Guido Segers had a very interesting chat with Mir Shamal Hama-faraj from Iraqi death metal band Cyaxares, where they talked about what it’s like to be a metal musician in Iraq and more.

Former The Gathering vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen is one the most versatile and dynamic singers in rock and metal today. Besides having her own solo career she’s involved in many different projects and collaborations. Raymond Westland caught up with her about her latest project with Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon, Star One), entitled The Gentle Storm.

Ghold are a spacey, grunt doom duo based in London. They just released the incredible Of Ruin on Ritual Productions and are just about to head out on a UK tour with Oozing Wound. They had a quick chat with our man Richard Collins so we could find out a bit more about them, because we fucking love them… READ IT!

As Laura Kidd, aka She Makes War, embarked on her latest tour of the UK, Phil Makepeace caught up with her to get the lowdown on her new album, amongst other things.

Box Records is pumping out some of the best music we’ve ever heard and it’s seemingly come from nowhere. Our man Richard Collins had a chat with the Box Records CEO Matthew Baty to find out what the hell is going on.

On the last show of their UK tour, Sam Birkett met with Christian Lindell from Swedish heavy metal band Portrait to talk heavy metal, religion and escapism.

Black Rainbows are back with the superb ‘Hawkdope’, which takes its cue from the mean, lean sound of Detroit punk and charges it up with the smell of leather and motorbikes. It is party music for the mushroom generation with a strong dab of amphetamine to provide the requisite kick. With this in mind Martyn Coppack had to ask Gabriele Fiori from the band what their take on all this was….we think you’ll like this.

Some of the E&D team saw Wozniak in action last weekend and were pretty blown away. These guys are the real deal, no question, fusing powerful shoegaze with elements of psych and post punk in to a heady and exciting brew. Just prior to that show, Bruce Cowie caught up with Sarah to find out a bit more about the band and what they’re up to.

Stunning. Just no other word for it; stunning. Sometimes a band just emerges out of the mists to totally blow your mind and Boom Said Thunder are one of those bands.

Dark and brooding, yet somehow catchy, rock with a distinct psychedelic tinge.

Hollow by Pocket Apocalypse Pocket Apocalypse from UK: Find Us In 50 words or less, tell us what you sound like? We fuse elements of math rock with ambient post rock, but the common theme is melodic riffs with tight intricate rhythms and evocative voca …

Everything about this album makes the hair on my arms rise and creates goosebumps all over. I would recommend you listen to this with headphones, or while driving through a thick patch of fog.

In a similar vein to The Twighlight Sad, without the Scottish accents, Western Jaguar produce lush, complex and emotive indie rock.

Bear vs Manero are one of the many unheralded gems in contemporary British music. Combining lyrical finesse and thunderous riffs, they are an intoxicating blast of raw power. I interviewed the band following the recording of their first full-length album; if there’s any justice it will propel them into fame-and-excess-induced-rehab upon its release in May. By Aidan Hehir

Phil Weller asked Laurent ‘Lags’ Barnard from Krokodil some questions about the band, Mastodon and more.

Bad Guys are ridiculous and their new album ‘Bad Guynaecology’, out on Riot Season in March, is ridiculous. Long-term fan boy Richard Collins had a chat with them to find out what’s happening on Planet Bad.

Mark Martins asked Callisto’s bass player Juho Niemelä some questions about the new and well acclaimed album ‘Secret Youth’, which could possibly be the band’s most mature and diverse album to date.

“It’s what we love and as long as we’re aren’t losing loads of money we’ll just keep on going.” Marty from Alright The Captain talks life on the road in a DIY band. By Dan Salter

Guido Segers had a very interesting chat with Sorts and Thon from Estonian extreme metal band Vanad Varjud, about the band and Estonian music and culture.

Earlier this year Beardfish released their more than excellent new album +4626-COMFORTZONE. Ted asked founding member Rikard Sjöblom some questions about the new album and more.

To round off our Independent Venue Week coverage we asked Mike Dench, who as one half of Goodsoul Promotions goes to more gigs than anyone else we know, to come up with a list of his top 20 venues.