Ethereal - Sclavinia - Desecration - Napalm Death - Masque, Liverpool - 16.04.2010

Firstly a big thanks to Iyaan from Ethereal getting me on the guest list :)) that was well appreciated and a first - so thanks big time Iyaan.

I was sitting upstairs on a bar stool when I was approached by a big beefy security guy who asked me had I got a pass and of course I didn't have one so I was informed to go downstairs and sort it out so saw the girl on the desk who ticked my name off on the list :)) and my hands was stamped :)) oh the importance of having your hand stamped :)) I aint washin' it off lol

SCLAVINIA played first and were really good. They obviously were foreigners as I could tell by the accent in between songs and I hadn't heard any of their stuff before but they certainly kicked off with some rawkus stuff and of course there was hair flying in all directions, but there were only a few fans watching the band which was sad as the guys put a lot of effort into their set.

ETHEREAL were on next and I got right at the front... :)) the guys were putting their stage props out and tuning up. They had their warpaint on and looked mean. The upside down Pentagram in front of the drums obliterated Lee, but he thrashed drums like no other fecker tonight, it was indeed awesome, although Lee wasn't happy due to him not being able to use his drums because of the Desecration getting in late which I thought was very unfair indeed, as ETHEREAL arrived early and so should have had that sound check.

The lights were really in my face and so it made it sort of difficult to focus and being so at the front meant I couldn't really watch the band as a whole. They didn't even get a feckin' sound check because Desecration turned up late and held up procedures and as a result the vocals couldn't be heard properly and the bass was feint at times, but the gig still rocked. Luke stood up on the cabs but was told to get down which peed him off as he was in full growl at the time and looked awesome with his face painted.
ETHEREAL were very down to earth on stage and nothing phased them.

The thrashing guitars and drums just carried you along and everyone was headbanging you couldn't not do. I felt so part of the gig being at the front it was awesome.

I managed to eat some hair too... one guy was so blitzed he stood next to me and was throwing his hair about so I kept getting a faceful of hair :)))) but I was a little concerned we might bang heads at one time but lucky everything was cool.

Luke introduced 'Apocalypse of the spirit' my fave track and so I gave it the old horns salute \m/ 
I have to say I loved all the songs from ETHEREAL they certainly rocked the place despite the dodgy sound and the amount of hair flying on stage was a definite winner for me :))

The guys all welcomed me into the fold which was extremely nice of them and we had a laugh after their set and went and sat back in the van. I was also given a copy of their "HELLS DEVINE EXISTENCE" which I can't wait to play and relive the night again.

On returning into the venue - we went to the bar and had a drink and chatted and there was one caualty - not one of the band but someone who had come to see the bands and he sat on the floor with a gash in his head and worried officials stood around asking was he ok, but I am sure they should have got him to A&E but nobody did...so presuming he was ok...

I did manage to grab the last 4 numbers from DESECRATION and I was impressed - feck they have long hair nearly to their asses :)) sorry I will concentrate on the music now lol....

With all the growling it is hard to define the songs, but each one they delivered was punchy and everyone was rocking... 3 guys were just running amock in the audience and everyone was moving out of the way and one bloke who looked about 7 foot just pushed this guy to the other side of the room with ease.... and everyone was trying to get out of the way. I think Lee was there again moshin' and stuff he is a right nutter lol - but I had to admire his sheer energy :)

We then went downstairs to see NAPALM DEATH - they had already started playing by the time we got there and I was disappointed that the singer had really short hair :((( but the other members made up for his loss indeed... :))

They played a couple of numbers from their new CD TIME WAITS FOR NO SLAVE and the crowd were just moshin by then and there was a sea of hair doing windmills all over the place - could have generated electricity for over a million homes on it :))

As I stood up in the bar and on the last song NAPALM DEATH screamed out who should join the band on stage - non other than Lee the brootal fecker who reminds me of a rabid bulldog (and I am being nice here) stood there with his arms in the air in mid song and I had to laugh - he sure knows how to let his hair down and get wasted for sure...

By the end of the night my feet were ready for falling off and I made my way round to the guys van before heading off home just to say thanks and I was and still am on a high....Awesome gig loved every minute of it. I do believe the next one is in Leeds on July 3rd :)))))) Thanks again guys for a brilliant gig -met some really great friends of yours too and hoping they will join me on facebook :)) see you all soon, so looking forward to helping out at the next gig :) 

Derelict Sermon - The Murderous Attitude

Review of the new offering from Derelict Sermon - The Murderous Altitude – (Bleakscape) 


www.facebook.com/pages/Derelict-Sermon/162640629879

NB: The only thing I could say not in favour of the CD was the writing on the back cover as it was a little difficult to read, other than that the main cover shows two women in grey suits shooting fuck out of a car windscreen with a bloke standing idle watching. The inside cover showed a negative photograph of a child in clown make up holding a weapon and the back cover of a photo of a young girl with a rifle…which sums up this brilliantly produced, mixed and engineered album, so worth a listen or ten….brootalllll 

Opening with Squidsmokescreen In true Derelict Sermon style it throws out some screaming vocals and thrashing guitar joined by a pounding rhythm that can only leave you feeling like going out and punching the nearest chav in the face 

Moving on to Volpe (no idea what this means) pounding metal guitar riffs that leave you feeling somewhat ‘energised’ the drums are faster and more clean cut on this track but still have the dark voice of doom spewing forth – how I love vocals that do that with a passion :D the high pitched wailing in the background is somewhat atmospheric and demonic sounding like an angel to the slaughter.. 

Bursting forth next is Female Bombmaker more putrid, sexy, raw vocal screaming and thunderous riffs to back them up, and can almost feel the bass penetrating through to the very depths. Hard to imagine that Derelict Sermon is just ‘one’ man Martin Daniels, a pure genius it has to be said. 
This track certainly pulls no punches and is fast and exciting – listen to those drums at the end and the scream….. 

Ambush Techniques next bursts forth like an open wound, and conjurs up something evil (like satan playing xbox with some young kid and winning the kid’s soul just because he can) don’t ask me why that came to mind – a lot of things come into my head when listening to Derelict Sermon – not all of them weird either. Rhythmic drum beats and vocals that putrify your listening is to the fore on this track ending with a good drum beat and more screams – lovely!!!! 

Authoritarian Assassination (How does Martin come up with these titles I wonder?) offers forth a thunderous scream and more thrashing guitars – like a victim being tortured. It very much brings to mind the cover of the album to me – women in grey suits shooting fuck out of a car windscreen with no fuckin mercy…. And leaving bloody corpses inside….. maybe it is me that is twisted here….but you can think of your own scenario….when you listen. 

Gerdas Crown follows with a nice bit of high pitched screaming – as evil and brootish as ever, to yet more pounding drums. The wailing in the background – courtesy of Lopa Rothart (who also contributes vocals on the last track) again reminds me of more suffering and torment – but I have a feeling that that is what Martin wants you to feel as this track unfolds. 
That wailing gets more pronounced as the track continues – so evil it’s sexy. 
This track is very hypnotic indeed. So very ‘doom’ this track and I think so far my favourite. Fading screams and reverb – awesome track! 

The next track is the CD title The Murderous Altitude Clever titles – all of them and no doubt what Martin was feeling as he produced it. This burst open like a festering corpse with more dirty filthy growls and thrashing drumbeat. A track that definitely belongs in HELL for sure! Maybe Satan did the mixing! Additional vocals by John Marshall. 

Up next is In League With Samantha another strange title that is now all too familiar with Derelict Sermon. Maybe Samantha is in league with the devil on this track, it is just as black and brootal as the last but with more pounding thrashing drumbeats. Very atmospheric. 

Organisation Bail opens with more evil growling that sounds like a zombie’s party with nothing to eat! Torturous guitar riffs just leave you angry and indeed murderous for more. Very repetitive drum beats In this towards the end of the track but leave you wondering what’s gonna happen next – very clever. 

Leonica is one of the tracks featured on My Space and one I had heard before and love the opening high pitched wails with grisly undertones – very demonic doom track. Spewing forth with just evil atmospheric sound of disjointed guitar riffs, eerie keyboards and other strange sounds, the high pitched vocals now turning into a ghostly chant (courtesy of Lopa again) with whispered growls and more disjointed guitar make this track another favourite of mine. Strange sounds emminating from the speakers and finishing with that eerie twang that reminds me of the start of Dr Who – very well produced – just going to listen to it again ….. :D 

Despoiler - Zanzibar, Liverpool - 03.06.2010

DESPOILER


Zanzibar 03.06.2010

www.despoiler.co.uk

This band were first up at the Zanzibar. Their first gig at this venue. I had not heard of the band before then nor listened to any of their music and that is always good as I enjoy discovering new bands and taking a total fresh new look at them and what they are offering to the music scene.

The lead singer Jon Hughes has the most unusual hairstyle that cannot fail to get him noticed. It’s very short and has a cheetah type pattern all over which is really eye-catching and definitely great for a front man.

Their set-list was handed to me all typed up – very professional and I liked the band logo too! Sadly my mobile phone doesn’t really take mega pictures but did my best with what I had, so apologies there to all the bands.

They launched into ‘Day in the Life’ which had Jon throwing himself around the stage violently and without mercy. He poured a lot of energy into the song and the drummer - Sam Stanley, well he was awesome through-out I couldn’t take my eyes off him and it wasn’t just the fact he had gorgeous hair either ;) His drumming was kick ass and although he was concentrating hard he was totally enjoying the set, which was great to see.

‘Non-Believer’ was the next track which was a powerful song, but the right hand side of the stage seemed to be cursed as there was not enough room to move about so I thought it hindered the Bassist Chris Rowlands and Guitarist – Paul Kirby very much. Vocals seemed to get louder on this song and again Jon put a lot of effort into his singing, which couldn’t fail to get the head and feet moving - Great kick ass solo on this one from Jim – who yeah has awesome hair too (sorry old habits die hard) hehehe The song slowed towards the end but there was a bit of interaction missing from the band as well as the crowd as nobody had come forward and were all standing at the back drinking.

The band thrashed their way into the next song ‘Relentless’ with thundering guitars riffs and had Jim shining on guitar and made everything look effortless indeed. The vocals took a bit of a dive here but not Jon’s fault – I had the feeling it was something to do with the sound guy or maybe lack of sound guy!! 

‘Hitman’ was the next song and by far my favourite song from the band. It was as heavy as hell! And people who know me know I love ‘heavy as hell’ songs. The bass seemed more prominent on this song and Chris kicked ass – despite being stuck in a corner. The whole band I feel rocked it with this song for sure which is why I marked it as a favourite.

The band’s next offering was ‘Plague Bearer’ fantastic drumming on this song and fast guitar riffs, plus another great solo from Jim and very catchy beats with a lot of growling at the end – so of course I really enjoyed this track too!

Next on the list was ‘Charge of Heathens’ and the band were now into their stride, with Jim throwing in a few backing vocals – but still more band interaction with each others was missing, which was the only negative thing I could see from Despoiler so far. 

Next on the agenda was a song called ‘fight’ which had Jon trying to provoke (in a funny way) a riot. It had a slow build up and Jim was once again throwing in a few backing vocals. It was quite a catchy song (I want to fight) with awesome finger work from Chris on bass.

The band launched into their next song ‘War Machine’ which to me sounded a little Sabbathy and was a lit slower than the previous song. Great guitar solo. The song slows down as if it is about to stop then carries on teasing the crowd as most bands like to do when they do this…. Heheh

The final song of the set was ‘Viperidae’ and this was a thunderous metal song, very fast guitar work and again the song slows and then goes into a small guitar solo and then finishes.

I really enjoyed Despoiler’s set it was entertaining and brutal with great energy and so well worth seeing and I will be making an effort to go and see them again for sure – awesome guys!



Paul 'Viper' Kirby - Lead/rhythm guitar / backing vocals
Jon 'The Bastard' Hughes - Lead vocals
Jim 'War Machine' Pierce - Lead/rhythm guitar / backing vocals
Sam 'The Octopus' Stanley - Drums and percussion / backing vocals
Chris 'Fat Hand' Rowlands - Bass Guitar

Desolation Remains - Zanzibar, Liverpool - 03.06.2010

DESOLATION REMAINS


Zanzibar - 03.06.2010

www.reverbnation.com/desolationremains


Second up were the amazing ‘Desolation Remains’ of the Metal/Thrash/Death metal genre. A really handsome bunch of guys (I was told to say that by Barry Duckworth – the guitarist) I had seen the band before as I mentioned in the overview and they were pretty awesome then if I recall! The band have, since the last gig, parted company with their previous bassist Chris Evans and now have Gaz Jones in his place.

Their set started with the awesome song ‘Psykosis’ and immediately and without warning Gareth Dunn aka Dunny on vokils hurls himself off the stage and onto the floor into the crowd which was now gathering at a rate of knots to the front and the build up was amazing. The song kicks ass and Jon Mathews pounds those drums effortlessly and with such ferocity. You couldn’t fail to be moved with this song with great band and crowd interaction – awesome to see. The crowd just went wild. Love the vocals on this track. Br00tally awesome.

The next offering from the band was the mighty ‘Burn’ with frantic drums and vocals that really kicked ass and the crowd once more responded with windmilling and throwing themselves onto the floor. Dunny really pushed the crowd to the limits so awesome to see an unsigned band kick the ass out of a place! Thunderous guitar like a nuclear assault – very exciting to watch as the band kicked everyone’s ass musically.

Next up was ‘Bleed for a Flag’ great guitar riffs from Pete and Barry and thunderous bass from Gaz. People were now playing air guitar in the audience – awesome! 

The band without any messing about launches into ‘Eyes Stitched Shut’ which gives out a lot of energy and is a very brutal track indeed. A personal fave of mine, although, I have difficulty really choosing a fave; as they are all awesome. This track got at least 4 females up – probably connected with the band but awesome to see the gals giving it their all and supporting the guys, great atmosphere. The song has great catchy riffs and drums – love it

Next on the set was ‘Silence’ which again is a great track but nobody could ask for silence whilst Desolation Remains were on the stage and if they did they wouldn’t get it… (not in the quiet sense anyway, but who would want that at a gig anyway??) not with Dunny having everyone eating out of the palm of his hand… great front-man indeed, with hair right down his back – say no more! awesome!

Next the band did a small into – ‘As the Cities Burn’ that is a very powerful instrumental with really hard and heavy riffs… 

‘Fire Fight’ up next and again Dunny was on the floor kickin ass and screaming at the ‘oldies’ to get off the seats at the back and stop drinking cocktails (hahaha) hard not to be impressed with Dunny’s enthusiasm supported by the band – awesome! The song was extremely powerful and enjoyed by all. Really venomous guitar on this track and Dunny screaming out frantic vocals - all made this another brootal offering for the die hard fans in the audience.

The band finished with a great track called ‘Brutality’ which started off with a lot of growling coupled with thunderous drums, kick ass guitar with stomping bass. Just a powerhouse of total awesome sound, with great crowd interaction, made this an epic performance indeed just to make the crowd hungry for more……. Next gig is at The Dock in Birkenhead July 3rd 2010

Entropy - Zanzibar, Liverpool - 03.06.2010

ENTROPY


Zanzibar 03.06.2010
www.myspace.com/entropy_uk


Third up at the Zanzibar were ‘Entropy’ not heard of the band before despite them actually being on the scene for around 15 years – yes you heard right! speaking to Darran Cooper, the bands front man and guitarist, explained to me that the only thing to change in that time was the bassist, (They now have Ian McCormack) and surprisingly enough Darran also informed me they had never been reviewed before!! The band is In the thrash genre but a lot more technical. Entropy’s set was quite short in comparison with the others but a lot of the other bands have given this band good feedback – which is always nice to hear.

The band opened with a song entitled ‘The Eyes have it’ great drumming indeed from Rob Boyd and screaming guitar work from Karl Rigby. Great angry vocals from Darren and great band interaction which is always great to see. Clean vocal and nice lead guitar work on this song. 

Next the band offers up a song called ‘As Screaming Ascends’ on which the bassist Ian does a bit of harmonizing on vocals with some thunderous guitar and awesome drumming – fast and ferocious with a lot of shredding, a very energetic and powerful song, that has in my opinion sounds a little like Sabbath but not complaining at all. Finishes abruptly and is greeted with a lot of cheering and clapping in appreciation from the crowd.

For the third song on the set ‘Seasons in the Abyss’ a cover (a song written by Slayer in 1990) Although I am not a lover of bands doing covers and prefer to hear the bands own offerings, but understand the need sometimes to throw in a cover as crowd hook, but this band do not need to do that. They have their own style and are great performers. They did an awesome job on it as well.

Darran’s announces a guitar change and produces another guitar from the back of the stage. Felt Karl didn’t need to keep turning his back to the audience though, especially as my mobile doesn’t take good shots and he kept moving just as I clicked so they didn’t turn out well. The song itself actually provoked the audience into body slamming and I was glad I wasn’t in the mosh pit, and safe on a very comfortable seat overlooking the stage.

‘Weapons of War’ was launched into next and is a very powerful song that pulled no punches, and got the crowd up. I noticed Blackened Sun all up at the front supporting Entropy and that was great to see. Very technical guitar work on this song too but energy at an all time high and very brutal and fast – so I am happy!

The band finished with ‘Overload’ a song even more brutal than the last, if that was possible and the crowd did indeed go brutally wild and great interaction from the band to crowd – just love that! Furious shredding and murderous drum beats and finally the singer Darran turns totally psycho a great thing to watch someone so into their music and what they are doing – awesome ending to an amazing set! Definitely left me wanting to see the guys again..

Darren Daz Cooper      Vocals-Rhythm Guitar

Rob Boyd                    Drums

Karl Rigby                   Lead Guitar

Ian McCormack            Bass-Backing Vocals

Blackened Sun - Zanzibar, Liverpool - 03.06.2010

Blackened Sun

Zanzibar 3/6/10


And now for another band I had not heard of before called Blackened Sun closing the night at the Zanzibar, and in the sludge metal genre. This band totally blew me away as this was only their second gig and they have only been together 7 months. Their ages range from 17 – 20 and wow! I was well impressed with their professionalism whilst chatting to me about the band and also the fact that these young guys supported Entropy despite nobody hanging around – other than their friends to see their set – that disappointed me a lot indeed. 

Matt the band’s lead guitarist, explained to me after the show he had literally hacked his fingers to pieces for the gig – that’s just how new these guys are to the scene and hat’s off to everyone in the band they kicked ass considering it was their second ever gig! Well done guys!

They kicked off with ‘Bad Trip’ I know what one of them was like and it was just as evil as the music. These guys know how to ‘Thrash out’ Great vocals from Dave plenty of growling – right up my street (definite thumbs up) Also superb lead and rhythm guitar work from Matt and Carl – awesome.

Again the right hand side of the stage just seemed cursed as Carl and Craig struggled in the cramped space. Craig the bassist supports what can only be described as a punk hairstyle very black and spiked and I wished I had managed to get a photo, but my phone let me down yet again.

Second song was called ‘Teeth’ Gritty and raw this song with awesome drumming from Andy – whom I noticed through out was smiling and really enjoying the set – which was great to see a drummer smiling – not often seen! certainly couldn’t keep still whilst they played this song it was very energetic.. Dave also decided to hit the floor and shot off into the crowd leaving a lot more room on the stage for Carl and Craig to move about a bit.

Their next song was called ‘Date Rape’ (Rohipnol) which had a grinding slow opening with great drum beat – sludge at its best! At times the band looked a little ‘lost’ on stage, but I put this down to their inexperience and the fact that it is NOT easy to get up there and perform, no matter how many times you do it. Dave was awesome with the growls – he knows my weakness I feel.

Next up was a song entitled ‘Therapy’ and Dave announced he wanted to (‘f***’ his therapist) ha awesome! Great energy for such a young Inexperienced band but they delivered an awesome set and were so entertaining.

Next on the list was ‘People are Paranoid’ Nice dark heavy riffs and great bass work from Craig on this song. Andy was also into his stride more so on this track which resulted in some powerful drumming and also great shredding from Matt. – Awesome!

Next the band did the cover of ‘Wicked Game’ (by Chris Issaks – previously released in 1989) I thought it was strange to throw that into the set but was pleasantly surprised and it got crowd attention, although the vocals seemed a little quiet at times but this song was definitely a lot more heavier than the original heheh well done guys.

Next up was ‘Gacy’s Basement’ (about a homosexual serial killer who struck between 1972 – 1978 and brutally raped and murdered around 33 young men)
Amazing thing to write a song about – and again I am well impressed with these guys. The song was powerful and dark and everyone that was left at the venue enjoyed watching the band.

Finally the band finished with ‘Am I Dead Yet?’ Great drums and bass and it really turns into an awesome thrashing sound, but despite that the band seemed to remain quite still and didn’t move about much – probably due to lack of space… Vocals again kicked ass and had a great ending.

I will definitely try and get to see these guys again soon – awesome performance – you really know how to kick ass! Look forward to the next gig.

Diadem of the Adversary - Zanzibar, Liverpool - 05.06.2010

Diadem of the Adversary

Zanzibar 5.6.2010

Back at the Zanzibar this time for a free matinee gig from 1.30 – 4.30 second up on stage were yet another band I had not heard of before called ‘Diadem of the Adversary’ When they first got up on stage I was unsure what these guys were going to do and when they started up with “Pay Attention to the Heir” I was in awe of them – they were so heavyyyyyyyyyyyyy and the growls from John Durney really shook me to the core! For a young guy he sure knows how to sing in a growl and I can’t resist that at all. He later told me it took him 2 years to learn how to do it – so impressed – great to see so much enthusiasm.

The guys thundered into their next song “Last Chance to Disgrace” with the ferocity of a nuclear bomb. Awesome drumming on this from Adam Hill, thrash drummers work so hard The song was very brutal – absolutely awesome and no way did they disgrace, far from it. This track really hit between the eyes, although the sound was a bit sloppy at times and the vocals were sometimes very quiet which was a shame.

Next the band played “Numerology” a very energetic and powerful track, very dark sounding with awesome guitar work from Spike Roberts and Christian Lacey. Awesome band interaction they work well as a team and that shows in their performance, these guys really know how to rock out on stage for sure! Although the ending seemed a bit sloppy for some reason. But to be fair I had not heard the songs before so maybe the song was meant to finish like that..

Last song was a cover “Dogs Can Grow Beards All Over” John launched himself into the crowd and growled furiously, whilst the band murderously assaulted their instruments, they then went into a small instrumental solo before finishing, blinding song, with good Bass from Danny Roberts.

I would love to hear more from this grind-core thrash band, they pull no punches and have only been going since the middle of 2008 when the band was formed, and with this present line up of just 6 months as the band parted ways with their old bassist to bring in Danny Roberts.

John explained after the show that he writes vocals and guitar for the band and if the songs I heard are what they are offering then hell let’s have some more!!!!!!!!!!!!! And saying that the band will be recording a new EP next week entitled “NIHILISM” A Relic of Edict. So something definitely worth watching out for, but great set – so enjoyed it.

John Durney Vocals
Spike Roberts Lead Guitar
Adam Hill Drums
Christian Lacey Rhythm Guitar
Danny Roberts Bass

Phoenix Down - Zanzibar, Liverpool - 05.06.2010

Phoenix Down

Zanzibar 5.6.2010

Third band up at the Zanzibar’s matinee extravaganza was “Phoenix Down” who all look as if they belong in different bands, very unusual indeed but it is certainly different. Formed in 2008.

As the band thundered into their first song, “My Curse” it was clear to see that the band took control and the crowd erupted into a thrashing wall of death – very brutal body slamming all incited by not only Josh Green but the bands awesome musical talent, the crowd just went beserk, and with good reason as Olly Sylvester murdered his drum kit with such venom – awesome playing and as I said before all thrash drummers have great stamina and power and are awesome to watch - but Olly nailed it.

After a bit of crowd banter the band launched into their second song of the afternoon “Call to Arms” with furious guitars and great stomping bass by Michael Carey, who incidentally had hair like a lion’s mane – awesome (another one for my Hair to Stay page) The wall of death was now filling up and becoming very brutal, and left me feeling a little nervous that there would be a serious accident, but these guys in the audience are hardened body slammers so I had no need to worry 

The band’s next offering was “The Shell” which had Olly the drummer actually standing at one point to kill his drum kit further – Awesome drumming so love this drummer he really knows how to thrash out…..

Next up was “The Omega” the most brutal song so far from the band. Lots of screaming and fast guitar work from Jonni Griffiths and William Parry – awesome to see them interacting well on stage. Josh and Will both jumped into the crowd and murderously carried on playing and then Josh jumped over the seats and began thrashing out right next to me – felt good to be a part of that The energy flowed through out but at times the sound on the vocals was very quiet – so this will have to be rectified, but not the bands fault definitely a sound technician problem.

Finally the last song “My Hate for you” which if possible was sounding more brutal than the last song, awesome intro to the song and brilliant drumming, powerful and extreme brutality, just mind-blowing! Great guitar work – fast and savage, just couldn’t sit still – the music just took hold and we all know what that does..

Definitely have to see these guys again, very energetic with great stage presence – great set indeed.

Sadly .... this band have now disbanded, but Oily and Michael are now in Skyline Ablaze and Josh has formed another band called Shere Khan.
Jonni Griffiths Lead Guitar
Olly Sylvester Drums
Michael Carey Bass
Josh Green Vocals
William Parry Rhythm Guitar

Acts Of Sorrow - Zanzibar, Liverpool - 05.06.2010

Acts of Sorrow

Zanzibar 5.6.2010


Finally to close the set at the Zanzibar were “Acts of Sorrow” a 5 piece death metal band formed in November 2008. Due to still asking Phoenix Down about their band and having to do this outside the venue I was a few minutes late getting back in to see these guys open their set (so missed their intro ‘Inmates of the Asylum” – so sorry about that – but that was another reason I ended up in the mosh pit…. 

The band now well underway and blasting out “The Condemned” amazing vocals by Chris Furlong - great front man big voice and yet clear when introducing the songs. Powerful and energetic song coupled with catchy guitar riffs and a lot of hair – always a winner for me 

Second song “Chainsaw Whorehouse” (great title) brought a thunderous opening and John Durney from Diadem of the Adversary helping Chris out on Vocals (check out second photo) the two guys screaming and growling had me in a thrash haven – brutal music and vocals made this track my favourite.

Next on offer was “Welcome to Sludge City” cover from (Annotations of an Autopsy) really powerful scream to start it off along with some powerful drumming from Andy Topham with awesome grinding strings from Calum Glover and Ritchie Noonan – awesome song. Exciting and fierce and a real ‘heads down’ no nonsense song. 

Next up was “The Flood” by far my fave track as it is so brutal more screaming vocals get the song underway and violent guitars, meaty bass it has everything you could wish for in my opinion. Great interaction from the crowd and welcomed by more fierce body slamming and moshing 

Next on offer was “The Long Forgotten Torment” very brutal track with more screaming vocals that made the blood curdle….the lead guitarist Calum Glover launched himself into the crowd and joined in the moshing The wall of death growing more brootal by the second, would love to try it but I really don’t want to end up in hospital… call me a wimp if you like, but being tiny has its drawbacks….

Next song up was “Enslaved in Chains” is the bands EP Title. This provoked great interaction from the band and the crowd. Awesome and powerful drumming. In my opinion this track sounds a little like Sabbath – great to know that Sabbath is at the very root of most of our influences.

“Nihilistic Maniacs” Before this track began Chris thanked all the other bands for turning up and playing which was great to hear.
This song provoked catchy hook on guitars and thundering drum beat, which slows towards the end and then gets more brutal and then finishes awesomely.

Calum Glover Lead Guitar
Ritchie Noonan Rhythm Guitar
Alex Joyce Bass
Chris Furlong Vocals
Andy Topham Drums