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LIVE REVIEW: Obituary, Macabre, Psycroptic, The Amenta – Highbury Garage, London, 5th December 2012

Obituary London Garage reviewLast time I saw Obituary was 18 years ago and during my teenage years 3 albums were on constant loop on my old faithful tape player, Slowly We Rot, Cause Of Death and The End Complete.  As soon as they announced a tour playing songs exclusively from those first 3 albums there wasn't a chance in hell I was going to miss the tour on it's UK date. 

With my wallet still bleeding from 2 gigs in the last 3 days (Neurosis and Scott Kelly) it was time for another 3+ hour journey from the doors of my full time job to the

By |2012-12-08T00:00:00+01:00December 8th, 2012|Gig Reviews|0 Comments

Album Review: UKEM Messages from the Damned Compilation

UKEM messages form the damned review

This 18 tracker comes straight from UKEM Records who are an underground label supporting UK bands and this CD is a showcase of what the UK underground has to offer. Each band offers up a track to try and lure you into their world and to get their music out there to the willing audience.

LACERATION hit you with some hefty variable pace brutal death metal from machine gun battery to chugging menace. Top that off with gurgling grunt like vocals and they deliver what you would might expect from the likes of acts such as Skinless.

THE OBSCENE hand out death metal, that is not over produced, with a fast almost punk like flavour that bleeds into slower more old school 90’s style sections add into the mix the varied vocals of harsh grunt and tortured scream it serves up a well rounded track.

By |2012-12-08T00:00:00+01:00December 8th, 2012|CD Reviews|0 Comments

LIVE REVIEW: Talanas, Spires, Ascent – Manchester

Talanas live review Manchester satans hollow

Satan's hollow, wow, anyone who's been will know the care and attention to detail which has gone into the venue, a huge sculpted Satan overhangs the DJ console, the walls and columns are all decked out like hell itself, with wrought iron work, the name Satan's Hollow is clearly very apt.

Knowing nothing about Ascent prior to the gig I wasn't overly concerned about getting stuck in traffic due to the bad weather and missing the start of their Instrumentalist set. However, as soon as I arrived I was kicking myself, apparently playing only their

By |2012-12-06T00:00:00+01:00December 6th, 2012|Gig Reviews|0 Comments

LIVE REVIEW: Gojira, Klone, Trepalium, London Koko

Gojira London Koko live review

Remembrance Sunday and what better way to spend it than with our allies the French, and one of their finest exports in the form of Goijira backed up by fellow country men Klone and Trepalium.    

First support band Trepalium sounded like they are from the 90's and never moved forward.  I'm not saying old school is a bad thing, heck give me some early 90's sounding death metal and i'm a happy man, but this was not Swedish Death Metal, it was groove metal.  Even if they were not my cup of tea, the audience lapped them up, and they certainly put on an energetic live show.  Singer KK  bounced around the stage dreads a flailing barking out lyrics whilst the guitarists flipped genre's like they were going out of fashion.  They tore stompy groove laden hooks into jazz interludes, mixing in little elements of funk and beyond, there were riffs that I swear could have been taken straight from the "Pornograffiti" era Nuno Bettencourt school of guitar and brutalised through a distortion pedal.   Heavy, happy, and bouncy but not my thing.

By |2012-12-03T00:00:00+01:00December 3rd, 2012|Gig Reviews|0 Comments

Grindethic Anti-christmas Bash V

Grindethic AntiChristmas V

Christmas is just around the corner, and that can only mean one thing - it's time for the annual Grindethic anti-christmas bash!!

This year's event takes place upstairs at the Garage this Friday (7th December) and tickets are on sale here priced at £13.50 in advance.

The line up for this year's show brings in Denmark's Corpus Mortale, Sweden's Vomitous, Italy's Indecent Excision, along with our very own Burial and Infected Disarray. 

Metalgigs event page is here.

Check Out Grindethic Records website here.

 

By |2012-12-03T00:00:00+01:00December 3rd, 2012|Featured Gigs|0 Comments

Damnation Festival 2012 Review

Electric Wizard Damnation Festival 2012 review

We’re back in the labyrinthine halls and corridors of Leeds University, looking forward to a day full of good music and wondering where the bloody hell the toilets are. For one day, the masses of the great unwashed are supplanted by a legion of black clothes and lank hair. It must be Damnation. 

It‘s barely past lunchtime, but the third stage in The Mine is already melting under the crusty roar of Ravens Creed (apostrophe be damned). Dedicating a nasty “Stand Up and Be Cunted” to the early crowd, the band blast like the bile-spewing bastard sons of Venom and Discharge. The heaving thrash n’ groove of tracks like “Bloodbath” bulldozing the cobwebs of last night‘s pre-party with the force of a thousand Alka-Seltzers.

Northampton’s Atrocity Exhibit walk onstage under an unbearable hail of feedback; and things only proceed to get more repulsive. Attacking the growing numbers with relentless bursts of

By |2012-11-29T00:00:00+01:00November 29th, 2012|Gig Reviews|0 Comments

EP Review: Masochist – The Extent Of Human Error

Masohist the extent of human error review UKEM Records

Masochist are a Death/Grind band hailing from the U.K. This is the debut release E.P from this 4 piece from West Yorkshire. It has always seemed that the U.S and Sweden get all the credit for producing the best in Death Metal, but the U.K has a fine tradition of producing quality bands down the years, and this is the next generation. 

Whether by accident, or as I expect by intention, they have been very clever with this 4 track release. You see Masochist have been able to cover most styles of Death Metal, here with a liberal coating of Grind. A film clip intro opens ‘Born Fucked’ which then pummels you with brutal Death Metal of the rapid variety. This morphs on to give that 90’s guitar & bass Floridian sound so typical, particularly to our American cousins. Guttural growls sway into tortured pig squeals mid way as the speed becomes a more hefty chug. The drummer’s, at times, octopod style making use of what sounds like the whole kit to full effect. The speed then returns for the finale and suddenly 

By |2012-11-26T00:00:00+01:00November 26th, 2012|CD Reviews|0 Comments

Album Review: Nidingr – Greatest Of Deceivers

Nidingr greatest of deceivers album review

This is the band founded by Teloch more recently of Mayhem fame but featuring current or ex members of the likes of 1349, Dodheimsgard (DHG) and God Seed amongst others. ’Greatest Of Deceivers’ (G.O.D see what they have done there!) being their third full length album from these Extreme Metal Norwegians. Cover art for those who are interested is by Metastazis who has created covers for Watain, Ulver and Blut Aus Nord to name a few.

They have honed their brand of Black/Death Metal even further since the first and the second albums and on first listening it took me back a number of years as the Dodheimsgard (DHG) style of music passed over my aural receptors. This is complex and technical Metal writhing like an angry snake with pace and tempo changes around every corner. The various layers to each track like the jangling guitar, blistering, blasting drums, rumbling bass line and the hoarsely screamed vocals as it kicks

By |2012-11-22T00:00:00+01:00November 22nd, 2012|CD Reviews|0 Comments

Album Review: Void Paradigm

Void paradigm debut album review

Void Paradigm hail from France and this self titled affair is their debut album release. Having an ex-vocalist of Bethlehem in the ranks had me intrigued to hear their brand of Black Metal that they refer to as ‘hypnotic and dodecatonic‘.

The first track ’Chao Ab Chao’ kicks in with buzzing guitar riffage overlaid with a repetitive melody slightly off key to the rest of the music that proceeds to change up and down the chords. I am a big admirer of Fleurety and I was hoping this was going to go off on a similar tangent but it was not to be. At this point I started to realise something didn’t seem right. Rapid rip speed drumming creating a backdrop to the track and then in come the vocals. I was expecting tortured banshee like screams but instead a more Melodic Death or Dark metal style greeted my ears. I gave the track more time into which, at a  point, into a slower more rocking pace, not dissimilar to

By |2012-11-20T00:00:00+01:00November 20th, 2012|CD Reviews|0 Comments

Desertfest 2013 tickets on sale now

Desertfest 2013 tickets on sale now

Lowrider & Dozer Reform For Desertfest 2013! Pentagram Announced And Tickets Available Now For Just £85! 

The time has finally come and the wait is over.  Desertfest 2013 tickets are now available and we have a feeling that they are going to sell out rather fast. Early bird tickets sold out in a matter of hours and with the strength of the line up to date Desertfest is certain to sell out way before show time.

Desertfest are extremely happy to have persuaded Dozer and Lowrider to reform at take to the stage exclusivley for Desertfest 2013 and recent announcement 

By |2012-11-15T00:00:00+01:00November 15th, 2012|Featured Gigs|0 Comments