The evolution and ascension of Whitechapel has been simply astonishing. 2016’s “Mark of the Blade” gave us an inclining that there was more to them then just guttural unrefined deathcore, but it was 2019’s deeply personal “The Valley” that saw them really transcend.
Read MoreThere is something quintessentially classy about a three-piece. Everything is stripped back. There is no room for excess, instead you get pure unadulterated and unrefined beauty. There is no room to hide so what happens is that musical brilliance is able to rise to the top.
Read MoreThere is a wonderful eccentricity to British metal and Green Lung revels in that. They recount us to a simpler time when nonconformity was about embrace the countryside around us. This is rural, spiritual metal that retreats back to the myths and tales that are at the heart of this emerald isle.
Read MoreRADAR Festival is almost upon us for 2024, and if you haven’t already got a ticket then now is the time to grab one! The festival not only covers progressive/technical metal and rock, but also pushes those boundaries and often breaks them with genre-spanning and unexpected acts that positively challenge the way we look at music and performance.
Read MoreThere is not a band that encapsulates dogged determination more than Sylosis. For 24 years they have slogged their guts out. They have had more miraculous comebacks than Novak Djokovic and have changed direction more times than a formula one driver.
Read MoreThese Greek mainstays (The Tolis brothers have been up to this for 36 years) trade in a really interesting version of black metal. It's not progressive in the fact that they don't pepper it with large sections of melodic noodling, however it does massively deviate from black metal's usual under-produced minimalistic corrosive self.
Read MoreI was going to leave this lot till right to the end but I'm so excited about this rare appearance in the UK that I am guilty of premature ejaculation and I have gone very early with my sumptuous ode to their majestic wonder. Eternal Champion are the greatest band you have never heard of.
Read MoreYou cannot underestimate the impact that Deicide had when they first arrived on the scene in the late 80s. They were nasty, repugnant and offensive in a way that other fledgling death metal acts can only dream of. They have one objective to piss off as many people and ideologies as possible.
Read MoreHere at ROCKFLESH towers we've been in a bit of a tizz about Tailgunner for a good while. They seem to have done the impossible and unified our distinctly arbitrary writers. Whether it be our glam loving maidens, our NWOBHM sages who remember it first time around, our death metal deviants or are holier than thou hard-core kids, every single person who puts words together for a publication has a massive crush on Tailgunner.
Read MoreWhen is a black metal band not a black metal band. The answer is when they are Enslaved. Whilst they may cling to their old Nick bothering and corpse paint adorned roots, the simple fact is Enslaved stop being a black metal band along while ago.
Read MoreBy the time Sunday rolls around at this year's Bloodstock we all need a bit of glamour poured back into our lives. We will have had more heavily inked young men scream at us about the inadequacies of life than you can shake a stick at.
Read MoreFollowing on from yesterday's Forbidden let's have another bunch of grizzled thrash veterans, but this time much closer to home, namely Preston. You see Xentrix were part of the motley bunch of UK thrashers that emerged in the late eighties.
Read MoreFor those of us of a certain age, Forbidden's appearance at Bloodstock 2011 was manna from heaven. Seeing one of eighties thrash's forgotten heroes illustriously resurrected was genuinely exciting. But reunions are not easy things to maintain and the tensions that brought about the early demise of Forbidden were quick to resurface.
Read MoreThe bar for the day is immediately set very high with Wailing Banshee opening Sunday’s shenanigans. Blessed (at least for the time being) by the weather gods, this fine young metal troupe pull an appreciative early crowd lured by the sound of their traditional metal approach, the band capitalising on the time they have to maximum effect.
Read MoreLuna Marble kick off the first full day of this year’s SOS Festival and despite the heavens opening the moment they hit the first note, they don’t let little things like inclement weather dampen their enthusiasm or performance. Delivering a thoroughly engaging groove laden, psychedelic performance both in musical and aesthetic terms, theirs is music suited to the blissed-out Summer’s Day that we should be experiencing were it not for the vagaries of the English climate.
Read MoreTraditionally the beginning of July marks the halfway point in the year, however modern traditions denote it’s also time for SOS Festival. This year is the 15th edition of this annual celebration of rock and metal music in North Manchester, an independent festival run by Lynne Hampson, Mark Appleton, Luke Appleton, Chris Appleton and an army of loyal volunteers.
Read MoreRADAR Festival 2024 at the O2 Victoria Warehouse is a vibrant and diverse showcase of progressive and alternative metal/rock acts, featuring both established names and rising stars in the genre. The festival not only covers progressive/technical metal and rock though, it also pushes those boundaries and often breaks them with genre-spanning and unexpected acts that positively challenge the way we look at music and performance. Much like we saw with Tech-Fest UK, at the heart of RADAR is that sense of building a genuine community.
Read MoreSo here we are at the final hurdle, and even a slew of breakfast margaritas are not breaking through the very British weather y. We have sunshine, then showers, then sunshine, then thunder and lightning with a touch of hail – you know that song “four seasons in one day”? Well, that was Lincoln showground on the final day of the festival.
Read MoreSaturday arrives and the weather is threatening us with rain. However, with the spacious layout of the arena and the fact that the bar is in a tent, impending downpours do not dampen the spirits of the attendees
Read MoreThere are some things in life that are inevitable. Never mind death and taxes, the important thing is that the open-air festival season in the UK gets going in May no matter what the weather brings. For some of us that means a trip to the badlands of Lincolnshire and a weekend in the company of Call Of The Wild Festival. Since 2019 this tenacious little independent festival has somehow clung on despite the pandemic, and as I park the Moho up and crack the weekend’s first drink I can’t tell you how glad I am to be back.
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