Live Review : Earthtone9 + Sugar Horse @ Academy 3, Manchester on September 20th 2025

There are albums that are born out of time. Records that are created in one era but steadfastly belong in another time period. Recordings that feel as if they have fallen through a hole in the space-time continuum. Earthtone9’s seminal third offering “Arc Tan Gent” is one such effort. Unveiled in 2000, it was birthed into a world where metal was back but was obsessed with “Nookie”, papercuts and smashing a baseball bat against a steel drum. “Arc Tan Gent” was slight, cerebral and highly intelligent. It married metal, prog and hardcore into an unholy trinity of sound that resonated righteous anger but was thoughtful about its disdain.

Live Review : Portal + Impetuous Ritual + Abduction @ Rebellion, Manchester on September 18th 2025

Good things come to those who wait, or more literally, cacophonous, impenetrable noise comes to those who wait. Portal are a veritable enigma. The Australian noise mongers have existed in some form for over 30 years, yet visits to these shores have been few and very far between. The last time they were here (in fact, the only other time they've been here) was for the late lamented Temples festival in 2015. With some acts, this lack of physical contact would breed contempt or even apathy, but with Portal their absence has added to the mythology and expectation.

Live Review : Unleash The Archers + All For Metal @ Club Academy, Manchester on July 9th 2025

Well, hats off to Unleash the Archers. Their one-off London show back in February was completely sold out, but instigated the usual online comments of "Why only London?” or “There is more to the UK than just the capital” or simply “Come North!”. Now most other bands would see these sorts of interactions as collateral damage and occupational hazards. But with Unleash the Archers, it struck a particularly empathetic chord. Hailing from the wastes of British Columbia, they were used to having to travel miles and miles to Vancouver or even over the Border into Seattle to see the bands that mattered to them. So, they listened to the impassioned pleas to come to Nottingham, Glasgow and Manchester, found three spare days in the middle of their European Festival trek, hired a cheap and cheerful van and headed North…

Live Review : Deftones + High Vis @ The Piece Hall, Halifax on June 24th 2025

The Deftones have always existed in a rather interesting netherworld. They emerged during the reign of nu-metal, but they were always too experimental and cerebral to be fully integrated into that scene. The frankly extraordinary “White Pony” and the 2003 self-titled fourth album, thrust them into arena land and festival special guest status, but try as they might, subsequent releases never seemed able to push them any further. That is, until now. After looking like, they were cursed to always be the bridesmaid and never the bride at a total of four Download and one Sonisphere, this summer finally sees them headlining open-air shows in the country.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Stewart Lucas26 June 2025The Piece HallDeftones, Piece Hall, Halifax, 2025, Live Review, Stewart LucasComment

Live Review : Iron Maiden @ Co-op Live, Manchester on June 22nd 2025

The fluidity of fame and fortune is incredibly fickle. We describe Iron Maiden’s late eighties period as “The biggest metal band on the planet”, as “Their Imperious Phase”. However, let’s be honest, they are more popular now than they ever were at their peak. Iron Maiden have transcended being a band and are now an institution, a cultural phenomenon. A national treasure with their own beer, stamps and merch that is sold in ASDA as part of its Father’s Day range. The Co-op arena is an inter-generational melting pot of different creeds, colours and cultural backgrounds. This selection box of diversity shares one uniting thread; they love Iron Maiden with a passion.

Live Review : Dark Angel + Schizophrenia @ Academy 2, Manchester on June 9th 2025

The prevailing wisdom is that when thrash emerged in the early 1980s, it was a unified entity. A unitary sub-genre with a singular sound and context. This fits the narrative of thrash as the rejuvenative power that transformed metal, but if we are honest is more myth than solid historical fact. The truth is that thrash was a broad term used to describe an emerging hodgepodge of styles that shared a belief that metal was becoming too bloated, comfortable, and mainstream. Some purveyors hitched themselves to the emerging hardcore punk scene whilst others mined the back catalogue of NWOBHM luminaries Diamond Head, Satan and Venom.

Live Review : Decapitated + Cryptopsy + Warbringer + Carnation @ Club Academy, Manchester on May 8th 2025

When is an undercard not an undercard? When the supporting bill seems to receive as much, if not more, love and adoration as the main feature. Tonight in Manchester doesn't feel like a typical package tour with several make-do filler acts leading up to the central event. For all intents and purposes, it has the air of a triple headliner affair as Warbringer and Cryptopsy are treated with the same level of reverence as nominal stage closer Decapitated. This doesn’t mean the Polish legends get short shrift, it means that every one of them receives a reaction fit for a canopy-topping act.

Live Review : Gama Bomb + Raised By Owls @ Rebellion, Manchester on April 20th 2025

Fittingly for Easter Sunday, Jesus has decided to make his long-anticipated return at tonight’s show. Gama Bomb vocalist, Philly Byrne, deadpans with surprise “Oh you're back, you should see what's being said about you and also what they are doing in your name and by the way after the show can we have a quick word about what's happening to kiddies in Ireland”. However, when “Jesus” gets on stage to dry-hump Philly during ‘Give Me Leather’ it becomes clear that he is a costumed imposter as opposed to the actual second coming. What it does show, though, is the sense of fun around this evening's proceedings. There is a general air of irreverence, as Sam from openers Raised by Owls eloquently puts it, metal is just angry panto.