Tonight I am a fish so far out of water I might as well be up a tree. Getting Brazillian thrash pioneers Sepultura at the Tiv, one of just 3 appearances outside their Download set, was a real coup for them. There was no way ROCKFLESH could ignore it, I mean these guys are one of the cornerstones of the music most of my colleagues live for. And that’s the problem. They are in the UK to play Download Festival, and essentially everyone else is at Download too. So here I am, clutching my notebook somewhat nervously and wondering what on earth I have let myself in for. I have never heard a single song by any of tonight’s artists, couldn’t even name a band member for you. It’s all new, which is also kind of exciting I suppose. So fortified with a large rum I step into the fray. Let’s do this.

First up are Cage Fight, who I know nothing about, and unfortunately their sound is awful. The normally well-behaved Tiv PA seems to have thrown a hissy fit and everything is a bit fuzzy round the edges. That’s a shame, as the band are quite interesting. They are a competent 4-piece metalcore outfit with a female singer, and it turns out that she is their USP. Because as she starts to growl I look around to try and spot the bloke that she must be sharing the stage with. Nope, that extraordinary noise is coming from this tiny little woman. It’s like a case of demonic possession, the sound is deep, satanic, gruff. It’s like the reverse of Dani Filth. It’s all shouted or screamed so I can’t make out a single lyric but there are a couple of nodding dogs on the barrier who are getting right into it. So yeah. music average, but worth checking out just to marvel at the vocals.

Raging Speedhorn are next and despite them being a UK band who have been around since 1998 this is the first time I have ever seen them. They start with no kind of intro, just an empty stage and howling feedback. They bounce on to the stage and I am immediately assaulted by a veritable barrage of sound. The 2 frontmen alternate between shouting and shouting louder, there was a guitarist with a bad haircut but a mean set of fingers and it all got a bit out of control. Come on down to the front pleaded the not-identical-twin vocalists, but at first the crowd stood firm at the back and watched. But then, but then……. Things started to warm up. Hoodies came off on stage and on the floor. The nodding dogs reappeared. There was even a moshperson. I’m told that you only need one of these to qualify as a pit, but I’m not sure if I’m convinced. The thing was though, the music was a wall of noise, the singers were a maelstrom of aggression but – I liked it. There were no harmonies here, the singers don’t so much sing with each other as against each other but they made me smile. It's not my thing at all, but fair play to them even I got involved and might have done a little shouting back in places. They finished by leaving the stage to howling feedback too, so full circle. I really wasn’t expecting to like them, but they were kind of infectious. 

Sepultura then. Loud. Fast. Louder. Faster. Loudest. Fastest. Their sound too seems to be a bit distorted at first, but unlike poor Cage Fight it cleans up fairly quickly. Not that it makes much difference, to my ears it’s still a relentless bank of noise if I’m honest. The lyrics are still unintelligible but the guitar sounds a bit clearer so that’s good. They are on tour now to promote their latest album “Quadra” (apparently their 15th!), but the crowd reaction leads me to believe that they have either sold a hell of a lot of copies in North Wales or played a set that included many older, more well-known tunes. Again it seems the singer is very angry about something. Maybe he stood on a some lego backstage? That would explain his blood-curdling screams and heart-pounding brutality I suppose. To my surprise they rely quite heavily on backing tapes throughout the set, which I wasn’t expecting. Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much. I do find though that the relentless hostility and aggression is wearing me down as the night goes on. The music is a complicated tapestry and I can’t find a thread to follow because every time I get close they snatch it away and shake it up again. There’s finally a touch of melody when the guitarist plays some acoustic over a choral backing track – ah sweet relief! The only thing is it goes a bit kind of Irish, and reminds me of Spinal Tap’s iconic “Stonehenge”. I am disappointed at the lack of dwarves. The hint of melody is only a fleeting glimpse though, and soon we are back to the relentless force and blasting anger. Oh how I long for a nice chorus, but it’s not to be. The rest of the crowd are loving it though, and they scream back many of the words as they stomp and mosh about the place. I catch a hint of lyric, he seems to be singing “Let Me Out”? Me too fella, me too. The crowd, however, are ecstatic. They got an hour and 15 minutes of proper old-school thrash and they loved every second of it. This is a band who very much know their audience and play to please them, and as they have been doing it for some 38 years they must be doing it right even if I don’t get it. It was brutal, but I guess that’s kind of the point?