Ashes To Ashes/ Nefarious - Scruffy Murphy's - Friday 7th November 2008

Another Friday night free gig at Scruffy's and a chance to review MySpace friends Nefarious at long last – shame about the low turnout and cancellation by two of the bands on the bill.

Somewhat later than planned Derby's Nefarious took to the stage to play to a nearly deserted venue. It was a thankless task, but give them their due they soldiered on manfully. Essentially they are a four piece thrash band, although there were elements of classic rock and modern metal in their set too. The two guitarists have differing styles; the guitarist/vocalist has a cleaner overall technique, whilst Callum favours sweep picking during his solos. They worked well together and were tight as a unit. The rhythm section of bass and drums were solid as well – regrettably the two sections never really gelled. Their frontman was on top form, but he couldn't get any real feedback from an apathetic crowd. This was their first gig in Birmingham, hopefully they will return soon at a bigger venue, with more fans, so I can give them a more detailed review. Setlist tonight was “Art Of War”, “The Hunter”, “Pass The Bomb”, “Back of Beyond”, “Mad Dog” and “Antz”. Stick at it fellas, hopefully we can catch up again soon. Before I forget, best of luck in the studio, hope all goes well!

Birmingham's Ashes To Ashes have been on the circuit for a while and it showed. They are a very slick five piece band best summed up as modern metal meets Rage Against The Machine. There was an underlying groove to all their work, mainly due to a staggering display from their bass player. Not saying the rest of the band weren't solid because they were. Good as they were musically their set did get very samey. Groove-laden rock with enormous breakdowns works well initially, but loses its impact somewhat when you've heard ten songs of it! Thankfully they played to a fuller venue and were well received, I wonder where their music can take them though? For the sake of completeness full setlist was; “Promises”, “The Real Thing”, “Shattered Past”, “Break Me Down”, “Crow”, “Darkest Sympathy”, “Claustrophobia”, “Last Breath”, “All I Am” and “Pull Back”.

Nefarious tried hard and will chalk this one up to experience. Get a few more gigs under your belt and push the EP like mad in 2009. Hopefully you'll play to bigger and more receptive crowds! I suspect Ashes To Ashes will keep doing what they are doing – and very well they do it too. Their set left me a bit cold, but there are plenty of fans out there who will lap them up. Much as I respect their undoubted musical ability I again question where it will take them in 2009 and beyond.