Tailgunner, Battle Born & The Rattlebacks, KK’s Steel Mill, 16.10.24
Back at our home from home, here at KK’s Steel Mill for a night of adrenaline pumping heavy metal with NWOBHM upstarts, Taillgunner.
The night began with a completely unknown band to us, The Rattlebacks (9). Hailing from the Brighton area, this combo shook KK’s to it’s foundations with a blistering opener of a track that was groovy, doomy and superbly heavy. Aptly entitled The Taste, as it was a taste of things to come, it’s the opening track off their forthcoming album Sidewinder, from which we get another teaser from later on in the set with the track The Waste.
The rhythm section is boil and punchy, reverb bouncing off the walls, whilst the guitars pay homage to the down-tuned riffage of Iommi, but with added grooves. Front man, Josh Clarke, is the epitome of a ‘70s cool dude, and is the final piece of this enigmatic jigsaw. The top it off by getting Tailgunner bassist Tom Hewson to join them on stage for an excellent cover of Priest Breaking The Law. What a great start!
Next up is a band we’ve seen previously, Power Metal stalwarts Battle Born (9). This is the polar opposite to the doom laden grooves of Rattlebacks. Fast, exuberant and unashamedly fun. With tracks like Dragon Heart, Blood Or Fire, Power Force and who can forget Down Your Drinks and Raise Your Swords, it’s stirring, infectious stuff, but done incredibly well and with great musicianship. This was clearly in evidence when they did a cover of Survivors Burning Heart. The Power Metal genre is often looked down upon by the metal elitists but personally I think it’s great fun, very entertaining and usually visually interesting. Love ‘em!
Tailgunner (10) have simmered for a while now, but with some recent line up changes and the release of their highly acclaimed album Guns For Hire they’ve finally reached their potential, and who knows where they can take this. Bassist and driving force Tom Hewson has persevered with his vision of what Tailgunner should be, and now it’s paying dividends.
They open up with the albums title track Guns For Hire, a classic British Heavy Metal anthem. Heavy, fast riffs, mind-blowing solos and headbanging rhythm sections. The influences of and love for NWOBHM is obvious, but nothing wrong with that.
Front man Craig Cairns is a real find and a perfect fit for this band. An incredible vocal range and full of confidence and bravado. In amongst their set, which is predominantly made up from tracks off the album, they slot in a couple of covers which showcase, not just Craigs, but the whole bands abilities. They perfectly nail Painkiller with Cairns hitting those high notes faultlessly and if that wasn’t impressive enough (with KK himself rumoured to be present tonight), they treat us to a stirring cover of Dio’s Don’t Talk To Strangers
Photographer Tony was never into that first wave of NWOBHM, but to me, this feels like being back there at the beginning , with those bands on the cusp of greatness, is this what Tailgunner can go on and achieve? Is this the future of British Heavy Metal? You better believe it!
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