Millennium Of Blood -
Saturday 8th November 2008
A late and unavoidable cancellation meant
that I Am Colossus were unable to play, thankfully
Forlorn filled in at short notice (cheers
fellas!) so the four bands to play were...
Sons Of Exile. It was
hard to believe that this was only their sixth ever gig.
Sure there are things to work on, but overall they were
very impressive. Started a bit hesitantly but got into their
stride quickly. Metalcore would best describe their sound,
they're well drilled and tight as a band. Dan and Luke weave
intricate guitar patterns, Matt on bass and Austin on drums
form a solid rhythm section and then you have Phil screaming
like a banshee to complete the assault. Mixed things up
well, playing the EP in full, together with four new songs
and a couple of covers. Of the covers, Machine Head's
“Davidian” went down well, Mudvayne's
“Happy” didn't work for me at all. Enjoyable
opening set from a band who I feel will be around for a
while. Need to work on your stage presence, but that will
come with more gigs guys. Setlist; “Hostile”,
“Haunted”, “Backoff”, “My
Requiem”, “Happy”, “Addiction”,
“Scream”, “Davidian” and “Left
For Dead”.
Thanks again to Forlorn for
stepping in at such short notice. To say I wasn't impressed
when I saw them for the first time at the Barfly is a massive
understatement. However, every time I have seen them since
they have impressed me more, and their two E.P.s are more
than worth tracking down. Back to their original line-up,
they bludgeoned their way through their set of doom-laden
death metal. Very tight musically, I have to single out
their bass player, James, for special mention. Genuinely
I haven't seen many better bassists this year – phenomenal
musician. As a band they generated immense power and were
entertaining visually. Get a full length release right and
2009 should be a good year for you fellas! Setlist; “In
The Face Of Terror”, “Hearts To War”,
“Doomed”, “Law Of Hate”, “Worlds
End”, “The Forlorn Hope”, “Culture
Shock” and “Mindless”.
Machiavellian had travelled
down from Liverpool for this gig and I'm hugely grateful
that they made the effort. They'd sent me a preview copy
of their EP to review and I'd been chomping at the bit to
see them live. I use the word ferocious a lot in gig reviews,
having witnessed this set perhaps I need to have a one to
ten ferocity rating! If so these guys would be around the
9 to 9.5 mark!! Truly crushing set of pulverising extreme
metal. Essentially they combined death metal with today's
more extreme stylings, then throw in the most vicious breakdowns
I have heard for a long, long time. Played three out of
the four tracks from the EP plus a couple of new ones for
good measure. The new tunes were equally vicious and stunningly
executed. Quick introduction to the band. Ste and Chris
churned out the riffs mercilessly and Kris barked out the
vocals viciously. Nick pummelled the kit almost into submission
and Ant played his six string bass impressively –
night for the bass players then? If they can channel this
level of aggression into a full length release it will go
down a storm in the extreme metal world. Setlist; “Manifestations”,
“Bone Island”, “Methuselah”, “Let
My Home Be My Gallows” and “Ranger”.
I've always had a lot of time for
Godsize and just recently they seem to have raised
the bar by putting in some astonishing live performances.
Tonight was no different. Fellas, I'm finding it difficult
to review you these days as I've seen you so many times!
Let's just say that this was an entertaining, highly polished
and professional display. If you haven't seen them yet –
GO!! They combine doom/stoner moments, with sludge and hardcore;
difficult to describe, hopefully this will make more sense
if you have already seen them or when you get round to it!
Kieron is a more than solid drummer and forms a blistering
rhythm section with Dave on bass. Scott is riff-meister
and then you have Kris. He's an enigmatic frontman who spends
the majority of the set prowling around the audience and
encouraging screams from all and sundry. Usual suspects
were there in the set of course - “Beer Slag”,
“For You” and “Start Her Up”
- plus a couple of new tunes which worked equally well.
Stunning performance and a quality way to finish the night.
Thanks to all the bands for their excellent
sets. Andy from Musoplex studio who once again
conjured up a superb sound. Pink
aka the better half for her never ending support. And of
course all those who attended – hope you had a good
night! December's spectacular looms nearer – are you
ready for the H.O.D.?!!
