So another night of rock in the capital and yet another poor showing from the Cardiff rock fans, playing to a grand total of four paying customers (who were refunded by the nice chaps) the bands put on their respective shows with aplomb. I feel sorry for anyone that missed this because it was a showcase of some fantastic local talent.
Shadow Of The Sun
The Rhondda Valleys finest noise was in full swing tonight with Shadow Of The Sun bringing their progressive, impressive and joyous rock/metal to the capital. Anchored by the hard hitting drumming from Rhys Jones, some very nifty lead bass playing from Lee Woodmas, the heavy rhythm is then enveloped by the hard rocking, crunchy and at times almost ethereal guitar playing from Dylan Thompson; the four-piece are rounded off by the Maynard James Keenan-like vocals of Matthew Powell. Shadow Of The Sun plough a very unique furrow mixing heavy metal with tripped out prog rock and adding a hearty dose of virtuoso playing. So they have a sound that spans Tool, Floyd, Soundgarden and beyond. In such a small space with great sound it is easy to see that with the right breaks this is a band that could really do something huge. They are truly an asset to the Welsh rock scene. 8/10
Dodgem X
And now for something completely different, transporting us back to the late 70's Dodgem X play angry, abrasive, shouty punk rock with tongues planted in their cheeks. The between song banter was excellent describing horrific gym scenes, and being mental. The band were straight up four-chord punk and despite this not really being my thing my head was nodding throughout their alcohol fuelled set, With songs about starting fires, rape and war Dodgem X rally against the norm with their power chord assault that incited some shirt spinning (albeit from SOTS's drummer Rhys). Dodgem X are a real riot of crazy stories and hard hitting punk rock. 7/10
I Scream For Crow
This was I Scream For Crow's first gig as a four piece (after their second guitarist stepped down the night before) however I have never seen the band before so I have no comparison to what they did sound like. On tonight's evidence they are very good, despite this being in their own words a 'posh practice' the band pushed through their set with vigour. I Scream For Crow are a band hard to describe, they have elements of the Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and even Biffy Clyro mixed up with some off-kilter heavy metal with pulsing funky bass and some clever guitar work. The vocals of Rob Thompson are powerful and perfectly suit the multi-genre assault that the band bring. This means that their songs grow on you developing as the set progresses. Upon first viewing, they really impressed me with their style, songs and general good humour about the ridiculous situation of having more bands than punters (in fact all the bands were very good natured about this). I personally will be seeking out I Scream For Crow again if not just gain a better understanding of the band. 8/10
All in all very good night of local rock, however the support from the so called 'scene' was simply abysmal. Three talented bands, in good venue missed by the general populace. I do hope this trend doesn't continue.
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