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
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