How could you follow that? Well, Self Made Man managed it! Last time I saw this band I thought they had a very charismatic singer who largely took over the act. This time I heard a band firing on all cylinders with a singer who was unleashing as much power as the instruments. For a so-called thrash band - and this band is so much more than that term belies - they play songs that are more like epics, each taking on a life of their own as they exude more inventiveness and originality of arrangement per song than most similar bands manage in an entire set. Take the lenghty track, "Self Made Man", a an example - the raw power of the guiatrs and rhythm section twisting and turning as the song moves from accelerated thunder to a juggernaut of mid-paced dynamite, the singer roaring out the, completely audible, lyrics as though his life depended on it, but none of this in that clicheed manner in which most hardcore bands reside, and a track that is utterly spellbinding as you watch the guy, transfixed, and the band lays down the maelstrom below. Follow this with "Fear and Consumption", a monster train-ride of hardcore song-writing with a chorus attached as the band erupts and another slab of metal-core is unleashed on the now spellbound audience. On "Rise & Revolution" (I think), the vocals powered out over a solid, grungy backing which then accelerates as the band fire up and simply powere their way to nirvana as the vocals head for oblivion in even stronger fashion. The band justifiably received an encore, this time a roaring vocal over a raging guitar riff as the band explodes into action and the guitar solos with intensity. A controlled thrashing monster of a track with clearly heard, thought-provoking lyrics, that becomes a nuclear maelstrom of electrifying power. Overall, this was a lot tighter set from this hardcore band with more of an ensemble performance as the massive metal blitz that avoided extremes, with long-ish songs well arranged, provided an ultra heavy set of jaw-dropping proportions.
After this camne the main band of the evening, Souldrive. As different as you could get, this was a more traditional heavy rock trio, but even here there was a huge amount of variation in their set of wholly original songs as you spotted more influences along the way than you'd think possible. At various times I found myself thinking of everything from Metallica and Sammy Hagar to Journey and Van Halen, although hearing this set of songs for the first time took more concentration than I had left after what I'd just witnessed, so fogive me for a lack of review detail here. The songs, to be fair, weren't exactly hook-laden, and were mostly what you'd call mid-paced and solid, heavy and rocking but more intricate than that belies. What was memorable, however, was the lead guitarist who largely stole the show with a strong set of solos throughout. The final, largely instrumental, track showed the band off to their best with some searing guitar work over disembowelling bass and crunching drums on quite a lengthy number that managed to maintain the interest of the audience and earn justifiable applause. A good band, but one I'd need to see again to do more justice to a set review.
As I said above, a frighteningly good evening of variation and power - you missed a treat!!