Fleshtivals — ROCKFLESH

Live Review : RADAR on July 27th 2024

Live Review : RADAR on July 27th 2024

RADAR Festival 2024 at the O2 Victoria Warehouse is a vibrant and diverse showcase of progressive and alternative metal/rock acts, featuring both established names and rising stars in the genre. The festival not only covers progressive/technical metal and rock though, it also pushes those boundaries and often breaks them with genre-spanning and unexpected acts that positively challenge the way we look at music and performance. Much like we saw with Tech-Fest UK, at the heart of RADAR is that sense of building a genuine community.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Matt Fraser31 July 2024O2 Victoria WarehouseRADAR Festival, 2024, TesseracT, Conjurer, Dirty Loops, The Fall Of Troy, Car Bomb, Graphic Nature, Heart Of A Coward, Ithaca, Seething Akira, Matt Fraser, Johann WierzbickiComment

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss

When I first started attending Bloodstock Open Air in the late noughties, its USP re headliners was to give us continental big hitters that, in any other circumstance would not command a large stage in this cottage. So we had Children of Bodom, Immortal, Behemoth (who were still a relatively small concern in those days) and Emperor bewitch us with headliner extravagances when their pulling power on raiiny Tuesday in Stoke was no more than 500 people.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Stewart Lucas31 July 2024Bloodstock FestivalArchitects, Bloodstock 2024Comment

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss

The normal trajectory for a folk metal band is to start with metal and then drift towards folk. Korpiklanni turned that on its head. In the late 90s, they were a Sami folk music collective playing the guttural sounds of the indigenous Finnish people.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Stewart Lucas30 July 2024Bloodstock Open AirKorpiklaani, Bloodstock 2024Comment

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss

Comedy metal has become a complex and multi-versed beast. There is the Python-esque absurdity of Evil Scarecrow, There is the Benny Hill revivalist movement that is Steel Panther (“look tits he he he he) and there is the children's birthday party in hell vibe of Party Cannon. Raised by owls are not taking the piss, they are far more astute than that.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Stewart Lucas29 July 2024Bloodstock Open AirBloodstock 2024, Raised By OwlsComment

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Flogging Molly

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Flogging Molly

Now Celtic punk mainstays, Flogging Molly may well seem a little bit of a left of centre choice. But that's before you realise that lead vocalist and founder Dave King used to ply his trade in Fastway, what Fast Eddie did next after Lemmy kicked him out of Motorhead.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Stewart Lucas27 July 2024Bloodstock Open AirFlogging Molly, Bloodstock 2024Comment

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Clutch

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Clutch

There are those who say the number 13 is unlucky, well it ain't here as it's giving you the eventual appearance of the much touted Clutch. They have sat at the top of the Bloodstock wish list for over a decade. It might have taken a while to get them onto the site but believe me it will be worth it.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Stewart Lucas26 July 2024Bloodstock Open AirClutch, Bloodstock 2024Comment

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Septicflesh

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Septicflesh

There is death metal, there is technical ornate death metal and then there is Septicflesh. I talk a lot about stripped-down minimalistic death metal and the joy that is hurtling noise with all the trappings removed. Well Septicflesh are the complete opposite of that.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Stewart Lucas25 July 2024Bloodstock Open AirSepticflesh, Bloodstock 2024Comment

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Band snot To Miss - Malevolence

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Band snot To Miss - Malevolence

When their special guest slot was announced at last year's festival, having Malevolence in such a prestigious position felt like an enormous gamble. 12 months on, it makes complete sense. There is so much traction about them at the present moment, that it now feels inevitable that they will be the first extreme metal band to break out of the underground and into arenas since Slipknot.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Stewart Lucas24 July 2024Bloodstock Open AirMalevolence, Bloodstock 2024Comment

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Wolf

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Wolf

I love Wolf because they are European metal incarnate. They have been doing this for coming up to 30 years and they have never compromised and never changed. Fads have come and fads have gone but Wolf’s commitment to pure heavy metal has never changed.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Stewart Lucas23 July 2024Bloodstock Open AirWolf, Bloodstock 2024Comment

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Soen

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Soen

Soen make beautiful music. They have moved far beyond their position as a super group and have carved themselves a place as sumptuous purveyors of intricate and heart-wrenching progressive metal. They make music that talks to the soul. It is full of pathos and wrought emotions.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Stewart Lucas22 July 2024Bloodstock Open AirSoen, Bloodstock 2024Comment

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Whitechapel

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Whitechapel

The evolution and ascension of Whitechapel has been simply astonishing. 2016’s “Mark of the Blade” gave us an inclining that there was more to them then just guttural unrefined deathcore, but it was 2019’s deeply personal “The Valley” that saw them really transcend.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Stewart Lucas21 July 2024Bloodstock Open AirWhitechapel, Bloodstock 2024Comment

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Amon Amarth

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Amon Amarth

Let’s kick out one of the big guns to keep you all interested. Amon Amarth have assumed Iron Maiden’s mantle of predictability entertaining. On the Sunday night we know what we will be getting. There will be fire, there will props, there will be an elaborate stage set and there will be more whoo-hoos than you can shake a stick at.

Author : Stewart Lucas20 July 2024Bloodstock Open AirAmon Amarth, Bloodstock 2024Comment

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - The Vintage Caravan

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - The Vintage Caravan

There is something quintessentially classy about a three-piece. Everything is stripped back. There is no room for excess, instead you get pure unadulterated and unrefined beauty. There is no room to hide so what happens is that musical brilliance is able to rise to the top.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Stewart Lucas19 July 2024Bloodstock Open AirThe Vintage Caravan, Bloodstock 2024Comment

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Green Lung

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Green Lung

There is a wonderful eccentricity to British metal and Green Lung revels in that. They recount us to a simpler time when nonconformity was about embrace the countryside around us. This is rural, spiritual metal that retreats back to the myths and tales that are at the heart of this emerald isle.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Stewart Lucas18 July 2024Bloodstock Open AirGreen Lung, Bloodstock 2024Comment

Is RADAR on Your Radar?

RADAR Festival is almost upon us for 2024, and if you haven’t already got a ticket then now is the time to grab one! The festival not only covers progressive/technical metal and rock, but also pushes those boundaries and often breaks them with genre-spanning and unexpected acts that positively challenge the way we look at music and performance.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Matt Fraser17 July 2024RADAR FestivalRADAR Festival, 2024, TicketsComment

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Sylosis

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Sylosis

There is not a band that encapsulates dogged determination more than Sylosis. For 24 years they have slogged their guts out. They have had more miraculous comebacks than Novak Djokovic and have changed direction more times than a formula one driver.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Stewart Lucas17 July 2024Bloodstock Open AirSylosis, Bloodstock 2024Comment

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Rotting Christ

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Rotting Christ

These Greek mainstays (The Tolis brothers have been up to this for 36 years) trade in a really interesting version of black metal. It's not progressive in the fact that they don't pepper it with large sections of melodic noodling, however it does massively deviate from black metal's usual under-produced minimalistic corrosive self.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Stewart Lucas16 July 2024Bloodstock Open AirRotting Christ, Bloodstock 2024Comment

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Eternal Champion

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Eternal Champion

I was going to leave this lot till right to the end but I'm so excited about this rare appearance in the UK that I am guilty of premature ejaculation and I have gone very early with my sumptuous ode to their majestic wonder. Eternal Champion are the greatest band you have never heard of.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Stewart Lucas15 July 2024Eternal Champion, Bloodstock 2024Comment

Bloodstock : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Deicide

Bloodstock : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Deicide

You cannot underestimate the impact that Deicide had when they first arrived on the scene in the late 80s. They were nasty, repugnant and offensive in a way that other fledgling death metal acts can only dream of. They have one objective to piss off as many people and ideologies as possible.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Stewart Lucas14 July 2024Bloodstock Open AirDeicide, Bloodstock 2024Comment

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Tailgunner

Bloodstock Festival Countdown : 30 Bands Not To Miss - Tailgunner

Here at ROCKFLESH towers we've been in a bit of a tizz about Tailgunner for a good while. They seem to have done the impossible and unified our distinctly arbitrary writers. Whether it be our glam loving maidens, our NWOBHM sages who remember it first time around, our death metal deviants or are holier than thou hard-core kids, every single person who puts words together for a publication has a massive crush on Tailgunner.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Stewart Lucas13 July 2024Bloodstock Open AirTailgunner, Bloodstock 2024Comment