The Arts Club in Liverpool often feels like a miniature amphitheater, what with its steeply stepped forum and decorated auditorium, so it seems a fitting venue for such a theatrical band as Sleep Token to bring their mysterious act to bear.
Local act Exploring Birdsong are an intriguing addition to the prog scene. The late 2019 release of their EP “The Thing With Feathers” has pushed them more explicitly into the limelight, and support slots of this stature will only serve them well.
Read MoreMy last gig of 2019 sees me catching one of my favourite bands for some festive metal shenanigans at Manchester Academy. We get there nice and early, following a few expensive beers elsewhere, to make sure we don't miss what are some excellent support bands. This limited venue tour from Bury Tomorrow is very much a purists offering. The two bands they have supporting them aren’t necessarily the most immediately accessible or mainstream acts, but instead they are young up and coming bands that are unique and exciting – hence presumably why Bury Tomorrow are giving them this platform.
Read MoreComedy-infused metal wouldn’t normally be my thing, but with a few friends across from Yorkshire and a couple of pints in my belly I head to my local venue in Chester, The Live Rooms, to see how much fun I can have.
Read MoreTonight we’re back at Rebellion for some up close and personal metal, and despite the early doors it's already pretty busy for first band on Gideon. These lads from Alabama deliver a modern take on 90’s hardcore-punk which is aggressive, intense and emotive.
Read MoreWe’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.
Read MoreTonight’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...
Read MoreIt’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.
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.
Read MoreIt 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).
Read MoreUnfortunately, thanks to a crash on the M56, I miss the opening act on tonight’s bill (sorry Portrayal of Guilt!). I put a positive spin on the situation by thinking that it might help the cause; co-headline gigs, especially those with intense bands such as Touché Amoré and Deafheaven, can sometimes be hard work. How wrong I am, as both bands tonight deliver masterclasses in their art.
Read MoreOn this night, I find myself dashing into Satan’s in time to catch opening act Sertraline. I’d recently caught this local band at UK Tech-Fest and immediately took a liking to them, with their take on modern melodic technical metal. In Lizzie, they have a charismatic, energetic and gifted singer, but the whole band offer an energising vibe through their staging and impressive musicianship.
Read MoreThe gig tonight has been moved from Academy 2 to Club Academy, which actually allows for a more intense and intimate event usually, tonight is no different. The support bands are both greeted by a decent size crowd as well, which is good to see especially on a Monday night. It’s interesting to see such a diverse demographic represented in the crowd as well, and that speaks to the unique offering of bands tonight.
Read MoreIt's my first time in Satan's Hollow for a gig, and I’ve got to say it's weird seeing bands on the dancefloor! It's certainly intimate though, and as I know tonight is pretty much a sell-out I'm expecting it to get even more intimate. I leave Johann down the front and set-up shop by the stained glass windows at the back of the room…about five people back from the front of the stage still. It's a great line-up secured by Tapestry Promotions and I wait for local lads Where Oceans Burn to start things off for us tonight.
Read MoreIt probably seems like I start most of my reviews with either a travel or weather report...but seriously when trains are delayed and cancelled due to melting overhead cables and buckling train tracks, then it’s worth mentioning! Right? With the journey to Manchester finally completed, I stroll down to the Academy 2 for doors. Now, Academy 2 is sweltering at the best of times, but tonight I'm early enough into the venue that it hasn't filled up yet, and so it's cooler than outside, bizarrely (spoiler – that doesn’t last!).
Read MoreAs I jump out of the taxi at Newark Showground it immediately feels like I’ve never left from twelve months earlier. This is only my second trip to Tech-Fest UK, but already I can say it feels like returning home when you enter through the main entrance. It’s a festival that genuinely creates a feeling of welcoming, inclusion, passion and dedication. And lots of technically impressive Metal musicianship. Lots. Add in some great on-stage performers, enough merch to sink a battleship, plenty of booze and you’ve got what is now my favourite festival. First seen in 2012 (and at Newark Showground since 2014), the not-for-profit festival has only been possibly thanks to the tireless devotion of founder Simon Garrod and his annually returning group of volunteers.
Read MoreHay fever sucks. Well technically, having a grass pollen allergy is really awkward and annoying. It’s especially true when you’re off to an early doors four band gig. Ok, ok, just a fortnight ago, I was moaning about the rain in the North West, but I wouldn’t be British if I wasn’t moaning about something, right? The joy of a muggy, humid night is that Academy 3 is only as sweltering as outside tonight, rather than being a crazy sweatbox of its own making. I don’t know if it’s my imagination but this venue doesn’t seem to be used as much as it used to be, which is a shame as it certainly has its own unique layout, capacity and atmosphere.
Read MoreDoing gig reviews in the North West of England does mean that travel and the weather are frequent battles, but not even I expect to be nervously checking the National Rail website (other train information websites are available) in June. It finally stops raining though and, unlike at the Heart Of A Coward gig the previous week, I turn up to the venue resembling a human rather than a drowned rat.
Read MoreI’ve finished my pre-gig interview with Heart Of A Coward frontman Kaan Tasan (see the interview here), and now find myself stood in the gig queue in the pouring rain. Pouring doesn’t do it justice really, as it is absolutely thrashing it down. We shuffle ever closer towards the door until the welcoming heat of Rebellion wraps its arms around us and drags us in. Every last person who makes their way through the door looks like a drowned rat, but to a person when they see the Heart Of A Coward backdrop and merchandise table their faces light up.
Read MoreI think it’s fair to say that metal bands, local to Chester, that play originals are a rare and unique breed. It’s a real treat then to have one of these young, up-and-coming bands playing a headline set at The Live Rooms in Chester. It’s a shame that more original metal bands, both local and from further afield, don’t get a chance to play this venue more often. As I’ve noted previously, this venue is a little gem of a venue and I’d like the excuse to get down to it more often, especially to see local rock and metal bands starting off on their journeys.
Read MoreSpending an entire day interviewing people for a new role at my day job is not necessarily the best preparation for a four-band gig, but it's what I've managed to serve up for myself. It means I'm dashing to get to the venue in time for the opening band, which I can hear starting-up from the street outside. I immediately bump into Johann at the downstairs bar as I race through the front door, and get his take on what’s going on upstairs. Truth is we grab a pint at a leisurely pace as I can hear every single note from the bar. It’s going to be loud up there, I think to myself, and once we make our way up there I find out I'm not wrong.
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