Hellfire/ Left To Bleed/Mindless Torture - Actress & Bishop - Thurs 13th March

Recovering from "man-flu" meant I left the venue before seeing headliners Life Denied; nothing personal fellas, I will check you out soon when I'm not full of snot!

First up were Mindless Torture. Their flyer lists them as brutal death metal which sums them up aptly. Recognised the drummer (recently departed from Walking Corpse) and met the affable lead singer early on in the evening. Weren't blesssed with the greatest of sounds, drums sounded tinny and the guitarist was very nearly inaudible. That said the bass player managed to get an immense sound and from my vantage point seemed to be leading their efforts. Played 4 tracks, the only one I could identify was called "White Cross"; it's all well and good having "cookie monster" vocals, but why introduce songs in this unfathomable manner? Need to see them again with a better sound, so I will leave the jury out until next time.

Left To Bleed hail from Leamington Spa. They are a frighteningly young band who play melodic extreme metal for want of a better title. Much cleaner sound from the off, overall they reminded me of In Flames meets Thin Lizzy. Good song structure and more than competant musicians they were flying until the one guitarist had his amp blow on him. A swift swap-over with help from Mindless Torture's guitarist got them under way again and they concluded their set confidently. The malfunctioning amp aside this was an assured display and they are definitely a band to keep an eye on; immense potential. Check the drummer out if you get to see them live - he seems hell-bent on destroying his snare! Only real negatives are the poor stage presence collectively as a band and the vocals weren't powerful enough, but they are young and have plenty of time to put these right. Bemused guitarist handed me their setlist - "Left To Bleed", "Where Future...", "Purgatory", "Crisis Ultima" and "Fall Through Infinity". Stick at it guys and hopefully I will see you in bigger venues soon!

And so to Hellfire. I regularly bump into these guys on the gig circuit and yet tonight was the first time seeing them play. Thanks to all the members of the band for the lengthy chat at the start of the night and for the sampler CD of the soon to be released album (review will be posted soon!).

They are frequently pigeon-holed as hardcore, but this doesn't really sum them up adequately. One thing is for sure... they are brutal live. Jay screamed his heart out and gave his all trying to get a small crowd moving. His brother Roy churns out the riffs relentlessly. The rhythm section of Al on drums and Greg on bass complete the savagery. Regrettably they had more than their fair share of technical hitches. The mic lead had to be replaced, the bass lead had a mind of its own.. and then there were the drum problems. Al hits the kit ferociously hard. But to have a bass pedal/kicker fall apart (the head flew off!) and then have the snare stand collapse in quick succession was simply bad luck. Think they were all glad to get to the end of the set without further malfunction! Having said that they carried on undaunted and you have to respect them for that. Setbacks aside they still delivered a blistering set and I need to see them on a bigger stage with a furious pit soon! Final thanks to Jay for the setlist which showcased all of the tracks off the sampler - can't wait to hear the full-length album fellas! Songs aired tonight were; "Evil Prevails", "Hell On Earth", "Deceiver Of The Damned", "Forced To Kill", "Bleed For The Cause", "Eye Of The Storm", "Suffer In Silence" and "Betrayal Of Trust".

First visit to the Actress & Bishop as a gig venue. The function room upstairs is small but has reasonable accoustics. Shocking turnout comprised bands, partners and friends almost exclusively with very few curious rock fans checking out four bands. There was a question mark raised by the bands about the entrance price of £4. Admittedly still cheap, but for a venue this small and for relatively unknown acts you have to ask if this was pitched correctly. That said worth keeping an eye on for up and coming talent.

Three very different performances tonight which would appeal to a good cross-section of fans of extreme metal. Would see all of them again, but looking forward most to seeing Hellfire let loose in a bigger venue - now that pit is going to be lively (hopefully!!)