Reviews

For two nights on the weekend between Christmas and New Year the L'Ancresse Bay Hotel was taken over by Live At The Lodge to raise money for injured postman John Murphy.

Friday night saw Brit rockers Startosfear and pop-punks 2 Minutes 2 Late play and over £300 was raised and so, on Saturday, things took a turn for the heavier with three more bands taking to the stage at L'Ancresse.

Liam of Beetlejuice.

First up were chaotic punks Beetlejuice who seem to get more comfortable on stage with every show. As ever the bands set was punctuated by brief 'invasions' from 'guest vocalists' from the crowd, and by the band taking their time to throw themselves into the pit which started during the band's first song and continued sporadically for the rest of the set.

What really struck about the band tonight was their individual talents with Joel possessing a great sneering punk rock voice, Liam coming across a naturally charismatic front man and Hamilton showing some real flashes of brilliance behind the drum kit.

As ever the band ended their set with Napalm Death's 'You Suffer' and as they left the stage tonight Beetlejuice really seemed to be a band that, while polarising opinion, certainly brings people together.

Scotty of Astral Casket.

Next up came death metalcore merchants Astral Casket who once again showed a tremendous display of intensity and stage presence which really makes them something to behold.

While the band were not totally satisfied with tonight's performance, from the floor it sounded great. Fronted by three men clearly comfortable on stage and each emitting their own unique energy, Astral Casket are continuing to grow into a top class metal band.

The inclusion of synthesiser parts in some of their songs adds an extra level to their sound which, while not totally successful tonight, promises something special and unique from this band in the future.

Ollie of Pagan Sorrows.

Astral Casket kept the crowd moving throughout their set and inspired the crowd to call for two encores which came in the form of 'Pure Hatred' and 'Tower of Snakes' and certainly left the crowd happy.

Finally tonight Pagan Sorrows hit the stage for their first gig since the summer. Playing a mostly simple form of death/black metal the band took a few songs to hit their stride.

'Headbanging' to Pagan Sorrows.

Once they did get going Pagan Sorrows exhibited some great moments, especially from guitarist Ollie who added touches of more symphonic and progressive styles to the band's sound and even included a semi-acoustic metal number.

Despite putting on a good show the band emptied the venue somewhat, as extreme metal has a tendency to do. But, save for an ill advised attempt at Slayer's 'Raining Blood', Pagan Sorrows sounded like a promising prospect for more extreme metal in Guernsey and given time could sit well with Ferox and Darker Shores at the heaviest end of Guernsey's music scene.