Left To Bleed - Scruffy Murphy's - Friday 25th July 2008

Four bands for two quid, what a result!! So what would we get for less than the price of a pint of lager?

Pariah. Birmingham band whose MySpace site lists them as metal/hardcore/thrash which sums them up adequately. Thanks to Jon for the setlist. They are a four piece band comprising Jon on vocals or rhythm guitar and vocals, Matt on lead guitar / backing vocals, Gurpal on bass, and Chris on drums. Started the set as a four piece and ended it as a three piece plus vocalist. Strangely they worked better for me in the latter configuration, although both sounded fine. Solid set comprised five original songs; Avarice, Vengeance, The Flood, Monkey Juice and Abyss. Timing was good throughout, they are tight as a band and write heavy songs with good riffs. Young band with lots of potential.

Overproof. So how many bands do you know who list themselves as beer metal? No I can't think of another one either. Keep putting on displays like this and there could be a flock of imitators wanting to join the genre. Enjoyed them at the Black Horse earlier in the year, tonight's set was stunning. I can only think of one negative; Mark's guitar was too quiet in the overall sound which lessened the impact of his soloing, even when using an overdrive pedal. Tweak the sound slightly and annihilation will be a formality. They combine elements of Southern Rock, biker metal and stoner stunningly well. Jasmine has phenomenal timing and hits the kit very hard for one so diminutive. The Bev was in the zone tonight (as he puts it - i.e. the correct amount of beer intake!) and played a very fluid set on bass. Dom and Mark's guitars intertwined seamlessly throughout. The drinking horns are a nice touch and Mark's generosity with his "Daysaver" bus tickets was inspired lunacy. Then again he's a very confident frontman and can probably get away with just about anything. Started their set with their signature song Overproof a brave move that worked. King Of The Mountain, Relentless, V Twin and Bastard were all stunning. Only one way to end the set and Beer didn't disappoint. Overproof have improved immensely very quickly and trust me they were solid to start with. It will be fascinating watching their next few performances to see how they develop; potentially they could be huge. A very entertaining set.

Mantra were the only non-Midlanders on tonight's bill. They'd travelled down from York and I'm tremendously grateful they did. Difficult to describe just how good they were. They play classic rock, closest reference points being Wolfmother, Nebula and Year Long Disaster. Groove-laden, yet with great riffs, retro yet modern, this band deserve to be huge. Staggeringly they generate their power and musical complexity as a three piece. Oli is an enigmatic frontman and a great shredder. Cat gets a superb tone from her Fender precision bass and is a modern rarity as a thumb-picker. Seb is as solid as a rock on the drumkit. Their individual musical abilities are combined clinically well, they really are devastatingly tight as a band. Thanks to Oli for the setlist which leaned heavily on their latest EP "With Bound Fists", a review of which will appear soon. Judas, Blackened Cross, Wash Away, Wounded, Somewhere I Belong, Choke, Drowning Slow (complete with "Iron Man" intro) and River Of Blood were all superb. Their encore, a blistering cover of Voodoo Chile was mindblowing and a worthy finale to their set. First time I've seen them, but it definitely won't be the last. Explosive display.

Left To Bleed were on a hiding to nothing after the previous two sets and they gave it their all. Pity the room was so empty when they started their set (this seems to be an increasing trend, fans leaving before the headline act - why?). They too started with their signature song Left To Bleed and looked more than slightly confused at the reaction it provoked from a very small gathering. Thankfully it didn't throw them, fans re-appeared, and they delivered a polished and aggressive performance. Far heavier than the first time I saw them at the Actress & Bishop, they lurk in the intricate technical/melodic death area populated by a plethora of Swedish bands. The Actress & Bishop gig was marred by technical difficulties, tonight's set went by without a hitch and they played a blinder. Guitars were chunky, rhythm section solid and the vocals suitably vicious. Tom provided a setlist (thank you) which detailed the rest of the set as Where Future Turns To Past, Implosion To The Resolution, Crisis Ultima, Fall Through Infinity, Life Is A Sentence (Guilty?) with the final song being a new, as yet untitled, work. It's good to see a young band playing intricate songs with this level of musicianship and assurance. Another band to monitor closely over the next 12 months or so.

Exceptional value for money this gig should have been heaving, but accept we're at the start of the holiday season. Four solid sets all well delivered. Overproof and Mantra stood out for me, taking nothing away from Pariah or indeed Left To Bleed. Quality evening, my thanks go to all the bands and all involved in putting this gig on.