There’s nothing like walking through the streets of Manchester on a sunny day...on your way to Satan’s Hollow for a gig! Just as i’m strolling to the venue I spot ROCKFLESH’s very own Dark Lord himself (Johann), complete with a an injured hand. Ensuing jokes about me possibly having to take the photos of tonight’s gig, as well as writing the review, serve only to make me chuckl and smile more. Spolier – Johann did take the photos and did and amazing job working through the obvious pain in hand, ever the professional and champ. As we make our way up to stairs into the venue we can hear that openers In Depths have already started and in full flow. Their death-laced-metalcore is a mix of power and technicality, with  pounding guitar and bass. There are clear influences from lead bands of this style in Bleed From Within and Thy Art is Murder, and once again their delivery is exceptionally professional. The sound is robust and brutal, and the songs ebb and flow well whilst retaining cohesion as complete packages. They plough through the set with technical guitar-work and varied vocal shredding and growling on show, also dropping in elements beyond the obvious deathcore/metalcore elements hints at some exciting and challenging possibilities.

Tour support are the excellent Borders who never disappoint. Their techy-groovy-bouncy rap infused metal is as awesome tonight as it always is. Despite the small crowd, the band deliver loads of infectious energy and joy onstage which in turn translates to the crowd’s response. The venue is bouncing for Borders and the result is a passionate, vibrant and enthusiastic performance. We’re treated to the full array of previous favourites alongside new material and the crowd eagerly lap up everything on offer. The switches between rap and metal vocal shredding from JJ is a delight, and the thundering bass and jagged guitar complement the vibe perfectly. It’s visceral deathcore flowing into grime-style chatting, back into head-nodding groove-metal. Fans of Hacktivist should love these guys as they take the aspects on view with that band and dial it up another notch. This band deserve to breakthrough massively, and hopefully this and the next touring cycles can launch them.  

Headliners Dropouts Kings are currently in the middle of a UK tour which should boost their profile on these shores. Having made the trip across from the US, and any jet lag seems fully out of their system as they smash through their set. It’s a festival of rap-metal unfolding before our eyes. Elements of Cypress Hill, Hollywood Undead and Hed(pe) are clear to see, and at times you could be mistaken for thinking they’re performing an impressive homage to Linkin Park. The twin vocals from Adam Ramey and Eddie Wellz in particular are a treat – the fluid, slick rapping from both is astounding and Adam adds some Chester Bennington style vocals into the mix for variety too. He also makes good use of Satan’s in-the-round opportunity to engage with every member of the crowd in the venue, and plays up beautifully to the photographers. Meanwhile, Eddie is the pinnacle of laidback intensity (yes, that’s now a thing), rocking his socks and sliders look whilst rapidly delivering his chatting and boouncing excitedly. The show is arguably singlehandedly stolen by 7 year old drum genius Caleb H Drummer – Dropout Kings have him come on and deliver a drum solo that even ROCKFLESH’s drum-solo-hating Stewart would be hard pressed to not applaud. But back to the band and they really do put on a great show, demonstrating charisma and enthusiasm in abundance. The key though is that they don’t sacrifice any quality in the separate elements of rap and metal when combining the two, something which other bands can sometimes be guilty of. It’s a great gig and hopefully a springboard tour for these bands to a wider audience.