FERAL - LIVE AND WRECKED (CD REVIEW)

01. Fight The Tide

02. Magnetic Pull

03. Truth Is Lies

04. Tonight We Dine... In Hell

05. Harvester Of Sorrow

06. Twisted Sinister Smile

James Folan (Bass)
Tom Agar (Drums)
Martin McCusker (Vocals/Guitar)
Laurence Leahy (Vocals/Guitar)

Recorded at the Standard in East london on the 18th of march this year.

This recording gives you some idea as to why they are so popular because ‘live’ is where this bands strength lies.

Starting with a new song we get an aborted start as somebody was onstage who shouldnt have been.Now most bands would have edited that out but this adds to the charm of the entire album, as does keeping the inbetween chat from main vocalist Martin.

But what of the music i hear you cry ?

Opening track has a classy old school mid-tempo thrash feel with some Maidenesque guitar work towards the end, song reminds me of Slayer's "Bloodline", it's that good.

Following on with a similar vibe comes 'Magnetic Vibe' with a tinge of Sabbath in there and a vocal that has a nice hint of Danzig from Laurence

To be honest each track just reeks of 'class' the musicianship here is virtually unrivalled by any metal band around at the moment.

Of course its not all perfect (Boo Hiss) for there is a single blight upon this perfection and that dear reader is the inclusion of Metallica's Harvester Of Sorrow, which i might add they do very well, but for those who know me i cannot stand that awful NWOBHM tribute band.

However my personal view aside i still would not have included this because they are better than that, many bands run out of ideas and include a cover to pad out an album, Feral clearly have enough ideas and songs for a double album, so guys nothing wrong with a cover live but not for an album.

Rating 9/10

STU

www.myspace.com/musicferal

ROXVILLE,FERAL,HOLLOW LIMIT,MERCY HOUSE + Aftershow Set By MUTED Live At The Rock Attic 27.03.09 (Gig Review)

ROXVILLE

FERAL

HOLLOW LIMIT

MERCY HOUSE

Special Aftershow set MUTED

ROCK ATTIC 27.03.09

MERCY HOUSE

This is the new band from Drew, former vocalist from London band 'Everrest'.Mercy House are are a great rock group, its the kind of music you nod your head and tap yer feet, what we used to call in the old days AOR.Drew's vocal range is quite breathtaking bringing back fond memories of a young Axl Rose meets David Coverdale.

HOLLOW LIMIT

Well after a 30 minute interlude due to a blown fuse and mic's that refused to work for some reason the lads take to the stage and explode !This is high energy metal drawing on Iron Maiden and Killswitch Engage but retaining their own overall sound,the vocalist Dan was not content with the stage and spent much of the set walking through the audience (as did guitarist Mike).They got the audience right on their side virtually from the opening riff onwards.Later in the evening i spoke with the legendary Miss B.Von Rose who asked me why this band were not on the 'Give It A Name' tour blowing away the competition.I must confess that i am also at a loss as to understanding why they are not on the front cover of Kerrang, because they fucking should be!

FERAL

The band have over the last few months become the hottest ticket in London, they are absolutley brilliant.Its old school thrash mixed with rock and metal and all wrapped up with such talent and charisma that world domination should be expected with the next 12 months.With two vocalists/guitarists on top form backed by a rhythm section to die for they slay the audience and win over new fans.They have some great songs, one of which has a real motorhead bass driven vibe and they threw in an amazing drum and bass heavy version of the Doors 'Roadhouse Blues' and a great guitar solo to boot! They even got an encore and did their cover of Metallicas 'Harvester Of Sorrow'.

ROXVILLE

You simply cannot fault Roxville, they are slick and professional and really fucking good!A blend of classic rock and metal kicks off with the one that has the fists in the air chorus of "You had it coming" and from that point on its a party !Unfortunatley its a party i had to leave to catch the last train back to the west end, though i did manage to get a bit of headbanging action next to bassist Ash.

MUTED

Melodic thrash metal band Muted have for sometime now been regulars at the Attic and they always deliver !I spoke to a few people today who stayed into the small hours drinking and headbanging and said they played a great set of old songs but threw in a few new ones that got a great reaction as did their coice of cover versions.

STU

THE MERCY HOUSE


HOLLOW LIMIT







FERAL

ROXVILLE

MUTED

Muted pictures by Bronagh McCusker

VIRUS,ELIMINATION,AFFLUENZA,HAVOC SYSTEM Live At The Rock Attic 13.03.09 (Gig Review)

VIRUS

ELIMINATION

AFFLUENZA

HAVOC SYSTEM


ROCK ATTIC, 13.03.09


HAVOC SYSTEM

Armed with a new vocalist and a fresh approach Havoc System are a different beast from the band i saw last year, those black metal overtones that i detected are now long gone.Nice to see 5 guys on stage having fun and playing some very intense heavy metal with a hardcore edge, really powerfull vocals resonate through the attic whilst the bassist stalks the stage (and audience) like a man possessed !


AFFLUENZA

Over the last couple of months this band have risen to my personal top ten list of outstanding bands,they entertain with great songs and superb musicianship.Their brand of metal is served with rhythmic drumming and screaming vocals some sabbath like guitar work, very good basswork (no top string merchant here like some i could mention) and weird samples.


ELIMINATION

Ipswich's finest exponents of "Old School" British thrash metal bring the noise and a smoke machine with a single intention to get, and i quote vocalist Neil here, "Everybody Fucking Headbanging".This is quality thrash, none of this Slayer worship stuff like you get from bands such as Evile, oh no these guys have their own sound and it is winning them more and more fans all the time.A highly energetic set mixing old tunes with new ones from the fourthcoming debut album, i tell you they are going to blow the Underworld up when they play there with Forbidden soon.


VIRUS

Tonight Coke's men set alarms off throughout the building and got people running out of their bedrooms !Not only were they loud as fuck but they somehow managed to switch Eliminations smoke machine to overload and set off the fire alarms :)


The revitalised classics Prey For War, Seeing Is Believing etc are delivered with a level of professionalisim that has now set themselves a high standard in which to move forward and once again build a solid following throughout the Uk.We still only get one new song from the upcoming EP 'Raped By Mutants' called "Skulls Of My Enemies" and its an absolute killer !


It's about time the music press started to take notice of whats going on here and stop pandering to the "Pop" crap that they do (Im talking to KERRANG here) and where is Metal Hammer and Terrorizer ???You have a really talented Thrash Metal band on your doorstep and you havent noticed !?


STU



HAVOC SYSTEM

AFFLUENZA

ELIMINATION

VIRUS

SPIDERBABY - THE DEATH OF SPIDERBABY (CD Review)

01.The Great Audition

02.Dead Chavs

03.Climbing The Walls

04.The Restless

05.Baby Doll

06.Crucify

07.21st Century Vampire Fashion Show

08. La Danse Des Femmes De Serpent Du Mutant

Shannon Lee - Guitar,Vocals

Nathan James - Lead Guitar,Programming

Ashleigh Jade - Lead Vocals

Jontl - Drums

Every now and then you get lucky, you discover a band who are so amazing that words do not seem enough to describe their talents.

Well being a (crap) writer i have to try.

Anyone who knows me or my work knows im a metalhead, gimme Dimmu Borgir or Motorhead any day throw in some Nemhain, Chaosanct, King Lizard and Roxville and im a happy spoon :)
So along comes Spiderbaby an exotic/camp glamourous powerpop/rock band from Brighton, that town once home to the mighty McQueen, and frankly they blew me away.You can read the gig review below somewhere, for it is the cd that i be dealing with ere me hearties !

Kicking off with an orchestral piece that should be introducing a classic forties horror movie before crashing the speakers with 'Dead Chavs' (Song Title of the year i think) its a distorted guitar classic that could be be from an old Frankenstein Drag Queens album with a great guitar solo thrown in !

'Climbing The Walls' is a great techno rock song with some cool synth running through it Tubeway Army style with an old movie sample top and tailing it.

Next track is the weakest track for me,it a bit too New Order for my taste but that does not detract from the quality of the song, anyway what comes next makes up for it...

Welcome to the best damn track on the cd, its 'Baby Doll' a slow n sleazy masterpiece sung with chilling precision by Ashleigh, my all time fave sleaze/sexy song was Marianne Faithfull's 'Why Dya Do It' but this tops it,im not even sure why it just is !

Snapping me out of it with it's Buzzcock's punk influence is the next song 'Crucify' a pop punk take on 'Ever Fallen In Love' if ever i heard one :)

The penultimate track is a ballad from Rocky Horror Show (well its not actually from the show) but it could be it's that cool.

Finally we end with a nod to the Rolling Stones 'Sympathy For The Devil' mixed with a spaghetti western "Ay Ya yar" (oh come on you know that vocal thing from the good the bad and the ugly), essentially an instrumentle that needs to be played loud late at night driving home from a gig.

STU

Rating 10/10

Get This If You Like : Electric Six, Blondie, Placebo, Rocky Horror Show, Wednesday 13, Spit Like This

MOTORCITY DAREDEVILS,SPACE WASTERS Live At The Gaff (28.02.09)

MOTORCITY DAREDEVILS
SPACEWASTERS

THE GAFF, HOLLOWAY ROAD,
LONDON 28.02.09

SPACEWASTERS
Garage rock doesnt come much better than this, a set of classics from The Sonics to Dolly Parton via Hank Williams and CCR.
I spoke to the vocalist after their set and he summed the band up perfectly "We're too rockabilly for the punk crowd and too punk for the rockabilly crowd".
They play the kind of audience friendly set that gets people dancing (and earned an encore tonight) and singing.I confess to never have heard of them before, which is a shame, because ive clearly missed out on some good old rock n roll fun !

MOTORCITY DAREDEVILS
Drunken, fucked up blues based heavy rock delivered perfectley.Well thats it for the review :)Okay maybe a bit more, but what can you say a great set of typical late 70's rock drawing on Led Zeppelin and Ac/Dc with songs about girls and booze.Great drumming from Frank of Viking Skull and he sings as well,the guitarist handles the lead vocals sometimes and plays with style and the bassist knocks out some amazing riffs at times reminding me of Lemmy back in the old days.
An impromptu version of Zeppelins Dazed & Confused was thrown in as well.You really have got to see this band if you love classic rock.
STU

MOTORCITY DAREDEVILS

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