Behind-the-scenes footage from the making of its "Karma" video. The group is putting the finishing touches on the clip right now and expects to have it ready by mid-October.

'Downhell', a turning point of Korean metal.

Classic heavy metal influenced by Judas Priest, Halford, and Fight.

Recording/mixing: Cho Sang-hyun @ Mol Studios Mastering: Alan Douches @ WWSM Studios Artwork: Yushi (Tatooist) Lyrics: Lee Kyung

Obviously there was a Renaissance in Korean heavy metal once before. Through the '80s--which was the golden era of heavy metal--up to the mid-'90, so many new bands were introduced to the Korean metal scene. However, now it seems really difficult to find bands that survived that period and still remain in the scene.

Although we've recently gotten a breeze of the NWOAM (New Wave of American Heavy Metal) and reinterpreted metalcore, it still wasn't enough to gather a storm over this badland that has never been this dry and empty before. Witnessing the rain brought to the hardcore/punk scene having inspired rock fans to support their local indie bands, and now Korean metalheads realized it's time to raise their voices and cry out for a Messiah to end the longest dry season of the Korean metal scene.

If you are fed up with all those current metal/hardcore bands going no further than just following the footsteps of foreign bands in trend and failing to embrace the roots of metal, and if you have noticed a metallic sound in current hardcore, and moreover, if you label yourself a metalhead, now it's time for you to pay attention to Downhell, the 21th century's resurrection of classic heavy metal.

Downhell started as 'Thrill Kill' in 2000. Thrill Kill was formed by Mark Choi, at the time known as the outlaw of the rock/metal scene. Soon they brought in Derrick, the best technical drummer in Korea, and released a 4-track demo. Yet still, their personal situation kept them from being seen often in the scene until 2002. The same year Mark renamed the band Downhell, and got a new line-up with Kim Do-soo from Oathean and Cho Sang-hyun from God of Emptiness/Mol Studios. In 2003 they made a strong impression on metal fans by playing as an opening band for the Korean tour of Skyfire, a Swedish melodic death metal band.

Playing as an opening band for the Korean tour of Dark Tranquillity in 2004, Downhell raised the curiosity of many Korean metalheads. The same year their debut album 'At the End of Death' was finally released. The whole album was recorded and mixed by Cho Sang-hyun at Mol Studios, known as the ultimate Mecca of the Korean hardcore/punk/metal scene. The final 10 tracks were mastered by Alan Douches critically known as the world's best metal/hardcore engineer for his work with Shadows Fall, God Forbid, Mastodon, who also mastered an album of 13 steps, a Korean old school hardcore band.

Every song in the album has been armed with a strong and simple hook gushing masculine energy as a classic metal band. Solos by Alex and Beshas in tracks like 'Doppleganger' and '不苦不樂 (no pain no joy)' will remind you of Judas Priest, Fight, and Testament. No surprise that these guys pick Judas Priest, Fight, Testament, along with Iced Earth, as their musical influences. They're burning in fire and hunger for heavy metal. And they've got skills to back up that passion. They have been ready to grow a tree out of the roots of Korean heavy metal. Last year Downhell has proven themselves to many fans not only in Korea but also outside the country. They played at the nation's biggest rock events like Busan Rock Festival, Korea Live Music Festival and Pentaport Festival. And once again, they opened for melodic death metal band Dark Tranquillity. Meanwhile, their first album 'At The End of Death' was introduced to Japanese metal fans by the metal magazine Burrn, where critics scored it 79.

Early this year Downhell crossed over another boundary and impressed many people even outside the metal world by contributing their original song 'Like A Bullet' to the OST of the movie "SSonda (shoot)" with producer Shin Hae-chul (aka Mawang), one of the best-known rock musicians in Korea, and closing for the premiere of the movie. Then in August Downhell finally started recording their new album with Ahn Heung-chan from Crash and Cho Sang-hyun from M.O.L Studio as co-producers.

Early this year Downhell crossed over another boundary and impressed many people even outside the metal world by contributing their original song 'Like A Bullet' to the OST of the movie "SSonda (shoot)" with producer Shin Hae-chul (aka Mawang), one of the best-known rock musicians in Korea, and closing for the premiere of the movie. Then in August Downhell finally started recording their new album with Ahn Heung-chan from Crash and Cho Sang-hyun from M.O.L Studio as co-producers.

And world-known graphic artist Travis Smith is doing the artwork for the cover of the album. Although it is still in the making, it's been already getting quite a few offers from several labels all around the world.

Downhell now knocks on the Korean metal scene with another line-up this yea