We all like a bop but let’s be honest, as wonderful as metal is (in all its various forms and flavours) it isn’t particularly designed for shimmying around the dancefloor. Well, Stoke-upon-Trent’s finest Black Coast want to change that.
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Welcome to the point where future, past and present collide. Zetra feel like nostalgia for a time to come. A Time Capsule from a dim dark future where synthesizers and samplers have become sentient and black metal is now the dominant religion.
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In most rock 'n' roll bands the drummer is as far from the focal point as you can get. They are all about chiselled cheek-boned front men or dynamic athletic guitar heroes. The drummer in the main is relegated to the back with the soulless job of keeping time and perhaps smashing out a drum solo now and again when the rest of the band need a wee.
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Candlemass are the godfathers of Doom Metal. Yes you can trace its linage all the way back to that riff at the start of Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath but it was Candlemass (alongside Pentagram, St Vitus and Trouble) that actually forged it into a ground shaking movement.
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While 2021 was pretty shit wasn't it? Not as bad as 2020, but still pretty miserable as years go. It however had one shining chink of light and that was the release of “Conquering” by Employed to Serve. Our album of the year here at ROCKFLESH, it was a bold and brazen treaty on modern metal.
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This year we got ourselves out of ROCKFLESH Towers and down to a number of the Metal 2 The Masses events across the North West. To say we have been blown away by the level of talent on show would be an understatement.
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There will be some tremendous vocals on display over the weekend but believe me, for power, reach and just general elegance none will match the set of pipes possessed by Gemma Lawler. Her day job is vocal coach but when she is not screaming " diaphragm, diaphragm” she is chief wailer with Birmingham prog metalers Dakesis.
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When Black Peaks imploded in 2021 there was a collective cry of "Bugger!”. They were responsible some of the most inventive, progressive and downright forward-thinking metal that had been produced in an awful long time, think Mastodon but with a PhD in advanced physics.
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You know that memo that says all metal bands wear black and gotta create music that fits that blackness, well Square Wild didn't get it (they will probably shopping in Affleck's Palace for psychedelic shirts). Winners of the Mancunian Metal 2 the Masses, theirs is a technicolour and transcendental take on prog rock.
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Folk metal divides into two very distinct camps. Those who take it very seriously and those who don't. Norwegian buffoons Trollfest fall very much into the latter category. The fact that their latest album is entitled “Dance like a Pink Flamingo” should give the game away. For a band that didn't play shows for the first four years of their tenure, they have become a remarkably entertaining and chaotically wonderful like proposition.
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We all like a bit of Goth metal! Every now and again over the decades it's become an essential component of our multifaceted world. But I promise you, you will not find Goth metal as heartbreakingly tender and mesmerising as the variant produced by Tribulation. This is Goth metal for the lost, lonely and forlorn and it talks to the insecurity that you will find at the heart of all of us.
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Bloodstock 2023 is almost within touching distance. We can almost hear the sound of illegal bins being crashed together. We can almost taste the ridiculously expensive burgers. We can almost feel that tingly excitement in the air. It's Christmas for metalheads and it's almost here. But first we have the annual excitement of deciding who we should invest our time going to see. Well, we at ROCKFLESH are here to help. It's time for our annual countdown of 30 bands you must see.
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This year's Bloodstock Festival is serving up a wide variety of death metal. By wandering around the plane of Catton Hall you will be able to see it in its many different guises. There is melodic, technical, core and symphonic a plenty. However, if all these bells and whistles iterations are a little too much for you and you hanker after some communal garden old school death metal then Frozen Soul is the one for you.
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Are you bored with modern metal? Does everything sound to you the same? Do you hunger after something with more complexity and emotional depth? Well my friend the answer is simple, the answer is Bossk. This is prog metal for a dystopian world. It takes what is usually euphoric and optimistic artform and dials up the fear, loathing and pessimism. But don't be expecting dark, dank introspection. This is widescreen Odyssey of biblical proportions. An immersive journey into the dark confines of the soul.
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All things must end and we reach the fourth and final day. Whilst it is still hot enough to boil a monkey’s bum, there are thunderstorm warnings a plenty with not one but four potential typhons heading towards Castle Donington. With all the shenanigans with sackings and members not travelling, there is a real question mark about how many members Slipknot will have when they grace us with their presence at the culmination of the festivities. But we have a whole heap of bands to sample before we get there.
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When they say “Sold Out” they really do mean “Sold Out”. This is the busiest we’ve ever ever seen Download and all four stages start crowded and just accelerate from there. Our journey today begins with a four-band salvo on the second stage. Static Dress are quite simply a different band to the one that opened the third day of Download pilot two years ago. At the time they brimmed with potential but came across as incoherent and rather scattergun. Twenty-four months of tireless touring has resulted in an immaculately focused and really rather slick post-hardcore outfit.
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Understandably we are all a bit confused. Friday feels like Saturday, Saturday like Sunday and Sunday like an excursion to the surface of the sun. It’s also hot, dusty and really busy. Any inclination that the Bring Me The Horizon day would see a lull in attendance is soon knocked on the head. The place is jumping and jiving from the get-go and the sold-out signs on all the BMTH merch makes it clear that they are not making up numbers as we wait for Metallica Part 2.
Read MoreThe phrase “Scream for me Donington!” is ubiquitous in heavy metal’s lexicon. One of the joys of this weekend is watching the obvious pleasure that uttering those words gives to almost every musician playing the event. The fact that it coupled with the refrain “I’ve always wanted to say that” tells you everything about the importance of Donington Park not just to British heavy rock but to the whole scene in general. We may be celebrating Download’s twentieth incarnation, but the reverence given to what is essentially a second-rate racetrack shows that adulation goes back much further than that.
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The terms seminal and genre defining are probably thrown around too much these days but the work of Godflesh, and in particular debut album ‘Streetcleaner’, deserves those accolades and more. It’s therefore almost unbelievable to experience the band performing the album in full after all these years. The anticipation prior to opener ‘Like Rats’ is palpable and, once some feedback and sound difficulties are overcome, it’s a joyous ride through what is a very important set of tracks from the late 80’s that has undoubtedly shaped the very fabric of industrial metal ever since.
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Meanwhile back at the eyesore stage So hideous present us with their awesome take on Post-Black Metal/Shoegaze. It’s massively atmospheric, a luscious full sound, and truly epic. The floods of dry-ice off the stage mash with the abundance of pastel lights and strobes to allow us to completely immerse ourselves in their wonderful world. The New Yorkers play their album ‘None But a Pure Heart Can Sing’ through in full for us Playing new album straight through.
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