A View From The Back Of The Room: BMF 666 Charity Gig Pontypool

BMF 666 Charity Gig: Isolation, Sepulchre & Eulogy, The Dragonflli, Pontypool

The second Bloodstock Metal Forum charity evening of the year was a slightly more muted affair than the previous one at Fuel Rock Club. This time the action took place at The Dragonflli in Pontypool, I bit further away than Cardiff centre but in true troubadour style we made our way against the adversity of a broken vehicle to the venue to support a glut of local talent. Upon arrival we were informed that Sounds Of Insane Music wasn't performing so there was only three acts playing this evening however the atmosphere was warm with everyone pulling together to raise as much money for Hope GB (Local Autism Charity) as possible. With an alcohol free Budweiser in hand (seriously this is great beer, sweet and moreish) it was time for the night to begin.

First up on the stage were Eulogy (7) a groove laden trio that did a stock in trade with stoner influence rock. Drawing similarities to Pig Irön (especially vocally) they rocked away with the crowd bobbing along nicely to the fat riffs. A slightly ropey start and a complete lack of lead guitar gave way to a more entertaining final third of the set where Neil's voice grew into a Mark Tornillo styled bellow and the band eased into a groove cracking jokes about the size of the crowd (it was still early) before finishing with a bang. Nothing like a bit of hard rocking to get the night off to a strong start, it was an easy way to kick things off saving the heavy for later.

As far as the next band on stage were concerned there is a simple question to ask. Do you like Slayer and Kreator? Well good because so do Swansea death thrashers Sepulchre (8), expanded to a four piece since I last saw them adding guitarist Dan Yeoman and bassist Ashley Quinton to the founding duo of Darren Evans vocal/guitar and drummer Aimee Coppola. The addition of the second guitar is pretty vital to their sound it's given them a much more vibrant and aggressive style meaning the riffs snarl as much as Darren's death metal vocal. He's an excellent frontman bare chested and headbanging with all and sundry (the wonders of a guitar wireless system) the major focal point while the remaining three members lock in for serious aggression. Tracks such as Dreadnought, Slave Psychosis and Betrayed By God were delivered with venom and got those who were straggling in the bar into the performance room to throwdown. It was injection of pace the night needed with the room filling during their set. It was great to see this band live again as they always impress but now they seem more ferocious than before.

Finally it was time to add a little theatricality to the evening with the headliners for the evening Isolation (7). Curiously the look of the band totally betrays their sound, with those on the instruments decked out in orange prison overalls and a corpse painted frontman arrived in a straight jacket and leather Lecter mask. Those expecting King Diamond, Cradle Of Filth or even Alice Cooper though were gravely mistaken as Isolation have a sound much more in tune with Ghost, it's NWOBHM styled melodic metal ripe with bouncy riffs, clean solos and horror lyrics. The gravelly vocals meant it was more Di'Anno than Dickinson but the songs were pretty decent although a cover of Breaking The Law wasn't totally needed but it's a Saturday night so sometime a singalong is just what the (mad) doctor ordered.

All in all it was another successful night from Jenny Lou and Craig of the BMF (South Wales Branch) who organised the show. They made £190 for Hope GB and got a lot of local bands a new audience. The next BMF outing is at Easter next year and is already looking to be a cracker with Witch Tripper headlining. Good work to all involved! Can't wait to do it again!