View From The Back Of The Room: Biffy Clyro

Biffy Clyro - Motorpoint Arena Cardiff

Thanks go to Nick Hewitt for his review

So I went into this concert more as a follower than a fan of Biffy Clyro, meaning my expectations were somewhat hard to place having seen mixed live performances from videos online etc.

With the stage being surrounded by a simple white curtain glowing with a purple light there was almost a mood of tension in the air. Then, from nowhere Simon Neil appears sending the crowd into raptures as he breaks into the acoustic opening of Different People. As the chorus kicked in the curtain dropped to the ground revealing the remainder of the band (James and Ben Johnston) and a stage design the can only be described as tree shaped as the human respiratory system, this sent the crowd into mass hysteria.

The first couple of songs were very much from the rocky section of Biffy’s catalogue, with the lads showing off new and old tracks such as That Golden Rule, Sounds Like Balloons and the new track Black Chandelier, all of which bringing the crowd to the top of their voices for the anthem like choruses. Listening to these tracks the one thing I couldn’t get of head was; “this band are actually quite heavy!” the albums, although good, do not do this band justice. Breakdown after breakdown within the tracks showed off the talent and energy Biffy Clyro possess. James Johnston’s bass booming through the background giving the sound real depth… this is how live, rock should be. Eventually the crowd and band alike were given a break with brilliant emotional tracks that include Biblical, A Day Of and the outstanding acoustic God & Satan, but not before the bouncing track of Bubbles accompanied by smoke cannons galore!

As the 26 song set drew to a close the crowd favourites and anthems were pulled out of the bag… and with style. The lads proceeded to dish out classics such as Many of Horror, The Captain and Machines. Finishing with the world famous Mountains, led as to be expected, by the sold out Cardiff crowd. I have been to a lot of concerts in my time, but on very few occasions have I seen a band attack a set with such relentless energy and passion. Simon Neil was visibly flagging as he walked off the stage but still beaming with a smile, surely this is how live music should be? Biffy Clyro are a band that are clearly proud of the music they produce and want to deliver it with only the drive that it deserves, and WOW! Did they? Were we spoiled! My only criticism of the night would be that being a 26 song set there was very little interaction with the crowd, making the set feel rushed on occasion. But does this matter… not really. Leaving this gig I feel I am now a fan of Biffy Clyro and look forward to seeing them again the future. 9/10

Reviews: Voodoo Circle, Serenity, Kvelertak

Voodoo Circle: More Than One Way Home (AFM Records)

Alex Beyrodt, David Readman and Matt Sinner return with their third album of classic hard rock. Since the previous record nearly their entire Rainbow sound and Blackmore style playing of Beyrodt has been stripped away to make way for a more bluesy based rocking in the style of Messer Coverdale and friends. This is not to say that they have lost any of their power, in fact they have gained a lot of bar room grittiness with some crunching guitars and soaring solos from Beyrodt who also plays the strings in Sinner's other bands Primal Fear and also Sinner. Speaking of Sinner he provides a driving bass beat which anchors the smashing drums all of which is topped by the huge Hammond organs and keys of Jimmy Kresic and the awesome vocals of Brit David Readman who is a dead ringer for Coverdale in the vocal department with his strong bluesy bellow, the songs all have a hard rock swagger with opener Graveyard City bringing to mind prime 1987 era 'Snake, the epic Heart Of Babylon having a very Still Of The Night vibe to it, however with Ghost In Your Heart is led by very Perfect Strangers style organ riff and ends with some Zeppelin orchestration. The band also has some 'Snake-like ballads with the acoustic Alissa and Cry For Love which features a searing solo. This is another great hard rocking album from Voodoo Circle who have been one of the most consistent new bands to come on to the scene in a while, three albums in and their song writing is still top notch with every member showing how skilled they are and how well they gel as a group. Let's hope that they can find time to tour between Sinner and Beyrodt's other jobs. 9/10

Serenity: War Of Ages (Napalm)

I have always been a fan of Austrian's Serenity and their progressive/power metal style that has much in common with Finns Sonata Arctica and American's Kamelot. However I've always thought Georg Neuhauser has a great voice and is more than capable of carrying the band by himself, however the band have always had female guest vocalists on their albums much like Kamelot have, but when I saw that this album featured Clementine Delauney (who was with them on their tour as a guest member) as a second vocalist, I was not shocked but a little surprised that they thought they needed to have dual vocal, when Kamelot still use either backing tapes or the occasional guest vocal from Simone Simmons (who is technically a band member!) All of my worries were dispelled when I played the record however as the band haven’t turned into Lacuna Coil style dual vocal band. The heavy riffing and powerful blast beat drumming is still in place and Georg still is the lead vocalist however Clementine provides extra vocals on the choruses and is purely there to bolster and counterpoint the dramatic power of Georg's voice and the orchestral backed, choir filled and music of the band. Clemetine shines when she is given the room too especially on the beautiful ballad For Freedom's Sake which is a duet with Neuhauser as well as her other lead vocals on tracks like Age Of Glory. She has a fantastic voice which not too overpowering but classical enough to match Neuhauser’s admirably. This is another excellent album from the Austrians with some killer guitars; double kick drumming, lots of complex orchestration and arrangements. They even have a great cover of Queen's beautiful Love Of My Life on the limited version. Serenity have added another string to their bow with a second vocalist and have pulled out yet another seriously good album for genre fans. 8/10

Kvelertak: Meir (Roadrunner Records)

Kvelertak (whose name is Norwegian for stranglehold) have always been something of an anomaly in the metal world as they fuse screaming hardcore/BM vocals with some punked up rock and roll riffage. This means that the band themselves always go for the throat with a very aggressive delivery see Bruane Benn which has a super speedy riff but some big classic rock style soloing. For a band that perform in Norwegian they have some huge hooks and some meaty riffage, which lends them a very good sound that is similar to Americans Valient Thorr mixed with some AC/DC (especially on Undertro). The songs are all a bit similar full of blazing riffage and the barked vocals of Erland Hjelvik but with a band like Kvelertak the similarities of the tracks doesn't matter this is a band that are purely exist so people can have a good time. The triple guitar sound is excellent with all three creating a deafening wall of noise as well as providing some country style acoustics on tracks like Spring Fra Livet and Evig Vandrar. This is an album of noisy rock and roll with a punk attitude and some cracking tunes thrown in, Kvelertak have the sound of a band made for the live circuit and if they are anywhere near as good live as they are on record they are worth seeing (shame I was working last time they came D'oh!) 8/10

Reviews: Amaranthe, Adrenaline Mob, Lost Society

Amaranthe: The Nexus (Spinefarm)

Swedes Amaranthe have finally released their second album and again they have brought together melodic death metal, power metal and also huge doses of European electro pop to create a unique soundscape. The band is the brainchild of guitarist/keyboardists Olaf Morck, who brings the riffs and solos as well as the big electronics with some dubstep influences on opener Afterlife. The power of the band lays with their three vocalists; the saccharine pop voice of Elise Ryd who has collaborated with Kamelot, the hard rock styling’s of Jake E and the harsh barks of Andreas Solvestrom, this vocal trifecta separate the band from others trying to mix the metal/pop ideals, like I said the guitars are great as are the bass and drums but it’s the keys that make this band as on their own they would be more at home in trance club than on a metal record, but mixed with the traditional metal instruments it brings to mind a poppier more upbeat Rammstein style of industrial metal. This is another part of Amaranthes appeal they are very uplifting to listen to every song is full off poppy major keys and shout along choruses, see the title track (which features another very theatrical video) the pace is relentless with every song coming out of the speakers at 100 miles an hour in a wall of sound. Until the obligatory ballad of Burn With Me which features just Jake and Elize and is followed by Mechanical Illusion that has the kick drums and harsh vocals of the Gothenburg scene. People may see the obvious Nightwish influences (as well as some Kamelot ones) with the female vocals and power metal delivery (even the name is based on a Nightwish song) however Amaranthe have managed create their own niche by mashing up genres and creating a very uplifting and spirited follow up to their debut. 8/10

Adrenaline Mob: Coverta (Self Released)

This is a covers EP from metal supergroup Adrenaline Mob. The EP features some riffed up covers of rock classics, things kick off with High Wire originally by Badlands and it is very good cover full of hard rocking guitars and some funk bass from new bassist ex-Disturbed man John Moyer. Next is the first of three songs originally sung by the legendary Ronnie James Dio; this one is the freight train-like riff of Stand Up And Shout, the others are the Rainbow standard Kill The King and the final one is Mob Rules (which was the first song the band ever released and their namesake). There are some odd choices with Mike Portnoy's thumping percussion driving an adrenaline (no pun intended) fuelled version of The Doors Break On Through as well as Van Halen's Romeo's Delight which is the perfect showcase for guitar virtuoso Mike Orlando (and features a few choice guitar solos thrown in the middle). Heart's Barracuda is also an interesting, but excellent choice with that awesome riff propelling along at a hell of a pace and Russell Allen's vocals matching those of Ann Wilson. This is a nice throwaway stopgap EP that lets this virtuoso band show off their chops by paying homage to their heroes while avoiding resorting to covers of their day jobs. 7/10

Lost Society: Fast Loud Death (Nuclear Blast)

With an album title called Fast Loud Death Lost Society can only be a thrash band and when the opening track NWL kicks in you think that this could be classic Testament album. Lost Society come from Finland and after winning a global battle of the bands they have released their debut album and it has all the hallmarks of classic 1980's Bay Area Thrash, the band sound very similar to the aforementioned Testament, mixed with Anthrax and even a bit of Exodus thrown in. They play at a level that is far more professional than their years suggest (the average age of the band is 19) and shred with such tenacity that you can't help be impressed and very bloody jealous. This is strong album with some short, sharp blasts of light speed riffing, jackhammer drumming and some snarled vocals from Samy Elbana which add a little bit of a modern touch to proceedings. However the rest of the album is pure high top wearing thrash fury with tracks like the unbelievably fast Kill (All Those Who Oppose Me) and the blitzkrieg of the title track Lost Society have crafted an excellent thrash album that will stand up to anything from the era with its ballsy, hard partying ethos. The perfect album for anyone that loves running around in circles at festivals and drinking lots of beer! Pure Finnish, Thrash, fury! 9/10

Reviews: Saxon, Clutch, Breed 77

Saxon: Sacrifice (UDR)

After toying with power metal, progressive metal and even big symphonic metal elements on previous efforts, on this their 20th album Saxon have decided to make a pure Saxon record full of stripped back, heavy rocking classic British metal. The guitars of Paul Quinn and Doug Scarrat rip and shred with tight proficiency, the drums of Neil Glocker smash like hammers especially on the Titanic (sorry) Made In Belfast and Nibbs Carters bass rumbles like thunder. Biff too is still on top form wailing and crooning like it was 1980. The return to the old NWOBHM style might be due to producer Andy Sneap who is a massive retro metal fan; he also loves a good solo of which there are loads on this album. The lyrical content harks back to historical with the Celtic-flavoured Made In Belfast, the Aztec worshipping title track, the Egyptian Guardians Of The Tomb which may have been pinched from Maiden's Powerslave album. There is also the obligatory song about motorbikes in the form of the speedy Warriors Of The Road as well as one about rock n roll with Stand Up And Fight and also signs that Biff is turning into a very grumpy old man by moaning about queuing on Standing In A Queue. This is an album that harks back to Saxon's glory days and is the perfect fodder for old fans and recent converts as it blends the modern production with classic songwriting. As their contemporaries Maiden and Priest move into more progressive places Saxon have looked backward and are back on their wheels of steel (sorry again) 8/10

Clutch: Earth Rocker (Weathermaker Music)

Neil Fallon and his Maryland rockers come back with their 10th album and their second on their own label. Sonically it's your normal superb Clutch fare with the title track kicking things off in fine style with a big country/blues riff and the strange vocal delivery of Fallon. Crucial Velocity has a powerhouse; unrelenting riff that bulldozes everything in its way and is a counterpoint to the organ drenched Mr Freedom that follows. Again this album blends blues, country, hard rock, stoner metal and punk sometimes in the same song but this is all part of Clutch's sound the mix of genres make you want to just grab something to inebriate you and just party. Every track full of great guitar riffs and funked up bass and powerhouse drumming, like with every Clutch album Fallon is the focal point, his voice is excellent and his lyrics are second to none with some very intelligent phrasing and some interesting mentions (like the large Hadron Collider in Unto The Breach) The first five songs are full on rockers but the album takes a break with the swamp blues of Gone Cold on which Fallon does his best Zappa-style croon, this is before The Face brings back the head banging with a low-down dirty riff and the trend continues from there. However none of my reviewing is relevant this is a Clutch album if you know the band then you know what it's going to sound like, if you don't know the band buy the album and experience one of the most exciting bands on the rock circuit (and then see them live!) 9/10

Breed 77: The Evil Inside (Frostbyte Media)

Breed 77 have been on the fringes of success for so long that some may think they will always be metals nearly men. Before they were more of a Latin based nu metal band now they blend flamenco guitars with some seriously heavy metal. This album brings the more serious and aggressive style from Insects and multiplies it. With tracks like Drown which has a metallic crunch that continues on the Fear and Broken Pieces. However Breed 77 haven't completely abandoned they're alternative metal roots with the very Creed like and possible radio hit Looking For Myself which is followed by the flamenco flavoured Bring On The Rain before the super heavy Low comes back to punch you in the guts again. The bass and drums bludgeon on every track providing an iron clad bottom end, topped by the great guitar work from Danny Felice and Pedro Caparros Lopez who meld the two genres brilliantly as usual and also pull off some fantastic solos, as usual Breed 77's real power comes from vocalist Paul Isola who is one of the most unique vocalists in metal. This is a very good album, that is hard heavy and weaves genres intricately together but with the right promotion (something that has eluded Breed 77) they could become a real power player 5 albums into their career. 8/10

The View From The Back Of The Room: Breed 77

Breed 77, Left Unscarred, For The Imperium, Seven Deadly. Bogiez Cardiff

So another night in Cardiff for yet another cavalcade of bands. This time the headliners were Gibraltar biggest (only?) heavy metal band Breed 77. So with the lights going down it was time to start:

Seven Deadly

Many long-time readers will know about my affinity with Seven Deadly and their previous incarnation as Panic Cell. I was happy to see that they have changed very little since I saw their debut gig in the same venue but they have seemed to gained a lot more confidence as a cohesive unit with all the members playing with total skill, professionalism but most of all passion. In fact guitarist H got so passionate he broke the strings off his guitar Joey De Maio style. Bobby and Rob's rhythm section was hard and heavy, the guitars were rounded out by Dave Irving who also provides some good facial expressions and backing vocals, one of the keys to the bands appeal are the excellent vocals of Archie who seamlessly blends screams and clean vocals and is an extremely affable and laid back frontman. The set was a short one but it featured the hard hitting modern metal from their debut and ended with the awesome From This Darkness which is the best Killswitch Engage song they have never written. A great start to the night, just a full length now please! 8/10

For The Imperium

Hailing from Helsinki, For The Imperium play metal with an avant-garde tendency apparently, well form what I saw and heard the band were a mix of Korn style Nu-metal mixed with pop-punk. As I find Korn extremely boring musically (my opinion) and I'm not a huge pop-punk fan either, For The Imperium really didn't do it for me at all. While they were very boisterous and presented a very good live spectacle with lots of energy musically they were not my cup of tea. 5/10

Left Unscarred

Metalcore is probably one of the most divisive genres in music, for every great band there are in this genre there are also hundreds of crap ones and unfortunately Left Unscarred fall in to this category. The band played middle of the road, meat and potatoes, metalcore that for me lacked any style to set it apart from any other band. There was just trudging riffs and some long winded breakdowns, Left Unscarred just left me with an overarching sense of 'meh' I'm afraid. 4/10

Breed 77

Luckily they were followed by the excellent Breed 77 who have been honing their craft since the early 2000's but have yet to ascend to any major heights, due to a lot of management troubles. After coming back from the brink with the great Insects the band are now touring new album The Evil Inside. Only Breed could open the proceeding with a new song called Drown before going into the classic Blind which was followed by another newie Looking For Myself. Breed 77 were on fire with the new stuff being welcomed like classics and causing massive amounts of jumping, moshing and headbanging. This may have been because Breed were playing to a hardcore, partisan but small crowd, the explanation for this was that Cancer Bats were playing in the University. However Breed played like their lives depended on it with Battle Of Hatin causing a very strong pit. The instrumentation was excellent with the mix of metal and Latin still inspiring to watch however Breed's ace in the pack is the totally unique voice of Paul Isola who commands the stage perfectly and has one of the best voices in metal. Things took a sing along turn in middle of the set with a heavy cover of Alice Cooper's Poison thrown in before two new ones and the end of the set with two classics in the form of Insects and La Ultima Hora mixed with new song Low. The band returned for the encore of the mellow The River before trying to destroy the venue with their cover of The Cranberries' Zombie. Breed 77's new tracks were very good and I look forward to listening to the album but they showed tonight why they are such a great live band, catch them when they come again. 8/10

Reviews: Steven Wilson, Lordi, Screamer

Steven Wilson: The Raven That Refused To Sing...And Other Stories (Kscope)

So Porcupine Tree mastermind Steven Wilson is now on his third solo album, in between Porcupine Tree touring and albums as well as mixing and producing for other bands. Wilson has experimented on his two previous solo albums but on this one he has brought everything together pitching the album somewhere between In Absentia era Porcupine Tree with some King Crimson and even some Jethro Tull flutes and woodwind on Luminol and The Holy Drinker thrown in to excite and bemuse. The genres are from a wide spectrum with rock, pop, jazz, folk, krautrock, electronica all catered for but mostly the album is a homage to the true 70's progressive bands like King Crimson (whose back catalogue Wilson remixed recently). Wilson really shows just how talented he is on this third solo record, opener Luminol is a 12 minute epic sprawling many different genres with jazzy guitars, huge Hammond and synths as well as some fantastic drumming from Marco Minnemann who shines throughout the album. In fact Wilson has acquired some fantastic musicians for this record with the lead guitars handled by Guthrie Govan who is possibly the best guitarist Britain has ever produced, as well as several musicians who are more jazz trained than rockers, keyboardist Adam Holtzman is the example. Wilson himself is no slouch as usual providing the record with his excellent vocals as well as mellotron, keys and all manner of stringed instruments. These virtuoso musicians put their sheer ability on display on every track; however there is no silly showing off, all of the musical muscle is tightly coiled to ready to be released during the course of each track. After the opener blows you away with its musical dexterity and sheer disregard for genre classification, the second track Drive Home has the acoustic pacing of a Division Bell era Pink Floyd track with a huge guitar solo crescendo from Govan. (In fact a lot of this album has elements of the Gilmour led Floyd) This moves into the jazzy, synth fuelled The Holy Drinker which has a solo from Alan Parsons, who also engineered the album (and a bloody good job he did too!). The Pin Drop follows and continues the twisted fairy tale theme that runs through the album, it is a very percussive song with a multi-layered Wilson vocal and is the most Porcupine Tree sounding track on the album. The Watchmaker is a haunting track built upon some folky guitar playing that screams Fairport Convention before the heavier guitars kick in and the track becomes almost doom like in its melancholic lyrics. Finally after the muscly build-up of the final moments of The Watchmaker the pace changes again with the title track which is full of swirling orchestrals and piano building up into an uplifting but at the same time heart-breaking song that resonates with beauty in its simplicity. This is record is not only Wilson's best solo album it's also the best album he's made in a long time. If I could give it eleven I would because it is simply flawless! 10/10

Lordi: To Beast Or Not To Beast (AFM Records)

Lordi are now on their sixth album and this time they are looking back to the horror metal of their first three albums rather than the more 80's sounding Babez For Breakfast. It has the trademark great riffage from Amen as well as the big backing vocal harmonies and Mr Lordi's evil snarl. Things kick off with We're Not Bad For The Kids (We're Worse) which is a speedy riff that is followed by the slightly weak I Luv Ugly both of the opening tracks have great solo's (something which seems to be a theme on this album as the solo count is through the roof). The first real monster (sorry) track is The Riff which is a schlock-horror rocker full of Lordi's B-movie metal. Since the last album Lordi have acquired two new members with the keys now handled by the zombie cheerleader Hella and new drummer Mana who replaced Otus (who passed away in 2012), who in turn was a replacement for long-time drummer Kita who unmasked and formed an 80's AOR band. This is a very Lordi album full of tongue-in-cheek humour and some very professional musicianship, however it's not actually a very good album with a lot of tracks that could be considered as filler with only Candy For The Cannibal, The Riff and I'm The Best being what you could consider above average. I am a Lordi fan however they have produced three sub-par albums in a row now and I'm starting to get a bit tired of it. There are obviously some gimmicks that can go too far, plus the album ends with a drum solo!! 5/10

Screamer: Phoenix (High Roller Records)

High Roller Records were the home of trad metal revivalists In Solitude, Ram and Zuul. This information will tell you what Screamer sound like. Coming from Sweden (where else!?) Screamer are a dual guitar wielding, bullet belt wearing retro riffing metal band. The dual leads have all the hallmarks of Thin Lizzy and early Iron Maiden with the vocals of Christoffer Svensson sound an awful lot like Diamond Head's Sean Harris with his croon, the band also have a lot in common with Diamond Head as they mix NWOBHM riffage with some more progressive passages with hard rock tendencies. With tracks like Demon Rider, Far Away From Home (which has lots of woahing, which is always welcome) and the title track, this is an album of excellently executed traditional metal album full of skilful guitar playing, galloping bass and some powerful and even soulful vocals see the tremendous Red Moon Rising. For fans of retro metal or anything that makes you want to re-live your 80's metal days but brought right up to date from a young and hungry band, this album will be right up your street. 8/10

Reviews: Heaven's Basement, The Union, Free Fall

Heaven's Basement: Filthy Empire (RedBull Records)

The band formally known as Hurricane party and Roadstar, Heaven's Basement have been plying their trade since 2008 with original Roadstar members Ritchie Hevanz on vocals and Sid Glover on guitar. Hevanz stuck around for one EP and then left the band and was replaced by current vocalist Aaron Buchanan. This is the band’s debut album (Second EP Unbreakable was released in 2011) and it is myriad of influences all of which come together to form a hard rocking, hook filled, hard hitting album full of attitude. The lead influences are Guns N Roses, Buckcherry and even some Thunder mixed with punk snottiness and some crunchy modern metal riffage, see I Am Electric. Lead single Fire, Fire is dripping with foul language and brings to mind the short lived Stone Gods, Glover's guitars are awesome with some very Slash-like solos and riffs which work well with the chunky rhythms of Rob Ellershaw and Chris Rivers. Buchanan's voice is great equally melodic and raw with the band providing some big chanting backing vocals, and also Glover giving a dual lead vocal on Nothing Left To Loose. This is an album full of big arena anthems much like the freight train riffage of album ender Executioner's Day with the bluesy Thunder style of Lights Out In London and Jump Back. The band can also do stripped back which they do excellently on the acoustic, piano leaden The Price That We Pay which is a beautiful break in the all-out rocking. It's these big crowd pleasing tracks that will see Heaven's Basement on the same upward career trajectory as Brit boys done good The Treatment. It looks like that my opinion of them at Hammerfest was wrong, Heaven's Basement might just be one of the new breed of great British rock bands. 8/10

The Union: The World Is Yours (Payola Records)

The Union's third album is one that balances light and shade, by having big, ballsy rockers and some more reserved bluesy acoustic songs. The album is bookended by the instrumental Sawtooth Mountain Rise Pt.1 & 2 the first proper track is the big blues rock swagger of You're My Jesus which merges into the jangly, pop sound of Tonight I'm Alive and then the slow burning acoustic, country of Fading Out Of Love which is the first real showcase for Pete Shoulder's fantastically soulful voice. This tends to be the theme of the album with the big rock tracks, most of which have a real Zep sound to them with Luke Morley providing some very Jimmy Page style guitar passages with Shoulder providing guitar as well as some huge Hammond Organ on the slower bluesier tracks. This album could be seen as The Union having a go at recreating Physical Graffiti with lots of acoustic blues, full of with gospel and swampy country influences (see Marie Celeste) mingling with some very heavy rock tracks in the Kashmir-like title track and the almost glam stomp of Perfect Crime. This is The Union finding their own voice by merging the laid back acoustics of Shoulder's former project Winterville with the heavy rocking of Morley's on-again-off-again band Thunder. This is a great album and one that shows The Union are both men's major concern rather than just a side-project, this am album that can only be fully realised after numerous listens. 8/10

Free Fall: Power & Volume (Nuclear Blast)

Sweden is a strange country musically, the bands do tend to either be from the Gothenburg scene of melodic death metal or they tend to be from the riffed up retro scene. Free Fall are from this school of retro rock. Formed by former The Soundtrack Of Our Lives guitarist Mattias Barjed Free Fall are a four-piece garage style face punching rock band full of dirty riffs and an aggressive swagger brought by too much booze and too many women. Things kick off with pulsating drumming and angular riffage of the title track which sounds like early Zeppelin mixed with the Stooges attitude. The whole album in fact draws you to the bands obvious influences with Free Fall having that classic The Who sound (complete with some Ox style fleet fingered bass playing from Jan Martens, who has a real gift for the four strings). The band really have gripped on to the late-60's early 70's style of hard rock with Barjed bringing the clean melodic guitar stabs, on top of some powerhouse time-keeping from drummer Ludwig Dahlberg as well as the fractured, rough as hell vocals from singer Kim Frannson who is a ringer for Bon Scott as well as Cormac Neeson from Irish-Zeppelin The Answer. With a sound that brings to mind AC/DC on World Domination, early Zep and as well as spilling into psychadelia of Attila and Free Fall are ready to compete with Graveyard, The Answer and the other retro styled riffers already plying their trade. Free Fall however are set on a very strong path because of the animalistic, rough and ready strength of their song writing, this is a very exciting and very, very good record. 9/10

The View From The Back Of The Room: Grand Magus

Grand Magus & Primitai, Bogiez Cardiff

Sweden's premier trad metal trio Grand Magus again return to Cardiff to bring the noise to Bogiez. They brought with them speed/thrashers Primitai and instrumental stoners Thorun. I missed Thorun however I arrived just in time for Primitai's first song.

Primitai

I last saw classic/speed metallers Primitai supporting Triaxis and I was blown away, however this time I was left feeling a little bit deflated. Primitai are still a great live act with some furious guitars, and the tough gruff vocals of frontman Guy. However this time he was struggling through a cold so despite his stalking of the crowd he couldn't really hit the notes on this night. The set list was a bit of a strange one with tracks coming from In The Line Of Fire and Through The Gates Of Hell but the band started the set with a new song which was strange because the new album is nowhere near finished so playing a song that no-one knows first was a little bit odd (it would have been better placed in the middle of the set with other new song Scream When You See Us) both of the songs were good but they stopped some of the bands momentum. This was still a strong showing from Primitai and they probably felt they could move away from their go to set list after playing the same venue only a few months ago. Still a good set from a band that were trying to show off their progress as musicians. 7/10

Grand Magus

So the Swedish metal machine returned to destroy Bogiez. They drew an impressive crowd and the crowd were rewarded with a set full of heavy metal heaven. Unlike a lot of their most recent sets they drew songs from four of their albums with both Kingslayer and the doomy Wolf's Return both given an airing, the majority came from newest album The Hunt with Sword Of The Ocean and the propulsive Valhalla Rising being the best live cuts. The newly grizzled J.B was booming in his vocals and full of technical ferocity in his guitar playing. Bassist Fox was also great providing the rhythms and shouts with new drummer Ludwig Witt given time to show off with a thankfully short drum solo. This was a great set for me as it featured some of my favourite tracks from Iron Will with Silver Into Steel, Like The Oar That Strikes The Water and the title track that finished the main set with serious power. The Magus set was full of their strong, powerful, classic metal sound and it got the crowd shouting along to every track with the final encore of Hammer Of The North giving everyone a chance to 'woah' at the top of their Welsh voices and made everyone elated. Grand Magus are one of the most consistently brilliant bands on the live circuit, you could watch them every week and never get bored, prime top quality metal from the Swedes. 9/10

The View From The Back Of The Room: UFO

UFO & 4Bitten, Coal Exchange Cardiff

Into the bowels of the magnificent Coal Exchange for a night of classic Hard rock from a band that have always been quoted as Iron Maiden's main influence and have maintained a stable line up for nearly 40 years with only the guitarists changing. This was a gig I was looking forward to as I have never seen UFO live before. The same cannot be said for the 300 person plus crowd (which looked small in the huge room) who were all UFO fanatics, which also meant I was the youngest person in the crowd!

So onto the show itself

4Bitten

Hailing from Greece 4Bitten have completely bypassed me and I'm a bit annoyed that they have. The band play riff heavy, hard rock with a metallic sheen and are led by the Zakk Wylde like guitars of George M and the powerful vocals of Fofi Roussos. The songs were tight, heavy and melodic with all of the band playing with professionalism. The band were equally adept to heavy rockers and soaring radio friendly ballads which meant to me they sounded a lot like American band Hydrogyn which is not a bad thing. They were a tight, professional meat and potatoes rock band that were a good opener for the intensely partisan crowd. Someone to just kick off proceedings without stealing the spotlight. 7/10

UFO

As the band walked on stage the excitement was building and then the opening chords of Lights Out hit and the very vocal crowd erupted. The band looked on form with special mention to frontman Phil Mogg who still has a fantastic voice, delivers it with real power and conviction. Next was Mother Mary and then two from Seven Deadly, the bands newest album (and the reason for this tour) which slot in well with the classic material. The drumming of the co-founder member Andy Parker was excellent, as were the keys and rhythm guitars of co-founder member Paul Raymond both of whom have been doing this too long to mess anything up and know how to keep the band chugging along. The contribution from new boy bassist Lars Lehmann was also great he has the skills and also the slightly dangerous edge of erstwhile former bassist Pete Way. Most of the praise can go to guitarist Vinnie Moore who despite the criticism levelled at him (mainly because he's not Schenker or Paul Chapman) is a simply fantastic guitarist putting his own spin on every solo and maintaining all of the classic riffs. Back to the set which was filled with some hilarious banter from Mogg who stylised himself as a man uncle. The band went back to the classics with Cherry and Let It Roll before returning to Seven Deadly. With all of the newer material out of the way it was classics until the end with the sing-along Only You Can Rock Me, the proggy Love To Love which showed off Moore's guitar abilities at their best, the set ended with Too Hot To Handle and Rock Bottom which still has a killer riff to this day and broke out into a great guitar showcase instrumental before the song returned and ended the set and elicited huge cheers. A quick note about the sound which started out a little muddy but then returned to the almost perfect mix that the Coal Exchange has become synonymous with. For the encore again it was classics with their (possibly) best known song Doctor Doctor which was followed by Shoot Shoot and got the crowd jumping. This was a great set from a band that have lasted in the music business this long and are still at the top of their game showing that class is forever. 9/10
   

Out Of The Beyond 24

I AM I: Event Horizon (ZeeTeePee Records)

When ZP Threat left Dragonforce to peruse his own career many wondered what he would do next, many were expecting prime cheese ridden power metal. Threats voice is still unmistakable and recognisable from the opening track This My Life which features mid-paced riffage and big AOR keys. The songs are good (much better on record than live) but they are lacking something, the whole thing sounds just very middling, the band are talented and ZP can sing (on record) but the whole package of the melodic guitars, twinkly keyboards and Threats more restrained vocal delivery makes the band sound like a budget Stratovarius, tracks like Cross The Line, Silent Genocide and Kiss Of Judas (not a Strato cover) are all bouncy rockers that the Finn's do with ease and King In Ruins is a mega ballad that sounds like Journey. However everything just sounds a bit robotic there doesn't seem to be any genuine conviction in the writing and everything just seems a little 'generic'. ZP came from a band that reinvigorated a genre and whether you love them or hate them they were different, this is the same old thing that bands like Stratovarius have been doing for years. It just doesn't have any threat (sorry) to it. 6/10

Dirty Youth: Red Light Fix (Transcend Music/Universal)

The Dirty Youth hail from South Wales and they play alternative metal with a melting pot of influences. Fronted by the shocking pink mane of Danni Monroe the band will immediately conjure up images of Paramore however TDY are more like countrymen Skindred full of snotty attitude and big bouncy riffs, seen on opener Rise Up, which starts with an angelic piano led vocal before erupting into well dark brooding riff. The band add more strings to their bow with the low-down bass driven rhythm of tour mates Korn featuring heavily on The End, before adding bratty punk and SOAD with Requiem For The Drunk and Fight. Monroe's vocals are tough and remind me a bit of Maria Brink when she's singing clean. The guitars of Luke Padfield and Matt Bond (who also provides some keys) are great as are the drums and bass, the band have a managed to create some great anthems on their debut that will work excellently on the live circuit which is where this band will shine. Obviously there will be some Paramore similarities with the final part of the album having more of Hayley Williams and co Ellen, Last Confession and Promises all having that pop-punk sound. The Dirty Youth have created a great debut album full of big, hook filled rock songs its well T(I)DY! 8/10