yeasts withstand higher alcohol levels, they attenuate well and create an array of phenolics and esters… put simply, this means more flavour and I think Hallowed drinkers are in for a treat.”
Of medium and malty style, which makes it ideal for a beef stew or cheeses, Hallowed brings vibrant aromas with vanilla, coffee, clove and floral notes, presenting on the palate notes of coffee, toasted malt and biscuit. Moreover, the crystal rye gives this dark amber, almost light brown ale a blood red hue and a smooth dry finish, having a lot of depth in malt character while the light Belgian yeast provides balance to its taste. As a huge fan of Belgian beer, I personally enjoyed a lot savoring my first bottle of Hallowed a few weeks ago, and I’m happy that I bought a few extra ones at LCBO for future occasions. If the original Trooper beer was already recommended for beer lovers (and not for heavy beer drinkers), Hallowed can be considered even more distinguished and gourmet, turning the simple act of drinking beer into a unique and very pleasant experience. Apart from LCBO here in Canada (and keep in mind not every store has it), I don’t know where else you can get Hallowed, as the product is already listed as discontinued on the Robinsons Brewery official website. Well, you should keep trying to find Hallowed in your hometown or by purchasing it online if possible, because it’s totally worth the investment, with one 330 ml bottle of Hallowed costing around 2.90 Canadian Dollars. In the meantime, you can also have some fun online by watching Bruce himself tasting Hallowed HERE, or this short but fun video by United News International where they talked about the release of Hallowed last year.
Beer details Country: England
Brewer: Robinsons Brewery
Style: Belgian Dark Ale
Alcohol Content (ABV): 6.00%
Color: Red
Smell: Delicate floral, hints of vanilla & clove
Taste: Malty, Toffee, Caramel
Sweetness: 3 out of 5
Bitterness: 2 out of 5
Contains: Malted barley and wheat
Price: CAD$ 2.90 (1 x Bottle 330 ml)
A superb beer that tastes smooth and fresh without losing the core punch and energy of a good brew, just like its beyond-classic eponymous Heavy Metal ballad.
“À tout le monde, à tous mes amis Je vous aime, je dois partir These are the last words I’ll ever speak And they’ll set me free”
À Tout Le Monde, which gained a revamped version titled À Tout Le Monde (Set Me Free) in 2007 featuring Cristina Scabbia, is not only one of the biggest hits by Thrash/Speed Metal titans Megadeth, but also one of the most touching, most recognizable and most powerful metal ballads of all time without a shadow of doubt. However, in 2016 À Tout Le Monde also became a synonym to a new beer by Unibroue, a brewery located in Chambly, Quebec, Canada that was started by Serge Racine and Quebec native André Dion in 1990, and known for some of the most admired craft beers in Quebec and in the rest of Canada such as Blanche de Chambly (Witbier), Don de Dieu (Tripel Wheat Ale), Maudite (Strong Red Ale), and Unibroue’s flagship beer La Fin du Monde (Tripel).
Born of the friendship between Unibroue’s brewmaster Jerry Vietz and the one and only Dave Mustaine, À Tout Le Monde is a flavorful Belgian-style, dry-hopped saison with hoppy and spicy notes, a clean, fresh taste and a crisp dry finish, dedicated to all fans of Heavy Metal and Belgian-style ales from around the world, using a dry hopping technique and, to date, having the lowest alcohol content of any Unibroue beer at 4.5%. Furthermore, À Tout Le Monde is not the first strike into the business of alcoholic beverages by “Megadave”, as back in 2014 he teamed up with Fallbrook Winery winemaker Vernon Kindred to create the Mustaine Vineyards. Although I haven’t tried any of the wines by the Mustaine Vineyards yet (and I do enjoy a good wine), as a beer guy I’m absolutely certain none of their wines can beat À Tout Le Monde, nor any of the several beers brewed by any other band in the world. And don’t worry, as I won’t be cheesy by jesting with you guys saying À Tout Le Monde is a beer “for everyone”. Or will I?
If you access the official Unibroue page for À Tout Le Monde, you’ll see their beer and food pairings list includes very distinct options such as grilled steak, charcuteries, nachos, mussels and comté-style cooked pressed cheese, but to be honest I think you can pair this outstanding beer even with marshmallows, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a slice of watermelon so good and fresh it tastes. Displaying a yellow color, slightly golden with hazy appearance, and tasting slightly spicy and astringent with notes of tropical fruits and citrus like mango and litchi, À Tout Le Monde can usually be found in Canada as 341 ml or 750 ml bottles, as a 30,000 ml keg, or as draft beer, being sold at The Beer Store or at LCBO with prices going from CAD$ 14.95 for a pack of 6 bottles of 341 ml to CAD$ 222.15 for the keg. As a matter of fact, it actually took a long time for the closet The Beer Store to where I live to start selling À Tout Le Monde, which means if you do not live in Quebec your pursuit for À Tout Le Monde can get a little tedious, frustrating and time-consuming (unless you have some extra money to buy it directly online and deal with the delivery fees, of course).
The idea for the beer came about when Megadeth headlined the Festival d’été de Québec, playing their kick-ass Thrash and Speed Metal in front of eighty thousand people in 2015. “We had pulled up in the middle of the day and went to the hotel with this guy named Jerry Vietz from Unibroue. And we both had a lot of stuff in common and we hit it off right away. I was kind of sampling some of the different beverages that he had. And I told him, ‘I like this. I like this about this one. I like this about that one.’ And we made a second round, brought the liquid down to Nashville and tried it again. And I said, ‘Okay, so it’s getting really close. I like this about this, and I like this about that.’ And then I got to taste the final product for the first time in Orlando”, said Mustaine, who also had a few interesting words to say about the boom of music-inspired beers from other bands. “It’s funny, because I’ve spoken with a couple of beer magazines now — I didn’t know they had beer magazines, but evidently they do — and they said, ‘Have you tried the Iron Maiden beer?’ ‘Oh, yeah, of course.’ ‘Have you tried the AC/DC beer?’ ‘No. How is it?’ ‘Oh, it’s terrible.’ ‘Have you tried the Motörhead beer?’ ‘No. How is it?’ ‘Well, it’s okay.’ And they told me that Mastodon has a beer, I think, and then New Order has a beer too”, Mustaine said. “And it’s, like, okay, well, maybe these dudes got into it just to kind of slap their name on a can of beer or something like that. I did this because when we did the wine… In April of 2014, we made wine [to coincide with Mustaine’s performance with the San Diego Symphony], so that there was something really cool that would be like a social lubricant with everybody, but also be like an adhesive where everybody would come together with the two worlds colliding.”
Of course, as any other beer inspired or crafted by a Heavy Metal band, there are a lot of “extras” available for diehard fans of Megadeth who loved the beer like myself, some of those being free like the YouTube videos with Bernard Johnson, a Regional Sales Manager from Unibroue, talking about À Tout Le Monde, and Dave Mustaine himself talking about making his own beer and wishing us all Happy Holidays (in 2016, when the beer was launched); and if you have some spare cash to invest on some À Tout Le Monde merch you can go to the official Megadeth webstore and select whatever suits you best from the options available. I’ll personally save my money for the beer itself, buying at least the pack with 6 bottles whenever I find it here in Ontario or when I visit Quebec, and not only because I’m a longtime fan of the music by Dave Mustaine & Co., but because À Tout Le Monde is indeed a superb beer, tasting smooth and fresh without losing the core punch and energy of a good brew, just like its beyond-classic eponymous Heavy Metal ballad.
Beer details Country: Canada
Brewer: Unibroue Fermentation: Top
Style: Belgian Style Dry, Hopped Saison
Alcohol Content (ABV): 4.5%
Color: Yellow, slightly golden with hazy appearance
SRM: 5,5
Clarity: Slightly cloudy
Head: Egg whites
Bubbles: Fine
Effervescence: Medium and sustained
IBU: 22
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: Medium
Price: CAD$ 14.95 (6 × Bottle 341 ml), CAD$ 26.95 (12 × Bottle 341 ml), CAD$ 50.95 (24 × Bottle 341 ml), CAD$ 222.15 (1 × Keg 30000 ml)
Artists occasionally support causes through donations to organizations. With SAVAGE LANDS, Megadeth drummer Dirk Verbeuren teamed up with his guitar-wielding friend Sylvain Demercastel to create their own US 501(c)3 non-profit.
Fittingly, “The Last Howl” is a howling tribute to the howler monkey, which are endangered in Costa Rica. The song features Savage Lands co-founders Sylvain Demercastel & Dirk Verbeuren, as well as support from John Tardy (Obituary), Andreas Kisser (Sepultura), Poun (Black Bomb A) & Etienne Treton (Black Bomb A).
If there are still a few 
The remasters are an amazing choice for newcomers to the world of Iron Maiden or to fans whose CD’s or LP’s are not in good condition anymore due to the repeated plays, but even if you feel your collection is already complete I think there’s still room for the collectors/deluxe edition including the figurine and the patch. The figurine is pretty much an “add-on” to 
You can find all five deluxe edition boxes on Amazon Canada, for example, but pay good attention to the prices as they vary from around 25 to 90 Canadian dollars based on the availability of each item. Furthermore, you can also try your luck on other online stores worldwide such as 
Our second special review (after 
You can also try your luck to grab your Funko Eddies from several online and physical retailers such as 
“The red and the black, people don’t want the truth, look in their eyes and you send them away
Good luck trying to find it now, though, as the beer was advertised as a limited edition back when it was originally launched, which means it’s going to be tough finding a bottle for sale anywhere. For instance, you can’t find it using the 
THE HEADBANGING MOOSE 