Entertainment – Page 28 – Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog

Testament – Glasgow Garage

[full set of images on Flickr via this link]

A band that’s been there since the beginning of the thrash metal era, Testament were pretty big twenty or so years ago. But while the liked of the so-called “Big 4” went on to fill arenas, Testament joined the likes of Exodus on the sidelines. Still producing some great albums, but never quite getting the commercial recognition of their more successful peers.

So what does this means for the likes of you and I? It means that we get to see one of the best metal acts still doing the rounds in a nice, small venue.

If you’ve heard the new album,Â Dark Roots of Earth, then it’s no surprise they opened up with the first track “Rise Up”. After all, it does have built-in crowd involvement with lyrics such as “When I say ‘rise up’, You say ‘war!'” This was used to good effect to get the already excited crowd up and yelling from the very start.

1988’sÂ The New Order then got a double unairing as its title track was belted out next, followed by “The Preacher”. The night followed a similar pattern as a handful of new tracks were mixed with some absolute classics, even going as far back as their debut albumÂ The Legacy. Trivia time: Testament were originally called “Legacy” before changing their name. Before it was released, their vocalist was Steve Souza, who went on to join Exodus leaving the position vacant to be filled by current long-standing member Chuck Billy.

Chuck makes a great deal of his Native American heritage (as he has every right to), and recent award-winner “Native Blood” received quite the welcome. It’s quite an achievement for a metal band to win something like “Best Video” at the American Indian Film Festival. The Formation of Damnation, Practice What You PreachÂ and The GatheringÂ also received recognition in a night that saw new material being welcomed as much as old. Deservedly so, in my opinion, as the current album is probably one of their best.

If there was a disappointment, it was a lack of material fromÂ Souls of Black. It was the first Testament album I got (won it in a competition, actually – on vinyl) and I’d have loved to have heard some stuff from it live. In fairness, they did play something from it when I saw then at Graspop a few years ago.

It’s great to see a band pretty much managing to maintain its original line-up from first album to current over so many years (with a couple of years of guitarists dropping out then coming back and a seemingly Spinal Tap-ish policy on drummers), and watching them on stage you can see why they’ve all ended up working together again.

No mucking about, little of the silly crowd antics and some great tunes. Their first British gig in a huge number of years, and – the best news of all – soon to be repeated. Billy announced on stage that they will be back (touring) in March. Testament-abulous!

Turbonegro – King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow

[full set of images up on flickr]

I last saw Turbonegro at Download some years ago for the first and only time. I knew precisely one song (“All My Friends Are Dead”) and they impressed me. Good fun, simple songs – a nice way to kill 30 minutes or so.

When I saw they were playing Kint Tut’s, I thought “Why not?” and picked up a ticket. Glad I did as it sold out and I’ve seen people begging for tickets for all their UK gigs.

I seem to recall back in the day that punk bands regularly took to the stage to a chorus of “BOO”s and a torrent of bottles. Turbonegro like to call their brand of music “deathpunk” and attempted (very successfully) to maintain this old tradition by playing “Three Lions” before they came on stage. For those unfamiliar with this bouncy little number, it was the official song of the England football team during the 1996 European Cup.

Note: England football team. Note 2: this gig was in Glasgow. Scotland.

Needless to say, the natives were somewhat restless by the time the lads walked on stage to the biggest “BOO” I’ve ever heard since Daphne & Celeste bounced on in front of the crowd at Leeds Festival. Or perhaps when Bring Me The Horizon opened for Machine Head last year.

With a collection of songs which average around the three minute mark, their set list looks like a page from the small print edition ofÂ War & Peace so you get value for money out of them. At 1hr 40mins, they were on stage longer than the majority of acts I’ve seen in recent months and they pummelled out the songs (21 of them, in fact) with a small amount of very enjoyable audience interaction.

I don’t know if they make the stuff up on the spot, or if they just have very weird script meetings, but the diatribe run off (mainly by Tom and Tony) is right out of Monty Python. It adds a nicely weird twist to a show featuring songs such as “Shake Yer **** Machine”, “I Got a Knife”, “Dude Without A Face” and the aforementioned “All My Friends Are Dead”.

The new album,Â Sexual Harassment, was dipped into a couple of times but they have quite the back-catalogue to play with and they used it well to fill their generous slot (oo-er, missus).

I can see why the tickets were in so much demand. They put on a great live show, really entertain the audience and give that little bit extra that so many acts are missing. Their wonderful attempt to get a Wall Of Death going in a venue the size of King Tut’s must be commended, as must their trampling all over the issue of sectarianism (damn right) by saying that all the Pope-chasers should be on one side and all the Proddies on the other.

Nice politically incorrect fun with good music to boot. And no stupid bloody curfew so the venue can let a bunch of drunk students in for their crappy party night.

The Embodiment Of All That Is Metal

Diddy Wishingwell figure in top of Weebles Bar... — This photo will make some kind of sense if you read the blog post (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I mentioned in the recent Shinedown review that some comments at the gig had got my head ticking. I also said that it would result in another blog post.

This is that blog post. The events posted within don’t occur at any point near the California Presidential Primary.

Shinedown’s singer Brent took a pause between songs to “converse” with the crowd. By which I mean he asked some questions and imagined he heard the responses he wanted. Most likely unbeknownst to him, a rather light-headed person at the back of the room (horrificÂ diarrhoea, no food in 24 hours then 1/4 pint of cider will do this to a man) actually engaged in the conversation. It went like this:

Brent: What’s one thing that’s certain in life?

Me: Taxes

Brent: Rock and roll! There is nothing in life that can’t be made simpler with drums, guitars, a bass and some kick-ass vocals. Rock and roll has been there for each and every one of you. How many times has rock and roll been there for you in your life?

Me: Three. Maybe four. No. Three.

And then I actually started thinking. Which is dangerous territory when your blood sugar only exists because of rehydration salts and 150ml of Strongbow.

Rock and rollÂ had been there for me a few times. Seriously. It had. During some severe downtimes, I’ve turned to the likes of Hatebreed whose lyrics basically tell you (OK yell, loudly) that you shouldn’t be weak, that nobody can get you down but yourself and that you should fight back. I’m actually going to come back to that line of thought in yet another post shortly.

That would have been a sensible place to stop. But no. My mind meandered further down the wibbly-wobbly barely-focussed road it could barely see and the words “Weebles Wobble But They Never Fall Down” erupted from my lips. Much to the amusement, annoyance and/or bemusement of my lovely wife and our friend Wendi who had joined us for the gig.

Why? Because Lawnmower Deth have a song by that name. And it’s silly. And because when I’m upset or want to take my mind off stuff, I think of silly things. It cheers me up. It also cheers up my baby daughter as I sing some of their songs to her. Mainly because I’m a bit strange, but also because I know all the words. After all, it’s not difficult to remember the words to “Thermonuclear War Is Good For Your Complexion” when they’re:

Thermonuclear war… is good for your complexion,

Thermonuclear war… is good for your complexion,

Thermonuclear war… is good for your complexion,

Thermonuclear war… is good for your complexion.

I doÂ not have a great memory.

Anyway, this got me thinking further. The lyrics for “Weebles…” are as follows and are lifted from the TV commercial for the little toys from way back when I was a kid. I think you can still get them these days, but they won’t be as good. Oh, no.

Weebles wobble, but they never fall down,

Weebles wobble, but they never fall down,

Weebles are round!

Don’t fall down!

Weebles are round!

Don’t fall down!

Weeblewobbleweeblewobbleweeblewobbleweeblewobbleweeblewobbleweeblewobbledon’tfalldown!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the embodiment of rock and metal. It’s been pushed off the airwaves, banned by religious movements, used as a prosecution tool by useless parents when their kids go tonto, vilified in the press… but it keeps coming back. Simply, you cannot keep a good thing down. Not unless you keep your finger pressed on it permanently. And every kid eventually got fed up doing that and the Weeble just popped right back up again.

We are the people of rock! And we are Weebles!

Don’t worry. I’m off to get some sleep now.

Metal Hammer Razor Tour II, Glasgow Cathouse

[Pics of three of the bands on Flickr via these links: Devil Sold His Soul / Heights / Heart of a Coward]

Four bands, eight quid, beer for Â£2 a pint and t-shirts at a tenner. Can’t turn that kind of an offer down. Especially when one of them is Heights.

As ever, I managed to miss the opening band (Steak Number Eight). I guess they hit the stage very shortly after the doors opened as I got there at around 7:45. A teething baby is a little more important, though!

The first band I saw were Heart of a Coward, who I’d never heard of before. Their t-shirts made them look like a US hardcore band, but they’re very definitely from the south of England and very definitely a (very) heavy metal act. With a lead singer who looks like he could punch you through a brick wall (ex-Sylosis front man Jamie Graham), the only South Asian I can recall ever seeing in a metal band (Vishal Ketia) and synchronised from-the-waist headbanging, they’re an incredibly powerful live act.

With maybe half an hour to fill, they pummelled through a good number of tracks whilst trying their best to get the small crowd to join in the fun. Despite only a couple of dozen people bothering to hover near the stage, they performed as if they were in front of a full house.

A great performance from a band I would happily go and see again.

Next up were the band I had paid my money to see – Heights. I first saw them when they supported Biohazard earlier this yearÂ and they seriously impressed me.

Well, you know how you come away from a gig telling people how good it was and then when you see the band again, they’re a shadow of that one night? Not the case with Heights. They’ve got better. My apologies for the lack of decent photographs, but they wouldn’t stay still long enough for me to focus. I swear they must have been raised on e-numbers.

Within a minute of the opening track, the singer (sorry, no idea of the guys’ names) was up on the barrier passing the microphone to fans who knew the words. Not to be bested, one of the guitarists joined him – somehow balancing on the metalwork while banging out riffs.

Barely stopping between tracks, they battered the living hell out of the crowd. Facing the same problem as HOAC in that a large portion of the growing crowd preferred to stay near the bar, our intrepid vocalist clambered off the stage and onto the dancefloor. Shoving people around while singing (microphone cable trailing back onto the stage), he managed to start a small but violent pit before the end of the final track.

Guitars were thrown around, mikes dropped and cheers erupted as the most energetic band I’ve seen in years stomped off to cries of “one more tune!” – which we didn’t get. Boo.

Heights are an angry bunch. Loud and aggressive, you get the feeling that if they weren’t battering out ear-crushing riffs on their instruments they’d be using them to commit genocide. Watching them must be like watching the Sex Pistols back in the day before they made it big. They’re a breath of fresh air, a wake-up call. Hugely entertaining and seemingly constantly on tour. I’m hoping I have the chance to see them in February again when they tour with Your Demise.

Last band of the night were Devil Sold His Soul, I think the only act who could lay claim to having more than one album available. They seemed to have brought half of Blackpool Illuminations with them, along with their own lighting guy who was on stage tapping buttons so that everything was in sync.

All very impressive visually, but musically… well, I guess I was in the minority as they certainly seemed to be the band the crowd were waiting for. They weren’t bad, but they just didn’t grab me the way that Heights of HOAC had done. They weren’t helped by the fact that someone decided that the headliners should be louder than everyone else to the point where half of one song sounded to me like Rolf Harris playing the world’s largest stylophone with the bass and reverb turned up full. In a wind tunnel.

Still, can’t complain for Â£10 (including booking fees). It’s definitely worth keeping an eye out for tours like these. Back to grass roots, bands manning their own merchandise stalls and carrying their own kit – and with the cash they raise going into their own pockets.

Roll on Metal Hammer Razor Tour III!

EP review – Seed of Sadness

I received a random email through my blog a few weeks ago from Mike G, who’s bassist with Greek metal band Seed of Sadness. He offered me a digital copy of their first professionally-recorded 5-track EP in exchange for a review. I’ve not had an offer like this inÂ years, since the old “Mosher’s Music Page” which is mothballed somewhere. So, obviously I replied in the positive.

Then found myself working a 70-hour week, away for a fortnight for our wedding/honeymoon and buried in work once again upon my return. Whoops.

I spotted his email again earlier today and promised myself I’d get it done before I went out this evening – to see a handful of other unsigned bands, as it happens.

I’ve only had a chance to listen to the tracks three or four times each and overall I am very impressed. Not just at the quality (song-writing, musicianship and production), but as they’re also very much my kind of thing. The sound could be classed as “melodic rock”, but that seems to be a general term for any metal with a keyboard in it for some reason. The lead vocalist is female and has the awesome name Stellaria. As far as I can tell, this is actually her name and not some stage identity. I have decided that Greek people have cool names.

She also has a hell of a voice, easily as good as anyone involved with the bigger female-fronted bands such as Nightwish, Evanescense and Within Temptation. I know there are many other bands out there, such as Lacuna Coil and Arch Enemy, but Seed of Sadness are definitely more in tune with the first three.

The other three chaps in the band, along with Stellaria, are pretty well trained musicians and their bio lists the people who taught them and the music schools they went to. Nowhere I’ve heard of, but it does tell you that this quartet are serious about what they’re doing.

OK, the songs. There are five on the EP and the quality is high. There’s good variety in the songs, while the band still manage to keep a sound of their own in there. No pandering to genres in the hopes of covering their bases. Opener “Remnant of a Dying Smile” is probably the best insofar as being quite catchy. If I have an issue with it, it’s the keyboards. The melody is fine, but I find the actual sound of them quite distracting in places. I’m not sure how to describe this as a non-musician, but you know you can make a keyboard play different types of sounds when you press a key? The notes in this song are a sound which hits, goes down in volume and then comes up again. It really messes with my ears.

Anyway, this little issue aside it’s a great song. I genuinely heard myself saying “This… is pretty ******* good” to myself during the first listen.

The other tracks, especially number 2 (“King of Loss”), took a little longer to grow on me. But four/five listens down the line (I’m listening through the EP again as I write this) and I’m suitably impressed.

Their bio mentions that they have ten songs written, with these first five the only ones recorded so far. On the strength of what I’ve heard, I wish them all the luck they deserve and hope to see them popping up in support slots in coming months.

Thanks to Mike for spotting my blog and giving me the chance to find out about the band. More info can be found on their facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/SeedofSadness

And, even better than that, the EP is available for download at the cracking cost ofÂ nothing at all from:

http://seedofsadness.bandcamp.com

If you prefer to pay them for a copy (â‚¬4 or more), then you get pre-order advance notices for the forthcoming album, discounts on merchandise and so on.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: