'MENDEED, with HEKZ, BLACKOUT and PAROXYSM'.

Bedford Esquires Lev 2.

Saturday 1st April 2006.

Cravens April Fool Fest.

(flyer).

The first time I saw PAROXYSM, was on their home M.K. turf and I thought how well they would go down with the right Bedford crowd. This night was indeed that right night, in fact - if it was put on as a west end show, it could easily have run and run. After a few well received gigs at the Beds Ath.; this was the next logical step for them to progress further. Bravely starting with a new song - 'Serenity: The Enemy'.
Being the first band on, the crowd were a little slow to get things moving, but this soon picked up a pace with some Machine Head, In Flames, Dragonforce influenced metal, with expert growling adding to their hard edge sound. Some of the singing has normal vocals used sparsely and quite low volume compared with the death metal like vocals predominantly mixed in. Their bass player seemed quite laid back while the twin guitar attack provided both melodic and heavy riffs adding no dull moment at any time during their set. I wish these guys all the best, they were looking forward to this gig, they were on form, went down well with the crowd and were a great band to start the night.

BLACKOUT's last gig, which are always a special event when they play. Always somehow managing to pull that little something extra out of the hat, that you were not quite expecting. This time playing B.Y.O.B. from Systems latest 'Mesmerize' album. I didn't think they even liked that track. Well every one certainly went to this party and had a real good time Woooooo. Their singer interacted well with the crowd and is a particularly good singer - coming from the diaphragm and puts in some good guitar work along with their other guitarist, hair waving like a windmill in places with his 7 string and trusty 6 string blue guitar simply bursting with melodic potential. Some fast paced drumming binds all this together and no review would be complete with out mention of the bass demon, with Heloween T-shirt, not moving as much as usual, but then again with two drum kits on stage there wasn't quite the room!

Not giving HEKZ enough space to move around would be a crime, - a bit like caging a bird of prey or putting them on at the Angel. A few amps were climbed though, a backward leap from a guitarist in to the crowd and a shoulder lift round the venue while playing, added to the festival like show these guys can put on! I certainly know that I wasn't the only person in the room that can say that this is their favourite local band; this time covering Maidens 'Trooper', (along with a few other little Maiden's riff teases). I'm glad the "everybody clap" "everybody scream" interaction was toned down a bit for this gig and they got on with everything that they are so practiced in, to make a great performance.
Inventive drumming, awesome guitar work, operatic vocals which broke the night up between bands adding to the variety that Esquires is well known to offer and some atmosphere laden bass, go to make this band do well at gigs.
As probably the best encore of the evening HeKz ended with a well known track they used to start with 'Flight Of The Harpies' - its an out and out classic that makes the tune run round your head after you hear it. HeKz HeKz HeKz HeKz!

I'm sure every ones ears were ringing after MENDEED hit the stage like a war torn Berlin Bunker and killer riffs more evil than the content of al-Qaida's suggestion box!
I would probably have enjoyed their set even more than I did, if I was more familiar with their stuff, that's no fault of the bands though and I still enjoyed their performance from these Scottish mettellers second visit to the venue. Their set seemed to be comprised of playing for a while then throwing shapes and poses to the crowd, standing on things, throwing more shapes and poses and playing more.
They had bought their own sound engineer for their set and the sound was 'loud' using fantastic guitar bursts that got the crowd moving like a butchers turkey yard on slaughter day.
I always feel sorry for any band that has to follow HeKs but Mendeed did and kept up the momentum and raised it higher.
It was good to see their singer sporting a 'King Sized Blues' T-shirt who will also be playing the BedRock festival in June.

Well done to Paul Craven for putting this gig on and all the bands that played.

I would like to dedicate this review to Chris Short who will be leaving Blackout to do great things and wish him well. Credit also to the rest of Blackout whose gigs have always been something special.


REVIEW TWO BY CHRISTINE MILLER

Saturday 1st April and a big night for Bedford Esquires, with a particularly special 'One For The Underground' headlined by Scottish quintet, Mendeed, regarded by many as the future of British metal alongside the likes of Welsh metallers, Bullet For My Valentine. Thankfully, Bedford's metal fans did themselves proud tonight, turning out ready to rock and prepared take advantage of all four talented of the bands on offer.

Milton Keynes five-piece PAROXYSM started the night in true metal style, coming straight in and serving up the musical equivalent of a punch in the face. Influences from bands like Machine Head and Chimaira are evident as Paroxysm violently brawl their way through their set with bone-crushing brutality, employing equal measures of frantic drumming and menacing vocals. Esquires is already teeming with people as vocalist Barry Neilson screams and growls like a beast in pain, while chugging guitars and bass coupled with pounding drums to build to a climactic rumble.

With the absence of Hell Above, BLACKOUT are up next, taking the stage for what was to be a landmark performance for the Bedford-based favourites, as it marked the band's final show before the departure of their singer and guitarist, Chris Short. Blackout begin with more heavy, rumbling rhythms before launching into their first number, full of Metallica-esque guitar shredding, penetrating drum beats that are almost painful, and screams that make your eardrums tingle. There's a frenzied look on bass-player Martin Lewis' face as the band really begin to find their metal groove in 'Inside the Man'. You can tell that the band are relishing this final performance in front of such a packed venue; tonight, Blackout are every inch a convincing metal band, making it seem even more sad that it's all about to come to an end. The only disappointment was their choice to cover System Of A Down's 'BYOB' as their final song of the evening; while it certainly sent the crowd crazy, it was without a doubt the weakest link in their set, and you can't help but feel that one of their own equally exciting compositions would have been a more appropriate final salute to Esquires, and the Bedford music scene in general. But minor worries aside, as Chris says his final 'thank you and goodnight' to the audience, the applause they receive indicates that this is a band who will be sadly missed.

Mix Iron Maiden with an equal measure of Dragonforce, add a dash of Dio-style fantasy metal and just a pinch of Justin Hawkins and you get somewhere near the lethal concoction that is tonight's final support band, the hotly anticipated quartet, HEKZ. Soaring guitar twiddling, stunning technical ability and a deliciously over-the-top vocal performance sets the crowd on fire. Frantic and brutal, yet without loosing any of their whimsical melodies or technical precision, in spite of their youth there is something spell-binding about HeKz. Their captivating and commanding stage presence sees hands raised on demand, while guitarist Dan Young is lifted from the stage and carried through the crowd, still soloing furiously. A truly epic performance ? when you see these boys in an arena somewhere, remember that you saw them here first.

Still reeling from the excitement of HeKz the heaving club is suddenly plunged into darkness, quickly followed by a distorted rumbling. Chants of 'MENDEED!' from the crowd are drowned out as the noise grows louder, made even more terrifying by the haunting sound of the bagpipes (seemingly a nod to the band?s Scottish roots). The tension builds and the chanting grows louder before Mendeed finally take to the stage to deliver a truly breath-taking performance. As lead singer David Proctor stands, foot on monitor, glaring intimidatingly at the audience like an army general preparing his troops for battle, the rest of the band deliver a stunning display of soaring guitar work to a sea of saluting devil horns. As the performance draws to a close, 'The Reaper Waits' is a perfect example of Mendeed?s ability to blend modern, classic, hardcore and power metal seamlessly to create a classic metal sing-a-long that shows them at their heaviest and most melodic simultaneously. Tonight, Mendeed prove that they can be just as technically precise live as they are on record and leave the crowd shell-shocked and seemingly too exhausted to call for an encore. Tonight was the second time Mendeed have visited Bedford and after their phenomenal success this time was even bigger and better than the last; certainly a night that Esquires will remember for a long time to come.

Keith. www.bedfordmetal.co.uk Review 2 Christine Miller www.bedfordesquires.co.uk