| INFO | Midweek Mayhem Metal Night Fez Club
5-6 Gun Street
Reading
Weds 18/05/05
1. Malefice 2. School For The Gifted 3. Ironheart |
Having indulged in a snooze before I came out to the Fez tonight, I was well and truly
shuddered awake when the onslaught of ear-bleeding metal blasted from the speakers at the Fez Club in Reading. Part of a new Midweek Mayhem night, three bands took to the stage and cranked up the volume to 11. Malefice are a young band who have just finished recording their debut album, The
End Of All To Come. With Malefice the four horsemen of the apocalypse galloped off in fear long ago, leaving this young five-piece to carry the mantles of doom instead. These
accomplished musicians are angry, they have something to screech about, and they
do so using the kind of nightmare vision that comes with an excellent soundtrack. With multi-tempos, creative riff interludes, layered tracks and a towering
impassioned performance from all on the stage, this band are a vitriolic fireball
of excitement, drawing influences from Pantera, Sepultura and Slayer. Songs such as Sick Vertebrae, Pipe Dream and Nothing But Hatred unleash a ferocious torrent of rage from frontman Dale, whose voice roars death-metal style like Slipknot's Corey Taylor. Losing Reason has a slower tempo but loses none of the ascerbic attitude the band have honed to near perfection. With a set and performance belying their young age, things can only get better for Malefice. In fact, they should have headlined really. Older but perhaps none the wiser, School For The Gifted prowl the stage next with an Iron Maiden-style barrage of epic melodic metal. Frontman Ashley puts on a convincing performance of evil personified, snarling, roaring and howling like a possess coyote during songs and giving the audience a menacing glare beneath his Kojak-bald head, especially with his 'skull' microphone stand. His voice is clean and has a vocal range that could easily rival Bruce Dickinson, particularly when he rises up to falsettos. Other members of the band tend to stay quite static on stage however, preferring to stare at their instruments in concentration and thus not giving off the power required to pull off their monolithic slab of metal. Playing a selection of new tracks off their new E.P., Tired Of Trying, their set is full of burgeoning melodies, lightning-fingered guitar solos that are fairly predictable, but enjoyable nonetheless, and razorsharp choppy riffage. E.P. title track is a break from the noise, opening with a slow rock intro that features a superb melodic yowl from Ashley, while old favourite Burning Needle is dirty and delicious as always. The bands seem to be going up the age scale when Ironheart pounce onto the stage - a group of middle-aged old skool rockers who are clearly having lots of fun acting like spritely youngsters and performing their lively and pounding metal set. Paul the frontman is simply superb, a true metal vocalist with the high screeches and the full-bodied singing - he also at one point leaps off the stage and shakes everyone's hand in the audience. He's a natural entertainer that made their set great to watch. This isn't a serious band, it can't be, not with songs titled Metalliheart and Fear Of The Duck. But at the same time Ironheart got the audience dancing the wildest with their warm power chords, guitar solos and uplifting singing. Also with two lead guitarists there is scope for sonic variety, though if you closed your eyes you probably wouldn't notice. I Got The Love is a stonking dancey tune, as is their cover of Shakin All Over. If you ever see this band on a bill, go and see them for a foot-stomping time. | 
