Millennium Of Blood - The Bear Tavern - Saturday 8th November 2008

A late and unavoidable cancellation meant that I Am Colossus were unable to play, thankfully Forlorn filled in at short notice (cheers fellas!) so the four bands to play were...

Sons Of Exile. It was hard to believe that this was only their sixth ever gig. Sure there are things to work on, but overall they were very impressive. Started a bit hesitantly but got into their stride quickly. Metalcore would best describe their sound, they're well drilled and tight as a band. Dan and Luke weave intricate guitar patterns, Matt on bass and Austin on drums form a solid rhythm section and then you have Phil screaming like a banshee to complete the assault. Mixed things up well, playing the EP in full, together with four new songs and a couple of covers. Of the covers, Machine Head's “Davidian” went down well, Mudvayne's “Happy” didn't work for me at all. Enjoyable opening set from a band who I feel will be around for a while. Need to work on your stage presence, but that will come with more gigs guys. Setlist; “Hostile”, “Haunted”, “Backoff”, “My Requiem”, “Happy”, “Addiction”, “Scream”, “Davidian” and “Left For Dead”.

Thanks again to Forlorn for stepping in at such short notice. To say I wasn't impressed when I saw them for the first time at the Barfly is a massive understatement. However, every time I have seen them since they have impressed me more, and their two E.P.s are more than worth tracking down. Back to their original line-up, they bludgeoned their way through their set of doom-laden death metal. Very tight musically, I have to single out their bass player, James, for special mention. Genuinely I haven't seen many better bassists this year – phenomenal musician. As a band they generated immense power and were entertaining visually. Get a full length release right and 2009 should be a good year for you fellas! Setlist; “In The Face Of Terror”, “Hearts To War”, “Doomed”, “Law Of Hate”, “Worlds End”, “The Forlorn Hope”, “Culture Shock” and “Mindless”.

Machiavellian had travelled down from Liverpool for this gig and I'm hugely grateful that they made the effort. They'd sent me a preview copy of their EP to review and I'd been chomping at the bit to see them live. I use the word ferocious a lot in gig reviews, having witnessed this set perhaps I need to have a one to ten ferocity rating! If so these guys would be around the 9 to 9.5 mark!! Truly crushing set of pulverising extreme metal. Essentially they combined death metal with today's more extreme stylings, then throw in the most vicious breakdowns I have heard for a long, long time. Played three out of the four tracks from the EP plus a couple of new ones for good measure. The new tunes were equally vicious and stunningly executed. Quick introduction to the band. Ste and Chris churned out the riffs mercilessly and Kris barked out the vocals viciously. Nick pummelled the kit almost into submission and Ant played his six string bass impressively – night for the bass players then? If they can channel this level of aggression into a full length release it will go down a storm in the extreme metal world. Setlist; “Manifestations”, “Bone Island”, “Methuselah”, “Let My Home Be My Gallows” and “Ranger”.

I've always had a lot of time for Godsize and just recently they seem to have raised the bar by putting in some astonishing live performances. Tonight was no different. Fellas, I'm finding it difficult to review you these days as I've seen you so many times! Let's just say that this was an entertaining, highly polished and professional display. If you haven't seen them yet – GO!! They combine doom/stoner moments, with sludge and hardcore; difficult to describe, hopefully this will make more sense if you have already seen them or when you get round to it! Kieron is a more than solid drummer and forms a blistering rhythm section with Dave on bass. Scott is riff-meister and then you have Kris. He's an enigmatic frontman who spends the majority of the set prowling around the audience and encouraging screams from all and sundry. Usual suspects were there in the set of course - “Beer Slag”, “For You” and “Start Her Up” - plus a couple of new tunes which worked equally well. Stunning performance and a quality way to finish the night.

Thanks to all the bands for their excellent sets. Andy from Musoplex studio who once again conjured up a superb sound. Pink aka the better half for her never ending support. And of course all those who attended – hope you had a good night! December's spectacular looms nearer – are you ready for the H.O.D.?!!