Black Spiders - No Goats In The Omen

Black Spiders
No Goats In The Omen
4/5
Dark Riders

As a band who've supported Airbourne, Kiss and Ozzy Osbourne, it’s no surprise that Black Spiders rock. After punching us in the face with hard riffs on merely an EP and a single, they’ve already built quite a name for themselves, and with their second EP, it’s not hard to see why.

No Goats In The Omen, aside from having a brilliant title, is yet another solid release. Kicking things off with tongue placed firmly in cheek, ‘Just like a woman’ is straight from a better 70’s hard rock album. Jumping straight in with a riff bound to be a show opener. ‘D&B’ follows with a deceptively tiny intro, before thundering into a sprint. But stealing the show is ‘Cold Dead Hands.’ A huge tune which demands to be sung along to and has you ready for a fist fight. A cover of Motorheads ‘No Class’ finishes things off nicely.

It’s really hard to think how a band with so few releases can be so comfortably in their stride. A no nonsense approach working in their favour, No Goats... is a short but sweet EP that smashes you across the head and has you wanting this year’s promised debut full length. Now.

Asteroid - II

Asteroid
II
5/5
Fuzzorama Records
To sum up Asteroid in one word, you’d probably have to say fuzz. A Swedish trio of promising musicians, the more psychedelic edges of stoner rock seem to run through their veins and they apply it to record with surprising confidence.

Following on from 2008’s self titled and a split with fellow fuzzsters Blowback, early adopters will be pleased that II is more polished production wise, but loses none of the haze which makes their sound enchanting. By the second track ‘Disappear’, they’ll have won most of you over. The vocals are powerful and yet the backing to these feels ripped straight from an instrumental band. For the most part, a very relaxed pace is spread across the record and even the faster paced tracks, such as ‘Lady’ never really break past a trot. The last three songs, ‘Towers’, ‘Fire’ and ‘Time’ almost blend together into one which speaks volumes for an album where not one track feels out of place.

Packed full of hooks without screaming for your attention, II is an album which fights its way into your consciousness and makes you reach for it again and again. Laid back and trippy, this could be one of 2010’s best.

Rebirth

Right, this page has kind of fallen flat for rather a while. Exams led to summer, summer led to festivals, festivals led to busy. Been places, done things. As such, over the next few days, I'm going to review the 3 major festivals I've been to this year (Download, Sonisphere & Bloodstock - plus probably a comparison article), along with a lot of the albums I've been listening to; from the obscure Asteroid II, to the world beating Iron Maidens 'The Final Frontier.'


Hopefully I'm not too rusty.

Cypress Hill - Rise Up

Cypress Hill

Rise Up

3.5/5

Priority Records

Cypress Hill is an odd band. In 1991, they released their debut hip-hop album and staggeringly, the rock community accepted i. That’s not a sentence you read often. It’s perhaps not surprising then, that since then, they’ve strived to add a rock element to their albums. This shows on Rise Up.

Still mainly a hip-hop album, Rise Up overflows with some of the fantastic West Coast rap which got them where they are. ‘It Ain’t Nothin’’ is up there with any of their early songs; A raw nineties feel and the trademarked aggression that won them so many fans to start with. However, there’s also a shockingly generic collaboration with Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park in the form of ‘Carry Me Away.’

Where the praise most lies on this album though is on the heavier edges. System of a Down guitarist Daron Malakian brings one of the most fiercely frantic riffs you’ll hear all year in ‘Trouble Seeker’ and Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello appears on ‘Rise Up’ a tune with serious power and bounce.

Rise Up hasn’t tweaked the formula from their past few releases too much, but they’ve certainly executed it better. Their best album in a decade.

Sonisphere Preview

Sonisphere Festival
Knebworth
July 30 – August 1

Sonisphere Festival may be in its infancy, but it’s already touring Europe like some sort of Metal Juggernaut. Hitting no fewer than 11 countries, the UK leg sees 3 of the greatest stage shows in rock in headline slots. Alice Cooper headlines the half day Friday, with German pyromaniacs, Rammstein on Saturday and heavy metal legends, Iron Maiden close the festival on Sunday.

With the main 2 stages exploiting a staggered system (as soon as a band on Saturn Stage stops, the band on Apollo Stage starts), Sonisphere prides itself on having more high calibre bands with less clashes. Also added to proceedings are the Bohemia tent for smaller bands, which runs longer into the night, the Jägermeister truck for unsigned bands and an as of yet unknown stage, meaning plenty more to be announced over the coming months.

Although bands haven’t been officially assigned days yet, the Friday is said to have a Rocky Horror theme, with horror based bands and mass fancy dress encouraged. Bands added so far range in style and quality. For metal, look no further than Fear Factory, Municipal Waste and Evile with thrash titans Slayer and Anthrax. The classic vibe is brought with bands such as Europe, Terrorvision, Mötley Crue, Alice In Chains and Iggy Pop. Punk and hardcore are covered with Gallows and Sick Of It All. Also, bands including Madina lake, Family Force 5, Funeral For A Friend, Papa Roach, Fightstar and Bring Me The Horizon appear, which won’t be most metalheads cup of tea, but show the diversity the festival has. Also, controversial recent additions Pendulum will be looking to put on the show of a lifetime to silence the critics of their ‘worth’ on a rock festival bill.

Download Preview

Download Festival

Donington Park

11-13 June

After a first sell out for Download in 2009, it seemed unlikely that the UK’s biggest rock festival would match the excitement in 2010. Then came the headliners; AC/DC, probably the biggest rock band on the planet, Rage Against The Machine, a band riding the crest of that Christmas number one and Aerosmith, wielding as many hits as you could care to imagine. If that’s not grabbing your attention, check for a pulse.

Friday this year sees a smaller line-up than previous years, but with super-group Them Crooked Vultures and Wolfmother playing on the main stage under ‘DC, it’s scarcely worse quality. Other stages on the opening day include Job For A Cowboy, Coheed and Cambria and UK’s very own Bullet For My Valentine.

Saturday brings the heavy this year, with a stellar main line up seeing thrash legends Megadeth play alongside Deftones, Lamb Of God, Five Finger Deth Punch with Rage Against The Machine headlining. Lower stages bring the perfect alternative with 30 Seconds To Mars, Him and Volbeat potential highlights.

Celebrating 30 years since the first iconic Monsters of Rock festival (essentially the precursor to Download), this year sees a continuation of last year’s ‘Classic Rock Sunday’ main stage. Bands such as Mötorhead, Billy Idol, Slash, Ratt and Saxon, the latter of which appeared at MoR all those 30 years ago, take up this spot under Aerosmith. Also appearing on other stages are Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor’s other band Stone Sour, Airbourne, glam mockers Steel Panther and Zebrahead.

With another 50 or so more bands to announce before the festival rolls around and a stunning set of bands already in place, this year’s Download Festival promises to rival any other in the UK this Summer. If Leeds/Reading isn’t your thing, Download is the place for you.

Recommended gig: Karma To Burn W/Year Long Disaster

Who: Karma To Burn W/Year Long Disaster
Date: 21/04/10
Where: Manchester Academy 3


After a wasp strewn performance at last summer's Download Festival and a fantastic run of support shows for Monster Magnet in December, stoner rock legends Karma To Burn finally give the UK a run of headline shows. Some of their first since reforming in early 2009. Supporting their upcoming album Appalachian Incantation, expect a heavy, gritty, instrumental band with fantastic technical abilities and a relentless, methodical approach to playing. Their lack of vocals only serving to keep the band focused on thunderous riffery. Joining them on tour are hard rock up-and-comers Year Long Disaster, making it a busy double shift for Rich Mullins, the bassist for both bands. A no nonsense rock gig. Should be perfect.

For fans of: Kyuss, Orange Goblin, Monster Magnet

Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/karmatoburn
http://www.myspace.com/yearlongdisaster

Airbourne - No Guts. No Glory.

Airbourne

No Guts. No Glory.

Roadrunner Records

5/5

To say that Airbourne’s 2008 debut Runnin’ Wild sounds like an AC/DC album is a fairly huge understatement. Same screeching guitars, similar growling vocals and same pure balls to the wall, pure rock and roll philosophy. Hell, if their guitarist donned a school uniform, there’d be little difference. But blasting out No Guts. No Glory. it’s hard to see how this is a bad thing.

What you get here is the usual formula of chant laden anthems about sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, with a few songs about booze thrown in for good measure. The perfect encapsulation of this is ‘It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over’, the fastest, catchiest song on the album without a shadow of a doubt. Other favourites here include ‘Blonde, Bad And Beautiful’, ‘Raise The Flag’ and ‘Get Busy Livin.’’ Whilst you’ll win no prizes for guessing what either of them are about (aside from scattered double entendre’s, what you see is what you get), you’ll be screaming their chorus out loud before it’s even hit.

Though the album is going to do nothing to shake off the sound-alike comparisons, Airbourne have achieved something spectacular here; they’ve released the best AC/DC album since 1981.

Bigelf W/Priestess

Bigelf W/ Priestess

Manchester Academy 3

23/02/2010

****

Thomas Geddes

Going into a Bigelf gig as a newcomer, you’d be forgiven for expecting a rather serious, needlessly self indulgent kind of performance. After all, that’s prog. Quite a far cry from the reality of a genuinely impressive, crowd engaging slab of bi-organed lunacy.

Support band Priestess kicked off the night with a thunderous, fifty minute set packed with a surprising absence of filler. Hitting fan favourites early on and bringing the newer material in later; a wise move, seeing the crowd more involved from the off. The biggest highlight here was seeing their second album songs translate much better with the energy of a live show than they did initially on CD.

Bigelf were next onstage, fronted by top hatted, Damon Fox. Powering straight into the doomed sound which engulfs their set with ‘Evils of Rock and Roll’, it’s instantly clear that playing two organs at once, whilst also singing isn’t a gimmick, but a genuine spectacle. Fox commands the stage, from the three foot square he’s confined to. Having a seemingly endless repertoire of banter and amusing anecdotes to reel off between songs, he ensures there’s not a lull in the entire gig. There are certainly nods toward Black Sabbath, Rush and most noticeably, Pink Floyd, as Fox is quick to point out. “This song seems to have a line we accidentally stole from Pink Floyd... and YouTube won’t let me forget about it.” Fantastic, fun set to say the least.

With Priestess and Bigelf tipped for big things in the coming years, it would certainly be a shame to see the latter lose the intimacy which made this set all the more enjoyable. All the same, both bands deserve all the accolades and, if there’s any justice, should enjoy playing bigger venues the next time round.