Live Review : Evil Scarecrow + Lullaby For A Unicorn + Thrashatouille @ the Live Rooms, Chester on December 7th 2019

Comedy-infused metal wouldn’t normally be my thing, but with a few friends across from Yorkshire and a couple of pints in my belly I head to my local venue in Chester, The Live Rooms, to see how much fun I can have.

Opening tonight are comedy-thrash band Thrashatouille. These youngsters put on a highly entertaining and quite frankly ridiculous show, and don’t allow the crowd to slowly find their feet as they hit the stage running - literally. Kitted out in chef outfits (white buttoned tops and checkered trousers) the whole theme behind their show is unsurprisingly food and cooking. Standout titles include ‘Chilli Con Carnage ‘and ‘Fry Up’, the later of which is a full English breakfast cover of ‘Word Up’. A giant inflatable doughnut does the rounds across the moshpit, and nearly clears my pint out on one occasion, and the crowd are well-up for the party. The musical performance itself is…well…chaotic, sailing close to shambolic, but without a doubt great fun. Of note the drumming is actually impressively good, and allows the band to keep some kind of thrash roots alive. True, it's not super technical but that’s not the point of thrash, let alone comedy-thrash, and Thrashatouille are hitting the right notes in the right order enough to keep the comedy show going.

Lullaby for a Unicorn take to the stage next, and they’ve largely forgone the unicorn theme for Christmas fare tonight. The bassist is kitted out in a reindeer outfit and evil Santa’s make-up the rest of the band. The guitar sound is immense – a filthy grunge and metal mix, which crunches and snarls every riff that is laid out on it. Dimebag himself would’ve been proud of such a sound, and the musicianship performed through it is solid, even if it’s not that original. The drumming is driving and dense as well, but unfortunately that’s where it all starts to fall apart. One song starts up and I really think it could be an excellent Terrorvision-esque tune…until the singing begins. The vocals sound forced as a low-pitched grumble (not a growl) and it’s difficult to understand a word that’s being sung – it’s simply not tuneful or pleasant, and reminds me of someone belching. The bass player does a circuit of the dancefloor in some convoluted joke, but I’m pretty sure his bass is out of tune and fortunately we can’t hear him in most of the songs anyhow. Most damningly though, I’m just not sure if they’re trying to be comedic or serious. I’m presuming, with tonight’s bill and their name, that their a comedy-metal band, but as with any comedy act you’ve got to be proficient at the style you’re parodying or embracing…and I can’t see that being the case here.

I first saw Evil Scarecrow in 2010 at Wakefield Rock Festival. It was a crazy little festival that was held at Ossett Town Football Club and, whilst having Pitchshifter and Senser play at it, was not the most impressive of events. Fast-forward to 2019 and Evil Scarecrow are playing yet another headline tour around the country and come fresh from a main stage appearance at Bloodstock. That’s quite an upgrade on festivals between 2010 and 2019. On paper they play a fairly simplistic brand of generic power/black metal but, just as Lullaby for a Unicorn don’t get the basics right before adding the comedy, Evil Scarecrow demonstrate some great musicianship and technicality (see Brother Pain’s finger tapping) that allows them to switch between parody and genuine ability when they choose.

‘Robototron’ goes down a treat as always, with the crowd robo-dancing in unison, but the jump-hit-dodge-hit of ‘End Level Boss’ is another level (no pun intended) of crowd participation that has everyone grinning. The comedy is genuinely good as well – frontman Dr Hell’s comment on the irony of their stage performer not being able to lift the anti-gravity machine on stage is a perfect example. A stronger or more theatrical vocal might help, but that would be nit-picking on what is all good fun and brilliantly entertaining stuff. ‘Crabulon’ has everyone going crazy, and whilst I’m not sure how many times I’d want to see them before the joke wears thin, you can’t help but think this is perfect music to see with friends and have a few drinks to...so that’s what I do.