Heavy Metal & Widnes are two things that are seldom seen together in a sentence; however, Saturday Night at The Snig in West Bank offered those yearning a chance to see some Heavy Metal on their front doors a chance to see 4 of the finest up and coming bands the North West has to offer. 

Opening proceedings tonight were Wicked Side, a Mancunian 3 piece heavily influenced by old school Heavy Metal & Thrash. Whilst what they presented was nothing I hadn’t seen before in terms of sound, there’s a reason that Heavy Metal is such a timeless genre. There’s just something about the tight, headbanging inducing grooves that has the same effect on the listener whether it is being performed by Metallica in a stadium or Wicked Side in a tiny pub. It is almost impossible not to nod along. This is essentially Wicked Side’s act for the best part of 35/40 minutes. No frills, no bullshit Heavy Metal goodness. I do have to knock points off though for the cover of Hot Stuff they thrown in at the end of the set. It was completely obvious that it was shoehorned in as a pisstake, and it wasn’t terrible, it gets a solid mediocre from me, but it diminished the impact of the genuinely quality original material they were playing prior to this. 

Up next, Wailing Banshee came with what I would consider the most expansive sound of the night. Whilst the other 3 bands wore their influences on their sleeve, Wailing Banshee instead showcased a wide variety of sound that helped them develop their direction as a band. At times it was just full on heavy metal, other songs took a more pop punk/alternative direction, and some wouldn’t look out of place performed by an 80’s glam band. Admittedly, some of these were hits and some of these were misses and I believed that Wailing Banshee sounded at their best when they hearkened back to their more alternative sounding tracks. As musicians however, Wailing Banshee were seriously impressive, their drummer especially. To say that guy can’t half smack the shit out of a drum is an understatement. He added an aggressive, ferocious, yet technically sound and incredibly tight layer to Wailing Banshee and was probably man of the match for their set. 

Up next were Devils Henchmen, who probably had the loudest following of the night. Their hardcore-cum-Metallica sound makes this completely justifiable, as Devils Henchmen had a sound that would appeal to both seasoned Metal Veterans as well as keeping it contemporary enough to help the younger following get on board too. Devils Henchmen had some serious welly in their sound. Like I said, there is a heavy Metallica influence in their sound but it wasn’t a paint by numbers job. Little slithers of creativity were thrown about here and their marking their music with firm Devils Henchmen stamp. Blast Beats from the drums, some almost tech-metal diddly riffs on guitar and vocal lines that were more aligned to that of a Hardcore Vocalist. It was a pretty fucking good set, probably the most well received of the night, and for good reason. 

The final act of the night, ChrysalïD, offered probably the most polished performance of the night, one that transcends the small venue they were playing in. They are probably most comparable to that of Judas Priest, primarily as a result of a tremendous vocal performance that was absolutely pitch perfect throughout the whole set. Whilst sticking to the theme of the night of all these bands paying tributes to their heroes who paved the way for their sound, ChrysalïD provided the most technically impressive and authentic interpretation of this motif and they were taken like the headliners they were by everyone inside the venue to the night, even getting an encore aswell. Whilst all 4 bands were seriously good, I think ChrysalïD was, in my opinion, the stand out set of the night. 

All in all, Metal on the Mersey was a huge success. It offered those who don’t often venture into larger cities to receive their metal fix an opportunity to have all of this on their doorstep. Massive credit must also go to all 4 bands involved as they all absolutely smashed it out of the park - I seriously hope another show like this is ran again in the near future, as I would be there in a heartbeat.