MERCY HOUSE - INVERSIONS EP (Cd Review)

01.Inversions

02.You Know Me

03.Reborn

Drew (Vocals)

Dany (Guitar)

Dan (Guitar)

Antony (Bass)

Nick (Drums)

So it was march 27th of this year that Mercy House made their debut with Drew on vocals
at the rock attic in streatham, their next gig was at the Underworld in Camden
So right from the start it was a step up every time, they lost a band member and
replaced him then started recordings, did more gigs, got a few good support slots as
well, gigged constantley even out of London shows and released a couple of one track promo cd's to be given away at gigs.

So 9 months later Drew hands me a 3 track ep with all remixed songs and a much more
professional package as well, this cd will also be given away at gigs, the question for
me is, is this yet another step up?

Now 'Inversions' still remains my favourite song, in its demo form it was awesome, time
to hit play.........
Its polished, richer, the guitars sound a lot better and Drews voice, well ive always said its THE voice of rock and this just proves it.

The song is a moody rocker and remains a classic.

'You Know Me' has some great acoustic guitar throughout, it keeps the song moving along with an almost Zeppelin feel, but when it kicks in with the screaming vocals oh wow this becomes a monster of melody and power.

The final song 'Reborn' has a power metal feel, with a huge chorus that is guarenteed to get everybody singing along, great use of acoustic guitar again, all goes to underline their sound to perfection.

There is a lyric in 'You Know Me' that goes "I will not compromise" and that sums the band up, it is a great sound, superbly put together with a a lot of thought and a single vision to create the most exciting and original rock you will hear.

Without any shadow of a doubt Mercy House create stunning rock music and with a quality that will last for years to come, a step up i asked at the beginning, well no a huge leap up!!

Rating 10/10

For fans of : Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Whitesnake, Cavalar, Led Zeppelin

STU

TACOMA NARROWS BRIDGE DISASTER - COLLAPSE (Cd Review)

01.Blue Skies

02.Collapse

03.Duggah

04.0-7156-3561-1

05.Sunday

06.Seaweed

07.Winchester Pump

08.Tokyo Rose

09.Monolith

10.Twenty

Adam Paul (Guitar)

Alex Rainbow (Drums)

Andrew Vernon (Guitar)

Tomasz Granica (Bass)

Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster take their name from a bridge in america which
dramatically collapsed in masive high winds in november 1940 that was captured on film.

The band were formed in 2008 and wanted to combine a shared love of progressive metal
and instrumental post-rock, to form complex and dynamic soundscapes drawing on a myriad
of influences including Isis, Russian Circles and Red Sparowes.

Now instrumental albums are not favourite unless they are electronic like Tangerine Dream so i shall hit play and see whats on offer.

So 'Blue Skies' starts us off it has a few samples of speech thrown in and is a good opener but it sounds like a typical album intro.

The title track and again its okay, certainly when the heavier guitar and drums kick in, but the use of samples was missed here and a brief sample from Robert Oppenheimer was pointless when some news samples from the original broadcasts about the bridge would be better, on the other hand if collapse is about society, then this proves the problem of music without lyrics.

Track 3 is pretty heavy and the title 'Duggah' refers to a modern generic word for anything.Possibley the best piece on the album, it has mood and a good riff.

0-7156-3561-1 is actually the ISBN code for the book Singularity Is Near by Ray
Kurzweil about the idea of human and machine essentially becoming one.However this is a missed oppertunity, this is a very quiet 45 second waste of time, that could have been so much more.

At 10 minutes 'Sunday' should have had much more in it, but its too rambling and laid back, throw in something else and you have a good tune.

'Seaweed' has a jazzy feel to it and then has a few moments with some inspired guitar riffs and some pretty cool drum work.

As for 'Winchester Pump', well its about a minute long and is very avant - garde with muffled speech and weird sounds.

'Tokyo Rose' was the nick name given to japanese propaganda broadcasts during the second world war, and i have to say again surely a missed oppertunity here to make a point, if not with vocals then some inspired sound bites?

Some great basswork throughout 'Monolith' holds it together.

Finally the 13 minute epic 'Twenty', this is a slow building song, starting with whispering over the melody it reminds me of Pink Floyd and even some of Velvet Underground's early work.Sure its a simple riff but it has this hypnotic quality about it and you cant help but be drawn in to it, even when the backing gets heavier that riff remains.This is my favourite track on the album.

Rating 6/10

For fans of : Isis, Jesu, Pink Floyd, Manuel Göttsching, Lloyd Langton Group

STU

TRIPPY WICKED AND THE COSMIC CHILDREN OF THE KNIGHT - MOVIN' ON (Cd Review)

01.Movin On
02.Sea Shanty
03.Fire
04.Southern
05.Echoes
06.Innocence
07.Not What You Know
08.Clothes On My Floor
09.The Water
10.Because Of You

Pete Holland (Guitars/Vocals/Brass)
Chris West (Drums/Acoustic Guitar)
Dicky King (Bass)

Formed in 2006 with the intention of creating a band full of a rolling, thundering mass
of infectious riffs, distorted gut-busting bass, tripped out vocals, relentless beats
and hairy sweaty faces twisted with grins and gurns.

This album is their debut and features just 10 tracks although 14 were recorded in june
of this year in just 7 days.

Right from the start this is classic stoner/doom, 'Movin On' & 'Sea Shanty'could be off sabbaths Vol4 its that good.
'Fire' is a slow doom laden monster, whilst typical of the genre this excels due to some inventive guitar work and exceptional vocals.

'Southern' by nature of its title has a different feel, a bluesy/country feel with lyrics about growing beard and hair and living days in a purple haze!

A change of mood again this time with 'Echoes',it has a laid back groove,then the guitar kicks in half way through with some heavy distortion.

'Innocence' starts with speaker shaking low end rumble that continues to underpin the song throughout.

'Not What You Know' wakes you up from the previous tracks hypnotic qualities with its fast and furious stoner vibes bordering on old school heavy metal.

'Clothes On My Floor' is an awesome blues rock song, and 'The Water' sticks with the blues with a track clearly inspired by Free.

we end with the longest track 'Because Of You', coming in at just under 8 minutes.This reminds me of 'My Tortured Soul' by Probot, just love the bass in this so much.

One of the best albums of this genre i have heard in a very long time.

Rating 10/10

For fans of : Cathedral, Electric Wizard, Black Sabbath, Trouble.

STU

AL B DAMNED - KATCH EM & KILL EM (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

Debut Music Video From The UK's Number One Horror Shock Rocker Al. B. Damned!!!
From The Upcoming Album "The Darker Side Of Me" Comes The Song "Katch 'Em And Kill 'Em".
Filmed On Their "Damned 'Til Halloween" Tour And Edited By Al. B. Damned & Pip Sickness.

Though would like to point out that there is no footage from their gaff gig which i have on my pc, Pip if you had asked, still no worries cause they are back at the gaff next year for NIGHTMARE BEFORE VALENTINES DAY II so they can get some footage then !

FROM GREAT HEIGHT, TACOMA NBD, KYRBGRINDER, EL SCHLONG, GRAVANZIA Live at the Gaff 29.11.09 (Gig Review)

FROM GREAT HEIGHT
TACOMA NARROWS BRIDGE DISASTER
KYRBGRINDER
EL SCHLONG
GRAVANZIA

The Gaff, Holloway Road 29.11.09

GRAVANZIA
This band really surprised me with their blend of Hawkwind/Stranglers/Joy Division and Pink Floyd, to hear this style played with such conviction was quite something!Great musicians and a good vocalist performing huge songs including a 10 minute finisher, it was very entertaining.

EL SCHLONG
Just cannot get enough of the New Zealand trio, they make such weird and wonderful music that seems to blend nursery rhyme lyrics with melodic harmony and death metal!You cant help but love it, and despite the fact that the band were still recovering from a night out they played a faultless set!!!

KYRBGRINDER
One of the most powerfull and entertaining rock trios in the uk, great songs with plenty of chances to singalong and one of the best drummers in the world centre stage with a mic strapped to his head.Some new songs from the fourthcoming album were unveiled tonight including one about stupid americans (Very good!!!!!).

TACOMA NARROWS BRIDGE DISASTER
Now this band were quite a revelation, an instrumental band, playing long progressive almost jazz tinged compositions, it was good stuff but i did kind of expect some vocals somewhere just to break it up a bit.

FROM GREAT HEIGHT
The farewell show for drummer Gary who is leaving because of work commitments.It was going to be an emotional and explosive show and it did not fail to live up to expectations.It is perhaps most noticable with Adams performance as to just how much the band have matured this year, his stage presence and vocal attack (yes attack!) are totally different from even a few months ago, the stage becomes his and he has a dark charisma that carrys it off to perfection.But let us not forget guitarist Mikey who stalks the stage weilding his guitar like a weapon and headbanging at every heavy powerchord, and his playing is amazing, paul of course on bass moves and smiles all the time whilst holding down some solid riffs.

I dont think i have ever seen gary so happy behind the kit, very relaxed, it is a shame he is going as he has helped shape the band over the last 2 years, but the band have Tim primed and ready to go.

The set included a great (but short) Pink Floyd cover with adam screaming his heart out and stomping the stage, masque wearing to great effect and possibley the greatest encore in the history of rock music ever, err well actually a quick rendition of a Barry Mannilow classic!!!

STU

GRAVANZIA
EL SCHLONG

KYRBGRINDER

TACOMA NARROWS BRIDGE DISASTER

FROM GREAT HEIGHT

DECEMBER GIG FLYERS

VIRUS, METAL MESSIAH, JUGGERNORT, FERAL Live at the Unicorn 28.11.09 (Gig Review)

VIRUS
METAL MESSIAH
JUGGERNORT
FERAL

The Unicorn, Holloway 28.11.09

FERAL
Melodic and polished thrash that has now levelled out so that each performance remains at the same high standard.As ever it is the song 'Twisted Sinister Smile' that emerges as outstanding, the swearing during 'weapon X' still raises a (twisted) smile and the inclusion of lady gaga lyrics in 'Truth Is Lies' still gets confused looks from the audience.

JUGGERNORT
By definition a juggernort in english terms refers to examples of unstoppable, crushing forces, that definition also sums the band up perfectly.The wall of sound they create is breathtaking, just take the heaviest moments of Devildriver and Hatebreed and stand the fuck back!
Superb drumming backs the dual guitar attack and bass riffage with screaming/shouty vocals equalled out with some nice melodic backing from one of the guitarists.

METAL MESSIAH
One time heroes of the second uk thrash wave from years gone by, tonight making their London return after some 19 years.
They are good, in fact i would say they are better now, the fire and energy is still there but with added maturity that somehow gives it all a new lease of life.

VIRUS
Tonight i have to say was not the best i have seen from Virus, first of all the sound problems thanks to a pretty useless soundman, but mainly due to the audience themselves.For the first few songs the floor was packed, but as the moshpits broke out and started to get out of hand, one girl sent flying and just left on the floor, peoples drinks sent flying without so much as a "sorry", the audience started to leave, by the end of their set you could count maybe 9 people left!
Now that must have been demoralising for the band and it started to effect their performance as im sure they must have been wondering what the hell was going on.

It was a good set, personal highlight was the slightly chaotic, almost Motorhead like, rendition of an old song 'No Return', i think the low point of the set was 'Raped By Mutants', now i know what the song is about but the word rape is offensive, but within context its acceptable, however when a friend of the band came onstage in a mask and hoodie i think it sent out the wrong message.

STU
FERAL
JUGGERNORT

METAL MESSIAH

VIRUS