Kobra and The Lotus Live Report at the Barfly

If I could split myself in two I would have done as Destruction were playing the Underworld tonight with 3 other cool thrash bands but alas I walked past the Underworld and saw the thrashers going in to tear that place a new one, my own path however led to the back to the Barfly again so quickly after breaking my debut there two days ago.

I quite like this little venue for bands of this size. You can get right up close and there's no struggling to see the band. Whilst the attenance for the Voyager gig was fairly small the Barfly was much fuller for rising Candian metallers, Kobra and The Lotus. I must admit I sort of ignored or couldn't get into KaTL when I heard them in the past but their new album has blown me clean away and I think I've got a huge crush on Kobra and her amazing voice to boot. That gal can sing alright! She's just got a tremendous tone to her voice on record at least anyway and I was hoping to see it reciprocated live as well.

First up we had a couple of support bands to get through. First up a local band I've never come across called The SelfTitled oddly enough. They were a sort of mish mash of modern heavy rock and metal with screaming come singing vocals. I never could really get into them apart frm the very last song as I recall which had sort of punkish, thrashy grindy feel which felt energetic and moshworthy even not that there was any moshing going on. Not a great start but not terrible but the screaming vocals annoyed and the songs just didn't catch my ear. Better luck next time The Self Titled. The front man at least had some decent stage banter if nothing else that raised a smirk or two.

Next up were rising UK trad metallers and Maiden fanciers extraordinaire, Monument. I've known about these guys for a couple of years with their great ep and now super new album. I was really looking forward to these guys and man did they rock up a storm in the Barfly. They are one energetic mob with wonderful twin guitar galloping riffs and solos galore and air raid siren vocalist for a front man. If you enjoy classic Maiden you can't go far wrong with a band like Monument. All their tunes have a sheen and energy that is hard to resist and they play with huge smiles on their faces. Great stuff!

The Barfly was pretty well filled up but still with enough room to mingle and get a decent position near the side of the stage in order to get a decent view of everybody on it and one body in particular! I'm talking about Kobra of course if you needed spelling it out. Ever since the release of their new album High Priestess I've been watching consuming all things Kobra on youtube. That gal has a wonderful voice. I love the way she enunciates the words and her slightly baritone delivery. She puts a lot of feel and emotion into each word and punctuates it with higher notes that show off her vocal prowess.

As she ran on stage, right past me in fact, the band launched straight into High Priestess the title track of the brilliant new album and things were hotting up in no uncertain terms. Kobra's vocals were a little low in the mix for my liking I must admit. At times she was slightly drowned out by drums but on the slower songs she sounded truly great. She's also a great front woman for the band with a lot of smiles for the front rows and beckoning gestures. She's a confident sassy metal front woman make no mistake.

In the end you still need the songs to match the looks and voice and boy did KaTL deliver on that count. I do believe they played the whole of the new album if I'm not mistaken. Plus of course a couple of tunes from their previous cd which I must admit to not hearing as of yet. Although I did check the videos on youtube as I said. Her band is very cool indeed with a powerhouse drummer but most of all awesome melodic metal songs with memorable choruses galore.

Standout moments for me were opener High Priestess, Lost in The Shadows, Hold On, Willow and in fact all the new album basically. Lost in the Shadows is such a brooding darkly melodic umber that sounded particularly superb live. Hold On is perhaps the most melodic song on the new album and I loved that as well. the band played for around 75 minutes in total and they left to much applause. The encore started with my favourite song of the night, namely Heartbeat and ended with the energetic 50 Shades of Evil from their previous album. Thank you to Kobra and her band for a great night of metal and also to Monument for their fantastic Maiden inspired songs.

High Priestess
Nayana
Battle of Wrath
Hold On
Warhorse
Soldier
Welcome to My Funeral
Forever One
Visionary
Willow
Lost in the Shadows
I Am, I Am
Encore:
Heartbeat
50 Shades of Evil

Voyager live report at the Camden Barfly

After a long time with no posts and the usual gig free summer months, I break my duck with two gigs in three days at the Camden Barfly no less Firstly Voyager quickly followed by Kobra and the Lotus, two bands whom I am seeing for the very first time which always makes the gig a little more interesting for me. The Camden Barfly is a small venue I have yet to frequent but one I will be getting to know well pretty soon as I have yet another gig lined up here next week as well with the Swedish AOR band Houston.

I digress however so on with the review for the Monday night gig with Voyager with support from UK prog metallers Aeon Zen and a local band called Agent. I love Voyager on record so I was looking forward to this gig as soon as I heard it was happening. Aeon Zen's new album is also real heavy, so a great double whammy of melodic prog metal was in store.

First up were Agent who are a local band I guess but I've never heard of them. They entertained the sparse Barfly crowd with beefy heavy riffs but lacked tunes and despite some decent grooves left me an a handful of early punters a little cold if I'm honest. The overall attendance on this Monday night barely reached a 100 or so in the end which is a bit low, but considering the venue probably only holds 200 or 250 max it wasn't too bad in the end.

Next up were Aeon Zen who are real powerhouse of UK melodic prog. They were much more palatable than Agent in every way shape and form. With a much stronger and beefier sound and a cool melodic singer to boot. The songs sound complex and yet still maintained a melodic edge thanks to the memorable delivery of the front man. Rise up from the new album was my favourite song of the night as far as they were concerned. The crowd was slowly filling out a bit more now and Aeon Zen were a solid warm up act for the Aussie progsters and got a fine response indeed.

Finally it was time for the smiling Aussies to take to the tiny Barfly stage and mesmerize us with their heavy melodic prog metal. Front man was grinning and smiling his way throughout the show as the band switched between super heavy riffs and huge singalong choruses in most of the songs. The keyboards seemed somewhat lost in the sound mix at times as did the vocals which is a shame as they are a major part of the band. Nevertheless they delivered a crunching yet super melodic 70 minute set based on their biggest hits as well as their very fun 80s medley which is perhaps even a highlight of the whole set.

Of course it's the new album which contains huge songs like Hyperventilating, Breaking Down and Morning Light which went down best, well with me anyway. The Aussies are a top notch live act judging by this performance even though it was in front of a tiny but very receptive audience. I hope they come back soon but play to a larger more appreciative crowd hopefully. As for this particular night it was a very enjoyable gig and it was good to finally see a live band again after a few barren months. Next up Kobra and the Lotus report which occurred two days hence from this gig.

2014 Faves

I always do a half year list and here it is. There's quite a lot on it after a pretty slow start. The last 3 months have seen a huge step up in quality releases.

Death Metal

Allegaeon - Elements of the Infinite
Alterbeast - Immortal
Architect of Seth - The Persistence of Scars
Aronious - Truth In Perception
Beneath - The Barren Throne
Beyond The Structure - Nauseating Truth
Brewed and Canned - Execute The Innocent
Cannabis Corpse - From Wisdom to Baked
Carnivored - No Truth Found
Death - Leprosy (Reissue)
Decaying Purity - Malignant Resurrection Of The Fallen Souls
Desecration - Cemetary Sickness
Divine Chaos - A New Dawn In The Age Of War
Embryonic Devourment - Reptilian Agenda
Empirine - Oculi (EP)
Ending Quest - The Summoning
Fractal Entropy - Evolution
Id - Philosofia
Inanimate Existence - A Never Ending Cycle of Atonement
Mass Infection - For I Am Genocide
Pestifer - Reaching The Void
Sectu - Nefarious
Seprevation - Consumed
Serdce - Timelessness
Soreption - Engineering the Void
Vader - Tibi Et Igni
Volturyon - Human Demolition [ep]
Voodoopriest - Mandu
Witheria - Devastating Return
Words Of Farewell - The Black Wild Yonder

Thrash

Axegressor - Last
Delirium Tremens - Read My Fist
Demon Prayers - Evoke The Pain
Dust Bolt - Awake The Riot
Executer - Helliday
Face Down Hero - Product Of Injustice
Fadom - Pantophobia
Fatal Mutiny - Existence In Extinction
Game Over - Burst Into The Quiet
GumoManiacs - Out Of Disorder
Hatriot - Dawn Of The New Centurion
Helstar - The Wicked Nest
Hirax - Immortal Legacy
Killer Be Killed - Killer Be Killed
Lost Society - Terror Hungry (Limited Edition)
Mekong Delta - In A Mirror Darkly
Napalm Storm - Harmless Cruelty
Nocturnal - Storming Evil
Poligon - ?????
Prematory - Corrupting Influence
Pripjat - Sons of Tschernobyl
Reactory - High On Radiation
Reek - Necrogenesis
Scared To Death - Fatal Destroyer
Shrapnel - The Virus Conspires
Space Chaser - Watch the Skies
Strikeback - Share Your Hate
Suffocation Of Soul - The First Attack
Suicidal Angels - Divide and Conquer
DEATHBLOW - PROGNOSIS NEGATIVE
Tankard - R.I.B
Skeptor - United We Stand...Together We Fall


Mixed/Prog/Modern

21 Octayne - Into The Open
3 Years Hollow - The Cracks
Astral DNA - Supergod
Autumn Burning - st
Collibus - The False Awakening
Crowbar - Symmetry in Black
Devin Williams - Destruction Of Kings
Equilibrium - Erdentempel
Gravity Rain - The Shining Silence EP
Never Awake - Underground
Teramaze - Esoteric Symbolism
Vanishing Point - Distant Is The Sun
Voyager - V
MagnetiC - One Step To The Sun

Power

Adamantra - Act II - Silent Narratives
Ahola - Tug Of War
Amberian Dawn - Magic Forest
Ancient Bards - A New Dawn Ending
Anubis Gate - Horizons
Black Label Society - Catacombs Of The Black Vatican
Boguslaw Balcerak's Crylord - Gates Of Valhalla
Crosswind - Vicious Dominion
Crown Of Glory - King For A Day
Dynazty - Renatus
EDGE OF THORNS - Insomnia
Edgedown - Statues Fall
Edguy - Space Police - Defenders Of The Crown
Elvenking - The Pagan Manifesto
Etherna - Forgotten Beholder
Exmortus - Slave to the Sword
Freedom Call - Beyond
Gamma Ray - Empire Of The Undead
Iced Earth - Plagues Of Babylon
Iron Savior - Rise Of The Hero
Kirk - Masquerade
Kobra And The Lotus - High Priestess
Lords Of Black - Lords Of Black
Metal Inquisitor - Ultima Ratio Regis
Monument - Renegades
Night Mistress - Into The Madness
Nightmare - The Aftermath
Noble Beast - Noble Beast
Noturnall - Noturnall
Persuader - The Fiction Maze
Primal Fear - Delivering the Black
Psycrence - A Frail Deception
Rager Blaze - Rager Blaze
Sabaton - Heroes
Savage Messiah - The Fateful Dark
Sinbreed - Shadows
Skull Fist - Chasing the Dream
Starchild - Starchild
Stormwarrior - Thunder & Steele
Trigger - Machina ep
Twilight Force - Tales of Ancient Prophecies
Weapon UK - Rising From The Ashes
Winterstorm - Cathyron
Within Temptation - Hydra

AOR/Melodic Rock

Acacia Avenue - Cold
Alien - Eternity
Brother Firetribe - Diamond In The Firepit
Captain Black Beard - Before Plastic
Cullooden - Silent Scream
Free Spirit - All The Shades Of Darkened Light
Gunner - Keep Fighting
House Of Lords - Precious Metal
Kings Dreams - Kings Dreams
Loud Lion - Die Tough
Night By Night - NxN
Night Ranger - High Road
Outloud - Let's Get Serious
Overland - Epic
Perfect View - Red Moon Rising
Positive Touch - Positive Touch
Ronny Lee - Original Retro
Satin - st
Seven - 7
Sonic Station - Next Stop
Stamina - Perseverance
Stan Bush - The Ultimate
Three Lions - Three Lions
Toseland - Renegade
United Nations - 2014

Eden's Curse Live at the Underworld

First time with the 'Curse and what better place to break that duck than the Underworld in Camden. Sure it's a Sunday night and the turnout could have been more but heck it felt like a Saturday anyway what with it being a bank holiday so no work today thankfully. Eden's Curse is a band I've followed since the very beginning and I was looking forward to seeing them go through their live paces and they sure as hell delivered but more of that later.

First we had two support bands to get through and by heck they were both really good. But I already knew that was going to be the case anyway. First up were melodic power/thrashers Dendera who I saw last year and whose album Killing Floor is a really cool classic metal album. The singer has a serious set of pipes on him that's for sure and lets out some awesome wails here and there. The band plays a galloping form of power and thrash mix. Sometimes they remind me of Maiden of course and then other times a mix between Metallica and Megadeth. Their songwriting is really solid with awesome choruses like Senlac Hill which happens to be their best tune. They also aired a brand new song called In High Tide which bodes very well for their next album. A great start for those who bothered to come early enough which would only have been about 50 or so.


Next up were Tainted Nation which feels like a modern take on Eden's Curse and is basically an offshoot band of ex Curse drummer Pete Newdeck. Their album which came out last year now was easily one of my favourite albums from last year. It rocked so hard and had hummable choruses galore but still had an edge and heaviness that took it away from the 80s or classic AOR scene. The band overcame some technical gremlins with Pete's mic last night to deliver a fantastic and sharp 40 minute set and got a great response from the filled out Sunday night crowd. Most of the album was aired in their allotted time although oddly enough my fave track Hell is a Lie managed to escape their memory hehe and they never played it. What we did get was a real rock and roll show with Pete prancing round the stage like a total loon at times. Sure his look is rather odd for a band fronting a classic albeit modern rock band but the man's enthusiasm is infectious and you're soon taken along for the ride with his raucous delivery and boisterous stage antics. Tainted Nation really rocked the house out and I really look forward to hearing their next album.

Finally at 9.20 sharp it was time to get my first live dose of the 'Curse and boy what a performance they put on. New singer Nikola Mijic is almost perfect for the band and is a real livewire around the stage. He gets the crowd geed up when necessary and then lets his vocals cut loose when the song calls for it. They played a sprinkling of songs from all their albums with all tried and tested favourites present and correct. I loved the songs from Trinity best but I also loved the new songs. There wasn't really a lull anywhere in their set to be found. Lefty guitarist Thorsten pulls out some awesome melodic riffs and then shreds his shiny white axe when he gets his solo spot. Bassist Paul Logue and new drummer John Clelland hold it all together with a thumping percussive backing whilst keyboardist Steve Williams provides ample colour and shade to the proceedings. Although I must admit it was sometimes hard to hear him over the PA's guitar and bass heavy sound mix.

The band played for a long time and definitely gave the 200 strong crowd their money's worth that's for sure and it was close to 11pm before their set ended. I must mention two guest singers on stage. Pete Newdeck appeared to sing a very energetic number with Nikola as did Doogie White who sang LaBrie's parts in No Holy Man which was actually one of the songs of the night. During Evil and Divine the beautiful blond temptress that appears in the video actually came on stage and did her bit which was a nice touch to add a little drama to that song as in the video. The live Eden's Curse experience was definitely a favourable one with the band on tip top form throughout and with a great and energetic front man who didn't put a single foot wrong. I must admit I had doubts about the new guy but his voice is perfectly suited to the band and hopefully he will stay in the band a long time now.

What a fantastic night of melodic metal with three great bands for a bargain price and to top it all off we have the day off afterwards. Now that can't be bad can it!

Dendera

Tainted Nation

Eden's Curse