Counterhold
On my now fourth viewing of the Cwmbran metal machine I can safely say that they have improved yet again. Despite having their lead guitarist missing (which unfortunately meant no solo's) the band still managed to produce a set of finely tuned head crushing metal that was filled with aggression, groove and nods to thrash and classic metal. The band ripped up the venue with some heavy metal destruction in the form of songs like The Beast Within, Children Of A Lesser God and the anthemic Fatal Taunt. The drummer Ryan, bassist Ben and guitarist Karl all made a hell of a racket and they were able to fill the breaks (where the solos would have been) with some quality riffage and drum fills. The highlight of their set is frontman Steve who not only has a powerful expansive vocal range but also is a consummate showman getting the crowd involved by stalking the floor and getting everyone clapping and chanting along. He also has a secret weapon in the form of his lovely wife spinning her poi during their set which was a great visual touch to the brutal metal rampage. Bolstered by some great sound (as were the headliners) Counterhold are defiantly one of the bands to watch as they have some anthemic arena ready songs and give a quality, professional performance that can get everyone head banging, singing and will fill arenas when given the chance. 8/10
Evil Scarecrow
There is a list of things I thought I would never hear or see at a metal gig and tonight many were ticked off that list: Windmilling drummer? Check! Metal cover of the Thundercats theme? (I shit you not) Check! 100 people doing the robot and then doing the can-can to rousing black metal rendition of The Final Countdown? Very much check. Yes Evil Scarecrow's set featured all of this lunacy and much more! To fill you in hailing form Nottingham these metal maniacs blend the black metal of Dimmu and Cradle with some old school metal riffage and shake it all up with Pythonesque madness thrown in. They were possibly one of the funniest, craziest and most entertaining bands I have seen. Opening with the very stupid but heavy as a really heavy thing War And Seek which became the scary (?) Vampyre Trousers. The band had syncopated guitar moves with guitarist Brother Dimitri Pain bassist Kraven Morrdeth and guitarist/singer Dr. Rabid Hell all pulled out their best shapes and were aided and abetted in their madness by keyboardist Princess Luxury and all round nutter (and set destroyer) drummer Ringmaster Monty Blitzfist. For a parody metal band they are no amateurs all of them are tight players and their songs like the bizarre Sixty Six Minutes Past Six are quite progressive. Their own songs are crazy enough with Godzilla's Lament inspiring monster poses, Morbid Witch a sing-along and Thundercats just bringing huge smiles. The set was flawless it was part heavy metal gig part stand-up routine and was filled with some absolutely excellent songs which climaxed in the aforementioned robot dancing during fan favourite Robotron and much can-caning during closer The Final Countdown. Evil Scarecrow are a band that you could watch every week and still be entertained their sense of fun is infectious and they left on as big of a high as the crowd did. Possibly the best, if not the most entertaining, live band on the circuit. 10/10
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