German hardcore-beatdown masters Reduction take to the stage as opening act for this year’s edition of the annual Impericon Never Say Die tour. Despite the early doors, a rapidly growing crowd is immediately engaged by Reduction's relentless sonic assault, with a late afternoon circle pit even managing to erupt mid-set (featuring the first glimpse of an eccentric banana-clad participant).
Read MoreOne of the many interesting aspects about tonight’s show is the fact that the audience is, in the main, considerably older than the band. There is a latent desire within a true metalhead's DNA to continually search out the next exciting emerging talent. It is like a form of attention deficit disorder. As soon as an act has penetrated the mainstream, we need to discover whatever is going to succeed.
Read MoreWe were having a discussion at ROCKFLESH Towers the other day, wondering which band we have reviewed the most since we started. General consensus was that as we are a local website for local people, it would probably be a local band. In the end we decided it was likely to be Massive Wagons, who seem to have stayed true to their local roots too despite achieving not just national but international success in recent years. Tonight we are just up the road from their hometown, so I settle in my usual position lurking at the back to see how they are doing these days.
Read MoreThere is a new messiah in town. Whilst we have all audaciously argued about who are the next festival headliners in our world, Greta Van Fleet have ascended to an arena-bothering level with little or no fanfare. They exist in that really interesting intersection between heavy rock and indie that you can trace the linage of all the way back to John Squire living out his Jimmy Page fantasies on ‘Love Spreads’. The arena is inhabited by a really interesting and predominantly young bevy of Merrymakers that are in the main, not your ordinary rock show attendees. The audience is far more likely to have spent time this summer at the Leeds Festival than they are to have inhabited the hallowed grounds of Donington Park.
Read MoreIt is quite rare for me to be faced with a review assignment that offers the Holy Grail, namely a band that I have yet to witness in a live environment. Harikari For The Sky have existed in some form or other since 2011 however they only really pricked our collective consciousness with their astonishing 2021 effort, “Mӕre”. The superlatives were tossed around like confetti, but since we were still deep in the non-touring days of the pandemic, they had little or no opportunity to get out on the road to cash in on the extraordinary level of newfound interest.
Read MoreAnother day, another genre of that great musical cauldron we call rock. This time I am exploring the world of country blues and an evening of Southern-tinged rock n’ roll awaits. Well kind of. I mean support band Kira Mac are from Manchester, which is distinctly Northern, and last time I looked there was little in the way of deltas in Belfast where The Answer hail from. But still, let’s set the atmosphere. You can almost smell the whisky burning down Oxford Road tonight…..
Read MoreI may take on assignments that take me all over metal’s glorious multi-verse of genres, but my home will always be the scuzzy outlier that is sleaze rock. Pretty Boy Floyd are an original 80s purveyor of the art form (despite there only being one original member left) and The Midnight Devils are upstart pretenders to the glam rock crown, so tonight I can breathe a sigh of relief and bask in the musical familiarity that surrounds me.
Read MoreI'm not sure whether it's the weather, this being the first weekend of the Christmas markets or the draw of the undercard; but Gorilla is absolutely heaving from the get-go. Reopen after a nine-month hiatus for urgent renovation work, there are people spilling out all every orifices of the venue from the moment the doors swing open. There is certainly anticipation in the air and it becomes very clear that this is not just for the headline act.
Read MoreWho would have thought back in the late 90s when Slipknot first oozed out of the primeval slime of rural Iowa, that one day their shouty vocalist in the ugly mask would become a living legend? Being honest, bar a couple of songs, I am not a big fan of the boiler-suited weirdos, however when a friend introduced me to a band called Stone Sour a few years later I was astonished. “THIS is the same singer?” I proclaimed.
Read MoreThe Nightmares are a band destined to open for a band like Creeper. They fit the bill in every possible way to compliment the mystique and expectation of what a night with Creeper should be like. They are a dark, Gothic synth heavy indie pop band which whilst being a mouthful is the only way I can possibly describe them.
Read MoreTonight I am in Rebellion to watch one of my favourite genres of music – bands from Sweden, Ok ok I know that’s not a genre, but the fact is that although bands from Sweden come in all kinds of musical varieties they all have one thing in common - they know how to entertain an audience. This evening’s bill is no exception, even if it is quite a big step away from my usual favourite Swedes with big hair and guyliner.
Read MoreWhen Bloodstock Svengali Vicki Hungerford decreed that Malevolence would be bestowed a coveted special guest slot at next year's festival, there were many of us who were sceptical about the leap of faith that she was taking. After all, it was only yesterday that the Sheffield upstarts were cavorting about at the lower echelons of the Sophie stage.
Read MoreThe singular support band tonight are ALLT, a hard hitting futuristic progressive metalcore band from Sweden. They take to the stage with backlit blue and white lights, and that backlit approach means for most of the set we’re simply left with silhouettes prowling the stage. ALLT are slick, professional and produce some impressive heavy modern metal. They soon get into their groove and take their set by the scruff of the neck, blending technical heaviness with anthemic yet gritty choruses.
Read MoreTo be referred to as ‘The Love Child of Janis Joplin and Robert Plan’ brings with it a weight of expectation that for some bands could be considered too heavy of a burden to bear. For The Damn Truth however, they don’t want to just meet this expectation, they want to blow it out of the water, doing so with their dreamy, crushing and at times emotionally jarring blend of hard rock & Blues.
Read MoreThis show was meant to mark the triumphant return of Mancunian institution Gorilla. Sadly, the British blight of "overrunning engineering works" means that at the 11th hour, it has had to be hastily moved down the road to the iconic FAC251. A cavernous labyrinth of dingy dance floors, it was the former home of Tony Wilson's groundbreaking Factory Records and also the site of a lot of ill-gotten raving by my good self during the '90s. The downstairs space that hosts tonight’s gig is a lot smaller than its intended home, meaning we get an intimate and exceedingly sweaty show. It also provides a rare opportunity to observe three of the most exciting bands on the UK scene in incredibly close quarters.
Read MoreIn my opinion, there is no genre of music that encapsulates pastiche more than that of the 21st century take on Classic Rock. The lack of innovation or desire for change and reliance on nostalgia and cliché leaves it feeling stagnant and ultimately uninspiring. Despite this, there is also an admirable and undoubtable demand for bands of this ilk from fans who want nothing more than to be transported back to a time when the humble guitar was king and simplicity was deemed innovative. Time waits for no one, and whilst the heroes of that bygone age may no longer be able to hold their own in 2023, the next generation of Classic Rock bands are here to pick up the mantle.
Read MoreSpite kick-off the evening and immediately set the scene for the heavy deathcore night ahead. Despite it being an early doors there’s a more than decent sized crowd here for the openers. We’re also not waiting long for a double-kick drum onslaught. They’re a heady mix of brutal hardcore and nu-metal melodies mixed with vicious tech-metal. The guitar tones are meaty, djenty and have that deliciously techy sound.
Read MoreDacara are a 4-piece that prove uneasy to pigeonhole. Their sound is kind of rock with a dance twist and just mereist lashing of goth for good measure. The singer has a good voice (if somewhat lacking in power) and that is complimented nicely by the guitarist’s shouty growl. Every now and again it skirts the edge of commercial euro-rock but then plunges back into the subterranean delights of the underground.
Read MoreWell, this is all very civilised. To celebrate their 40th anniversary of being a band, Europe have taken up residence in the ornate surroundings of the Lyric Theatre within the Lowry complex. Plush seats, a very un-rock & roll interval, and a two hours and 40-minute set, that's not bad for a band that most people would consider to be a one-hit-wonder. I would consider myself rather a Europe devotee, having fallen in love with the band in 1988 when my Scandinavian grandmother inexplicably bought me a copy of “Out of this World”.
Read MoreIt’s an early start and we’re treated to Liverpool's Cut Short. The first thing that strikes you is the satisfyingly angular, stabby, quality of the guitars. They play with melodies that are layered over a backdrop of excellent almost scattery jazz-infused drums. It makes me think they’re trying to strike a delicate balance between the prog and tech-metal, but still need to hit on the perfect mix. The intricate guitar work fully supports this ambitious attempt, and their musicianship is solid and individual performances truly engaging.
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