Live Review : Baest + Pist + Beyond Salvation @ Rebellion, Manchester on February 7th 2024

Most musical sub-genres have the lifespan of a Mayfly. They bloom and wither before the ink is even dry on the requisite hyperbole. Death metal has had a counterintuitive evolution. Born 40 years ago it completely bucks the trend by managing to go around in infinite circles of regeneration. Currently, it feels more vital and fuller of life (pun very much intended) than it ever has. Baest are one of those new generation of death metal acts who are deftly managing to remain steadfastly authentic but also bring a dimension of light and shade to the music. Basically death metal long ago stopped being an underground phenomenon and has now become one of the primary movers that are shaping modern metal.

Live Review : Baest + PIST + Atanamir @ Satan's Hollow, Manchester on April 12th 2022

Well, the shows are coming thick and fast. Tonight, is the utter antithesis of my previous engagement with Ghost at the arena. This is metal in its most gnarly cellar-dwelling form. Harsh, anti-social, un-commercial and utterly unrepentant. Liverpudlians Atanamir are first up, and whilst Satan’s Hollow is not in any way full, they pull a good crowd for this time of the day. They trade in doom laced thrash, which results in a really interesting intertwinement of the formers lethargy and the latter’s pulsating canter like nature.

Live Review : Pist + Mastiff @ the Manchester Academy on June 11th 2021

On March 11th 2020 I went to see Employed to Serve at one of the smaller rooms here at Manchester University Student Union’s sprawling Academy complex. I consider this place a second home. I went to university here, so been attending gigs in its four venues for thirty years. I did my finals in the Academy (and was only halfway through my additional time when the Indigo Girls came onto soundcheck, but that’s another story). Hell, the main security guard on the door welcomes me with a hug. What I didn’t know that night as I cycled off was that it would be my last visit for fifteen months.

Live Review : The Obsessed + Bong Cauldron + PIST + Alunah @ Rebellion, Manchester on July 19th 2019

It's been a rough week for Rebellion and there is still an air of dazed and confused about the place. However, there is also a very British aesthetic of keep calm and carry on. In a remarkably short time, Rebellion has become a second home for many of us and tonight the scene has rallied around to ensure that it is business as usual.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Stewart Lucas24 July 2019RebellionThe Obessed, PIST, Bong Cauldron, Alunah, Rebellion, Manchester, 2019, Live ReviewComment

Live Review : The Obsessed + Bong Cauldron + Pist + Alunah @ Rebellion, Manchester on July 19th 2019

Gig ReviewJohann Wierzbicki20 July 2019Bong Cauldron, The Obsessed, PIST, AlunahComment

Live Review : Orange Goblin + PIST + Video Nasties @ Academy 2, Liverpool on February 9th 2019

It’s been a very long time since we had a gig in the Liverpool Academy 2 and thus take as much time organising our entrance as we would for a gig in Manchester. It’s this size of gig that is particularly fascinating. Smaller more visceral bands with a more engaged audience are a ROCKFLESH favourite, although the room to photograph get increasingly silly as the room decreases. I’m now onto sickness number three for the month and starting to feel quite Dickensian.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Paul Flett9 February 2019O2 Academy 2Orange Goblin, PIST, Video Nasties, Academy 2, Liverpool, Review, 2019, Paul FlettComment