RAGE NIGHT - ENFORCER (Swe) + MUTANT + DECEPTOR + DARK FOREST
CAMDEN BAR MONSTA 25/01/08
So, here we go, the thrashers young and old are gathering outside for another RAGE event at Bar Monsta promoted by Resilience Records. These nights are always a pleasure to attend, often promoting the many UK underground bands, and like tonight, support lesser-known European bands.
‘DARK FOREST’ from Dudley, West Midlands are up first. Judging by their patched denim jackets and t-shirts on display, you could kind of guess what they would play. Opening up with a surprising good sound for a first band, the band cut straight into some speed metal with a heavy leaning towards NWOBHM. The song structures are very good with some classic NWOBHM riffs and vocal harmonies that are executed very well. Although at times the mic stand of drummer Adam Sidaway looks like it’s about smack him round the head with a mind of its own! ‘No Man’s Land’ from their ‘Fear Dearg’ EP plays out. There are plenty of good ideas; it’s hard to get photos of the lead singer/guitarist Christian Horton due to the amount of headbanging going on! ‘The Pipes of Pan’ from their latest EP ‘Phantoms of the Sea’ starts out like a ‘Blitzkrieg’ riff, and then we are treated to further NWOBHM inspired metal. Following their performance, most people head for the merchandise stand and it gets me thinking I am living in the early 80’s! These guys are really impressive, be sure to check them out and keep an eye out for their debut album to be released through Northern Silence Records on their new division label called 'eyes like snow'.
http://www.myspace.com/darkforestrealm
http://www.northern-silence.de
Next on stage are ‘DECEPTOR’. There are lots of t-shirts in the crowd, so this promised to be and energetic set. They start out by asking the crowd “are you ready motherf*ckers”? Rest assured everyone was! ‘Witchbelter’ blasts out of the PA, and there appears to be lots of interest in the crowd but not much movement as yet. Tracks come across as Germanic thrash. Bands like ‘Destruction’, ‘Kreator’ and even ‘Desaster’ spring to mind musically and ‘Dark Angel’ and ‘Nuclear Assault’ vocally. The moshpit suddenly starts up, great stuff. Once again, the sound is very good; the venue’s soundman must have had plenty of practice with all the thrash metal shows recently taken place at the venue. On the whole a very good performance, but it does leave you wanting more.
http://www.myspace.com/deceptormetal
Now it’s the turn of ‘MUTANT’. These West London lads are getting to be a regular occurrence on the live scene lately. Sporting new bassist, Paul Fulda (Vocalist with ‘Deceptor’), ‘Metal Asylum’ blasts out. Singer/Guitarist Tom always looks like a lunatic on stage with his facial expressions; it appears to have rubbed off onto Sam the other guitarist! A great moshpit breaks out during ‘Zombie Holocaust’. Each time ‘Mutant’ perform live, there is a degree of maturity expressed on stage, not only in the performance but also in the new songs that are showcased, but always with a loony attitude! ‘Lazerdrome’ is a perfect example of this maturity. The song itself is a belter, with precise song structure as well as the traditional balls to the wall thrash barrage. ‘Turbo Hyper Ultra Mega Power’, ‘Wreck Your Neck’ and the closer ‘Psycho Surgery’ sound great and is a perfect ending to the set this evening. Check out their track on the Earache Records released ‘Thrashing like a Maniac’ compilation CD/LP.
http://myspace.com/mutantmetal
Spandex trousers, studs and leather, this can’t be British! Too true, now we have headliners ‘ENFORCER’ from Sweden. ‘Black Angel’ from the ‘Speed Kills…Again’ compilation CD opens the show, pure powerful speed metal. It immediately draws your mind to ‘Exciter’, and ‘Razor’. The frontman/vocalist Olof Wikstrand (who also sings for the Swedish band ‘Oppression’) does look remarkably like a young ‘Sebastian Bach’, in fact in stage performance and presence too. A track from the upcoming album ‘On The Loose’ is another NWOBHM inspired assault. The performance is good, however, with the quality that they have on CD and myspace, it could be clearly seen that enthusiasm for the show taking over leading to some sloppy fretwork, but that’s what it’s all about. It is great that these Swedes are over in the UK promoting real metal that is once again popular in this circle of everything coming back into fashion. Their ‘Iron Maiden’ cover version of ‘Purgatory’ seems to catch the crowd out. It appears that the crowd don’t know the track, not until the first bridge comes in anyway, but it’s a killer version of a classic track.
http://www.myspace.com/enforcerswe
http://www.myspace.com/heavyartillerymetal
http://www.heavyartillery.us
A glorious end to a fantastic evening of real metal. Congratulations to Resilience Records for another successful RAGE event.
http://www.resiliencerecords.com
Paul Maddison
Click here for photographs
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