First on-stage, SSS (5) are fairly forgettable, the band remaining static and seeming glued to their allotted area of stage. The lack of an engaging visual spectacle fails to animate a set of fairly mediocre crossover thrash songs. Xentrix (7) incite an animated response from the growing crowd. An impressive response for a band that…
First up are Dead Harts (7) who play a great set of well-constructed hardcore tunes that nicely warms the crowd up for what is to follow. Feed the Rhino (9) who follow are nothing short of astonishing. The band hurl themselves around the venue with a manic fury, especially frontman Lee Tobin who seems to…
IV is earthtone9’s first album since their 2010 reunion – making it the bands first full-length in 13 years. However, there’s a big difference between performing old crowd favourites live and reuniting after so long to write music. Will earthtone9’s reunion peter out in a flurry of nostalgia and half-baked ideas? Happily, the answer to…
Over the past few years UK metal fans have begun to see a new festival creeping onto their radar. Bloodstock Open Air takes place at Catton Hall in Derby every August and boasts some of the biggest names in modern metal. The festival caters entirely for metal fans –uniquely in the UK which has a…
Prior to their set on the co-headlining tour with Cannibal Corpse James was fortunate enough to be able to sit down with John Boecklin, drummer for Devildriver in London to have a chat. So hows the tour been going so far? Great, we’ve only got four shows left, and we’re on the final UK leg…
Thrash has never looked so healthy – that much is obvious from the string of seminal albums released by old favourites like Kreator and Megadeth to the consistently solid offerings from newer bands like Municipal Waste or Evile. Thus, the cynical observer might ask “do we REALLY need another old-school thrash band?” The answer is,…
Bullet For My Valentine recently played the Camden Roundhouse promoting latest album ‘Temper Temper’ so James went down to check them out to see whether despite the negative feedback surrounding new album Temper Temper they’ve still “got it” live. Miss May I (7) kick off this evening’s entertainment; they’re fairly standard metalcore fodder but are…
Hold the Fight’s debut mini album – ‘With a Breath and a Hope’ offers the listener a unique take on bands such as Funeral for a Friend. Where Funerals guitar are loaded up with distortion however, ‘Hold the Fight’ have adopted a more ‘twangy’ (for want of a better word) indie-centric guitar tone. That’s not…
When the Devildriver and Cannibal Corpse co-headliner bill rolled into town we just had to go and check out what this great bill had to offer – The Black Dahlia Murder supporting just made this already great gig that bit more enticing. Hours of Penance (6) open up tonight’s bill of metal heavyweights – unfortunately…
Bullet For My Valentine are always a band that are going to divide, and have done since debut album ‘The Poison’ propelled them to mainstream success. Last album, Fever delivered punchy and hard hitting metal songs that held a distinct appeal for the mainstream. However, it often feels as though Bullet have taken the formula…
During the build up to the release of Bullet For My Valentine’s brand new album Temper Temper, the band’s drummer Michael Thomas (better known to most of the bands’ fans as Moose) kindly agreed to have a chat with James about the bands’ thought processes around Temper Temper, touring and various other things. Read on…
Adrenaline soaked power chords build up into a devastating crescendo and anticipation grows as a plectrum slide leads into the first riff, a blend of the burgeoning NWOBHM style twinned with punk rock aggression. Shrill vocals start as a devastatingly fast drum beat kicks in. Thus begins Enforcer’s newest album ‘Death by Fire’. Of course,…
