A View From The Castle: Rock The Castle (Alex Tobias)

Rock The Castle, Cardiff Castle, 19.07.25

To kick us off on this day of Welsh music bliss we have half American and half Welsh band Kill The Lights (7), they walk out to a no where near half capacity yet but that certainly doesn't stop them breaking into their first song, with classic metalcore melodies that will make you sway and lift that dominant hand in the air to blast out the war cry. 

Heavy riffage that reminds me of one of the founding members and drummer of this band, Michael "Moose" Thomas, Bullet For My Valentine but there are definitely more darker tones when the screams from former BFMV man Jason 'Jay' James hit maximum mosh levels. 

A song that stood out for me in the set was one of there more lighter tones, From Ashes, from there 2024 album Death Melodies, caught me singing the chorus very quickly into the song, had that old style Papa Roach bounce with clean modern metalcore riffage we all love. 

A very good crowd response throughout the set in all, more than enough people there towards the end were singing along and gave them a really good reception to the day.

Next up were West Wales band Dream State (8), with a lot more people in at this point the roar that Dream State got as they walked out would say to anyone that this band has a good following and even into the first song you can tell why, Jessie Powell has a vocal range that ranges from Dreamy melodic singing to pure evil straight out of an Otep album.

A circle pit opened up on the second song and that was constant for the rest of the set, very good crowd interaction by the whole band, very engaging to everything around them, stage presence from all members was great to see. 

Chin Up Princess, from the 2024 EP Still Dreaming, was the track that caught me, a crazy ride from first 808 boom to silky synth outro, going from drum and bass screams straight into a very catchy almost k pop chorus with Linkin Park vibes, drops of classic Static X marching drums on the heavy parts and then an ending that is half time heaven. 

A good send off when they finished the set by a very big and full looking castle at this point.

Casey (7) hit the stage with rays of sunshine for the first time on a very moody day, from the biggening to end of set Casey would bring all of that mood to a boil with the dark chugging of riffs entering your soul like a night on the doom metal. 

A cocktail of vocals and lyrics that will stop you in silence and start you thinking quicker than your brain can come to terms with the emotions pouring out, to guttural post hardcore screams filled with all the anger and meaning that a human can express. 

Casey are a band that tell a story with each song and one that stood out for me was a song called Haze from the 2016 album Love Is Not Enough. The song is a conversation that most people would of had in there own heads about relationships in many ways, with soft melodic guitar delays and words of inner thought.

The change up half way through is a heavy Melodic Deftones style with more elements of the hardcore scene that punches you in the heart with an out pouring of vocal soul breaking screams. This Welsh band came to tell a tale and delivered.

You could feel the excitement and energy in the crowd in anticipation for the next band, Punk Rock Factory (8) have come to bring the energy and everyone gladly replies from first song to the last. The range of covers we get are great, anything Disney to TMNT with some classic pop chart songs from the past. 

All members just ooze a natural stage presence with lots of energy and moves, music wise they are most certainly a pop punk rock band but I found more on the NOFX and old style green day punk, obviously leaning into more pop style beats when perfectly needed in the ways Blink 182 craft there songs. 

Quote of the day from Peej on Vocals and guitar for the band "we are 40 year old men playing Disney" which got a huge applaud and plenty of laughs, pure joy and singalongs from everyone here watching as they belt out classics. 

Hearing the Power Rangers Theme and the number one hit by Bewitched C'est La Vie, were my favourite moments, they have the stage presence and connection with the crowd down to a art form and with the songs that they craft into punk rock just adds to the already dam good performance.

The Blackout (8) enter the stage with smiles and a huge roar of applause from the crowd, the clouds have turned dark again and we get the first spits of rain which adds to the music that's just started from the Merthyr Tydfil band. The Blackout bounce off each other very nice on stage, never seeming to be getting in each others way with co singers,

Gavin Butler and Sean Smith, being all over the stage and commanding the action. Playing an impressive back catalogue of songs Save Our Selves, from there 2009 album The Best In Town, has that classic singalong chorus that I dare you to not be humming at least by the second time round hearing, a mixture of styles going on from each song depending on album and year.

While Children Of Night, my favourite of theirs, smashes you in the face with that punk beat throughout with guitars and bass hitting all the right notes of that late noughties emo scene perfectly, plenty of fast chugs with catchy as hell melody's thrown in. 

I did get the sense that from the reaction, appreciation and love that The Blackout got there were plenty of people here that got tickets because of them also, great fun throughout the entire set.

The rain came down for our headliners and as Funeral For A Friend (8) as they got to stage, the dark clouds and night descended finally to make a real impact to the atmosphere in the audience and on stage too, with the huge backdrop displaying the classic cover of Hours, the bands iconic 2005 album, being the 20th anniversary the reason we are here in the capitol in a castle celebrating and watching this night of Welsh music. 

The crowd go berserk as the band walk on to stage, new singer, Lucas Woodland, gives the fans a huge thumbs up and smiles from the band all round, its time to listen and enjoy this album from start to finish, we kick off with All The Rage the opening track from Hours with pits and lots of head movements all around. 

After a long day not a single person has lost any energy for this. No messing about as we go through popular songs such as Streetcar and Roses For The Dead. By the time we get to the song drive I am in full nostalgia moment remembering belting out "this could be a movie" over and over again.

Moving on to another hit from the album we get to Recovery, really bringing out that post hardcore sound that made them a huge band with catchy melodic riffage with punching and feet moving drums, a mid section that hooks you in deeper. 

After thanking everyone that has ever bought the album and made it what it was they play Sonny, a sombre song that rounds off the whole album so perfectly and the set. Its always interesting when a band perform an entire album for whatever reason as there is always going to be favourite songs and not so much on said album for many people but you never got that feeling with this performance, the crowd went crazy from first to last song and love every second of it.

The band retire offstage for 5 mins to build up to the ending songs and of the show, they still have plenty of hits to play. A stand out in the ending set was the always good to hear song Juneau, from the 2004 album Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation, a post hardcore emo classic that has the audience in full on jump mode. 

So we get to the ending and closing us out is the iconic song Escape Artists Never Die, this song for many people in the UK defined the start of the emo and post hardcore times and bands, a great song to end a very good set from lets face it now these Welsh legends at this point. 

The stage presence throughout was excellent and connection to the crowd they had purring out of there palms the whole time, a very loved band and its very well deserved.