Post by markwj on Apr 12, 2010 17:52:50 GMT
Death Angel, Savage Messiah, Mental Block
Central Station, Wrexham
7/7/10
So now off to Wrexham on the train, arriving just in time to discover the joys of the ‘spoons beer festival starting today, so it would have been rude to refuse giving ourselves a head start before enduring the silly prices and/or rubbish quality of refreshments at Central.
It did mean that we missed the first local support band but we did swiftly get to see Deeside’s Mental Block apparently doing their first gig. That made the tight crossover thrash I’d checked out on their myspace all the more impressive, two of them in shirts of the retro/revival leaders Municipal Waste giving a big indication of their acknowledged influence. However, live they didn’t come across quite so well, both in terms of sound where there wasn’t a sharpness to pick up on their fast riffing and also they were a bit lifeless on stage. Maybe the presence will come with time, they definitely got the tunes to build on
London’s Savage Messiah was the main support, another return to our lovely parts after recently being at Hammerfest. They were definitely an advanced and slick outfit, and are already operating at the level of having inde albums out. You couldn’t really fault their thrash for what it was, intense riffing and good technical musicianship. The guitarist front man having a touch of Megadeath’s Dave Mustaine to his sneer, the only problem I could reflect on was there weren’t necessarily any standout tracks or perhaps enough chorus hooks that would linger long in the mind afterwards, but that doesn’t greatly detract from a consistent quality performance.
The treat of having a great and longstanding thrash legend band like Death Angel playing one of their four UK dates for us in Wrexham falls somewhat flat as the turnout is frankly paltry, less than 100. I would have thought it would have been a draw for all of the North West but apparently not, odd compared to seeing them a couple of years back at Hellfest among 1000’s. Still, that’s not going to mean less of a show from them and to the enjoyment of a lot of us regulars who had gone for it. Having had a 10 year hiatus in the 90’s and a much changed line up too their material is a mix of the couple of albums released since their reformation and stuff for the old school (they were pointing at Ell for some reason when they said that). It’s all excellent and they weave about on stage with a lot of energy, dreadlocked front man Mark is a charismatic guy. The only other original member Rob makes his guitar work look pretty effortless, while the new bassist Sam with his finger playing Rickenbacker is obviously influenced like me by the legend Cliff Burton, also from their home town of San Francisco. Rolling out classics like “Kill as One”, “Seemingly Endless Time” and “Mistress of Pain” reminds just how good they were at writing memorable songs and melodies, and though unfamiliar as yet material from this years forthcoming album is definitely up to par. They seem pleased with the fervent reaction to their show and are happy to mill around in the crowd by their merch after, though maybe they should have been watching their plectrums on stage, or the huge Faust poster on the wall that fell down into someone’s arms.
The enjoyable night descended into madness and I think my drink must have been spiked as I’m sure I hallucinated the sight of the athlete James Flames running off into the distance afterwards, can’t have been?
Central Station, Wrexham
7/7/10
So now off to Wrexham on the train, arriving just in time to discover the joys of the ‘spoons beer festival starting today, so it would have been rude to refuse giving ourselves a head start before enduring the silly prices and/or rubbish quality of refreshments at Central.
It did mean that we missed the first local support band but we did swiftly get to see Deeside’s Mental Block apparently doing their first gig. That made the tight crossover thrash I’d checked out on their myspace all the more impressive, two of them in shirts of the retro/revival leaders Municipal Waste giving a big indication of their acknowledged influence. However, live they didn’t come across quite so well, both in terms of sound where there wasn’t a sharpness to pick up on their fast riffing and also they were a bit lifeless on stage. Maybe the presence will come with time, they definitely got the tunes to build on
London’s Savage Messiah was the main support, another return to our lovely parts after recently being at Hammerfest. They were definitely an advanced and slick outfit, and are already operating at the level of having inde albums out. You couldn’t really fault their thrash for what it was, intense riffing and good technical musicianship. The guitarist front man having a touch of Megadeath’s Dave Mustaine to his sneer, the only problem I could reflect on was there weren’t necessarily any standout tracks or perhaps enough chorus hooks that would linger long in the mind afterwards, but that doesn’t greatly detract from a consistent quality performance.
The treat of having a great and longstanding thrash legend band like Death Angel playing one of their four UK dates for us in Wrexham falls somewhat flat as the turnout is frankly paltry, less than 100. I would have thought it would have been a draw for all of the North West but apparently not, odd compared to seeing them a couple of years back at Hellfest among 1000’s. Still, that’s not going to mean less of a show from them and to the enjoyment of a lot of us regulars who had gone for it. Having had a 10 year hiatus in the 90’s and a much changed line up too their material is a mix of the couple of albums released since their reformation and stuff for the old school (they were pointing at Ell for some reason when they said that). It’s all excellent and they weave about on stage with a lot of energy, dreadlocked front man Mark is a charismatic guy. The only other original member Rob makes his guitar work look pretty effortless, while the new bassist Sam with his finger playing Rickenbacker is obviously influenced like me by the legend Cliff Burton, also from their home town of San Francisco. Rolling out classics like “Kill as One”, “Seemingly Endless Time” and “Mistress of Pain” reminds just how good they were at writing memorable songs and melodies, and though unfamiliar as yet material from this years forthcoming album is definitely up to par. They seem pleased with the fervent reaction to their show and are happy to mill around in the crowd by their merch after, though maybe they should have been watching their plectrums on stage, or the huge Faust poster on the wall that fell down into someone’s arms.
The enjoyable night descended into madness and I think my drink must have been spiked as I’m sure I hallucinated the sight of the athlete James Flames running off into the distance afterwards, can’t have been?