Pure Negative - Insert Twist Pull (CD Review)

01.Overture
02.Insert Twist Pull
03.7th Empire
04.The Return
05.I Work For Dick Jones
06.Cider Complex
07.World Falls Down
08.Your Misery

Cletus Van Damme (Vocals)
Hillion (Bass)
Stevil (Guitar)
Faraz (Guitar)
Hellhog (Drums)

Described as "The bastard child" of ex-Ted Maul drummer Hellhog (Dripback) and former Labrat axe grinder Stevil formed in June 2007.

An EP release, and several line-up changes later, Pure Negative; now with ex- 50 Calibre bass monster Hillion, vocal terrorist Cleatus Van Damme (Affluenza), and ex-Damnas six string abuser F-Bomb (River Freshney) on board, are taking over!

Following their blistering performace at the 2011 Bloodstock festival their lethal brand of technical prog/metal madness was taken into the studio with producer Dan Foorde (Sikth) and mastered by none other than Russ Russell.

So aside from the weird orchestral 'Overture' the rest of the album is full on in your face metal performed at a very high standard.

Brutal in every way, yet skillfully pieced together, every instrument mixed to perfection to allow clarity delivered with a sledgehammer!

Some stunning Bass guitar in '7th Empire' and all held together with screaming vocals and quality rifferey!!!!

Rating 10/10

For Fans Of : Damnas, Ted Maul, Affluenza, Mastodon, Meshuggah

FACEBOOK :
http://www.facebook.com/purenegative666

BANGTOY,AFFLUENZA,SOLSIKK,ASP Live At The Gaff 14.11.09 (Gig Review)

BANGTOY
AFFLUENZA
SOLSIKK
ASP

The Gaff, Holloway Road 14.11.09

ASP
So cant really review my own band can i????
It was fun, i forgot the lyrics to the new song but remembered most of the others which considering i havent sung them for nearly 20 years aint bad!!!!My band just did 4 songs and total respect to Dave from thrash legends Virus for playing drums and to Mark and Pawel for bass and guitar from the Lightning Riders.

SOLSIKK
Time for a real band to take the stage, did i say take? I mean storm!!!!I tell you Solsikk are the best damn female fronted metal band in London if not the whole of England, im not joking here they are amazing, such great musicianship and superb vocals with a great range, there is nothing to fault.

High speed drumming from Matt is matched by Mark's pounding bass and as for chris' guitar work, it is stunning especially the solo on 'Cuts A Little Deeper' possibley the best solo of 2009!
Vykki's vocals range from mellow to agressive and just blows Angela Gossow off the planet!That this band are not a household name is a shame, but in 2010 i have a feeling that will change!

AFFLUENZA
Yet again the band deny me the oppertunity of writing a bad review!
In fact i have to say the band are geting better, there is a definite Black Sabbath influence flowing through their music and add to that a modern almost static x/fear factory style drumming and great basswork it is now quite a sound!
Vocalist Al screams with a vengeance every single word and the new song tonight was really good.

BANGTOY
Their first headline show and it has to be said their best performance so far as well.Such was their confidence they started the set with a brand new song called 'Do It On The Floor', then launchd into the old classics, vocalist Frank was on form tonight as were the rest of the band.
Outstanding song of the night was another new one called 'Feel The Fire' it has all the elements of "hit".

STU

ASP

SOLSIKK

AFFLUENZA

BANGTOY

NOVEMBER GIG FLYERS

AFFLUENZA, 9BLIND, FROM GREAT HEIGHT, MAN OF KIN,D.MONIC Live At The Gaff 03.07.09 (Gig Review)

AFFLUENZA
9BLIND
FROM GREAT HEIGHT
MAN OF KIN
D.MONIC

The Gaff, Holloway Road July 3rd

D.MONIC
What a way to kick off a friday, this is some serious punked up metal fury delivered with some style.Take early AFI and mix it up with the Misfits and early Nirvana then give it that unique "London" twist and you have one helluva band.Caked in blood (Which i didnt notice at the time due to poor eyesight and wearing shades!!).They blew the place away and got everybody rocking from the first chord to the last.

MAN OF KIN
They may have been on earlier than they are used to but they still delivered a headline quality set, almost every song in their set is now rapidly heading towards the phrase "classic" and with audience participation throughout, it would seem that (at the moment at least) they can do no wrong.They do a great covers medley again (with the exception of bloody metallica) and the new song 'Sequence Of Lies' is growing on me already.

FROM GREAT HEIGHT
They may have shocked a few tonight, their brand of Metal is clearly marked Prog with vocalist Adam paying his respects to Peter Gabriel, but fuck these guys are good, and i mean really good, not only do they excell at what they do but they do it with a class that sets them way above any in their chosen field.
But dont think that this was all 'intresting' (As my black metal loving friend Kyron said) or "too intelligent for a metal gig" as i overheard someone else say, because they entertained and there was some headbanging (hooray :).
We got a new song debuted tonight called 'It Died A Quiet Death' and they ended their set with the awesome "Initial".

9BLIND
The third Enfield act on the bill tonight and representing a different musical genre as well, this time shouty in-your-face hardcore metal.These guys were like a bomb going off, you see after FGH everything was nice and calm then "Bang" people jumpimg around, mosh pits and lots of shouting.Performing with hi-energy songs they seem to play for a single purpose "FUN" and they deliver 100%
They ended their set with a cover of (Bloody) metallica's 'Memory Remains' and they did it very well and got everybody singing the Marianne Faithfull "La La's".

AFFLUENZA
Headlining set from the band who never put a foot wrong, tonight they started with a new song, normally a dangerous move for this lot, no problem.Just another great performance, it was however noticable that singer Al was somewhat possessed tonight by "The Claw" he did however manage to find the demon and pull off his best on stage performance for sometime.
Just love those songs "Dead Days","Affluenza Strain" and "Scorched Earth Policy" every time i hear them played, the guitar, bass and drums is just perfect.

STU

D.MONIC

MAN OF KIN

FROM GREAT HEIGHT

9BLIND

AFFLUENZA

CAVALAR, AFFLUENZA, FERAL, XENOCHORD, CATFIGHT Live At The Gaff 27.06.09 (Gig Review)

CAVALAR
AFFLUENZA
FERAL
XENOCHORD
CATFIGHT

The Gaff, Holloway Road 27.06.09

CATFIGHT
4 months ago they made their debut at the gaff supporting Nemhain, armed with 3 covers and 1 original song, tonight they return with a full set of mostly original songs and a new guitarist and drummer.

Confident and ready to rock they take to the stage with a cover of the Misfits 'Die Die My Darling' then unleash their own songs, and they have some very good songs the audience took to them instantly at one point a mini mosh pit broke out.

One song features a duet with guitarist Samara and vocalist Marcella and it has the word "hit" written all over it, as does the catchy 'Aimia', they also threw in a cover of L7's 'Shit List' that nearly took out the original, it was that good.

Everything about the performance was 'right' Martin is a very solid drummer and held the beat perfectly, whilst guitarist Luca kept the solos going, leaving samara to keep the rhythm and alexandra to pound the bass whilst the quite beautiful and slightly mad Marcella sung and screamed her heart out whilst running around on and off the stage.

Laurence from feral described them to me afterwards as like the Dead kennedys with female vocals!!!

XENOCHORD
Absinthe, Absinthe, Absinthe, Absinthe, Absinthe, Progressive Death Metal, Great Keyboards (More synthersizer would be cool though),Brilliant Musicians, Absinthe, Absinthe, Absinthe, Superb Vocalist, Fantastic Songs, Absinthe, Absinthe.
Xenochord = FUCKING AWESOME!!!!

FERAL
Dispite the heat and the fact that vocalist/guitarist Martin was tired they pulled off yet another outstanding live set and tonight introduced a new song with the working title "Blue". Its very heavy with a few timing changes in it, it has elements of old school thrash and motorhead in there but its pure Feral and shows that they have no intention of sticking to what they have now and intend to push themselves forward musically all the time.

Of course all the favourites were played 'Truth Is Lies', 'Weapon X' and the epic 'Twisted Sinister Smile' and the sweaty audience got wetter (Does that sound right??).

AFFLUENZA
Having now perfected their stage performance with great songs, clever use of samples, outstanding guitarwork from Nicky and Marcel, faultless drumming from Zack and a great vocal delivery from Al, i wonder where they can go from here?
They enjoyed themselves as did the audience, everything is just "correct" with the band...So why are they not signed????

CAVALAR
I mean this is the same Cavalar right?
They sure look the same and yes, it is Arn on Drums, Daniel on Guitar, Max on Bass and Luca on the vocals, but Cavalar are a good solid classic rock style band who released an album called 'As A Metal of Fact' (Err twice actually).

Okay i will get to the point...Fucking hell this is a full on Heavy Metal band who could be supporting Helloween or EdGuy tomorrow.

An absolutley mind blowing set, totally breathing new life into the old songs and unleashing some incredible new ones, each song delivered with passion and energy from a band who obviously mean buisness.
Luca is not only a brilliant vocalist but quite possibley the best frontman in London at the moment, his enthusiasm and ability to get the audience moving is far from contrived like some, he, like his band, has genuine passion and it shows.

STU

CATFIGHT


XENOCHORD

FERAL

AFFLUENZA

CAVALAR

JULY GIG FLYERS

JUNE GIG FLYERS

VIRUS, AFFLUENZA, MARIANA HOLLOW, FERAL Live At Purple Turtle 22.05.09 (Gig Review)

VIRUS
AFFLUENZA
MARIANA HOLLOW
FERAL

The Purple Turtle, Camden 22.05.09

FERAL
Emerging as one of the forces in the metal hammer coined "NWOTM", thats New Wave Of
Traditional Metal, the foursome have now grown up out of their initial melodic thrash tag
to join the ranks of Green River Project and Cauldron as serious exponents of heavy metal.

Tonights set proved a hit with a 40 strong crowd of headbangers at the front while a few at
the back looked on decidedly unimpressed.Well lets face you cant please everybody, thats
the great thing about the whole metal genre - some you like some you dont.

Only one hitch in their set which was the micraphone cutting out during the first
performance of the new song "The Test", which is a shame because it was great.

MARIANA HOLLOW
Fronted by Rebecca Spinks, a singer of some considerable talent, the band proceed to play the longest set tonight which judging by the crowds reaction was a good thing.
Their infectious melodic and moody rock may have seen a strange choice on an essentially
all out metal bill, yet it worked a treat.

For all the melody there are some sneaking moments of agression in their songs which make
you think of Opeth or Paradise Lost.
A band clearly destined for greater things and an obvious support act for Within Temptation
the next time they hit the uk.

AFFLUENZA
Just for once it would make a change to say that the band were not as good as usual or that
they screwed up, but i cant say that because they produced another perfect set!!!!!
A faultless performance hammering out the soon to be classics like "Dead Days" (Fucking
love that song!) and "Affluenza Strain" they entertain on a very high level.

Great sabbath like guitarwork backed as ever by solid rhythmic drummer and pounding bass
while Al paces the stage like a crazed Wayne Static screaming and growling his well written
lyrics.
As is becoming a habit with this lot you have to say "Great Success".

VIRUS
Reinvented, reborn and out to tear you a new asshole !
Original member Coke lead his army in a full out assault of 'loud as fuck' guitars, booming
vocals and some of the best drumming you will hear this side of Adrian Erlandsson.

Opening with the awesome "Lunacy" the venue erupts with a mixture of headbanging, moshing and hardcore dancing.After the first song a divide appeared with those repelled by the aural assault retreating to the back of the venue while the rest continued to smash braincells.

Virus are picking up an ever increasing young fan base as the new generation thrash fans discover where many of their favourite bands got their ideas from.

Tonight we were treated to two new songs "Skulls Of My Enemies" and the anthemic "Raped By Mutants".
The only things that marred tonights performance were Coke's guitar problems (A loose volume control and an over distorted guitar), the second was that the venue cut their set short, the former can be sorted but the latter was unforgivable, that said, and with the band obviously angry, it was still a great performance.

STU

FERAL

MARIANA HOLLOW

AFFLUENZA

VIRUS