A charity gig so no scores on this one and it was going to be something of an emotional night as the headliners return to Cardiff for the first time since their world was flipped upside down.
Before that though there was a warm up and the night opened with Bloodstock Metal To The Masses South Wales 2024 winners Root Zero who began the night with their gothy, proggy style of heavy. Called Avant Garde by a member of a later band, I'd say they are perhaps a bit but if you're a fan of goth and prog then you'll love their symphonically tinged sound.
The dual vocals were clear and the heavy bottom end pulsed out of Fuel's system as there was a few issues on their first song but they hit their stride as they moved onto the two back to back 10 minutes tracks that closed their set. They reasserted how good they are with those latter tracks as they gain confidence in the songs and their sets.
Always a interesting band to watch play live they have a level of skill and professionalism that saw them play Bloodstock in 2024 which by rights means they shouldn't be opening this gig, they should be playing before the headliners.
Alas they weren't, that was the role of Mortaliatas and well I'm not sure what to say about this other than, a band this amateur and unrehearsed shouldn't be playing more than about 15 minutes at the beginning of the night. I get it they were the promoters of gig but they in no way should be higher on the bill than Metal To The Masses Winners who have performed at Bloodstock.
The band are two guitarists playing the same four basic riffs, two singers with no stage presence and voices that blend into a sort dirge. One of the singers was reading the lyrics off his phone, which looked absolutely ridiculous and all the songs had the same or similar backing track playing from a laptop. The drum machine I'm ok with as the band are goth and while Sisters Of Mercy have never had a drummer, they also don't have to stand in silence between every song to restart it.
Before that though there was a warm up and the night opened with Bloodstock Metal To The Masses South Wales 2024 winners Root Zero who began the night with their gothy, proggy style of heavy. Called Avant Garde by a member of a later band, I'd say they are perhaps a bit but if you're a fan of goth and prog then you'll love their symphonically tinged sound.
The dual vocals were clear and the heavy bottom end pulsed out of Fuel's system as there was a few issues on their first song but they hit their stride as they moved onto the two back to back 10 minutes tracks that closed their set. They reasserted how good they are with those latter tracks as they gain confidence in the songs and their sets.
Always a interesting band to watch play live they have a level of skill and professionalism that saw them play Bloodstock in 2024 which by rights means they shouldn't be opening this gig, they should be playing before the headliners.
Alas they weren't, that was the role of Mortaliatas and well I'm not sure what to say about this other than, a band this amateur and unrehearsed shouldn't be playing more than about 15 minutes at the beginning of the night. I get it they were the promoters of gig but they in no way should be higher on the bill than Metal To The Masses Winners who have performed at Bloodstock.
The band are two guitarists playing the same four basic riffs, two singers with no stage presence and voices that blend into a sort dirge. One of the singers was reading the lyrics off his phone, which looked absolutely ridiculous and all the songs had the same or similar backing track playing from a laptop. The drum machine I'm ok with as the band are goth and while Sisters Of Mercy have never had a drummer, they also don't have to stand in silence between every song to restart it.
As they progressed I did sort of think it was all some elaborate hoax to troll the audience, but no apparently this was all a serious attempt to entertain a bemused audience.
I'm not going to linger too much but they need some serious practice and to think about what kind of band they want to be before playing in any position higher than first on.
Right shake it off as it was here that things got emotional. The first gig in their home town of Cardiff from The Drowning since the tragic death of band founder Mike Hitchen. It was always going to be a hard gig, their debut in Cardiff as the new line up in front of an audience was filled with Mike's family, close friends and many of us who had met him/knew him in the past.
With the epic portrait of Mike at the side of stage, the now four piece line up of lead guitarist Jason Hodges, drummer Sam Heffernan, rhythm guitarist Tansy Smallby, vocalist and now bassist Matt Small, took to the Fuel stage and unleashed an imperious set of doomy death, or is that deathy doom?
Mike was a hell of a riff writer and Jason and Tansy crank them out with an added venom tonight, celebrating their bandmate with the music he poured his soul into. With the ferocious opening of The Obsidian Fires, Sam blasted away and Matt showcased that his bass playing is as meaty as his anguished growls.
I did take a bit of humour from the fact that when Matt was paying his tributes to Mike and asking the crowd to cheers along with The Drowning, he frequently forgets that he's now also a bassist, so had to keep putting his drink down, but I'm sure he'll work this out in their upcoming down time (I'm only ribbing you Matt)
Storming through the set despite some of the limitations a venue like Fuel presents, they kept it together, through the nerves and the grief, this was collective catharsis for all involved. The Drowning will carry Mike with them forever through his songs and the love we all had for him, continuing his legacy as the band they are now.
P.S this show raised a chunk of money for the South Wales Fire Service and Cats Protection so kudos to the South Wales metal scene!
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