The best bands are the ones that are unique, have a sound that is instantly recognisable, unmistakably them and hold a very special place in your mind and music collection from the first time you see and hear them. For me Karnivool are one such band. They have a signature sound that captures emotion alongside progressive technicality, a tender voice filled with power, and songs that have every ...
Read MoreOccult-themed metal playing nuns you say? Is that even a thing you say? Well tonight it is as Dogma come to visit Manchester as part of their first UK headline tour. We’re promised a night of curious lyrical themes, racy dance moves, guitar shredding and none of it without a pinch of theatre. Or should that be nun of it. Ahem. Support comes in the form of the ever-touring South of Salem ...
Read MoreManchester welcomes true New York hardcore royalty in the form of Madball and we're all in for it. The band were formed in the late 80s as an offshoot from the mighty Agnostic Front and haven't looked back since. Tonight they've got Dutch veterans Born From Pain and the UK's Tempers Fray in tow. Let's get ready to hardcore!
Read MoreIt’s always exciting to cover a gig that has a mixture of new and old bands, known and unknown bands, familiar tracks and fresh hits. And so, we find ourselves in such a situation down in Club Academy on a Friday night. A first look for us at Australia’s brutal Diesect, a reconnection with favourites Great American Ghost, a look at the new singer and tracks from Crystal Lake, and all topped off …
Read MoreTonight is a real treat as we get to watch one of my all-time favourite bands – Thrice. The Californian veterans, whose decades‑deep evolution has shaped them into one of post‑hardcore’s most inventive and emotionally resonant forces, are touring their new album which is a return to their earlier rawness. First up though it’s the singular support act of France’s Lysistrata, a jittery...
Read MoreNever trust the weather or, a ferry from Dublin, is the moral of this gig. A situation completely out of all the band’ hands mean that a dash along the North Wales coastal road leaves us with only tonight’s headliners, Bleed From Within, performing. It’s a big disappointment for loads of the crowd who had their hearts set on seeing main support band Disembodied Tyrant, and openers Baest, but ...
Read MoreRebellion is rammed tonight. Not in a passive “oh it’s busy” rammed, more like “can I not even stand at the back of the room by the merch” or “please stop breathing near me” rammed. It’s the busiest I’ve seen it in Rebellion for ages, and there’s a distinct hipster‑who‑doesn’t-go-to-gigs vibe in the room. I guess that’s what you get when you have genre-busting mainstream darlings like The Callous Daoboys headlining and an undercard of the excitingly novel Knives and Love Rarely. Let the games begin!
Read MoreGenuinely, heavy metal on a Saturday night at the O2 Ritz is a treat you should never pass-up on. Tonight we have an array of bands at different stages of musical development. Life Cycles bring the sharpened edge of modern crossover, Distant arrive armed with the kind of deathcore brutality we delight in, Revocation represent the old‑guard technical thrash lineage still fighting away, and Sylosis …
Read MoreRebellion feels cold in temperature but hot with anticipation tonight with three bands all wired with intent, all pushing their own flavour of atmospheric progressive metal. Headlined by the phenomenal MØL, what links them all is precision - three drummers playing like they’re chiselling their names into stone, three vocalists pulling emotion from both ends of the human register, and three ...
Read MoreTonight is a farewell to Resolve. Well, to some of Resolve. Ok, to some of the songs of Resolve. It’s the end of the cycle for ‘Human’ and with it they are looking to shelve the majority of the songs from both that album and ‘Between Me And The Machine’. In the future it will be the new album and sound that they’ve showcased in the three new tracks on ‘Extended Cut: Human’. But before all that ...
Read MoreThere’s an anticipation for tonight’s hardcore gig showcasing four very hungry bands. There’s London’s bleeding‑heart hardcore, New Zealand’s beatdown exports, Britain’s thrash‑soaked troublemakers, and Alabama’s genre‑smashing heavyweights all crammed into one room. It’s a conflation of sub-styles and attitudes, and the crowd filtering in seems fully aware they’re about to be thrown around by ...
Read MoreTonight promises a full spectrum of musical extremity - slam, tech, thrash‑tinged death, and one of the pioneers of technical brutality in Cryptopsy. Four bands, one small basement room, plenty of rabidly enthusiastic death metal fans, and the potential for structural or even personal damage.
Read MoreWhat we have tonight is less a straightforward bill and more a kaleidoscope of alternative and melodic hardcore, each band bending the genre to their own will. Tonight is less about genre purity and more about evolution. Stick To Your Guns remind us of the roots, of the communal spirit of hardcore. Static Dress show us what happens when you twist those roots into something chaotic and dangerous. And Paleface Swiss prove that deathcore can be accessible, commanding, and even mainstream without losing its bite.
Read MoreClutch have happily given us a Christmas treat, delivering their bluesy heavy-rock metal to a packed Manchester Academy. They always serve up a fantastic live show with their unique and infectious performance and endless catalogue of songs. Tonight they’ve also brought the brilliant Greek rockers 1000mods and unhinged Norwegian stoner-punks Bokassa along for the ride!
Read MoreThere’s something intriguing and exciting about a lineup that covers all the stages of the journey of a band. Openers Gore. are at the start of their journey, complete with enthusiasm, vigour and wide-eyed energy. Main support Ghøstkid are looking to push on, building to the next level from their strong foundations. And then headliners Of Mice & Men are maintaining their grip on success and establishing their legacy.
Read MoreLiverpool’s much loved Deftones-esque post-rock metallers Loathe have returned home for a gig on the dockside and the queue is around the corner at opening. It’s an eagerly anticipated gig for sure, and for us at ROCKFLESH it’s the first chance in a while to catch them as they continue their rise in the scene.
Read MoreThree bands, three different shades of extremity, one unforgettable night. From Worn Out’s hardcore ferocity to Pupil Slicer’s avant-garde chaos and LLNN’s sludgy soundscape nightmares. Three radically different approaches to metal and a Thursday night Rebellion crowd ready to lap it up or let it obliterate them trying.
Read MoreTonight’s lineup is a dive straight into the early Noughties metal scene and tonight we travel back to that era with three big hitters of that time taking to the stage in Manchester. Drowning Pool, Spineshank and (hed)pe were some of the names you’d see on all the tours, festivals and MTV. As it turns out this isn’t just a nostalgia trip - it’s a reminder of how bands evolve, survive, and sometimes…don’t quite reached the heights they once did.
Read MoreTonight, the O2 Ritz is treated to a perfect storm of avant-garde chaos, technical excess, and cinematic madness. The lineup is a journey through the outer limits of metal, with Imperial Triumphant summoning the spirits, Master Boot Record overloading the circuits, and Igorrr stealing the show with a performance that’s as unhinged as it is unforgettable. Three wildly different acts take the stage, each pushing the boundaries of what metal can be and what it can sound like.
Read MoreBury Tomorrow have secured their status as one of the UK’s most energetic, engaging and prolific metalcore bands over the past couple of decades. Tonight they headline the O2 Victoria Warehouse able to bring their show to the biggest stage yet. The whole bill is packed with talent from across the globe, and a variety of takes on metalcore, with sets from Siamese, Lionheart and Nevertel.
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