DOMINION FEST 2007
Now in its second year, DOminiON fest slithered away from Withernsea where it launched in 2006 and ventured down the road to Wakefield to provide us with another day of metal and beer drinking. Variety was certainly the key for Dominion 2007 with something to douse your appetite whatever your metal cravings.
Running slightly behind schedule, the day got off to a good start with Worcestershire outfit Fury who managed to get the crowd going with a bit of fist pumping sing a long action to some well played covers of Metallica and Maiden classics. The covers may have gone down better than their own material but their own stuff was rather enjoyable too. Their vigorous sound draws influences most notably from Iron Maiden, Machine Head and Metallica and has a real no-nonsense heavy metal attitude behind it. As their lead guitarist stood to demonstrate various headbanging techniques in their beginners guide to headbanging skit this certainly warranted a smile or two from the crowd. Overall Fury made a surprisingly good start to the day.
Yorkshire young guns Icarus were second to take the stage. Through recent months Icarus’ sound has become a lot heavier and even their older songs like “Jack The Ripper” were executed with far more power and aggression than before. With newer songs they seem to have adopted a thrashier edge and Chaps’ vocals are carried out with a lot more depth and aggression. The Anselmo like qualities shine through as he fronts a relentless rendition of Pantera classic “Fucking Hostile” which seemed to go down well. Icarus could have a bright future ahead of them.
After recently hearing their rather thrashtastic new demo, the band I had most been looking forward to seeing today were Amok. Having travelled all the way down from bonnie Scotland, who could blame their frontman for wanting to enjoy a beer or ten? Well the grizzly result was that he had to make a swift stage exit during their set to regurgitate some of that excess alcohol. Lovely!
After a bit of a break it was time for Evil Scarecrow to get the crowd in the mood for more metal. Evil Scarecrow put a great deal of effort into making their show as entertaining as possible in a novelty horror stage show kind of way and they are quite a fun band to watch. Musically they mix melodic black metal vocals with melodies that combine atmospheric black metal with a hard rock rhythm and one or two thrash riffs thrown in for good measure. Whilst I can see the potential is there, I felt that their set was a bit messy in places and their rendition of Metallica classic “Creeping Death” seemed under-rehearsed. For their finale they took us for a late night wander through the graveyard as they played their frightening thrash induced Hell Dogs which made for a fine end to the set.
Carrying on from Evil Scarecrow was Hertfordshire metal clan Scavengers Daughter. From the moment they stepped up to the stage the sheer professionalism projected across through their whole performance. Their 45 minute set was tight and clearly rehearsed to the point of perfection and twin guitars produced some awe-inspiring fret board harmonies with a high level of adeptness on display from both guitarists Simon Ellis and Jim Hunt. While their Maiden influence is heavily perceptible their sound is anything but simply another rip-off and they have a sound that is refreshingly unique yet old school at the same time. Continuing with today’s theme of classic covers and their version of “Wrathchild” easily puts similar covers firmly in the shade. Scavengers Daughter would have been the band of the day if not for the thrashtastic Amok that played earlier. Amazingly this band does not even have a demo out although as soon as one is available I’ll be at the front of the queue demanding my copy!!!
Hull area thrashers Pitiful Reign were the main support band which didn’t really come as a surprise as they always manage to draw a good crowd. This was the first time I’ve seen Pitiful Reign without the recently departed Tom Britton and temporarily filling his boots was ex-Infobia axeman Al Pashby. Pashby has done a good job learning the Pitiful Reign material in such a short length of time and he didn’t look out of place in the band either. A few mistakes were made here and there although the crowd cared not one iota as their pummelling set went down a treat with a crowd of thrash-hungry metalheads. Kicking off their set with E.P. title track “Toxic Choke” the band played a good set comprising such violent chunks of metal as “Cannibal Attack”, Holding Cells” and ending with “In the Pit”. A new track “Video Overkill” was even thrown into the set as well as their cover of Kreator’s “People of the Lie” which was rather good to say the least.
Bringing the day’s event to a close was Reckless Tide. The band had come all the way from Hannover, Germany and so I was really hoping that I would get the chance to sample a good majority of their set before having to make tracks. Unfortunately it was way after the half ten mark by the time they began their set so I only got to check out one song before having to make a run for the last train home. The most frustrating thing of all was that the train didn’t actually turn up and by the time we realised and headed back to the venue Reckless Tide had only two songs left to their set! This was a real shame as judging purely on what I actually managed to catch of the band they made a more than worthy headliner. Some of the riffs were pure German thrash taking inspiration straight from the book of Kreator and modern day Destruction whilst combining sheer aggression with technical elements. Twin vocals provided an equal mixture of aggressive yet melodic low pitched growls and clean vocals of an almost power metal persuasion which seemed to add something a little unique to their sound.
DOminiON 2007 was overall an enjoyable and very varied day of metal.
Luci Herbert
WAKEFIELD SNOOTY FOX 24/02/07
From the offset this band had me captivated as well crafted thrash songs were delivered with the utmost conviction and a togetherness that few bands of their short lifespan are able to grasp. Their accessible sound is complimented by the charismatic energy of frontman Stephen Matulewicz and the unrelenting passion on display from the rest of the band as they pack a heavier than thou thrash metal punch. Amok truly were the band of the day for me!