Bloodstock Metal Forum 666 Easter Massacre Charity Event, Subside Bar, Birmingham
The BMF’s latest event in aid of the very worthwhile Sophie Lancaster Foundation had been in the diary for a good while. Ten bands for £15 represented superb value for money and with Birmingham within striking distance, tickets had been bought, accommodation sourced and on a very warm Easter Sunday three members of the Musipedia team and our good friend Brett headed to the Second City for a day of hard metal and maybe a small sherry or two.
One of the great things about Birmingham is that the city centre is reasonably small and once you have your bearings it’s easy to navigate. Parked up and on our way, we even had time for a quick beer at the Dragon Inn (A Wetherspoons but when you are Welsh anything with a dragon has a tractor beam effect!) before arriving at a sparsely populated Subside Rock Bar in Digbeth where opening band Pemphigoid (6) were completing their sound check. Raffle tickets and compilation CD purchased, beer in hand, it was time to see what the Nottingham outfit bizarrely named after a rare autoimmune disorder were about. The answer was some reasonable death and thrash metal which was a decent start to the day. Ash Cotterill’s vocals were gruff and gravel soaked, his guitar work cutting through a decent mix which included Bill Richmond’s bass and Richard Mallatratt’s solid drumming. Relatively static, the band played tracks from 2018’s debut Where Compassion Comes To Die. Formulaic and unadventurous, sometimes sticking to the blueprint works best and Pemphigoid worked hard as a unit. Full marks to the band for staying until after the headliners as well.
Woking four-piece Gutlocker (8) were in no mood to mess about and despite no more than 15 paying punters watching (the venue had swollen due to the bands arriving in advance) they hit hard. Their brand of metal is best described as face melting and in vocalist Craig McBreaty they have an absolute gem of a frontman (albeit one that couldn’t hold his liquor by the end of the day as he was witnessed vomiting through his hands having skulled some Sambucca shots moments earlier). A ball of nervous energy, McBreaty prowled the stage like a caged tiger, his stomping style and shouty vocals not to everyone’s taste but even if you don’t like his style the energy and aggression was insane. The band had clearly decided that this was time to blast everyone in the room with their full on metal and they succeeded with ease. Tracks from their debut EP Cry Havoc! sounded huge and the band earned a deserved ovation. Certainly ones to catch again soon.
Effort was certainly the order of the day, and in their matching logo shirts Raze The Void (5) certainly looked the part. The Hitchen M2TM winners of 2017 took the stage with confidence. Despite a proud performance, I struggled to get their sound, which was confused and disjointed at times. With so much all taking place it was a challenge to really distinguish what their message was. Following Raze The Void was The Crimson Brigade, a band who were truly awful last time we saw them in Cardiff last August so it was a convenient time to skip their set and head for some food.
Returning to the venue with stomachs content, it was time for the heavy sounds of groove death metallers Embodiment (7) from Bristol. I’ve seen these guys a few times and their sound always impresses. Bone splinteringly heavy at times, the four-piece make hell of a sound, huge riffs and thundering bass/drumming giving them a huge noise but there is also a technical element which underpins their sound. Up front, Harry Smithson’s roaring vocals add grit to their sound. The band played a fist pumping set, with at least two new songs alongside old classics The Beast and Dragged Into Hell which finished off a fine set.
Whilst Embodiment were solid, the next band up raised the bar substantially. Staffordshire’s groove metal merchants Obzidian (8) are no strangers to this page, with their 2018 Bloodstock appearance one of the festival highlights last year. True to form the band blasted their way through a set which contained tracks from a range of albums but focused on their most recent Obliteration Process. As always it was vocalist Matty Jenks who grabbed the attention, his forays from the stage to to the pit enhanced by his snarling range. By the time Sins Here Are Purified had levelled the venue, there was no doubting one of the performances of the day. With a new album due to hit later this year, I hope that Obzidian will own 2019.
Hailing from South Wales, do we really need to explain who the next band are? Hell no! Our good friends Democratus (8) arrived with one aim: to blow a hole in the roof and they certainly did that. With vocalist Steve Jenkins prowling the floor from the front to the back of the venue allowing him to intimidate anyone foolish enough to hide, Democratus started at 100mph and didn’t back down. Creator Of Poverty and the newish Damnation from their forthcoming EP both sounded great with the band in crushing form, the thick riffs hard and fast. Despite Jenkins suffering from a bout of man flu with a raging sore throat he pushed through and a huge ovation from the crowd was well deserved. These guys are maintaining a steady trajectory and with a huge support slot to Light The Torch imminent, Democratus continue to earn well deserved accolades.
Prior to one of the most shambolic raffle draws I’ve ever seen which hilariously saw Rich win two medium sized t-shirts, it was time for possibly the highlight of the day for me with the bludgeoning death metal of Blasphemer (9) whose 2018 album Lust Of The Goat simply slayed last year. The Dewsbury band returned after a lengthy break in 2014 but there was no rust on these old school purveyors of death metal as they simply pummelled all into submission. No fuss, no messing around, just an obliteration of all who stood in their way. Tracks from their self-titled album included the uncomfortable Sutcliffe along with some pulverising songs from Lust Of The Goat which included the very apt Nazarene. This is exactly how I like my death metal and Blasphemer hit the spot. If you ever get the chance to see these Yorkshire men then I highly recommend you do. You won’t regret it.
Penultimate band of the day were Petrichor (4) from Leeds. The band have been around for a few years and had been patiently waiting for their chance. Unfortunately, post raffle the crowd thinned substantially and as the black metal outfit kicked off their set there were every few people watching. This may have been attributed to having seen the band before because they were dreadful. A chaotic mix of sounds, symphonic black metal, death metal and even heavy metal in the mix, and an image that was poorly derived all added up to a band that should not have been as high in the line up. Their music was dire with vocalist who was tone deaf not really helping. It was no surprise that we headed out for more food at this point.
All hope was restored for the headline act though. Mansfield’s Witch Tripper (9) were in South Wales recently so you can catch up on another review about one of the UK’s hardest working bands there. Patience is a virtue they say, so the power trio must be the most virtuous band on the circuit having waited all day to play. But they don’t give a shit these guys and proceeded to whip up a raging storm for the flagging few punters who had made it through the whole day. With a crushing selection of tracks from their two albums, Witch Tripper simply owned the event with their brand of hard biker rock a pleasing relief after the previous band. Richie Barlow, stripped to the waist as always and with an accent that made his between song banter indecipherable, was a blur, crazily riffing away whilst the solid back line of Chris Daughton and Gary Eric Evans held everything tight. The hour flew by and by the end of their set the band and the audience were exhausted. There are few bands. That can hold a light to these guys and their schedule means they are likely to be near you at some stage soon. Get to see them asap!
So there you are. A fun filled day with a variety of metal bands, who all gave their time free for this fantastic cause. The venue worked well, but the absence of punters rankled with our party. In the home of metal, one would like to think that a few more could have made the effort on what was an otherwise fine and enjoyable day out.
The BMF’s latest event in aid of the very worthwhile Sophie Lancaster Foundation had been in the diary for a good while. Ten bands for £15 represented superb value for money and with Birmingham within striking distance, tickets had been bought, accommodation sourced and on a very warm Easter Sunday three members of the Musipedia team and our good friend Brett headed to the Second City for a day of hard metal and maybe a small sherry or two.
One of the great things about Birmingham is that the city centre is reasonably small and once you have your bearings it’s easy to navigate. Parked up and on our way, we even had time for a quick beer at the Dragon Inn (A Wetherspoons but when you are Welsh anything with a dragon has a tractor beam effect!) before arriving at a sparsely populated Subside Rock Bar in Digbeth where opening band Pemphigoid (6) were completing their sound check. Raffle tickets and compilation CD purchased, beer in hand, it was time to see what the Nottingham outfit bizarrely named after a rare autoimmune disorder were about. The answer was some reasonable death and thrash metal which was a decent start to the day. Ash Cotterill’s vocals were gruff and gravel soaked, his guitar work cutting through a decent mix which included Bill Richmond’s bass and Richard Mallatratt’s solid drumming. Relatively static, the band played tracks from 2018’s debut Where Compassion Comes To Die. Formulaic and unadventurous, sometimes sticking to the blueprint works best and Pemphigoid worked hard as a unit. Full marks to the band for staying until after the headliners as well.
Woking four-piece Gutlocker (8) were in no mood to mess about and despite no more than 15 paying punters watching (the venue had swollen due to the bands arriving in advance) they hit hard. Their brand of metal is best described as face melting and in vocalist Craig McBreaty they have an absolute gem of a frontman (albeit one that couldn’t hold his liquor by the end of the day as he was witnessed vomiting through his hands having skulled some Sambucca shots moments earlier). A ball of nervous energy, McBreaty prowled the stage like a caged tiger, his stomping style and shouty vocals not to everyone’s taste but even if you don’t like his style the energy and aggression was insane. The band had clearly decided that this was time to blast everyone in the room with their full on metal and they succeeded with ease. Tracks from their debut EP Cry Havoc! sounded huge and the band earned a deserved ovation. Certainly ones to catch again soon.
Effort was certainly the order of the day, and in their matching logo shirts Raze The Void (5) certainly looked the part. The Hitchen M2TM winners of 2017 took the stage with confidence. Despite a proud performance, I struggled to get their sound, which was confused and disjointed at times. With so much all taking place it was a challenge to really distinguish what their message was. Following Raze The Void was The Crimson Brigade, a band who were truly awful last time we saw them in Cardiff last August so it was a convenient time to skip their set and head for some food.
Returning to the venue with stomachs content, it was time for the heavy sounds of groove death metallers Embodiment (7) from Bristol. I’ve seen these guys a few times and their sound always impresses. Bone splinteringly heavy at times, the four-piece make hell of a sound, huge riffs and thundering bass/drumming giving them a huge noise but there is also a technical element which underpins their sound. Up front, Harry Smithson’s roaring vocals add grit to their sound. The band played a fist pumping set, with at least two new songs alongside old classics The Beast and Dragged Into Hell which finished off a fine set.
Whilst Embodiment were solid, the next band up raised the bar substantially. Staffordshire’s groove metal merchants Obzidian (8) are no strangers to this page, with their 2018 Bloodstock appearance one of the festival highlights last year. True to form the band blasted their way through a set which contained tracks from a range of albums but focused on their most recent Obliteration Process. As always it was vocalist Matty Jenks who grabbed the attention, his forays from the stage to to the pit enhanced by his snarling range. By the time Sins Here Are Purified had levelled the venue, there was no doubting one of the performances of the day. With a new album due to hit later this year, I hope that Obzidian will own 2019.
Hailing from South Wales, do we really need to explain who the next band are? Hell no! Our good friends Democratus (8) arrived with one aim: to blow a hole in the roof and they certainly did that. With vocalist Steve Jenkins prowling the floor from the front to the back of the venue allowing him to intimidate anyone foolish enough to hide, Democratus started at 100mph and didn’t back down. Creator Of Poverty and the newish Damnation from their forthcoming EP both sounded great with the band in crushing form, the thick riffs hard and fast. Despite Jenkins suffering from a bout of man flu with a raging sore throat he pushed through and a huge ovation from the crowd was well deserved. These guys are maintaining a steady trajectory and with a huge support slot to Light The Torch imminent, Democratus continue to earn well deserved accolades.
Prior to one of the most shambolic raffle draws I’ve ever seen which hilariously saw Rich win two medium sized t-shirts, it was time for possibly the highlight of the day for me with the bludgeoning death metal of Blasphemer (9) whose 2018 album Lust Of The Goat simply slayed last year. The Dewsbury band returned after a lengthy break in 2014 but there was no rust on these old school purveyors of death metal as they simply pummelled all into submission. No fuss, no messing around, just an obliteration of all who stood in their way. Tracks from their self-titled album included the uncomfortable Sutcliffe along with some pulverising songs from Lust Of The Goat which included the very apt Nazarene. This is exactly how I like my death metal and Blasphemer hit the spot. If you ever get the chance to see these Yorkshire men then I highly recommend you do. You won’t regret it.
Penultimate band of the day were Petrichor (4) from Leeds. The band have been around for a few years and had been patiently waiting for their chance. Unfortunately, post raffle the crowd thinned substantially and as the black metal outfit kicked off their set there were every few people watching. This may have been attributed to having seen the band before because they were dreadful. A chaotic mix of sounds, symphonic black metal, death metal and even heavy metal in the mix, and an image that was poorly derived all added up to a band that should not have been as high in the line up. Their music was dire with vocalist who was tone deaf not really helping. It was no surprise that we headed out for more food at this point.
All hope was restored for the headline act though. Mansfield’s Witch Tripper (9) were in South Wales recently so you can catch up on another review about one of the UK’s hardest working bands there. Patience is a virtue they say, so the power trio must be the most virtuous band on the circuit having waited all day to play. But they don’t give a shit these guys and proceeded to whip up a raging storm for the flagging few punters who had made it through the whole day. With a crushing selection of tracks from their two albums, Witch Tripper simply owned the event with their brand of hard biker rock a pleasing relief after the previous band. Richie Barlow, stripped to the waist as always and with an accent that made his between song banter indecipherable, was a blur, crazily riffing away whilst the solid back line of Chris Daughton and Gary Eric Evans held everything tight. The hour flew by and by the end of their set the band and the audience were exhausted. There are few bands. That can hold a light to these guys and their schedule means they are likely to be near you at some stage soon. Get to see them asap!
So there you are. A fun filled day with a variety of metal bands, who all gave their time free for this fantastic cause. The venue worked well, but the absence of punters rankled with our party. In the home of metal, one would like to think that a few more could have made the effort on what was an otherwise fine and enjoyable day out.