Various Artists – One and All, Together, For Home

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Steve Tovey

In answering the question “What types of music do you like?” one suspects that one is not alone in having answered, from time to time, thus: “ I like two types of music: “heavy” and “metal””. Nurse! Nurse! My sides, they are splitting. For all its supposed open-mindedness and sense of camaraderie, the world of heavy metal can be something of a closed shop with an equally closed mind. It can be a bit of a sense of; you’re either “with us or agin us”. This is fine and understandable to a point but it also can lead to a lack of imagination, a narrow mindedness of view and a dearth of creativity.

I was thinking about this odd paradox when reviewing this beautifully composed and arranged compilation album from the lovely folk at Seasons of Mist. One and All, Together, For Home is a compilation of folk tunes, brilliantly and expertly curated by Roman Saenko of Ukranian black/pagan metal outfit Drukdh and delivered with insight, passion and inventiveness from some of the more interesting bands around at the moment – Primordial, Winterfylleth, Kampfar, Himinbjorg to name but a few.

One and All… is one of those records that has so self-evidently been put together with love and insight, head and heart that one cannot fail but to be utterly captivated and enthralled by the resulting product. Saenko’s aim with this project has been to take a piece of historical folk music from the country of each of the bands represented here and to see what interpretation they would bring and, more, how the folk music of their heritage and hinterland had shaped and influenced their own creative and artistic impulses. The results are surprising, inventive and never anything less than beguiling.

Let’s take Ireland’s Primordial and the UK’s Winterfylleth as two examples of what I am referring to. Primordial’s connection to with Ireland – in the musical and metaphysical senses of the word – has never been in doubt. Here, that connection is amplified and deepened through their contributions; a brooding, contemplative ‘Dark Horse on the Wind’ and a startling rework of ‘The Foggy Dew’, the classic Irish lament, rich in alienation and discord is perfect for vocalist Alan Averill who brings a solemnity and melancholy that is both apposite and baleful.

There’s always been an intelligence and sense of history running through Winterfylleth’s work and their interpretation of ‘John Barleycorn’ only serves to underscore this. Ostensibly a song about drinking, Barleycorn is part of a much deeper English tradition that drives back to medieval times and is part of a broader pastoral heritage examining man’s changing yet enduring relationship with the land. If this is not the sort of thing you would expect to read about when reading a review of a standard heavy metal record, then you would be correct because this is not a standard heavy metal record.

Elsewhere on this exemplary compilation, we travel through Norwegian forests – literal and of the imagination – courtesy of Kampfar, swirl through the historical imagination of Finnish black metal stalwarts Haive, burn across the Gallic countryside and have evocations of Portugese fantasy courtesy of Himinbjorg and Ave Inferi respectively.

There are two aspects of One for All… that linger. First, despite the diversity of the artists involved, geographically and artistically, this is a cohesive body of work underpinned by the traditional folk architecture. Second, you get a very real sense of how heavy metal artists form part of a broader and much richer musical narrative that reaches back much further and deeper than the now familiar story of heavy metal’s genesis in late 1960’s England would seem to suggest.

More, One for All… places folk and metal as unlikely but compelling bedfellows, giving voice and presence to the lonely, the outsider and the dispossessed. When seen in that context, this compilation not only makes complete sense but feels curiously overdue.

8.5/10

Season of Mist on Facebook

MAT DAVIES

Damnation Festival 2014 Completes Line Up

Posted on October 9, 2014 by News Team

French doom monoliths Monarch complete this years Damnation Festival line. They will be joining the likes of Saint Vitus, the reunited Raging Speedhorn, Cannibal Corpse and the events headliners Bolt Thrower at the events ten year anniversary bash at the Leeds University in November.

Press Release:

French drone doom outfit MONARCH! will play their only UK show of 2014 at Damnation Festival.

Their live “sonic assault” completes a PHD Stage cast of Ahab, Solstafir, Black Moth, H A R K, Atlantis and Corrupt Moral Altar.

While the Eyesore Merch Stage makes its return to Damnation, this year with a more sinister black metal billing of Fen, Wodensthrone, A Forest of Stars, , and Falloch, who’ll join previously announced Bast and Obsidian Kingdom in Mine.

The final additons to this year’s event – which will be hosted at Leeds Universtity Union on Saturday, November 1 – are orchestral metal quartet Xerath and Welsh death metal standard bearers, Amputated, who make their debut at Damnation Festival opening a Terrorizer Stage which boasts the brutality of Cannibal Corpse, Anaal Nathrakh, Revocation, Winterfylleth and Aeon.

Completing the line-up is the main Jagermeister Stage offering of Bolt Thrower, Saint Vitus, Orange Goblin, Raging Speedhorn, Stampin’ Ground and October File.

Commenting on their return to Damnation, Fen said: “We are honoured to be invited to play Damnation after our first appearance four years ago.

“It was one of the highlight gigs of our career – this festival (and the audience in particular) – is a very special one for us and we cannot wait to head back to take to the stage again.

“Fen has progressed significantly over the last four years and we are really looking forward to taking the discerning Damnation crowd by storm once more!”

A Forest of Stars added: “We’re extremely excited and honoured to be asked to play the wonderful Damnation Festival.

“We hope we won’t let everyone down too much – especially considering the impressively amazing line up – and look forward to devouring vast quantities of claret and opiates in celebration of the occasion, and maybe even playing a song or two.”

Festival Director Gavin McInally said: “This year’s line-up is fitting of a tenth anniversary party and with tickets on track to have 4,000 friends with us, it’s going to be a bash to remember.”

The complete line-up for Damnation Festival is Bolt Thrower, Cannibal Corpse, Saint Vitus, Ahab, Raging Speedhorn, Orange Goblin, Anaal Nathrakh, Monarch!, Stampin’ Ground, Revocation, Solstafir, Winterfylleth, Fen, Aeon, Black Moth, Wodensthrone, H A R K, Amputated, A Forest of Stars, October File, Xerath, Falloch, Bast, Atlantis, Obsidian Kingdom and Corrupt Moral Altar.

Fans who arrive in Leeds the night before can warm-up for Damnation Festival with A Night of Salvation at The Belgrave Music Hall, featuring Dyscarnate, Hang the Bastard, Latitudes, The Atrocity Exhibit and Cattle. Tickets priced £6 are available on the door.

Tickets for Damnation Festival are priced £36 and on sale now from
http://www.damnationfestival.co.uk/
http://www.facebook.com/damnationfestival
http://www.leedstickets.com/

Winterfylleth – The Divination of Antiquity

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Steve Tovey

While British Black Metal has never been regarded as the crème de la crème of the genre (despite inventing the bloody thing), the tide has turned in recent years with the likes of Anaal Nathrakh, The Axis of Perdition and Fen doing Albion proud. One band it has been impossible to ignore from these fair shores has been Manchester quartet Winterfylleth, whose odes to Blighty’s ancient past have struck a chord with those searching for a bit more meaning in their homegrown talent. After three albums of high quality “English Heritage Black Metal”, Winterfylleth are sitting pretty and new album The Divination of Antiquity (Candlelight) looks set to continue their ever-so glorious reign.

With a concept referencing the lessons we learn from history, The Divination of Antiquity shows a band looking back at past glories for inspiration, but also addressing old mistakes. While the influences remain obvious for those with a keen ear; early Borknagar, Ulver and Drudkh being key reference points, Winterfylleth’s sound is entirely their own, with the soaring riffs and epic melodies of Chris Naughton and Mark Wood flowing thick and fast, while the ceaseless battery of Simon Lucas behind the kit ensures proceedings are urgent and alive. While previous full-length The Threnody of Triumph (Candlelight) had a tendency to fall back on repetition and too-familiar song structures, the nine tracks on offer here each present something different and wholly engaging.

The title track kicks things off with a flurry of violent riffs and aggressive motifs with Naughton’s trademark howling vocals sounding utterly assured while ‘Whisper of the Elements’ wraps a variety of mournful melodies around a steamroller of a riff, employing the mix of aggression and calm that comes so naturally to the band. ‘Warrior Herd’ harks back to the blurry black metal of debut album The Ghost of Heritage (Profound Lore) while ‘A Careworn Heart’ sees the first appearance of the solemn acoustics and choral vocals that fans have come to love and expect before the mid-paced riffs that follow allow the band to branch out slightly and experiment with unfamiliar themes. We only get one instrumental this time with the gorgeous acoustic strains of ‘The World Ahead’ showing how folk should be done while the measured yet crushing guitars of closing track ‘Forsaken in Stone’ carry us off over the peaks to reveal the glory below.

With each band member contributing more and improving in skill with each release, Winterfylleth are a joy to behold. In a scene renowned for gimmicks and plagiarism, their brand of sweeping, epic black metal just keeps revealing more with each release, and while the concepts explored in their lyrics won’t have you running out to join UKIP, they may just make you think a bit about your heritage and your connection to the landscape. And while they may sing about the past, with songs as strong as these, the future of British Black Metal is safe in the hands of Winterfylleth.

8.5/10

Winterfylleth on Facebook

JAMES CONWAY

Winterfylleth – Eastern Front: Live at Colchester Arts Centre, UK

Posted on September 25, 2014 by Steve Tovey

While blighted by sound problems, it is apparent that Eastern Front have undergone significant improvements over the last twelve months, adding melody, tension and drama to their Marduk-ian overtures and go down well to the swelling crowd. Playing a set entirely of tracks from their new album Descent Into Genocide, the Suffolk black metallers have made the right choice in focusing on new material that comes across as an entirely different, improved band to their previous efforts.

Yet from the moment vocalist/guitarist Chris Naughton leads the crowd in a semi-ironic arm waving intro that leads into the Celtic Frost / Motorhead chug that propels ‘Mam Tor (The Shivering Mountain)’ into the converted church, it is clear that Winterfylleth are a class apart. While they remain staunchly anti-image, no histrionics or pyrotechnics, and clad in plain black T-shirts, their music does all the speaking and impressing for them.

Up next ‘The Swart Raven’ builds from open chords, swathed in beautiful tremolo-picked melodies and underpinned by a driving beat, before dropping down to it’s clean build-up, that sees arms and voices of the gathered throng raised along in chorus. Already the audience is firmly in the hands of the band as the song’s coda bruises in a flurry of bass drums and vocal roars, even before the double-punch of crowd-pleasers ‘Casting The Runes’ and ‘The Wayfarer Part I’ see the dark of night.

Yet, better is yet to come, as the two new tracks aired, an epic broil titled ‘A Careworn Heart’ and the more straight-forward Darkthrone tinged yet still wholly “English” Black Metal of ‘The Divination of Antiquity’, along with rousing closer ‘Fields of Reckoning’ are the highlights of a set where the ‘fylleth disprove the myth that black metal doesn’t work live with an excellently delivered performance that uplifts the gathered faithful, with heads banging all the way back throughout. Mesmeric and powerful at Bloodstock, they perhaps even exceed that, with darkened anthems filling the Essex evening.

In a scene where the genre classics have been unchallenged for two decades, Winterfylleth are now established as one of the leading exponents in their field, status their excellent new album The Divination of Antiquity will only enhance. With their output ranging from raging Bathory influenced aggression to sweeping, landscape-inspired grandiose moments via Primordial midtempo pump, all is delivered with the confidence of a band who know their wave is rising. Their brand of organic, atmospheric and all-consuming blackened metal with touches of class, heritage and intelligence has seen them rise, relatively unopposed, to stand as one of the best black metal bands today both live and on record, with tonight a further example of their inherent quality.

Winterfylleth Set List:

Mam Tor (The Shivering Mountain)

The Swart Raven

Casting The Runes

The Wayfarer Part 1: The Solitary One Waits For Grace

A Careworn Heart

A Valley Thick With Oaks

The Divination of Antiquity

Defending The Realm

Fields of Reckoning

Winterfylleth on Facebook

Eastern Front on Facebook

PHOTOS: KRISTI O’CONNEL

WORDS BY STEVE TOVEY

Bloodstock Open Air Festival 2014: Part II, South Derbyshire, UK

Posted on August 18, 2014 by News Team

Saturday

Bright sunshine and lots of happy greet Evil Scarecrow who have become something of the house band at Bloodstock. What is there not to love about watching 15,000 metal heads moving crab-like across a field during the brilliant ‘Crabulon’? ‘Robototron’ is equally brilliant with two robots appearing out of fake Marshall stacks at the rear of the stage. Gloriously silly.

Over on the second stage, Essex’s The King is Blind are throwing down the proverbial gauntlet with their delicious blend of doom and black metal underpinned by a groove and drive that recalls Corrosion of Conformity. Lead singer Steve Tovey cuts an imposing, belligerent presence, driving his band mates on. The drive and ambition is self-evident as is the quality of the songs from start to over far too sudden end.

Back at the main stage, transport problems means that half of the gear belonging to Shining is still in Frankfurt. They still put in an infectious and beguiling show of their self-monikered black jazz shtick that, in the wrong hands would be arch and hard work but with these guys it seems the most natural thing in the world.

“We’ve been trying to book these guys for years” snarls the announcer for Poland’s Decapitated. Decapitated might be described as a death metal band but their technical brilliance, creativity and sheer dynamism means that they are much more than just a “death metal band”. Stunning.

Crowbar are just unremitting. There is no light in their darkness, only gloom. Riff after riff this is heavy metal as fine wine. Complex, dark, intense. There is much to admire here just don’t expect there to be any let up in the heaviness delivered by Mr Windstein and co. You will only get one response to any plaintive cries for levity- more riffs.

Children of Bodom have become a staple of Bloodstock but showboating and overt reliance on sweep picking marks them as just a show pony. ‘Hate Me’ and ‘Silent Night, Bodom Night’ are decent, but the later material such the mid tempo ‘Transference’ is truly dire. If these Finns want to reaffirm their place in the scene they need to return to the aggression of their early work and rein in the Yngwie Malmsteen indulgence before they become more indulgent and pretentious.

Suffering from a poor sound mix with more backing tapes filling in for the lack of a second guitarist Lacuna Coil fail to give a great account of themselves. Sure ‘Nothing Stands In Our Way’ from recent Broken Crown Halo (Century Media) opus gets a good response but without the vocal talents and presence of Cristina Scabbia, LC this performance would have been a write off.

Jeff Walker’s sardonic wit has served Carcass well over the years. Walker cracks wise about Emperor Sticksman Faust although while dedicating a song to the late Sophie Lancaster. A fall falling halts proceedings for a new minutes but this does little to derail the grizzly exhumation of cuts like ‘Unfit For Human Consumption’ and a stirring ‘Heartwork’.

Emperor deliver an exemplary performance. Clearly the main draw of the day: the anticipation and sense of this being “a moment” is palpable. They are raw, passionate, terrifying and utterly astonishing. A main set list of ‘In the Nightside Eclipse’ which many will regard as their masterpiece was delivered with an absurd level of dynamism. Despite being twenty years old the material still feel incredibly vital. Some may bemoan the lack of corpsepaint the band employed back in the nineties, but such trappings would be unnecessary. ‘Cosmic Keys to My Creation and Times’ and ‘I Am the Black Wizards’ are awe-inspiring, draped in drama and magnificence. An epic performance few acts could hope to emulate.

Sunday

The magnificent medieval metal of Haerken is cut from a similar cloth to Amon Amarth with Scottish folkloric tradition replacing tales of Viking daring. A cunning and clever trick of throwing two dozen inflatable swords into the audience only warms the audience to the band even more.

Having carved a mean reputation for aural depravity, Aborted are a sadistic lesson in violence. Schizophrenic breakdowns and hyper-speed blastbeats are delivered with ridiculous facial expressions which suggest the Belgians realise how such insane outbursts can be highly entertaining.

Dutch symphonic metallers Revamp begin during torrential rain yet the dynamic performance of front woman Floor Jansen is anything but damp. Demonstrating just why Tuomas Holopainen choose her to front Nightwish, Jansen has an innate charisma not to mention a vocal range many would kill for. ‘Of Wolf And Dog’ brings the set to a triumphant close which even the sun has returned to witness.

Since Evan Seinfeld decided to swap hardcore music for hardcore adult movies there has been something lacking about Biohazard. Billy Graziadei leads the band into battle but much of the danger factor seems to have left the veteran New Yorkers. At least the band can muster response on tracks like ‘Tales From The Hardside’ and ‘Punishment’, the latter of which sees the biggest stage invasion in Bloodstock history.

The unsettling and often disorientating music of Voices. Rising from the ashes of Akercocke this astonishing black metal act pulled off the trick of being deliberately obtuse yet strangely engaging at the same time. Their set veers, often weirdly, from beautiful black metal riffing to obtuse experimentation, often in the same song.

The offer of free beer is clearly too hard for the Bloodstock masses to pass up, so there is a packed tent for the old school thrash metal of Dublin’s Psykosis. This mob clearly fall into the thrash revival camp which is no bad thing and their straightforward, gutsy thrash metal is a veritable tonic in the New Blood tent. Psykosis do exactly what they say on their tin. Echoes of Acid Reign, early Nuclear Assault and Anthrax and you have a very tasty brew, thank you very much.

Avatar: I keep wondering whether the world needs another Marilyn Manson tribute act but it is fair to say that there are plenty here who not only think you do but actually have come with their faces made up like the band’s showman vocalist Johannes Eckerstrom who, to give him his due, works the stage like the madman he clearly is.

Belfast’s Stormzone are proper heavy metal. They hark back to a more innocent time of big riffs, big choruses and bigger hair and tales of being out on the highway and all that stuff. Lots of riffs, massive sings to get your teeth stuck into and the most effortlessly entertaining forty minutes of the weekend. It would be really easy to be cynical about Stormzone it would also be wrong. They make music that is life-affirming and music that puts a huge smile on your face. You cannot ask for any more than that.

Florida bruisers Obituary have many crushing numbers in their arsenal. Jon Tardy has a vicious snarl that could strip paint, but with the wind working against him, he is fighting an uphill battle. The ugly and unpretentious likes of Slowly We Rot still generate a more than healthy response from the audience. Over by the VIP bar groovy rockers Ten Foot Wizard put in their second shift of the weekend with a semi acoustic set of 70s inspired riffola which provides a nice foil to the bludgeoning Obituary delivered. Gary Harkin’s gruff yet soulful drawl marks these promising stoner rockers as ones to watch with their distinctly British flavour.

There have been millions of words written about Saxon; you know who they are and what they do. Saxon play heavy metal. Saxon have written a few classic albums and are part of heavy metal’s heritage. Yet tonight their performance was efficient but unspectacular.

The Sophie Lancaster stage has seen many fine performances but the appearance of Collibus was more than a bit special. Gemma Fox has grown into a fantastic front person to match her substantial vocal capabilities. Neither opting for growls nor overloading her performance with vibrato. It is near impossible to take your eyes away from this powerful dynamic performance.

Amon Amarth are just brilliant and should be Bloodstock headliners. A stage set of two smoke breathing twenty-foot high dragon’s heads that double as stage risers for the band, this is one of those laying down a marker for the future sets. Amon Amarth are getting themselves ready for the bigger leagues and the bigger stages and here is evidence of how they are going to do it. Amon Amarth bring fire, explosions, smoke and yet more flames. This is heavy metal at its most theatrical, it’s most absurd: some might argue, it’s most brilliant. What impresses most about Amon Amarth is the supreme effortlessness of it all. They have clearly been preparing for this slot for a while. That they could simply amble on and deliver a superb performance of collective will, artistry and intelligence without losing sight of the fact that they are OUR band, is testimony to their endeavour.

Orderingthe shutdown of all stalls playing music and demanding that second stage headliners Satan postpone their set till after his, it appears Dave Mustaine is on the warpath again. Tonight we see both the best and worst of Megadeth in equal measure. Hangar 18 and Sweating Bullets are killer cuts and we are largely spared material from disappointing Supercollider (Roadrunner) opus but Mega Dave’s voice sure isn’t what it used to be. While he can clearly shred with the best of them it is quite painful to hear him straining to hit certain notes.

Video clips from hit movies such as Wayne’s World are used between songs but while they provide light relief it seems sad Mustaine needs to rely on such gimmicks to improve this presentation.

A touching moment occurs when this Mustaine stops the show to invite a young boy to sit onstage presenting him with a plectrum in a touching fatherly gesture, reminding you that old flame locks can’t be all bad. Classics like ‘A Tout Le Monde’ and ‘Symphony Of Destruction’ are rapturously received which all goes to show that when he sticks to the task of being a musician rather than kicking up controversy old Dave is a good egg but quite how long he can sustain performing live is anyone’s guess.

REVIEW BY MAT DAVIES & ROSS BAKER

PHOTOS BY EMMA STONE PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTOS OF EMPEROR AND MEGADETH BY RUDY DE DONCKER (Courtesy of BOA)

READ PART 1 OF OUR BOA COVERAGE

Bloodstock Open Air Festival 2014: Part I, South Derbyshire, UK

Posted on August 15, 2014 by News Team

Bloodstock has pretty much earned its spurs as the UK’s number one metal festival. Set on a lovely compact site at Catton park in South Derbyshire, England, 2014’s Bloodstock has plenty to offer even the most discerning metal die-hard you’d have been hard pushed to find something you didn’t fancy in this year’s line-up, if you like all things heavy and metal.

Friday

Friday’s line up has to blow the hangover cobwebs away and get the masses into the proverbial groove. Caps need to be doffed then for the excellent Bloodshot Dawn and their brilliantly crafted and executed technical death metal extravaganza on the main stage. Brutal, darkened melodies and a sense of urgency and pace that will have earned the band a large number of new fans as well as delighting the passionate throng of existing adherents to their cause as happy as the proverbial Larry. Over on the New Blood stage, No Sin Evades His Gaze are getting us quietly excited about their debut album which coincidentally has its release on the same day of their performance. They fall very neatly into the file marked “promising” and “ones to watch”.

Entombed A.D. deliver a solid, no messing about set of hardened, wizened death n roll metal which is fine as it goes but not exactly the most earth shattering performance from Lars Goran Petrov and his mates. Still they draw a large appreciative crowd.

A quick detour to the New Blood tent again to see Abhorrent Decimation. These guys are the most horrible, brutal and brilliant death metal band you are likely to come across this year. This was, simply put, a masterclass in how to pummel your audience into submission. Tighter than the chuff of a gnat they understand that the audience comes to be entertained as well as beaten up. Pure masochistic pleasure and utter brilliance.

History has not been fair to Flotsam and Jetsam. Unfairly maligned as the band that Jason Newsted used to be in before joining THAT band, the real truth of the matter is that this is a truly excellent thrash metal band and they set about reaffirming this with resilience, gusto and no small amount of flair. If there were medals for writing anthems then Flotsam and Jetsam would have a chest load of them. Enormous, fist pumping fun.

New York City’s Prong arrive on the main stage and it is like the return of a long lost friend. Riffs that James Hetfield would give his tattooed right arm for, a career spanning set list that early fans and newbies alike would have found hard to find anything remotely approaching fault with, Tommy Victor’s outfit grabs Bloodstock by the throat for 40 breathless and effervescent minutes of their blend of hardcore/crossover/industrial/whatever metal that is as joyous as it is heavy: one of the highlights of the day.

Clouds and crowds gather for the arrival of Tom G Warrior and Triptykon. Pretty much everyone knew that this was never going to be a sing-along but today Triptykon are hard work, almost wilfully so. Opening with the nine minute ‘Black Snow’, Triptykon succeed in creating an atmosphere of dark, brooding melancholy that they hold for the entire performance. At one level, you cannot fault the single mindedness but music is as much about the relationship between the artist and their audience and not simply the art itself, something that is lacking in their show today. A disappointment.

It is something of a relief to get to the Sophie Lancaster Stage to catch the black metal brilliance of Winterfylleth. By now the heavens have opened and the rain is pouring down so hard that a man called Noah popped by and asked people if they had any domestic pets wandering around. Winterfylleth might look like the latest recruits to the management training programme at your local bank but, my god, they make an extraordinary racket. A show that balances light and shade in equal, appropriate measure- pounding, venomous riffing, blood curdling howls of rage and sorrow is, almost weirdly, exactly what the day needed.

Hatebreed are never going to win any awards for subtlety but, my goodness, they are on form today. Hatebreed properly understand the phrase “work the crowd”. They are, probably the biggest draw of the day (including the headliner) and they simply nail it. Jamey Jasta is a circus ringmaster of a front man, the driving force of this outfit. He is part showman, part raconteur, and all metal. There are no surprises with Hatebreed; what you see is what you get and today.

There is a heighten sense of expectation surrounding Dimmu Borgir. Which Dimmu Borgir would take to the stage? The brilliant irascible, transcendent one? Or the achingly dull, slightly pompous one? At first, neither one does as technical difficulties abound to delay their arrival much to the band and the audience’s obvious annoyance. A real shame.

And so we come to Down. Phil Anselmo simply owns this stage. Swigging liberally from a bottle of white wine, cracking jokes and telling stories, Down silenced any doubters with a pounding performance. There cannot be man metalheads who do not love ‘Stone the Crow’, ‘Ghosts of Mississippi’ or a spellbinding ‘Bury Me in Smoke’, where the band get joined onstage by Orange Goblin. It’s clear that Down are in party mood and we are all invited to join in their Southern Hospitality. So we do. We even get treated to a little vignette of Pantera’s ‘Walk’ which leads everyone to think about when that damn reunion is going to take place. Go on, Phil, sort it. Just for us, there’s a good chap. Valedictory.

REVIEW BY MAT DAVIES & ROSS BAKER

PHOTOS OF DOWN BY RUDY DE DONCKER (Courtesy of BOA)

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