A View From The Back Of The Room: Godsticks (Live Review By Paul H)

Godsticks & And The Sky Darkened, Fuel Rock Club, Cardiff

It may have been a ghastly night weather wise, but the temperature inside Fuel was nicely warming as two of South Wales’s most impressive hard rock bands provided a masterclass in quality musicianship. A small but dedicated crowd made sure that both bands received deserved applause.

Opening the night was And The Sky Darkened (8), whose brand of hard rock/metal is incredibly enjoyable. The band’s music mixes several influences to create a fluid and organic sound which is infectious. On stage the four members of the band radiate energy and despite the small stage they are captivating to watch. It’s hard to take your eyes away from drummer Matt ‘Animal’ Thomas, his constant movement as he smashed his way around the kit, firing out fills and rolls every few seconds mesmerising. Clad in cut off shirt and shorts, you soon realised why as his efforts soon created a bath of sweat.

Up front Ryan Lewis has a presence that simply fills the stage, his calm and composed manner belying a ferocity in his vocals and burning guitar work. Alongside Lewis, bassist Jason Price, resplendent in his hat and flowing beard dipped in and out of centre stage, his thunderous bass lines adding heft to the band’s sound and locking tightly with Thomas to allow guitarist Ollie Hansen to crank up the riffs. The 35 minutes swept by, with tracks from the band’s EP The Fracture taking centre stage. I’d seen the band before when they impressed but tonight, they took the level up a notch. A band well worth checking out.

I’d missed Cardiff’s Godsticks (8) at their last gig at the now defunct Buffalo Bar but had seen them a couple of years ago supporting The Pineapple Thief at the Bierkeller in Bristol where they had been a delight to watch. The band are technically superb, progressive and a fusion of styles with a muscular hard rock sound. Playing a set of around 75 minutes, the band focused on a number of tracks from their 2017 album Faced With Rage as well as a selection of older material including Emergence and a rampant Exit Stage Right which rounded off the evening. Dressed simply in black t-shirt and jeans, vocalist and guitarist Darren Charles is the centre of attention, his clear vocals spitting out the intelligent lyrical content. Dan Nelson’s driving bass lines lock with Tom Price’s solid drumming whilst guitarist Gavin Bushell’s intricate guitar work doesn’t go unnoticed.

The band’s music is clever, a mix of hard and progressive rock, with their ability to switch between the killer riff and the quieter darker emotional passage exceptional. With new material on the way, Godsticks teased us with a nine-minute newie, described by Darren as “pretentious as fuck.” It might have been, that’ll depend on your point of view but it sounded good to me. A band that deserve to be playing to much bigger audiences, maybe the cleverness of their music bypasses many. Still, their loss was our gain and as the band finished their set, deserved warm applause from the audience greeted their concluding notes. Another band that you really should see.