Live Review : Beyond The Black + Butcher Babies + Ad Infinitum @ O2 Ritz, Manchester on October 11th 2022

Unfortunately tonight’s advertised headliners Amaranthe have had to pull out due to illness, but the other 3 bands on the bill will continue and play extended sets. Refunds were available, but with it being so last-minute the Ritz is still heaving so I guess that a lot of people decided to just make the best of it.

We start with Ad Infinitum, a female-fronted power metal band with clean vocals but a lot of echo on them. There are podiums on stage and they make full use of them for a bit of posing and shape-throwing.

Live Review : Florence Black + Häxan + Crude Virtue @ Rebellion, Manchester on October 10th 2022

There’s a flag being vigorously waved at the moment for the New Wave of Classic Rock, with lots of new, exciting and upcoming bands in there. Tonight at the Rebellion one of those bands firmly at the head of the pack are back in town having recently returned from a string of German stadium dates as guests to Böhse Onkelz. The buzz that Florence Black created led to further dates and now they are on their own UK tour in support of the album “Weight of The World” released 12 months ago to critical acclaim. It’s no wonder then the Rebellion is busy for a Monday night.

Live Review : Liturgy + Dawn Ray'd @ Soup, Manchester on October 11th 2022

For many years Black Metal has been at war with itself about the sanctity and purity of the genre. There are those that believe anything that deviates from the Nordic template of Satanic adoration is heretical and has no place appropriating the mantle of Black Metal. However, there is another camp that believes Black Metal is a style rather than an ideology and like any musical genre it is ripe for evolution. This section believes Black Metal has a power and evocativeness that goes far beyond an obsession with old nick and therefore can be used to soundtrack any manner of subject matter.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Darth Ghoul12 October 2022SoupLiturgy, Dawn Ray'd, Manchester, 2022, Live ReviewComment

Live Review : Godsmack + The Raven Age @ Academy, Manchester on October 9th 2022

Something as simple as geography being a determiner of a band’s success has always been amazing to me. You hear a lot about some of the UK’s biggest bands struggling to “break the states”, which can turn a band that is of monumental stature over here into another run of the mill band clogging up a festival line up poster for some festival in the arse end of Colorado. What does not get mentioned all that much, however, is those gargantuan bands over in the United States, trying to “Break the UK.”

Live Review : Within Destruction + Space Of Variations + Bound In Fear + Earth Caller @ Rebellion, Manchester on October 7th 2022

Australian openers Earth Caller are already known to me thanks to their recruitment of the production genius Misstiq. Having done some additional production and guest work for them she joined the crew and adds that different touch to what was already an intriguing metalcore band. There are large similarities to Bury Tomorrow & Heart of Coward in their sound, especially in new single ‘Alone’, and of course with Misstiq onboard there are plenty of orchestral synths.

Live Review : Hypocrisy + Septicflesh + The Agonist + Horizon Ignited @ Academy 2, Manchester on October 7th 2022

AKA – A Pain Girl goes to a Hypocrisy gig

How was your summer? Mine? Oh nothing special, caught covid and missed Metaldays in its entirety. My 13 year old came to Bloodstock and made me leave the tent before Machine Head started. Neither of them were particularly good experiences, although I did meet a lovely gorgeous doctor though. After a few months of dating I was pretty taken with him, but sadly he drove me home one day and had the Libertines and Fratellis on his Spotify. Yuck. It was never going to work.

Live Review : Monster Truck + Those Damn Crows @ O2 Ritz, Manchester on October 5th 2022

“Manchester are you ready?” scream Those Damn Crows as they hit the stage. “Yes we are!” scream back the crowd! They are open with their now standard ‘Who Did It?’ and the crowd are there with them from note one. They are engaged, involved and of course the band make full use of the little pose boxes at the front of the stage. It’s hard to describe how great the crowd reaction is here tonight, especially when singer Shane does his party piece and runs upstairs to stand precariously on a small wooden shelf at the edge of the balcony.

Live Review : Uriah Heep @ The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester on October 3rd 2022

Uriah Heep are in town this evening celebrating a 50 year career with the ‘Lockdown to Rockdown’ tour postponed from November 2020. A band that has by and large escaped my musical radar over the years, there’s absolutely no disputing just what a colossal contribution these giants of rock have made to the world of music. The Bridgewater Hall provides a fitting venue to host the celebrations, with its beautiful seated auditorium and choir circles that spiral their way up towards the ceiling. It’s the perfect backdrop to enjoy a relaxed evening’s music now spanning more than 5 decades.

Live Review : Parkway Drive + While She Sleeps + Lorna Shore @ AO Arena, Manchester on October 1st 2022

Tonight’s gig is not only a masterclass in charismatic vocalists and virtuoso lead guitarists, but also in how to be an arena band, with all three bands nailing each of those elements perfectly. Grabbing my ticket and taking up my seat stage-side with the arena still filling up, we see openers Lorna Shore take to the stage. Hitting us straight off with their deliciously brutal onslaught, many of the crowd around me and even in the standing sections up close to the stage, seem taken aback by quite how extreme and heavy the New Jersey deathcore crew are.

Live Review : Anthrax + Municipal Waste + Sworn Enemy @ Academy, Manchester on September 29th 2022

In my head the fortieth anniversary tour is the preserve of the aging rocker or a fading folk star, but here we are celebrating four decades of metal thrashing madness. Anthrax may well have had more than their fair share of carrier mishaps, but they are still here and, since Joey Belladonna’s return in 2010, they have reaffirmed their place as major players.

Live Review : VOLA + Voyager + Four Stroke Baron @ Rebellion, Manchester on September 28th 2022

We queue up and make our way into the venue just as openers Four Stroke Baron finish setting up. I hadn’t heard this three-piece from Reno before, but had been told they were a good fit for the heavyweights on the line-up they share the bill with tonight. The immediate impact is intrigue, with funky rock bass, technical yet driving drums and almost math-rock guitar churning away. Kirk Witt starts up his heavily effected vocals, and it’s clear to see something isn’t right.

Gig ReviewJohann Wierzbicki1 October 2022RebellionVOLA, Voyager, Four Stroke Baron, Rebellion, Manchester, 2022, Live Review, Matt Fraser, Ryan HicksonComment

Live Review : Soen + LizZard + Oceanhoarse @ Rebellion, Manchester on September 26th 2022

Lets cut to the chase. Soen (and their impressive undercard of Oceanhoarse and LizZard) have managed to between them to attract a more than respectable horde for a Monday. Rebellion is healthily busy, and this reflects well on those of us who like our metal with more intelligence and melody. All three acts seem intent on pushing the boundaries of what our music entails, not in a “lets add a Venezuelan nose flute” sort of a way but in their attention to detail and their desire to add more light and shade than your average screamo outfit.

Live Review : Deafheaven + Lauren Auder @ Gorilla, Manchester on September 26th 2022

One of Metal's many beauties is its blurred edges. Yes, at its heart there is a core that is all metal and nought else. However, as you travel to its furthest borders there are territories that seem to simultaneously exist within numerous other genres. Both of tonight’s acts blatantly use metal as a tool in their artistic endeavours, but would not fit its more conservative definitions or templates. Let’s just say Five Finger Death Punch, this isn’t.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Darth Ghoul28 September 2022GorillaDeafheaven, Lauren Auder, Gorilla, Manchester, 2022, Live Review, Ryan HicksonComment

Live Review : The Black Crowes + Reef @ O2 Apollo, Manchester on September 24th 2022

We have come full circle. Thirty-one years ago (almost, almost to the day) The Black Crowes played Manchester Apollo on the crest of a blues rock wave. Their star wasn’t just ascending, it was hurtling towards the cosmos. They had stolen the show at Donington Park the month before and a year after its release, their stunning debut was finally winning over British Audiences. Fast forward three decades, various reunions, countless line-up changes and an awful lot of sibling squabbling later and they back at the Apollo playing their now revered “Shake Your Money Maker” in its entirety.

Live Review : Evergrey + Fractal Universe + Virtual Symmetry @ Academy 3, Manchester on September 20th 2022

We are still in catch up mode. Evergrey were meant to visit these shores just as Covid first reared its ugly head. They then made another doomed attempt last Autumn as the pandemic’s tailwind still thrashed around the world. But finally, over two years late we are on. However, so much water has passed under the bridge they are now here to promote not one but two new records produced during the global slumber. Selective appeal is tonight’s watch word. Academy 3 is not particularly heaving but everybody here seems to both know and revere all of the three of the acts on offer.

Live Review : Polaris + Alpha Wolf + Great American Ghost + Stepson @ Academy 2, Manchester on September 18th 2022

It’s a Sunday evening, and a fairly early start at that. But that doesn’t stop the crowd filling up quickly for first-on support Stepson. The Brisbane, Australia based hardcore band set about their work with enthusiasm and vigor. Elements of Touché Amoré and Our Hollow Our Home can be seen in their sound, and their jagged guitars provide the perfect backdrop to Brock Alan Conry’s raw emotive vocals.

Live Review : Battle Beast + Future Palace @ Academy Club, Manchester on September 16th 2022

Another day, another Finnish band to go and watch, hurrah! Tonight is another step outside my musical comfort zone, I’m not familiar with either band although I have seen and enjoyed a band connected to the headliners via their former guitarist, so I settle into my usual spot at the back and get ready to have a good old listen. This is because Club Academy, although a decent size and with decent sound, is a basement venue with a low stage and a lot of random pillars dotted about the place. The chances of a short person like me actually seeing much of the band is fairly minimal, although I do occasionally catch a glimpse of the tops of their heads!

Live Review : Cassyette + Kid Bookie @ Academy 3, Manchester on September 15th 2022

Walking up to the Student Union Building I can see a ridiculously long queue and am momentarily perplexed. I push my way to the front, noting the support band are due on in five minutes and as I enter the building can see swathes of young whippersnappers on their way to Academy 2 for something obviously less palatable than the delights on offer upstairs.

Within minutes Kid Bookie takes to the stage. It is loud, louder than any other gig I have been to in here for a while, heavy, obnoxious and sweary. Described as rap rock (also trap rock – anyone?

Live Review : Blind Channel + Lost Society @ Rebellion, Manchester on September 14th 2022

It’s Wednesday night, hump day as some like to call it. So what better way to get over that hump than to head off to Rebellion and watch some Finnish Eurovision hopefuls? Yep, you heard that right. Finland’s 2021 entry are here tonight in a club that for some bizarre reason seems to get smaller every time I visit it. This time the comfy seats at the back so beloved of my Grumpy Husband have disappeared, there’s a maze-like screened bit to get in, and they appear to have demolished the toilets. No, really. Two large off-corridor loos are now steps down to a couple of cubicles and the outside. Don’t even get me started on the queues, for a moment I could have been in London waiting to see the Queen (RIP)!

Gig ReviewAuthor : Jo Crosby15 September 2022RebellionBlind Channel, Lost Society, Rebellion, Manchester, 2022, Live Review, Jo Crosby, Johann WierzbickiComment

Live Review : Cancer Bats + Witch Fever + Graphic Nature @ Arts Club, Liverpool on September 12th 2022

Opening tonight’s proceedings are Graphic Nature. Stepping in for XL Life on the tour, the Kent metallers are very much in the modern vein of metalcore tinged deathcore. On record they are definitely worth checking out by fans of new nu-metal bands like Blood Youth and Death Blooms, but it’s live that this five-piece come to life. Harnessing the brutal guitars and bass of Emmure, and mashing that with harsh metal-hardcore vocals akin to Loathe, they are a splendid and invigorating assault on the senses.