BLUE CHEER - VINCEBUS ERUPTUM
January 1968
Philips Records

In the week when Blue Cheer's Dickie Peterson died, a timely reminder of just why he and his band were/are so revered. This was recorded in 1967 - three years before Black Sabbath started their recording career. It's heavy, fuzzed-out, and the riffs are darkly exuberant. Pioneers of metal and stoner music? Throw in grunge as well. This is where it (perhaps) all began.


Malcolm Dome

CONVERGE - AXE TO FALL
20th October 2009
Epitaph Records

No history lesson needed here. Having left a permanent and incalculable imprint on the hardcore scene, Converge is perhaps one of the most defining bands of the past two decades.

Their career has seen the release of the early ‘Halo in a Haystack,’ right through to possible best effort ‘Jane Doe,’ say what you will about the increasingly pretentious press releases, the group’s indulgent side projects and the overly publicized leak of their newest album - Converge continues pushing themselves physically and mentally into new sonic territories that have allowed them to stay one step ahead of their countless imitators. Taking a new turn Axe to Fall, self-produced by Converge’s own Kurt Ballou, portrays a much darker and experimental side to the band.

Featuring 15 guest appearances, from various musicians of; Genghis Tron, The Red Chord, Neurosis and Doomrider’s; Axe to Fall is an all out, no strings attempt, to cement their name in history.


Tristen Jacknife Lee

SONIC BOOM SIX - CITY OF THIEVES
2009
Rebel Alliance

Sonic Boom Six release their follow up to Arcade Perfect, City Of Thieves. It is once again a unique high pitched squeaks of Laila K and Barney Booms raw rapping.
Since the release of Sounds To Consume in 2005 their popularity has grown to bring them out of the unknown and into the mainstream. If you haven’t heard them yet, you’re missing out!


Damian FitzGerald

STEVE HACKETT - OUT OF THE TUNNEL'S MOUTH
2009

The one-time Genesis guitarist never makes bad albums. But this is one of his best. Atmospheric, introspective, full of beautiful passages. It's a joy, with the musicianship being compelling, complex, yet never alienating. You don't have to be a prog aficionado to enjoy this record. Just a fan of good music.


Malcolm Dome

BARONESS - BLUE RECORD
13th October 2009
Relapse Records


The album of the year - for me. Heavy, intricate, melodic, powerful, passionate. It mesmerises and inspires, Why waffle on? You need to have this.


Malcolm Dome

METALFEST - JB's, Dudley, September 2009

BLAZE BAYLEY seemed to take a few tracks to warm up, but to their credit, the guitars were tight through out. Blaze was up to his usual persistent encouragement for crowd participation of chanting and fisting the air, and not forgetting his usual banter between songs. Great selection of track though keeping the audience entertained throughout.
XANDRIA use a range of riffs for their gothic metal. These German rocks more than filled the stage with ease with their running melodies and stunning vocals curtsy of Kerstin.
POWER QUEST played their last show with the current line up, in fact, the entire line up will change with the exception of the bands mastermind, Steve Williams. So basically this show was a celebration and performance of the bands greatest hits. You have a pretty much know what you're going to get with a power metal band, but when they have 'power' in their name, they must be that extra bit special, and they truly are! Solid songs performed at the highest standard, this blended with the party atmosphere of their last performance together, happily playing requests, made a performance to remember!
CIRCUS MAXIMUS brought some prog fussed with power metal to the festival. Inspiring drumming, heavy melodic riffs and slick beat changes. A great wall of vocals, though I'm not entirely won over by the lead vocalist who seemed to lack the qualities of a good front man.
MARSHALL LAW gave me a sense of excitement, I felt as though I had gone back in time to the creation of heavy metal to thrash metal with their dark riffs and strong vocals. There's always this great atmosphere with a band that has been around for so long, and that is because they know what they're doing!
CIRCUS INSANE almost got it right, but forgot one vital component, crowd control. If you're going to do shock stunts, you need to talk to the crowd, warm them up, excite them, and get them to think "oh no, he's not is he" and then you go in for the kill and do it. This didn't happen, the stunts just got performed with no introduction or commentary which kinda left me in a place of limbo.
BRAINSTORM have an awesome chuggy heavy metal groove to their sound. Certainly had the best crowd I'd seen this weekend. Vocalist, Andy, may have played with the crowd but they sang straight back, and going on for some time after they finished the song leaving the band speechless. This even continued after their set almost up until the next band!
PRIMORDIAL I find hard to describe. They play a slow despairing metal with a bit of melodic, mixed with pagan tones. Vocals and lyrics so full of conviction you almost feel it yourself. Some interesting drum beats and changes, unfortunately the sound guys forgot to turn the bass up. It did get a bit repetitive towards the end however, and maybe could have done with the set a song less to prevent any boredom.
PRIMAL FEAR played a fantastic set; solid, tight, powerful, strong - pure heavy metal! A few technical problems with the fold-back, but soldiered on regardless, a great end to Saturday night.

Metalfest sure went for quality over quantity providing a spectrum of European metal acts on one stage at comfy venue. Having just the one stage meant you could see everyone and not have to rush about to other stages to catch the next band, instead you got to have a break and chill for a bit, though some better outside facilities would be welcomed and I'm sure will come for next years festival. The sound wasn't up to scratch and I felt they were simply just school boy errors, such as forgetting to turn the bass on for the outward speakers. There was a calm atmosphere for the festival, which felt good, though a little subdued for the bands, but however, they received kind reception! Here's to next years Metalfest!

Xander

PARAMORE - BRAND NEW EYES
29th September 2009
Fueled By Ramen

Who ever thought that 5 adolescent pop-punkers from Tennessee could knock Madonna, the Queen of pop, off of the top of the UK charts with only their third album? Brand New Eyes is a fresh batch of what Paramore do best – boppy, poppy, preppy punk rock with a mound of attitude and headed by the Southern-twang riddled, sickly-sweet vocals of Ms Hayley Williams. Although it would appear that they’ve stuck to the same formula production-wise, lyrically, the album takes a more honest approach with the first single from it, Ignorance, written about the bands struggle to communicate with each other. Here is a band that behold talent, originality and maturity; finally allowing the entire emo/pop-punk genre to possess some real credibility.


Chloe Scannapieco

BRAND NEW - DAISY
22nd September 2009
Interscope

Tortured Long Island poet Jess Lacey and his band, Brand New, have hit back from a three year absence with their fourth studio album, Daisy; a starkly titled contrast from their former record The Devil and God are Raging Inside of Me. Using the sole producer of their entire career, Mike Sapone, Brand New illustrate that they have gone from strength to strength and developed an ability to create torte, elegantly expansive and lyrically emotive songs. The album contains 11 short-worded tracks including their melancholic first single release, At the Bottom, and an intro and outro of a 1950’s style female vocalist tinkling the ivories, which is fairly random. Lacey’s haunting Cobain-esque vocals are reason enough to trade teen angst for a sombre adolescent soundtrack.


Chloe Scannapieco

SKINDRED - SHARK FIGHTS AND DOG FIGHTS
22nd September 2009
Bieler Bros


With the release of their 3rd album, Skindred are continuing to prove that they are one of the finest band in their class. Shark Bites And Dogfights once again sees the Welsh Reggae metalers doing what they do best. It is a short album with only 8 songs. However, these 8 songs are all fantastic to listen to from the blistering opening Stand For Something to their unique take on Eddie Grant’s Electric Avenue. At this rate Benji and his crew can only go up.


Damian FitzGerald