SPEED THEORY - ORIGINS EP (Cd Review)

01.Cursed

02.Malevolence

03.Origins

Wesley Alexander Davies III (Vocals/Guitar)

Jay Dodkins (Guitar/Synthersizer)

Stu Beardshaw (Bass)

Alex Hannon (Drums/Samples)

Midlands based band who formed in 2005, soon gained huge amounts of press and in particular the undying support from metal hammer.Festival appearences, Major tour support slots and a couple of releases should have propelled them into the big time, yet after all these years that recognition has yet to come to fruition.

This latest 3 track demo shows that they have progressed musically to a very high standard and have produced three very good songs here, bridging both progressive and hardcore genres to create a unique and enjoyable sound.

A soundbite from a zombie movie introduces us to 'Cursed' a song which to begin with shows some straight forward hardcore tendencies, however there is some very technical guitarwork going on in the mix and as the song continues numerous elements come into play from synth, timing changes and Burton C Bell like vocal harmony.

'Malevolence' has a melodic beginning of guitar and synth before crashing into an almost symphonic black metal song before allowing that hardcore influence to shine through with some style.The structure of the song is such that one element flows into the other drawing the listener into their world.

'Origins' is a drum driven heavy as fuck out and out headbanging classic, sure there are melodic breakdowns with that great synth sound but the song just drives with power throughout for about six minutes, leaving the last 2 of this epic to flow once again in a Fear Factory style.

Yet another fine example of how British heavy metal is forever moving forward and producing outstanding bands with the ability to create lasting music.

Rating 9/10

For fans of : Fear Factory, Opeth, Chaosanct, Meshugga

STU

KOPPERHED - KOPPERHED EP (CD Review)

01.Chains
02.The Breaking
03.Die Alone


Low (Vocals)
Annie (Guitar)
Dave (Guitar)
Dany (Bass)
Lex (Drums)


Formed less than a year ago Kopperhed have already begun to make a name for themselves through gigging and appearing in the Surface Unsigned competition where they eventually won 3rd place at the finals at the o2 Arena.

The band draw on numerous influences from Nu-Metal, Heavy Metal,Goth and Rap to create an intresting and highly original sound, a sort of "New Nu-Metal".

First thing you notice is that this cd comes in a great little round package, so from the outset its obvious that some care and attention is being paid here.

'Chains' has this great Slipknot vibe mixed a bit of 'Roots Bloody Roots', the vocals are very much in the growl n scream vein, not unlike Anders (Original Slipknot vocalist), some great melodic moments break the agression up but it is pretty much a full on assault through the speakers!

'The Breaking' has a quite beautiful guitar intro and then it breaks into a heavy riff before driving into a moody rhythm.
Again you cannot fail to pay attention to the vocalist's attack, but at times there is a slight feeling that he could sing parts of this normally which would lift this song to a new height, the backing vocal has harmony that works wonders and some great guitar solos here as well.

Finally the heart warming 'Die Alone' another in your face onslaught layered with screams, huge riffs, awesome drumming and enough melodic moments to allow you catch your breath and even a little rap thrown in for good measure.

A very impressive ep from a band who will no doubt grow in stature in the coming months and without a doubt one to watch.

Rating 9/10

For fans of : Slipknot, Korn, Down The Sun, Soulfly, Mushroomhead

STU

T.O.O.T.H - ERIC THE FRUITBAT 1979 - 1982 (Free Cd Download)

01.Silver Machine (07.03.80)

02.DestroyAr (07.03.80)

03.Taking It all Away (April 1981)

04.Obscure Weirdness (August 1981)

05.All Along The Watchtower (September 1982)

06.Spirit Of The Age (September 1982)

07.Hanging Around (Septemeber 1982)

08.First Ever Recording (26.10.79)

09.Bedroom Band Fucking Around (December 1979)

Stu (Vocals/Guitars/Drums/Keyboards)

Kev (Bass/Drums/Vocals/Guitar)

With :

Jah Leroy (Drums)

Bobby Vincent (Bass)

Steve Sabbath Cook (Drums)

Peter Lawrence (Guitar)

A bunch of very old recordings from very poor cassette tapes.

From hearing these back its weird to think that we were part of the NWOBHM at all, we were just a rock band with strange influences like the Stranglers, Hawkwind, Crass and Motorhead.

But as with 'Obscure Weirdness' there was an avante garde element to what we did, which i guess came from me and Kev's love of bands like Faust and Can.

There is nothing outstanding here, so dont expect the wow factor, but looking back i think we had something unique.

STU

DOWNLOAD IT HERE : http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QNKCZUD7

MOUTHFUL OF FLIES, GODS OF HELLFIRE, KOPPERHED, ARXIS Live At The Gaff 03.10.09 (Gig Review)

MOUTHFUL OF FLIES
GODS OF HELLFIRE
KOPPERHED
ARXIS

The Gaff, Holloway Road 03.10.09

ARXIS
Cant help but love this band, they are young and talented and have a healthy obsession with Iron Maiden!
What puts these guys above the rest is their great musicianship and entertaining stage presence.They have a huge set as well full of headbanging riffs and a fantastic version of 'Fear In The Dark'.

KOPPERHED
Stepped in at the last moment as Primitai had to cancel due to their guitarist becoming a dad!Kopperhed have only been around a short while but are picking up quite a following and getting a reputation as a great live band.
They certainly entertain and are clearly four very different people bringing in varied influences to create what one guy commented as sort of "New Nu-Metal".

Incredible growling vocals are delivered by a huge man in a kilt doing old "rave" type hand dances whilst metal and goth influences flow from the guitarist and bassist, the latter with some amazing vocal harmonies as well (Despite a michrophone malfunction), all this backed by wild drumming.

GODS OF HELLFIRE
With a huge vocalist looking like a cross between Danzig and Peter Steel and a band armed with flying V type guitars you know you are in for a set of high volume metal, and thats exactly what we get, and it fucking rocked!

A superb set of full on old school tinged heavy metal with screaming vocals and guitars and break-neck drumming held together by tight bass riffs, but hold on it gets better they pull out a cover of Rainbow's 'Hall Of The Mountain King' that was outstanding!

MOUTHFUL OF FLIES
Definatley one of the best live bands around at the moment, their take on metal has elements of Static X and Fear Factory but they are true originals in both music and performance.
A full set is recieved with headbanging and cheering throughout, they have some fantastic songs and its all delivered with style.

STU

ARXIS

KOPPERHED

GODS OF HELLFIRE

MOUTHFUL OF FLIES

BLOOD ISLAND RAIDERS, FIREBRAND SUPER ROCK, WITCHSORROW, SERPENT VENOM Live At The Gaff 02.10.09 (Gig Review)

BLOOD ISLAND RAIDERS
FIREBRAND SUPER ROCK
WITCHSORROW
SERPENT VENOM

The Gaff, Holloway Road 02.10.09

SERPENT VENOM
This is Paul from BIR other band and from the black sabbath vol 4 t-shirts he and the vocalist were wearing it was pretty obvious what we were going to get musically.But wow this was way beyond what i was expecting, sure the sabbath riffs were there and the vocalist was a remarkable mixture of early ozzy and paul rodgers, but it was a modern doom sound overall and very well executed, very powerful and it went down a storm!

WITCHSORROW
The Hampshire trio make such a big sound you'd think motorhead were on stage jamming with Cathedral!
It is an awesome set of precision doom laden heavy metal with pounding bass lines, agressive drumming and breathtaking riffage with some pretty cool vocals as well.We are still waiting for an album, but i am told that recordings are now being done!!!!It also turns out that the band played their first gig at this venue 3 years ago when it used to be a pub!

FIREBRAND SUPER ROCK
Edingburgh's finest thats for sure, possibley one of the countries finest as well, an absolutley stunning set of female fronted heavy metal reminiscent of early Warlock!The singer has a really strong voice and puts over the songs with style that blows away the gaff's audience each song greeted with cheers, if they are playing near you go see them you will not be dissapointed.

BLOOD ISLAND RAIDERS
So the big question was "is this their last gig?" , well if it was it was one of the best i have seen them play in a long time, sure the guitar was too loud, but you know what they say 'if its too loud, you're too old' but it was a masterclass in how heavy metal should be performed live.
I have to pick out their version of 'Rust', not only my favourite song (and thanks for the dedication guys)but it was a superb version complete with a great jazzy bass solo from TJ.
I hope this is not the end, never to witness Al, warren,TJ and paul again on stage would be a huge loss to music!

STU

SERPENT VENOM

WITCHSORROW

FIREBRAND SUPER ROCK

BLOOD ISLAND RAIDERS

ALTERCARNATED PHOTOGRAPHY

Allow me to introduce to you Jo Blackened a photographer with an amazing talent.As you can see from the samples below she can convey atmosphere in both the studio and on location, a sample of the latter featuring James Bonegrinder from "dark power metal" band Matron.

Jo started Altercarnated Photography in 2005 and has been building up a very impressive portfolio and is now branching out in live band photography also.

Perhaps one of her strengths lies with her ability to capture the moment with feeling, and the pictures have a rich colour with superb editing and care.The attention to detail and understanding of the subject matter is second to none.

One more remarkable detail to mention is that for both the location and studio work her rates are very reasonable!The locations she has are quite something as well.

Contact details and some samples are below.

STU

Some of the available locations

James Bonegrinder from Matron

FACEBOOK

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Altercarnated-Photography/91328842807?ref=ts

MYSPACE

http://www.myspace.com/481950134


Copyright to all of the photographs displayed in this article are owned by the photographer. You may not sell, publish, license or otherwise distribute any of these photographs without the written permission of the photographer.

OCTOBER FLYERS