Gig Review

The Defiled
Revoker, Murder FM
Birmingham, Academy 3
4th November 2011


The Defiled                 Revoker               Murder FM
              

Murder FM have ventured from the state of Texas to bring their dirty rock ‘n’ roll sound overseas for their first ever UK jaunt. Due to the unfortunate state of the roads this evening due to weather conditions and events in Birmingham causing horrendous traffic, by the time the band takes the stage there is still large empty spaces dotted around the room which is really unfortunate. The bands appearance would suggest a Gothic style with all the black body paint, the lyrics further this analogy but their musical style is more of a dirty rock arrangement as opposed to the more aggressive metal associated with tonight’s headlines, Murder FM’s music is comprised of more melodies and bouncy guitar work. The fact the rooms far from full doesn’t appear to have even fazed them at all; vigorous head banging, the vocalist venturing over the barrier and sing-a-long sections. The only bad part is they feel the need to keep reminding us where we are, the amount of times I heard “HOW ARE YOU DOING BIRMINGHAM” during their set is ridiculous.

Revoker tonight found themselves victims of dreaded technical difficulties, the bane of a musician’s constant battle with technology. Unfortunately this isn’t something like changing a lead or something that takes a couple of minutes to fix; it takes up a large amount of time trying to sort out after a mere 3 songs into their set. It would appear the lead guitarist’s amp just isn’t behaving itself and is instead taking a sleep on the job; whilst he tended to that the crowd grew increasingly uninterested so it was left to vocalist Jamie Mathias to keep them amused, however I think the strong welsh accent may had somewhat hindered his efforts. After a drum solo and a bass solo to fill the time, the predicament is over and the band is back, whilst there may now be only enough time for a few more songs they soldier through the remainder of their set trying to leave that incident behind them. Their thick chunky rock style is heavy as hell and their set is comprised of some of their most powerful songs; “Stay Down”, “Psychoville”, “Thief” and set closer “Born to be an Outlaw”. Every time I see the band I enjoy them but again they have that tendency to remind an audience where they are which has proved to be quite annoying, they need to really consider injecting some more excitement and energy into their set as that is what I feel is hindering their progress.

The Defiled have really grown as a band more in the past year than throughout their entire career; after releasing their debut album “Grave Times” this year, the band underwent their first ever UK headline tour which was an extremely successful, judging by the turnout tonight by the time the headliners take the stage, I can safely say their second ever UK tour has been even more successful. Easily the best set of the night for multiple reasons; first of all they keep the location announcements to a minimum, second each member has their own distinctive attitudes or persona’s which gives them an edge, they perform their material with precision and have a natural stage presence oozing with confidence. Lead vocalist Stitch D and keyboardist The AvD take it in turns addressing the crowd in timely humours The Defiled fashion, wreaking havoc and raising hell. Cracking out all the finest songs in their back catalogue like “1888”, “Call To Arms”and “In The Land of Fools”, one of the most memorable moments I will take away from this set is when the acoustic guitar comes out and the band performs “The Final Sleep”, one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen in a long time. So impressed with the band tonight as I always am, their new album and supporting tour can’t come quick enough in my opinion, and I feel it’s shared by many!

Murder FM – 3.5/5
Revoker – 3.5/5
The Defiled – 4.5/5

Review By James Webb

 The Defiled


Stitch D
The AvD
Aaron Curse
J.C
Vincent Hyde

 Revoker


Jamie Mathias
Chris Green
Shane Phillips
Jack Pritchard

 Murder FM


Norman Matthew
J6
Matt X3r0
Brandon Arpin

 Band Related Links
The Defiled MySpace
Revoker Myspace
Murder FM Myspace
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?