Lifeforce, Nuclear Blast and
Roadrunner records presents. The Monster Mosh Down tour featuring - Ektomorf (Hun), Disbelief (Ger), Betzefer (Isr), By Night (Swe). Esquires Level 2 Bedford. Monday 17th October 2005. Keith www.bedfordmetal.co.uk and Steve Norman www.bedfordesquires.co.uk
Lifeforce / Nuclear
Blast and Roadrunner records
You will probably never again see a line up like this in Bedford - record
companies contacting Esquires to put four of their signed bands at an intimate
venue. The sort of metal that you would normally have to go to London venues to
see.
It was at first like walking in to someone's clothes filed bedroom, with each
band taking over one side of the room with their T-shirt and merchandise stall
(Which featured a free 10 track Lifeforce records sampler - so if you were not
there you missed out!) The promoter lost getting Trivium to play, from the same
record companies but did how ever manage to score these. Starting with
By Night (Swe). This Swedish bands
muscley lead singer threw an aggressive hardcore sound from his cordless mic.
While at times resting his foot on the front bar in a pose commonly adopted by
Iron Maiden's bassist. With more tattoos than clothes and at times hid behind
the front 'Metal Hammer' banner seeming somewhat close to looking as if he was
going to throw us a quick puppet show from behind it.
They had a five-string bassist that helped the sound along and overall, produced
quite an aggressive sound that the venue lighting guy could be seen bopping
along to.
Betzefer (Isr). This band
sounded as if they had a more melodic guitar tone to begin with, including much
better use of guitar riffs, time swings and changes incorporated in to their
music. The songs had a large quotient of vocals, which were barked out in a 'Pantera'
like style. One humorous moment was when the lead singer, when conversing with
the people in the audience asked "So how are you guys sleeping?" A
wrong choice of word there, although their lyrics showed a better command of the
English language. Their bassist and drummer were both swinging their dread locks
and putting in a no holds barred performance, as if they were playing to a much
more larger crowd.
Disbelief
(Ger). I had heard quite good reviews of this band. The members of this and
other bands on the bill all seemed to have either long or no hair. I thought
most of the time that it was difficult to hear the lead singer, who seemed
drowned out from the rest of what was going on, he reminded me of that band
Wizard from the 70's with his Viking like beard but did actually sing quite well
and was holding on to notes, sounding quite like a musical instrument in him
self, which I just thought, needed a little more volume.
Ektomorf(Hun). This Hungarian band used
quite a few intros to their songs, one of which sounded quite acoustic, a bit of
a shock I imagine if you thought they were playing that live!
Their first few tracks included 'Set Me Free' 'Show Your Fist' and 'Fuck You
All' from these white sock and trainer wearing band sporting Nike and Addidas
labels, more in line with tennis racket than guitar holders, but getting through
an amazing set with 'You Leech' and a fantastic Heavy cover version of the
Prodigy song 'Fuel My Fire' - They certainly knew how to fuel the fire of those
up front.
The drummer seemed to be sitting side saddle at his camouflage painted kit, with
'United Nation' and 'I Will' closing a rare chance to see a line up like this,
on your own doorstep with out having to head to places like Camden Underworld
where they had played before.
They stayed to talk to people after the show as well and proved to be really
cool people as well as talented. They have played alongside one of my favorite
bands from Germany - Kreator, and told me they know them quite well, after I had
spotted a Kreator sticker on their drum kit.
Nothing could have been more Bedford Metal than real metal like this in Bedford.
A shout out to The Delicate Children members who turned up. It was such a shame
that there were not so many people in attendance. Maybe Monday nights can't get
people out, or the venue has had no variety and catering for pop punk for so
long that it is difficult to recognize the place as a place for proper Metal at
last!
REVIEW TWO BY STEVE NORMAN
Barely an Englishman in sight as BY NIGHT kick off this Monday night of multicultural mayhem, featuring some of the most metal bands on offer from Sweden, Germany and Israel. Relentless, high-octane pounding behind brutal guitars complimented by the odd thrashy twiddle is the order of the day here, all fronted by a bare-chested lunatic with all the intensity of Henry Rollins, off exploring his own little world in front of a backdrop of writhing hair! Clinically close to perfection? and only the first band on!
Up second is BETZEFER, offering a slightly more traditional high-speed thrash metal that?s not a million miles away from ?Cowboys From Hell? era Pantera (but without the compromise). And here?s another lead singer you wouldn?t mess with! It?s just a shame the Esquires stage isn?t bigger ? you could tell that the two guitarists were just dying to sprint across it, criss-crossing in the middle, classic metal style!
Third on is DISBELIEF. Now this is an entire band you wouldn?t mess with! Utterly desolate, doom-laden heaviness ensues. Imagine Slayer at their most guttural (and without the solos), dragged through a meat grinder to emerge this inedible mess with bits of gristle hanging off it. That?s how good they were!!! And god knows what to say about the singer! Hair spewing out of every pore is a start, but his vocals were unbelievable, ranging from Lemmy to Type O Negative with what I expect a pig slaughter gone wrong sounds like in between! Actually, the two meat references there were unintentional, but thinking about it my subconscious is obviously likening this experience to some dirty, dusty, fly infested Deep South abattoir that no one thought to take the rotting animal bits out of before they abandoned it. Absolutely awesome, all the same. Disbelief indeed!
Finally the headliners, EKTOMORF. I think there?s an art to writing songs that drive a mosh-pit absolutely mental that few have mastered; Kerry King once said that if he writes a riff that he can?t imagine a mosh pit going mental to, he chucks it away. These guys are obviously from the same school of thought. This is pure energy battering you from the stage at more beats per minute than is healthy, punctuated by the briefest of barely noticeable pauses that are just long enough to give the bassist time to slide down the fret board and the drums to kick back in again with incredible impact to signal a new onslaught, when you hadn?t really noticed the last one ending. These guys have all the potential to be the new Sepultura, and I don?t say that lightly.
So what a night! Four incredible bands from Roadrunner and Lifeforce, here on one of only three UK dates. Bedford was honoured tonight by something it?s unlikely to follow for a very long time.