Live Review : Heriot + Grove Street + False Reality @ Rebellion, Manchester on April 13th 2025

There is a cavalcade of young British metal bands determined to break out of the underground into the open waters of the mainstream overground. Heriot are at the vanguard of that movement. Fiercely independent and uncompromising, they have their eyes firmly set on world domination, as opposed to eternal select appeal. There are two impeccable and remarkable things about this roster of new acts reshaping our music, the first is that they are diligently doing things with metal that we never thought was possible. The second is that they have broken up the macho monopoly and defused metal’s decade’s old fortress of toxic masculinity. This is metal reinvented but also simultaneously holding on to the aggression and nonconformity made it so exciting in the first place.

Live Review : Boundaries + Varials + Dagger Threat + No Face No Case @ Rebellion, Manchester on April 11th 2025

There's a theme running through all the bands tonight, and it’s something revolving round the concepts of two-step dancing and jaggedly brutal hardcore. How else should you spend your Friday night than treating yourself to an early gig offering up such joy! Boundaries are the headliners and the undercard is packed with some equally exciting hardcore talent to wet the appetite.

Live Review : Skies Turn Black + Andromedous + Sundown Marathon + Bad Heritage @ The Outpost, Liverpool on April 10th 2025

It’s not often that you get to go to a gig with a heads or tails nature. On this particular tour, co-headliners Skies Turn Black and Andromedous are just that though. They are flipping who is last up at various venues on the tour, and tonight that distinction goes to Skies Turn Black, but Andromedous are hot on their heels. The thing is, what you have here are two bands at total opposite ends of the Metal spectrum. On the one hand, a melodic power metal band with strong hints of AOR, on the other an aggressive electrocore outfit with masks and a rhythm section in a box.

Live Review : Catch Your Breath + Until I Wake + Of Virtue @ Rebellion, Manchester on April 10th 2025

Catch Your Breath are a modern melodic pop-metalcore band that you can’t sleep on. The venue is sold-out and packed before the first band have even started. Bands that speak to a variety of bases of interest across a wide span of fans are few and far between, but CYB have the tools and backing to be able to make it big. Very big.

Live Review : Lordi + Sick n' Beautiful @ Academy 2, Manchester on April 5th 2025

Tonight the Academy 2 looks and smells like I imagine the inside of Alice Cooper's wardrobe would. It’s dark, and there are strange beings looming in the gloom. The smell is partly of musty clothes not worn often, but mostly it’s the smell of fear. Monsters walk amongst us, and not all of them are on the stage. Finland’s Eurovision winners Lordi most definitely are on the stage though, and their elaborate set covers an awful lot of the available space on it.

Live Review : Straight For The Sun + Neon Oracle + Viral Strain + Sanque @ The Outpost, Liverpool on April 4th 2025

Liverpool city centre on Grand National Day – are we mad? Well yes and no, most of the pubs are full of arseholes which makes Outpost something of a refreshing return to sanity after the madness of the streets outside. Part of the fun of being a part of ROCKFLESH is that we cover anything and everything rock and metal. That means that whilst colleagues are out watching the likes of Skunk Anansie or The Darkness this week, tonight I am in the tiniest of tiny back-room venues doing something that we all like best – reviewing the bands of the future so that they can be on your radar too.

Live Review : Skunk Anansie + So Good @ O2 Apollo, Manchester on April 4th 2025

It's debatable whether the demarcation of "big in the nineties" is a term of endearment or code for select appeal. What isn’t debatable is that when Skunk Anansie were big in the nineties they were distinctly out of kilter with the rest of the Brit rock fraternity. Part of it was their stereotype-trouncing frontwoman Skin, who single-handedly upended the pre-held perceptions of what skin colour and sexuality a rock front person should be, but a large chunk was due to their unique take on nineties rock. They simultaneously melded grating heaviness with a swaggering, funky sensibility. They produced in your face music that you could dance to, when everybody else was busy shouting “sorted” and tending to their egos.

Live Review : The Karma Effect + Silveroller + Collectors @ The Ferret, Preston on April 2nd 2025

It's a midweek gig at Preston's Ferret, as this time round it throws open its doors to three very different bands. And for those who have ventured out on a school night, the weekend comes early, showing that a Wednesday night of rock n’ roll in Preston is the perfect way to usher in the end of the week...

Live Review : The Darkness + Ash @ O2 Apollo, Manchester on March 31st 2025

It's easy to attribute The Darkness’s recent return to cultural relevance to appearances on the Michael Mcintyre show and viral Taylor Swift videos. However, this overnight resurrection is actually 14 years in the making. You see, the rehabilitation of Justin Hawkins and his erstwhile bandmates is the product of hard graft. Since their illustrious return in 2011, they have worked their collective socks off to not only avoid the nostalgia treadmill but also to reclaim the street cred they briefly held aloft in the mid-noughties. Relentless touring has paid off, and here they are at the tail end of a sold-out trek that has seen them reclaim the venues that they last haunted nearly twenty years ago. To top it all, they are promoting a new record that has collectively out-sold everything between it and “Permission to Land” (though as Justin testifies later, it won't be number one due to going up against Mumford and Sons). By the sheer power of never actually going away, The Darkness are back.

Live Review : Those Damn Crows + James Bruner @ O2 Academy 2, Liverpool on March 25th 2025

“Liverpool!” yells Crows Frontman Shane as they come on stage. “Are. You. Ready ?!!” A familiar sound, they have introduced themselves like this for many years and it seems that Liverpool is indeed ready.

Live Review: Marisa and the Moths + Ugly Club + Pulverise @ The Ferret, Preston on March 22nd 2025

Madhouse Promotions seem to be on a mission to single-handedly resurrect and revitalise the live rock scene in Preston. With gigs over the last year from everyone from These Wicked Rivers to Nashville Pussy, and with shows lined up in 2025 from the likes of The Virginmarys, Wednesday 13, The Karma Effect and The Imperial Age to name but a few, Preston’s gig goers are enjoying a true rock n’ roll renaissance that is at once hugely welcomed and also long overdue. The variety and breadth of sounds being brought to the city is once again on show with tonight’s bill delivering three powerful and unique performances from three very different bands.

Live Review : God Complex + Bodyweb + Long Goodbye + Witcheater @ Rough Trade, Liverpool on March 10th 2025

Monday nights in March aren’t renowned for offering up brutally heavy hardcore-laced metal gigs, but thanks to the awesome independent Liverpool promoter No Play, Merseyside’s very own God Complex are the treat tonight. This being their comeback show, it’s a long overdue special occasion at that! They’re accompanied by an exciting support bill, and it’s all brought to us at the intimate yet polished Rough Trade venue.

Live Review : Jizzy Pearl’s Love/Hate + New Generation Superstars @ The Waterloo Music Bar, Blackpool on March 9th 2025

Sunday is supposed to be a day of the rest, but there’s surely no rest for the wicked, as, with the echoes of Ricky Warwick and the Fighting Hearts Saturday night show still ringing in our ears, ROCKFLESH are back at the Waterloo less than twenty-four hours later. Likewise, many of the same faces are present in the crowd for a second consecutive night of full-force rock n roll. This time round, though, we’re worshipping at the altar of electric, life-affirming sleaze and punk (or a combination of the two), both old and new, with Jizzy Pearl’s Love/Hate and New Generation Superstars.

Live Review : The Wildhearts + Jim Jones All Stars + Dirt Box Disco @ O2 Ritz, Manchester on March 9th 2025

The wheels have come off The Wildhearts juggernaut so often that it is a wonder they are not sponsored by kwickfit. Ginger Wildheart is a self-proclaimed difficult man to work with, who has an undeniable knack of surrounding himself with difficult to work with people. The latest reunion of the classic line lasted 4 years, 1 pandemic and 2 rather spiffing albums, grinding to a halt in 2022 in flurry of mutual acrimony. Whilst lived experience has taught us to never count The Wildhearts out, this KO felt particularly final. So we were all really rather taken a aback when an all new version of the band arose from the ashes last year. Whilst Ginger is the one constant in this iteration of the band, it is a very different version of the Geordie workhouse. This is a happier, healthier Ginger who has shed both physical and emotional weight to look, god forbid, like he is actually enjoying himself.

Live Review : Ricky Warwick & The Fighting Hearts + A’priori @ The Waterloo Music Bar, Blackpool on March 8th 2025

Tonight, we witness ROCKFLESH regulars A’priori for the first time since their album launch show for “Voodoo Love” back in September of last year. And as such it is our first chance to see their revamped set that includes new material from that most recent release. It’s clear that in those intervening months the Blackpool trio have put much time into rehearsing and honing the newer songs so that they sit effortlessly alongside the familiar and road-perfected tracks from their back catalogue. ‘Turn It Up’ leads the charge, a never more appropriate song for a Saturday night of good time rock music, and already hands are in the air, voices raised in unison, as A’priori do what they do best, never missing an opportunity to impress.

Live Review : Rivers Of Nihil + Cynic + Beyond Creation + Dååth @ Club Academy, Manchester on March 8th 2025

Never has a tour title been so fitting and accurate in its description. Aggressive progressive ‘25 brings together four of the scene leaders in pushing the envelope of death metal. Dååth, Beyond Creation, Cynic and nominal headliners Rivers of Nihil, in their own unique ways each retain that brutish aggression that gives Death Metal its potent uncompromising force, but each band splices it with a spellbindingly intricate slice of progressive opulence. Basically, this is victory parade for the innovators that have evolved Death Metal into the complex and undefinable beast that it is today.

Live Review : Vukovi + Unpeople + Artio @ O2 Ritz, Manchester on March 8th 2025

Vukovi have been working hard in the music industry for fifteen or so years, but if feels like their time has finally come with 2022’s ‘Nula’ and now January’s release ‘My God Has Got a Gun’. Their live shows have always been stunningly dynamic and enthusiastic, and they have an ever better array of slamming tracks to deliver on the bigger stages as headliners now.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Matt Fraser10 March 2025O2 RitzVUKOVI, Unpeople, Artio, O2 Ritz, Manchester, 2025, Live Review, Matt Fraser, Ryan HicksonComment

Live Review : Opeth + Grand Magus @ Albert Hall, Manchester on March 1st 2025

There are shows where the venue plays an integral part in the beauty of the endeavour. It becomes an additional member of the band, adding to the ambience and the majestic nature of the performance. Tonight is one just instance. The Albert Hall is the jewel in Manchester's proliferation of venues. An abandoned Wesleyan Chapel, it had stood dormant for 40 years until it was rescued last decade and restored as a multi-purpose auditorium. It is a fantastic space, surrounded by large ornate stained-glass windows and dominated by an imposing organ. It provides the perfect setting for Opeth’s extraordinarily unique take on metal. There are some compromises to be made, Mikael Åkerfeldt recounts a Spinal Tap moment when they realised that the video screens that had been a focal point of the other shows on this tour were too big to fit and had to be left in the van, but all in all the Albert Hall provides an immaculate canvas for Opeth to unfurl their magic.

Live Review : Paleface Swiss + The Acacia Strain + Desolated @ New Century Hall, Manchester on February 28th 2025

Move over Slipknot because there are a Swiss band in town that know exactly how to entice your fans into turning up in Manchester on a cold night! Meet Paleface Swiss who fans of the afore mentioned mask-wearing crew and Five Finger Death Punch should check out immediately. Well…after you’ve read this review if you’d be kind.

Live Review : Kvelertak + Urne @ Academy 3, Manchester on February 23rd 2025

With even the greatest bands in the World, it is quite easy to forget just how good they are. It has been six years since Kvelertak last visited this country (Download 2019), eight years since they last played this city (supporting Metallica at the arena) and nine years since we got anything resembling a headline tour. Tonight is very much a case of "Hello! Remember us?" as they grab us by the lapels and forcefully remind us why they were the band on everybody's lips last decade. This evening also, inexplicably, gives us our first opportunity to witness “new” vocalist Ivor Nikolaisen up front and personal. We say “new” but he has actually been in the band since 2018, but as the stats above illustrate these are his first UK headline shows with the band. Replacing a “name” vocalist is always a Herculean task, but when it is in the colossally charismatic shape of Erlend Hjelvik, you would suspect it would be rather a hiding to nothing. However Ivar Nikolaisen sidesteps the need for comparisons by being a completely different school of frontman with his own energy, charisma and style.