What better way to get the week started than a night of metal at the Edge of the Wedge… and all for the bargain price of three pounds:
PERPETUAL SILENCE
First up it was time for a slab of metalcore, great riffs and frontman Harry Walton providing some decent vocal chords in a band citing the likes of Killswitch Engage and Hatebreed amongst their influences – which gives you an idea of what these youngsters successfully heading for.
Whilst Bloodwork may have been about to play their last show, Perpetual Silence are able to show there’s always new music to be discovered and got the night off to the metal oriented start it needed.
CORE OF IO
When you see someone tuning up their six string bass, rather than the conventional four, you know they’re going to be of a certain quality and this was most definitely the case of Core of IO’s Gareth Sidwell.
With their complicated bass lines and funky solos there was something more to the band than the sets opener, so during the initial technical issues that followed Core of IO broke into an awesome Mahavishnu Orchestra inspired instrumental before getting the show restarted.
With this evening being the headliners final gig, Core of iO seemed genuinely honoured to be on the same bill and this came through in their enthusiastic delivery as songs such as “It’s all Yours” mixed with a love for jazz-fushion meant these guys are far more than part of a Metallica inspired generation.
MASK OF JUDAS
If your ears hadn’t already taken a pounding then they certainly were about to during Chichester’s Mask of Judas.
The impressive female vocals switch between metal growls and Evanescence style singing, although the latter getting slightly lost in the mix due to the growling being veraciously intense on top of a brutally heavy rhythm section.
There may have been times it seemed Mask of Judas were trying too hard to cram everything from slow and sludgy riffs to technical finger tapping solos into their set, however this also went to show what the band have on offer and as such downloading their free mini album “Axis” is somewhere very near the top of my musical to do list.
BLOODWORKS
During their five your existence Bloodworks have made a following for themselves on the underground scene as well as support slots for the likes of bigger names such as Devil Driver and Soulfly, so it’s hard to believe they’ve decided to call it a day on the band formed as teenagers.
The bands last release was “Perpetual Delusion” recorded in 2012 which may have influenced the name of the first band tonight or could just be a happy coincidence, either way Bloodworks set combines tracks from the aforementioned album along with older tunes from the previous five years.
With the latter songs Bloodworks started to change direction slightly, don’t get me wrong still nice and heavy but showed the band moving away from they’re out and out death metal roots. Not only are there more progressive parts but frontman Keiran Saunders voice on tracks such as “Morbid Obsession” is that of a professional, sounding evil at every opportunity.
There are however songs that clearly stand out from when Bloodworks first hit the scene, for example “Dead and Buried” didn’t sound as though it came from the souls of young children but it’s stood the test of time and for fans of Cannibal Corpse or Slayer this is just what you need in your life… so Bloodworks may be dead and buried, but their songs will haunt you to the grave.
www.facebook.com/PerpetualSilenceBand
www.maskofjudas.bandcamp.com/album/axis
