 After completing a quick interview with a severly
jet lagged drummer from Job for a Cowboy, I found
myself back on the mean cold streets of Birmingham,
although it was good to meet some friends that
had come up from Bristol for this gig.
First up was Between the Buried and Me, I was
given some for warning as to how long the first
and only song would be, 18 minutes, and given
the bands that were on after i figured it was
going to be awful, thankfully I was dead wrong,
I think this progressive metal song, pretty much
covered the span of metal genres, this is heavy
metal. The riffs were plentiful in abundance,
the drumming was solid all the was through, seemed
to be very little let up from him, the bass player
moving throughout the entire set, the singers
vocals, were some kind of scream/growl combo,
that was the only real disappointment, as id have
preferred some melodic singing, but the shear
musicianship made up for it, and only one song
played to, brilliant!
Next up were August Burns Red, again I was expecting
something I didn't like, and thankfully i was
wrong again, there a metalcore band, but its really
good heavy stuff, the riffs are chunky and heavy
as is the bass playing, the drumming is spot on,
I can barely make out the lyrics as its more of
that screamo shit, Im just not a fan, but has
been made up by some proper headbanging moments,
I got the head nodding, id have been doing a lot
more if is wasn't in the middle of shooting them,
but those moments,but the heavy breakdowns seemed
to be repetitive, they sounded very similar in
each song,i like to get the head nodding, just
to a different beat. The band have a pretty good
stage presence as do all the bands on display
tonight. the only song that I know they played
was there set closer 'Composure', that was the
only title I could make out from the singer shouting
it before the song started, Overall the set was
really decent, the vocals sucked, but that's my
only complaint.
 Job For a Cowboy, are the main support tonight,
I got on there tour bus, and they were very tired,
very jetlagged, so i wasnt sure if the set would
be any good or be a bit rusty, they were neither,
but I knew what sort of music I was in for, and
I also knew I was going to dislike it very much,
Im all for aggressive music, but have some decent
riffs, not just blast after blast for each song,
it does nothing for me at all, Songs they played,
that I knew were Constitutional Masturbation,
Knee Deep, Bearing the Serpent's Lamb and set
closer Ruination. To me there set was noise, im
sure someone can point out the intricacy to the
music, but I was too busy being bludgeoned to
notice.
Lamb of God, Kicking off there tour in the birthplace
of Heavy Metal, the home of Black Sabbath, that's
there reason for starting here in the middle of
the country, this is also there first show of
2010. No signs of rust with the opening few tracks,
in your Words, Set to fail and Walk with me in
Hell, if there was any rust its certainly been
shaken from them and anything in the rafters,
its a thunderous start, sending the crowd nuts,
but  not too much crowd surfing much to my surprise.
The riffs come fast and heavy,drumming really
spot on, the singing well im not gonna go there,
I think Ive said enough on that matter. One thing
that cant be faulted is the effort, they've really
gone for it from the off, not easing into the
tour. The mid set featured songs such as,Ruin,
Hourglass, Dead Seeds and Omerta, some solid songs,
there pretty good choices, to keep the crowd on
the boil.I know my friends are enjoying this near
the front, I'm not the biggest fan of lamb of
god, you can certainly see why the band has had
praise heaped on them, and that there pretty much
mainstream now and a top draw.Songs that were
towards the end of the set were, Laid to Rest,
Contractor, this then took us to the encore, the
songs that closed out this decent show were Reclamation,
Redneck, such a good song and Black Label a proper
heavy set closer, I sam a fair few crowd surfers
near the end from the back of the venue, just
seeing the odd leg fly up every now and then.
It was a good night for the crowd and bands kicking
this tour off in high energy and style.
Between The Buried And Me - 4/5
August Burns Red - 3/5
Job For A Cowboy 3/5
Lamb Of God 5/5
Review By Robetr Lawrence
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