WARRIOR SOUL AND THE MORE I SEE
UNDERWORLD, CAMDEN - 16/07/09
Taking a walk around the venue whilst the opening band was playing was quite a worrying sight, not many people in the venue at all. Thankfully as the night went on, things got much better to the point where the floor area was packed for the headliners. This was quite a substantial UK tour, with London being the last date. I had heard rumours about other shows around the country; mixed reviews that is, but tonight it was all top-notch rock and metal.
Opening band BUBBLEGUM SCREW do exactly what I thought they would, a relatively young looking band playing horrible punky glam metal with an image not usually associated with this style of music, I give them a few songs, but I just don’t like this, although there are a few people who are down the front having fun and the band looked to be having fun, but myself, no sorry it was not fun.
THE MORE I SEE admittedly are a band that I am a huge fan of, tonight I get the opportunity to see new vocalist Peter and new bassist James strut their stuff. Well, not exactly strutting, it was bloody hard to keep track of them both on stage, their movement around the place was like they were playing basketball or something, but this made things entertaining. ‘Ratcatcher’ and ‘Decadence Within’, classic tunes, played with more metal in mind, Peter’s voice is so much more metal and atmospheric, but not quite the same guttural power as the previous singer, but the difference is pleasing to the ever growing crowd and myself, a real metal front man. A clever move by the band in playing a cover of The Prodigy’s ‘Smack My Bitch Up’ (Guitarist Gizz Butt was the live guitarist of that band during that period), the crowd warm to the sounds, not so much myself, but this proves a popular choice. Gizz and Gav on guitars are proficient as ever and Spike bashes the hell out of the drums with much more kick drum work than usual. ‘The Unholy Feast’ and ‘What’s Worse than the Truth’ make an ever popular set much greater, the addition of James to the backing vocals also give the tracks some more power. A great set by a great band, with a much improved stage show, look out for their new single due later this year.
Now Kory Clarke and WARRIOR SOUL as I mentioned earlier, have been receiving mixed reviews on this tour, the excesses of touring can sometimes take it toll. However, none of this was present tonight, there was a stern “we’re here to rock” attitude, totally focussed and the surprisingly packed crowd know how to show their appreciation. Bassist Janne Jarvis (also of HATE GALLERY) moves around like a man possessed whilst Kory’s voice is a little rough around the edges (it has been a considerable tour of late to be fair), but as we expect, a real rock and roll frontman. The remainder of the band make the stage look like they are on hot coals, lots of movement again, whilst the sound is well mixed and vibrant. Warrior Soul are back in business and you need to be rooted firmly to the spot otherwise the bands energy will blow you away.
My thanks goes out to Rob Ferguson of Transcend Media Records for arranging this evenings show and Tour, we look forward to future releases coming soon from this label.
Transcend Media
Paul Maddison
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