Tuesday nights can be a hard sell at the best of times, but it’s quality not quantity we want from the crowd gathered inside The Live Rooms for a bill that feels quietly stacked from top to bottom. With Liverpool’s Raised By Wolves opening, Brighton's increasingly impressive ‘brat metal’ Eville in support, and Canadian genre-benders Sumo Cyco headlining, there's a sense that tonight can only be...
Read MoreJohn Peel used to describe his beloved The Fall as being “always different, always the same”. This similia also works for Sunn O))). Their approach is now part of metal mythology; two hooded figures play a scant set of notes glacially slow and in doing so create a monolithically heavy sound that you feel as opposed to hear. For near on thirty years Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson haven’t ...
Read MoreFor the last decade or so many of the new bands on the scene have taken their cue from the 70s, with the 80's not receiving anything close to the respect and acclaim afforded to that earlier era. But the tide seems to be turning; bands such as Chez Kane, Sam Millar, and even Wailing Banshee are all unashamedly flying the flag for the decade of decadence. Is this the start of the 80s renaissance?
Read MoreThere’s no feeling quite like being at a gig that is somewhat different to the norm. Tonight, we have around 900 people packed into the Arts Club like sardines to witness a truly intimate moment with a band that are more used to bothering arenas. Even the format is different – rather than song after song we get the band (and especially frontman Andy Biersack) doing Q&A with the crowd ...
Read MoreMidnight and Voivod make interesting bedfellows and at first glance they can be seen to be coming from two very distinct metallic camps. The former are about as stripped back and primal as you are going to get. They have no interest in expanding their mind or being transcendental, they just want to cause as much chaos with as few chords as possible. Voivod on the other hand are probably the ...
Read MoreIn our little corner of rock and metal, the 2 Promoters, 1 Pod podcast has been something of a success. A vehicle for festival promoters Gavin McInally (Damnation) and James Scarlett (ATG and 2000 Trees) to lift the lid on what goes on behind the scenes at festivals and the music industry in general, it has a dedicated fanbase. It also provides a platform for them to eulogise about bands they love …
Read MoreThe best bands are the ones that are unique, have a sound that is instantly recognisable, unmistakably them and hold a very special place in your mind and music collection from the first time you see and hear them. For me Karnivool are one such band. They have a signature sound that captures emotion alongside progressive technicality, a tender voice filled with power, and songs that have every ...
Read MoreOccult-themed metal playing nuns you say? Is that even a thing you say? Well tonight it is as Dogma come to visit Manchester as part of their first UK headline tour. We’re promised a night of curious lyrical themes, racy dance moves, guitar shredding and none of it without a pinch of theatre. Or should that be nun of it. Ahem. Support comes in the form of the ever-touring South of Salem ...
Read MoreTo have one successful band is an achievement; to have two is rather confounding. There is, of course, the plaudits involved in hitting the jackpot consecutively, but the dedication and devotion involved in keeping the wheels going in two separate units calls for plenty of tenacity and perhaps a dollop of self-adulation. Hypocrisy is no longer Peter Tägtgren’s sole day job. His industrial ...
Read MoreMetal has always been about extremities. For decades, it has vigorously pursued pushing boundaries, whether this be regarding volume, obscenity, speed or depravity. The point with extremities, though, is that there is always an endpoint, a summit, an apex of conclusion. If you push so far, you will reach the end of the envelope. Dragged into Sunlight feel like the pinnacle of metal's obsession ...
Read MoreThere are two frankly remarkable things about this evening. The first is the sheer popularity of this vulgar and distinctly unhouse-trained outpost of extreme metal. Rebellion is heaving, and there is a carnival atmosphere of expectant expectation. All three acts are treated with a level of euphoric adoration that is usually only reserved for Korean boy bands. This brings us neatly onto the second …
Read MoreOne of the wondrous things about this music, is that it keeps confounding expectations. It is easy to assume that a particular genre has run its course or has no further byways on which to travel. And then a new act will appear from nowhere and push the envelope in unimagined and unforeseen directions. This is the case of Blackbraid. At a juncture where many of us believed black metal had no ...
Read MoreDon Broco have never been afraid of hard graft. Their route to the top of the UK alt-rock food chain has been paved with constant touring and a clear mandate of building a meaningful relationship with their fanbase. To commemorate the release of “Nightmare Tripping” their first album in five years, they have elected to return to the basement venues from whence they came. As ever suckers for …
Read More“You are not your Diagnosis”
Eerily prescient words written by Ginger Wildheart just a few short years ago. Following his own diagnosis much more recently Ginger has vowed to play out his life in his own way. Still on stage, still making music, still having fun, there is a calm acceptance of his fate and a man who, having battled ...
Read MoreThe way we discover new bands and fads has changed irrecoverably since us ageing dinosaurs, called the shots. Gone are the days when weekly publication like Kerrang, NME or Sounds would proclaim who was hot or not. Or of waiting for musical soothsayers like John Peel, Tommy Vance or Janice Long to rake through the entrails of never-ending demo cassettes in order to feed us with the tastiest ...
Read MoreIt is hard to imagine, but there was a time when Kreator were not the ubiquitous, imperious and omnipresent force of nature that they are today. This is their third appearance in this fair city in as many years, and their stature just keeps growing. Not bad for a band from the eighties that were practically written off during the nineties. The Apollo is completely sold out, and the crowd is an …
Read MoreManchester welcomes true New York hardcore royalty in the form of Madball and we're all in for it. The band were formed in the late 80s as an offshoot from the mighty Agnostic Front and haven't looked back since. Tonight they've got Dutch veterans Born From Pain and the UK's Tempers Fray in tow. Let's get ready to hardcore!
Read MoreIt’s always exciting to cover a gig that has a mixture of new and old bands, known and unknown bands, familiar tracks and fresh hits. And so, we find ourselves in such a situation down in Club Academy on a Friday night. A first look for us at Australia’s brutal Diesect, a reconnection with favourites Great American Ghost, a look at the new singer and tracks from Crystal Lake, and all topped off …
Read MoreTonight is a real treat as we get to watch one of my all-time favourite bands – Thrice. The Californian veterans, whose decades‑deep evolution has shaped them into one of post‑hardcore’s most inventive and emotionally resonant forces, are touring their new album which is a return to their earlier rawness. First up though it’s the singular support act of France’s Lysistrata, a jittery...
Read MoreGiven that Thrice are playing just down the road and Wolfbastard are celebrating their rather spiffing new record at the Star & Garter, Rebellion is impressively full for this celebration of British black metal. The size of the crowd heralds the buoyant scene that exists within this country. In fact, this is a scene within the scene, as Oakenthrone, Cistvaen and headliners Saor all specialise ...
Read More
