Bloodrecuted By Metal!!!

Last night saw myself and Ken head to The Vinyl Bar, Carlow, for a night of metal. The lineup featuring Desecration(U.K.), Morphosis(Dublin), Ground of Ruin(Kildare/Carlow) and Skewered (Dublin) was a very talented congregation to say the least. I’m still new to the scene of engineering metal bands and it took me a while to get the right blend of instruments and at the right level in the mix. I personally can’t stand to walk into a gig where it’s so loud that all you can hear is the ringing in your ears, but then some people like that and they could call it venting. I believe if it all sounds pleasing i.e the right level of everything, you can win over any audience that appreciates music.

First up were Skewered a four piece a from Dublin. They were very tight with lots of breaks and pauses with most of their tracks quick and straight to the point. The lads have only recently played Kilkenny but i’m sure they’ll be back again. They finished their set with a cover of a Dethklok song much to my amusement. If you haven’t seen Metalocalypse yet please check it out. It’s the shit!!

Ground of Ruin “Filthy Groove Soaked Death/Thrash”, the 5 piece from Carlow/ Kildare were next to the stage. The venue was starting to fill up and the crowd were edging towards the stage in anticipation. I had seen the lads play recently in the same venue with Slave Zero and was impressed. Second time round and this time they are most impressive I have to say. The twin guitar riffs , choppy bass, solid kick Make a full chunky and very rhythmic sound, while the vocals deliver on top with ferocious independence. They have been working hard over the last few years and it shows.

Following them were 4 piece metallers Morphosis who are seasoned professionals. The drumming was fucking fast but i suppose it is to be expected here at gravity blast central. The bass drums were triggered as were all acts on the night but this time the snare was triggered too. I understand the reasoning for wanting a trigger on a snare as sometimes the volume can drop when doing blast beats, and this way all strokes are at the same level. The problem I find therein is that the snare loses all its dynamics (loud and soft) making it sound very unnatural, but very consistent none the less. Morphosis were an onslaught of brutality and pure aggression and projected onto the crowd turning them into angry mob so to speak. It’s all about the brutality.

Finally the headliners, Desecration a 3 piece metal act from Wales took to the stage. No messing around. These guys were set up in 5 mins with a grace of 15 mins, also having brought their own vocal mics. But then they do have 6 albums. There was an excitement in the crowd as the band were getting ready to play. They were a big deal and had the crowds undivided attention. Once they started to play I understood. For a three piece they wield an awesome punch to the face. The drums at high speed played effortlessly throughout and with a full bodied sound they raced through their setlist; the crowd roaring lyrics back to them and raising the sign between and during each track. Finally they got to the end but were urged to play more. Convinced they played a new track that hadn’t been played live yet, and stomped on to commence drinking time. It was also during their last track that the chaos began and somebody ended up over the edge of the stage knocking all glasses in the vicinity. Fortunately as the monitors were about to go hurling onto the stage(Ken’s jaw dropping), T (Atrax Mantis) managed to grab them and thus becoming a shield to the monitors. Thank you T. You fucking legend. You were there at slave zero too. The human shield. Next time I’m gonna bring barb wire and run it across the front of the stage. We’ll see who’s truly hardcore then.

Overall the night went well. No technical difficulties and all the bands and the crowd were happy with the sound. Yipee. No complaints. Carlow has a good metal scene that keeps getting stronger. I’m sure we’ll see some of these bands in Kilkenny in the not too distant future. In the meantime i would like to see some more progressive metal come our way. For now keep it brutal.