Live Review : Devin Townsend + Klone + Fixation @ Academy, Manchester on March 31st 2023

Tonight proves that if you got charisma, personality, and just the right pinch of self-deprecation you don't need any other trappings to put on a show. You see last time the self-denounced Hevy Devy was in this very venue he brought a stunning undercard in the shape of Tesseract and Leprous, an imposing video wall, and thousands of pulsating lights. This evening is a much more modest affair with supports that their mothers would struggle to pick out of an identity parade and a scaled-back production.

Live Review : The Ghost Inside + Senses Fail + Dragged Under @ O2 Ritz, Manchester on March 30th 2023

The venue is still very much waiting to fill up as Dragged Under take to the stage. They were special guests for comeback Brixton show, and that impressive showing sees them taken on this full tour. The energy on the barrier is immediately electric despite the small crowd, and as they launch into opener ‘Instability’ and the early attendees erupt into a frenzy of head nodding and pumping fists. Frontman Tony Cappocchi stalks the stage like a caged animal, his voice soaring above the crunching guitars and thundering drums.

Live Review : Bloodywood + Lake Malice @ Academy 2, Manchester on March 28th 2023

There’s just the one support band tonight, but oh my what a band. It’s no secret that I’ve been championing Brighton’s Lake Malice ever since I saw them support Hacktivist last May. They blend a variety of influences and styles in a fresh, enthusiastic, characterful way both musically and visually. Once again I’m eager to catch them live and tonight they don’t disappoint.

Live Review : Haken + Between The Buried And Me + Cryptodira @ Academy 2, Manchester on March 24th 2023

Well, it's all happening this evening at the student’s union. In the main Academy, the regions punk pensioners are on day release from their respective nursing homes in order to witness the umpteenth miraculous resurrection of Stiff Little Fingers. Upstairs in the pokey Academy Three, Indie upstarts The Rolling People are repackaging Britpop for the next generation and downstairs in the club Academy…. Well to be honest I'm not sure what the fuck is happening downstairs, but it has attracted a gaggle of younglings young enough to be my grandkids, in various states of undress and off their tits on Ketamine. It's a rare beast when the metal crowd is the normal bunch, but those of us winding our way up to the old debating hall for a Haken and Between the Buried and Me double-header seem positively conservative in our attire compared to some of the revellers cavorting around the building.

Live Review : I Prevail + Trash Boat + Blind Channel @ O2 Academy, Liverpool on March 23rd 2023

I’m not sure how or why this keeps happening but here I am again. ROCKFLESH’s glam queen is dipping another toe into the world of metalcore – grammy nominated metalcore no less tonight! Three bands with a similar sound but quite a different approach to it tonight, should be interesting.

First up, much to my surprise (and a little disappointment) were Finland’s Blind Channel, Eurovision hopefuls and boyband on steroids. They have all the energy and bounce of a basket of wriggly puppies, and I love the dual vocals that meld both harmonies and growling.

Live Review : Blaze Bayley + Absolva @ Eleven, Stoke-on-Trent on March 19th 2023

It’s not often that you get to see two amazing bands doing a free meet and greet before and after a show. This unique combination of down to earth humbleness and sophisticated musicianship is precisely what we got at Eleven.

Absolva were the first group to hit the stage and they have a fascinating sound to them. NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) brought back to life but modernised in a way that you can still hear its roots without it being spoiled.

Live Review : Cherie Curie + Blue Ruin + The Razors @ The Tivoli, Buckley on March 17th 2023

We open proceedings tonight with The Razor, a competent local covers band who rip through some rock classics and warm the place up nicely.

Next up are a group no doubt inspired by tonight’s headliner. Blue Ruin are a female quartet who play up-tempo, bouncy pop punk. They introduce themselves and as 2 of them are from New Zealand, one from Italy and one from Bristol I can’t help wondering how the hell they rehearse? Anyhow that’s bye-the-bye.

Live Review : W.A.S.P. + South Of Salem @ Academy, Manchester on March 17th 2023

It transpires that the Great British Classic Rock revival has found a fresh stream of inspiration to draw from. The dense 70’s blues rock of Free and vintage Quo, has been abandoned in favour of pillaging the fertile vineyards of eighties hair metal. For South of Salem, it provides a veritable smorgasbord of stimulation and they are meticulous in their level of imitation. Their second track in is so shrouded in familiarity, that if you close your eyes, its’s 1982, you’re in the whiskey a go-go and Mötley Crüe are treading the boards in their moment of ascendancy.

Live Review : Tygers of Pan Tang + The Loose Cut @ The Continental, Preston on March 12th 2023

As I walk through the doors of The Continental on this damp March night, it strikes me what a gamble it can be catching the 21st century version of a band you’ve followed and liked for decades. Best case scenario, they play a blinding set and confirm your long-time faith in them; on the flip side if they don’t, you can tarnish a life time of memories. Which of those would come to pass tonight remained to be seen, but before Tygers of Pan Tang showed if they were still worth the price of admission were openers The Loose Cut.

Live Review : ERRA + Silent Planet + Invent Animate + Sentinels @ Club Academy, Manchester on March 13th 2023

Opening tonight are New Jersey’s Sentinels, who take to the stage with a bang, the energy in the room equally immediately electric. Sentinels are simply awesome tonight. Their music off the scale, with drumming and guitars that are so technically stunning, it is hard for some of the crowd to keep up. It’s brutal, experimental, extreme and chaotic – like a sped-up Gojira on steroids, with that added touch of higher tempo and intricacy making it even more enjoyable and intense.

Live Review : Black Spiders + Cola Bay + Attic Theory @ Retro, Manchester on March 12th 2023

It's very easy to lose a sense of perspective when you get the opportunity to review shows in arenas, theatres, and cavernous academies. But it takes evenings like tonight to remind you that minuscule basement venues like retro here in Manchester is where rock 'n' roll came from and, for the majority of the North-West scene, continues to dwell. Peter from The Black Spiders continually describes the confined surroundings as being someone’s living room, and he is not half wrong.

Live Review : Napalm Death + Dropdead + Siberian Meat Grinder + Escuela Grind @ Club Academy, Manchester on March 8th 2023

Just as people were arriving, New England grindcore/hardcore punk band Escuela Grind took to the stage and immediately gave the audience a flavour of what the evening was to be. It was loud and fast with clean and tight blast beats as well as a nice guitar tone with lots of bite. They had relentless energy and from the first song, a decent sized pit was forming with singer Katerina jumping and bouncing around the stage like a hyperactive kid who had drank a ton of energy drinks

Live Review : Lamb Of God + Kreator + Municipal Waste @ Academy, Manchester on March 7th 2023

Three years. It was three blooming years ago that this show was meant to happen. It is so long ago that both main acts are on different album cycles to the one that the show was originally meant to be part of, and the undercard has changed at least four times since it was originally announced. There has been so much to-ing and fro-ing at the bottom end of the bill that there seems to be a general sense of bewilderment as the masses wander to be greeted by the frat party thrash of Municipal Waste.

Live Review : ChrysalïD + Devils Henchmen + Wailing Banshee + Wicked Side @ The Snig, Widnes on February 25th 2023

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.

Live Review : Bullet For My Valentine + Jinjer + Atreyu @ Mountford Hall, Liverpool on March 1st 2023

Atreyu start the evening with a total contradiction in terms, some clean melodic metalcore. Even so this is pretty outside my musical comfort zone and despite the band having been around for 25 years I am unfamiliar with their style & output. I miss the first song due to traffic so walk in during ‘Save Us’, which is a brutal slice of hardcore rock but with a catchy chorus. I also have some beard envy when I see the bass player!

Live Review : Bad Omens + Ghøstkid + Oxymorrons @ O2 Ritz, Manchester on February 28th 2023

First up are the rap metal band Oxymorrons. Their mix of influences is impressive, and with their energetic and funky grooves they soon have everyone nodding along. They’ll appeal to fans of Fever333 and Skindred for sure, but they're also not afraid to break out some Turnstile type tunes too. One of the things that really impressees me about Oxymorrons is their ability to switch things up and keep the audience engaged.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Matt Fraser3 March 2023O2 RitzBad Omens, Ghstkid, Oxymorrons, O2 Ritz, Manchester, Live Review, 2023, Matt FraserComment

Live Review : Black Veil Brides + Lilith Czar + Cemetery Sun @ Academy, Manchester on February 22nd 2023

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I miss most of Cemetery Sun. They are a four-piece band from Sacramento, and from the queue outside the Academy, they sound OK. There’s melody, a decent beat, and they’re not too shouty. I make it in just in time to catch the last song and find them doing some typical noughties rap-metal, very obviously inspired by Linkin Park and their ilk. It’s bouncy and the crowd are enjoying it and bouncing with them so I’m sad that I saw so little of it. Hopefully, I will catch them again at some point.

Live Review : Beast in Black + Firewind @ Academy Club, Manchester on February 23rd 2023

You do have to feel sorry for Gus G. He is one of the world's most sought-after guitarists (a modern-dayYngwie Malmsteen). For the last twenty-five years, with his main outfit Firewind, he has been a stalwart in keeping power metal's ornate flag flying. Yet here he is (with Firewind) supporting in a subterranean club that is probably smaller in size than his front room. The indignity is probably made even more pertinent by the fact that tonight's headline act, Beast in Black, have been in existence for a mere fraction of the time that Firewind have been hauling themselves across the globe. However, if Mr G does feel any level of petulance about the introverted nature of tonight’s billing, he certainly doesn't show it.

Live Review : Esprit D'Air + Diamond Black + Dacara @ Academy 3, Manchester on February 22nd 2023

Opening for the night, Manchester’s own Dacara take to the stage with their brand of pop metal infused with themes from anime, videogames, and popular culture. This young band needs our support, and they certainly prove they deserve it with their energetic set. The songs touch on serious topics like calling out liars and those stuck in denial, but equally with fun tracks about weebs, sell-outs, and psychopathic anime girls. Fans of early Sertraline, Lake Malice and Within Destruction will enjoy their mix of bouncy and fun pop metal, which is reminiscent of a more rocky Future Palace.

Live Review : Gojira + Alien Weaponry + Employed To Serve @ O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester on February 19th 2023

This is only my second time here at O2 Victoria Warehouse and I arrive just as UK heavy metal act Employed to Serve begin their set. This five-piece were formed in 2011 and with five studio albums under their belt, supporting the mighty Gojira on this tour must be a dream come true. They are noisy, angry and in your face, so they complement the rest of tonight’s line-up.