 Getting into the wulfrun hall tonight, and having
a look around it was easy to see that some of
the crowd has stayed at home tonight, there are
even tables and chairs at the back of the hall,
quiet surprising really as there are a few west
midlands bands on show tonight, id have thought
the crowd would have braved the bitterly cold
weather tonight and showed some support!
The first band i managed to catch was Warlord
UK, its sound is some kind of thrash/death metal,
i certainly see the thrash that drifts into death
metal, the vocals are death growls but to my surprise
i can understand what is said. The band is technically
proficient in what they do, the drumming is precise
and solid, the lead guitarist is pretty decent
with some great solos in the songs although while
playing them she seems to be imploding into some
sort of ball as she seems to be focusing herself
into the few inches of fret board that shes shredding
on, the bass is low and rumbling under the drums
and guitars. The music is heavy and melodic while
being pretty ferocious at the same time! Overall
its a really decent set from this Birmingham band
although im not a fan of the vocals thats my only
real grievance with them.
 Next up were the rotted,a death/punk metal type
band. The band, alot more active than the previous
band and the singer didn't look like he knew if
he was coming or going with his constant pacing
of the stage and spitting in every direction except
for the photographers pit, thank fuck! The singer
was also a tad cliche with his anti Christianity/government
dribble in between songs, i got nowt against free
speech but save it for a conference with bono
and geldof! Back to the music,while the band is
pretty tight alot of the music seems to be grinding
and repetative plus adding my dislike of the vocalist
im just not happy and bored!
Anaal Nathrakh were the main support tonight,the
double kick drums seem to drown out almost everything
seems to be there brand of death metal, with the
lead guitarist sneaking in under there, what you
could hear was grinding away in the the mix, with
solos popping there heads above the grind when
it was its time to shine! the set got off slowly
but came to life when Final Absolution was played,
then it seemed to go back down to the grind with
the bass drum murdering almost everything yet
again, The vocals yet again growls, don't bands
like to have a good variety of diverse bands on
tour? Apparently not!
 The Crowd at this stage have finally moved away
from the bar and into the main hall, but still
seem to be standing in groups instead of one big
one, the area at the front of the venue seems
more full now than it has been for the whole gig
with people showing some life as has been previously
missing for most of the gig!
Napalm Death, legends in there own right kick
off late into the night, coming on at around 10pm,
Im not much of fan as i dont listen to this sort
of music but am aware of who they are and what
they've done. but i don't know what many of the
songs are called! so my apologies and there was
no set list either to peak at! So pretty much
in the dark for the songs they played. What i
didn't need a set list for was how well they played,
still tight after all these years but with effortless
ease, with mark doing his bambey on ice impression,
due to water on the floor and his energetic antics,he
spent some of the first 3 songs on his arse but
still growling to the music, eventually the mess
was cleared up after numerous attempts to sort
it out, it gone done! The crowd came to life after
the  support acts but as the night was made up
by mostly west midlands bands, the crowd could
have been more lively! The sound was to be as
expected very aggressive bordering on violence,
as i saw in the crowd some having too much sauce
and getting a bit rowdy! Songs they did play,
was Scum, Diktat, Time waits for no slave and
strong arm and siege of power, thats only because
i asked a few fans, after explaining im not a
fan of the band much to there surprise and probable
disgust! Overall it was a really great performance
from Napalm Death, but it did wane abit in the
middle, but over all the fans were happy and i
was entertained!
Napalm Death 4/5
Anaal Nathrakh 3/5
The Rotted 2/5
Warlord UK 4/5
Review By Robert Lawrence
|
