Live Review : Jinjer + The Agonist + Khroma + Space of Variations @ Academy 2, Manchester on December 3rd 2019

We’re back at Academy 2, and Johann and I actually allow ourselves a joke that we should possibly setup residency here such is the number of gigs we’ve covered at the venue recently. Tonight was originally listed for Rebellion, but was upgraded well in advance of the date (we later find out that tonight is completely sold-out too). As I make my way through the front entrance I can already see that it was a very good call by the promoter to allow even more people to witness what could be the start of something special.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Matt Fraser4 December 2019Academy 2Jinjer, The Agonist, Khroma, Space Of Variations, Academy 2, 2019, Live ReviewComment

Live Review : GWAR + Voivod + Childrain @ Academy Club, Manchester on November 30th 2019

Three things we learnt from this gig. Number one is that GWAR do really take it up the arse, secondly that Voivod are still gleefully subverting Metal thirty seven years after they started and finally beetroot does not come out, of anything. For Metal fans of a certain age (i.e. a teen in the eighties and distinctly middle aged in this decade) this is both an intriguing and rather puzzling bill. You see Voivod were the champions of intelligent avant-garde deconstructed Metal. Their fourth album “Dimension Hatross” is the last word in complex progressive thrash and stood head and shoulder above anything else going on. GWAR on the other hand always seemed to be the last word stupid. Dressed in gross homemade costumes, they sang simple seemingly idiotic songs and poured suspect liquids all over their audience. But here they are in 2019 sharing a stage in Manchester.

Live Review : Amon Amarth + Arch Enemy + Hypocrisy @ O2 Apollo, Manchester on November 29th 20

It seems fitting that as the northern winds waft icy cold blasts across Manchester that they should also blow into town an exquisite Swedish Melo-Death triple bill. Aside from the obvious combination of gruff vocals and melodic guitar lines, what all three acts have in common is grit, determination and resilience. With a heady mix of hard work, blood, sweat and road-miles, all three bands have earned the respect that the sold out crowd show them. These are acts that show that it may well be a long way to the top, but if you stick to your guns and your principals you will get there.

Live Review : Northlane + Polaris + Void Of Vision @ Academy 2, Manchester on November 27th 2019

Tonight’s Academy 2 lineup is a real treat for this reviewer as I’m a big fan of all three of listed bands. Silent Planet should’ve been a fourth band on the bill, but they had to pull out of the tour, and so with a later door time (and the unsurprisingly cancelled and then late train under the belt) I’m left with all killer no filler tonight. All tonight’s bands are good examples of modern metalcore – heavy naturally distorted vocals interspersed with searching melodic vocals layered over the top of pounding drums, electronic incidental elements and angular, intricate guitars and bass. That being said, each of tonight's bands add a unique characterization to this theme, so stick with me on this one or the nuances might get lost...

Live Review : Last In Line + Vega + Gin Annie @ The Tivoli, Buckley on November 27th 2019

Wednesday. It’s a bastard of a day. Just far enough away for you to be forgetting the fun you had last weekend, not close enough to the fun you’re going to have next weekend. It’s a desolate, bleak day, it’s the place where you can view a long horizon during the hell of another working week. So whose bright idea was it to have one of the best gigs I’ve been to this year on it then eh? Eh? Eh? I want to know who is responsible for this travesty! Well that would be the people at the Tiv, a venue that is continuing to improve every time I go there. It’s now got a lovely, shiny, new, long, well-stocked bar, so naturally it’s Wednesday and I am a) driving home and b) needing to be up for work in the morning, so I don’t get to sample the wares. Bloody Wednesday!

Gig ReviewAuthor : Jo Crosby30 November 2019The TivoliLast In Line, Vega, Gin Annie, The Tivoli, Buckley, 2019, Live Review, Jo CrosbyComment

Live Review : Heart Of A Coward + Unprocessed + Severenth @ The Live Rooms, Chester on November 26th 2019

It’s exciting to get a tour with excellent metal bands coming through Chester – it simply doesn’t happen that often – so with Heart Of A Coward and Unprocessed choosing to stop off at The Live Rooms, ROCKFLESH jumped on the chance to get along for the fun.

First up are local lads Severenth. They’ve only just reformed this year after disbanding back around 2013, and are looking to hit the ground running with a new album in the works.

Live Review : Florence Black + Revival Black + The 99 Degree @ FAC251 , Manchester on November 26th 2019

Whoever coined the phrase "Dance like nobody’s watching bla blah blah" obviously haven't seen The 99 Degree play, or they would have changed it to "Write songs like nobody will ever hear them because that's the way you love them, then scare the shit out of everyone by letting people hear them".

Gig Review©Gregg Howarth28 November 2019Florence Black, Revival Black, The 99 Degree, FAC251, Manchester, 2019, Live Review, Gregg HowarthComment

Live Review : Midnite City + Saints Of Sin + King Voodoo @ Nigthrain, Bradford on November 23rd 2019

It’s a grim day today. The weather is dreadful, and low cloud hangs like a pall over the city of Bradford. So what better way to get past it than getting my glitter on and heading out for a night of party rock?

First band King Voodoo didn’t appear to get the memo. They are good, but in more of a broody, bluesy, dark kind of way. Their songs have an edge to them, and although I enjoy them they are not exactly party animals.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Jo Crosby26 November 2019NightrainMidnite City, Saints Of Sin, King Voodoo, Nigthrain, Bradford, 2019, Live Review, Jo CrosbyComment

Live Review : Attila + Veil Of Maya @ Academy 2, Manchester on November 20th 2019

I feel like all my gig reviews start with a weather and/or travel update…so I’m not going to change the habit of a lifetime! This installment of Matt-attempts-to-get-to-Manchester features the usual train debacle, but has an undercard of ROCKFLESH head honcho Johann also being stuck on the M62. Unfortunately, it means we both miss opening support act Sylar.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Matt Fraser25 November 2019Academy 2Attila, Veil Of Maya, Academy 2, Manchester, 2019, Matt Fraser, Johann WierzbickiComment

Live Review : D-A-D + Hangarvain @ Academy 3, Manchester on November 20th 2019

Tonight is an Alice In Wonderland kind of night, in the sense that I am on the M62 looking at my watch and thinking “I’m late. I’m late”. The traffic is moving slower than a sloth with a bad leg, and although on the bright side they haven’t actually closed the motorway (yet) I am fretting that I won’t make it in time for tonight’s support.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Jo Crosby23 November 2019Academy 3D-A-D, Hangarvain, Academy 3, Manchester, 2019, Live Review, Jo Crosby, Johann WierzbickiComment

Live Review : Periphery + Plini + Astronoid @ O2 Ritz, Manchester on November 14th 2019

When Astronoid describe themselves as ethereal they aren’t half on the money. Brett Boland’s vocals are only just there. Delicate, haunting and drenched in emotional fragility, they juxtapose with the thrashy prog of the band behind and you end up with music that is deep, passionate and varied. You get caught up in the swirls of driving rhythm and layered guitar and it all feels like a whirlpool that is sucking you further into its core.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Stewart Lucas16 November 2019O2 RitzAstronoid, Plini, Periphery, O2 Ritz, Manchester, 2019, Live Review, Stewart Lucas, Johann WierzbickiComment

Live Review : Earth + Helen Money @ Gorilla, Manchester on November 11th 2019

Earth are the thinking person’s Doom act. There is not the scuzzy riffs of sludge or the deep depressing tones of trad doom. They produce a wonderfully thoughtful, partially optimistic and slow variant on the whole thing. This is the blues but at half or even quarter speed, in fact the whole pace is measured, drawn out and unhurried. But before I pontificate further on the utter under-rated genius of Dylan Carlson, I need to first deal with opener Helen Money.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Stewart Lucas12 November 2019GorillaHelen Money, Earth, Gorilla, 2019, Live Review, Stewart Lucas, Johann WierzbickiComment

Live Review : Machine Head @ The O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester on November 4th 2019

Machine Head are the ultimate metal survivors. Each time we think they are down and out, they get back up again, dust themselves off and re-enter the fray. In the mid-noughties it looked like they were outdated and out of ideas but then they returned with “The Blackening”, still one of the best metal albums of this century. This time last year it looked like once again Machine Head were over. Robb Flynn on Facebook dramatically announced that Phil Demmel and Dave McClain had left the band and for a while it seemed that was that. However twelve months later here they are again selling out the 5,000 capacity Victoria Warehouse.

Live Review : A Pale Horse Named Death + OHHMS + Petrichor + MAIRU @ Phase One, Liverpool on November 4th 2019

A month on from my nu-metal euphoria I have returned in all my chubby glory to review A Pale Horse Named Death. Again. I for one could not be happier.

My ability to attend gigs has decreased rapidly in recent months so I am absolutely determined to savour every moment of tonights doom-laden sorrowfest.

I rock up to the club like “What up, I've got social anxiety and I want to go home”... nah, but I am late from work and I was making my journey on public transport. So inevitably I miss a bit of MAIRU.

Live Review : Marillion + Harry Pane @ Bridgewater Hall, Manchester on November 4th 2019

Support tonight is from Harry Pane, a youngish singer/ songwriter firmly in the folk tradition, less ginger than Ed and a tad less cheesy. There’s a decent variety to his lyrics and an authentic connection that translates in his delivery pretty well. Of particular note was the third song in, he introduced as a tribute to his father who passed in 2016, 'Fletcher Bay' rang true and was the strongest contender for deeper ground within his set.

Live Review : Buckcherry + The Treatment + Rocky Kramer @ The Tivoli, Buckley on November 1st 2019

I have no idea who tonight’s first support, Rocky Kramer is. A person? A band? Having watched them I now know it’s a person AND a band. Rocky is a rather charismatic Noel Fielding lookalike who hails from Norway and is now based in the US, and his band are a competent if somewhat proggy outfit that back up his singing and guitar playing.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Jo Crosby4 November 2019The TivoliBuckcherry, The Treatment, Rocky Kramer, The Tivoli, Buckley, 2019, Live Review, Jo CrosbyComment

Live Review : Thrice + Refused + Gouge Away @ Academy, Manchester on 31st October 2019

It seems like an age since I last reviewed a gig, but in fact it's only little under a month - it appears time does not fly when you’re not having fun. Fortunately, my first reviewing gig back is for a co-headline treat. Both Thrice and Refused don’t visit England that often (well, certainly not the North West), so I’m eager to catch a couple of my formative musical acts in the flesh for only the second or third time. As always I jump on the train, hoping that I’m not going to be held hostage to some trick or treat irony from Transport for Wales (spoiler: a rail replacement bus on the journey home turned out to be the trick).

Gig ReviewAuthor : Matt Fraser4 November 2019AcademyGouge Away, Refused, Thrice, Academy, Manchester, 2019, Live Review, Matt Fraser, Johann WierzbickiComment

Live Review : Beyond The Black + Mister Misery @ Rebellion, Manchester on October 30th 2019

Any assertion or illusion that symphonic Metal does not have a following here in the UK is shattered by the fact that Rebellion is heaving on a Wednesday. Not that Beyond the Black would accept that label. When we speak to them earlier they distance themselves from that particular genre positioning themselves as more melodic metal. As far as I am concerned you can call what they do Bob for all I care. What matters is that it is well made, well performed and beautifully orchestrated. But more about Beyond the Black in a mo.

Live Review : Black Star Riders + Stone Broken + Wayward Sons @ O2 Ritz, Manchester on October 27th 2019

Having had the pleasure of seeing all the bands on tonight’s bill before, there's a rather pleasant feeling in the Autumnal air heading to the gig. All three are peddling new wares at the moment. It’s a killer bill, with each one offering something a bit different from each other.

Live Review : Sunn O))) + Anna Von Hausswolff @ The Albert Hall, Manchester on October 27th 2019

Anna Von Hausswolff is the personification of effortless cool. She alludes such arty coolness that she makes everyone else in room seem like gorky teenagers with haircuts courtesy of their mums. She and her band of equally hip dudes started slowly and ethereally. There is no typical drums or bass here and the solitary ghostly notes meander their way across the majestic setting of Manchester’s Albert Hall.