I Hate You More – The Black Horse – Saturday 29th August 2009

Despite the three B's of Beholder, Benediction and Bolt Thrower laying waste to the Asylum on the same night, the Black Horse had a more than respectable attendance.

Meat Hook – or “Mate Hook” as they jokingly referred to themselves as they're from the Black Country – are a band I need to see again. I only caught the last track and a half of their set (long story...) but their old school punk/hardcore was suitably vicious. They were tight as a band and generated immense power for a three piece. I look forward to witnessing a full set sooner rather than later.

Ultio have clearly been working on upping the complexity levels with their new material. That's not to say their earlier work was simplistic, but the newer tracks displayed a tendency towards poly rhythms with intricate double bass drum patterns underpinning the complexity. I kept wondering what they would be like on a bigger stage as they eased their way through a concussive, yet slick, set. A new song, “Vagina's Fly Trap”, was given its first live play, and featured Ben from Start The Hourglass on vocals. This combined more subdued passages with sections of all out fury, and was highly impressive. The band closed the set with an old Rotunda song, and Matt revelled in inviting Rotunda's Louis on stage to form an impromptu duet. This capped a fine performance, musically adept, and thoroughly entertaining, throughout. Set list; “Lung Trauma”, “Guilty Until Proven Innocent”, “Vagina's Fly Trap”, “Straight Jacket”, “Retrocution”, “Order”, “Your Mistake”.

Lengthy chats with several of the band members in the audience led to me missing Rotunda's set, so the final band of the night was...

I Hate You More. Having seen them in fine form the previous evening at the Giffard, Phil, Greg, and Bez again served up a quality performance. Looking, and sounding, increasingly assured as a three piece, I found myself enthralled by Bez's maniacal, and relentless, assault on drums. The house kit took a fearful beating, with one tom being split during “Murdershot”, and a second giving way during “Bloodshed”. Admittedly the heads had seen better days in the first place, but it wasn't really a surprise that they gave way under the constant vicious pounding. He reminded me of a shaven-headed version of Animal from the Muppets such was his intensity. Phil and Greg have adjusted to their new roles musically, and Phil was as entertaining as ever with his crowd addresses. Another excellent display. Set list; “Retrospect”, “Decide”, “Chokehold”, “Smash Your Enemy”, “Murdershot”, “Bloodshed”, “The End Still Remains”, “Unlock The Hatred”, “Lockdown”.