Live Review : Damnation Festival 'A Night Of Salvation' on November 1st 2024

There is something ornamental and ritualistic about an album playing in full. Usually sets are a Russian roulette of endless probabilities. For a band with a healthy back catalogue there is an existential dread that the next song is either going to be one that you don't like or even worse the dreaded "one from the new album”. A playback of a legendary album takes away all of that uncertainty and instead becomes a musical installation, an art form frozen in time. You are plunged into a warm bath of familiarity where you know exactly what's coming next. This comfort blanket approach is especially true of albums that are very much of their time or define a specific moment, era or movement. Hearing those songs again in exact order that you would have listened to them on vinyl/CD/minidisk/personal stereo (delete as applicable) offers a gateway into the past allowing the listener to reconnect with their younger selves.

Live Review : Bloodstock Festival on August 12th 2023

There is a wonderful sweet spot about the Saturday morning of a festival. You have been there enough time to bed in and become familiar with the surroundings, but it is all yet to become a slog. Also, there is the delicious realization that you still have two days to go. Ambrius have the honour of kicking off proceedings on the Sophie stage and prove to be an interesting and enticing mix of power and progressive metals.

Bloodstock : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Employed To Serve

While 2021 was pretty shit wasn't it? Not as bad as 2020, but still pretty miserable as years go. It however had one shining chink of light and that was the release of “Conquering” by Employed to Serve. Our album of the year here at ROCKFLESH, it was a bold and brazen treaty on modern metal.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Stewart Lucas22 July 2023Bloodstock FestivalBloodstock, 2023, Employed To ServeComment

Live Review : Sweden Rock Festival on June 10th 2023

We start the final day early on with an incredible interview with Sammy Urwin from Employed to Serve. A truly great guy from an awesome band. There’s also a chance for us to do some uploading and admin before the bands start playing, and it’s worth noting that both 5G and 4G networks perform admirably throughout the festival, not just for the press but for all punters, ensuring seamless connectivity. Too often you go to a festival in the UK and can’t stay in touch with friends and family to meet them.

Sweden Rock Celebrating 30 Years of Rock

Sweden Rock Festival is an annual rock/metal extravaganza that takes place just outside the town of Sölvesborg in the southern region of Blekinge, Sweden. The festival delivers the perfect mix of classic rock, hard rock, metal and other related genres. Moreover, the festival organisers pay particular attention to creating an exceptional overall festival experience, and every year they aim to improve the level of comfort for all the punters, not just those in VIP. As the organisers themselves say; “Joy and community lay the foundation for ‘the spirit of Sweden Rock…simply that people get on well together here, help each other out and socialize with both known and unknown people…enjoy the music, indulge the atmosphere and hang out with the brothers and sisters that we simply call the best audience in the world.”