Actually no. It’s about two thirds full even at its peak; the balcony isn’t even fully open. Indeed when openers Insense hit the stage the attendance is best described as sparse. In fairness the ridiculously early start time of 6-15 makes it impossible for many to check them out (RTM itself is stuck by the fact work is 20 odd miles from Wolverhampton and we don’t finish until 5) And it’s a shame, because the two songs we do hear make this band definitely worth checking out. Packing a decent punch and a nice line in Lamb of God type sound, they are definitely one to investigate.
Rise to Remain are comparative veterans despite only just releasing their debut album a matter of months ago. Simply put if you haven’t seen this band supporting the great and the good of metal you don’t go to many gigs. As such, despite their tender years, they are a tight live act. Austin Dickinson has borrowed his Dads stage mannerisms if not the Maiden sound and the likes of album title track “City of Vultures” and the always crushing “Nothing Left” make them already one of the best metalcore bands around.
So what do you call six blokes, five dressed as monks and one dressed as a cross between the Archbishop of Canterbury and Arthur Brown? These men also sing songs about Satan and rock like Black bloody Sabbath? You call them Ghost, that’s what - and they are unbelievable.
Ghost don’t need such trivial things as names so “Ghoul one” sings songs like “Ritual” and “Death Knell” and leaves about half the crowd bemused. They are apparently massive black metal stars in disguise. To be honest, who cares? They are the band of the night by miles and miles.
Perennial second on the bill boys In Flames are up next. Whenever these packages come round you can bet they’ll be there, just behind the headliners. They are more what the crowd wants than the mighty band they preceded, and there’s an impressive moshpit from the kick off of new track “Sounds of Playground Fading.”
There’s nothing actually wrong with In Flames, and although they do a get a bit samey, no one does Industrial Thrash better than the Swedes though and “Take This Life” is a fabulous song, as is “Only for the Weak” and they have the best beards of the night!
Which leaves just Trivium. Things have gone slightly awry in recent years for Matt Heafy and the boys. They were supposed to be the face of metal for the 21st Century, but they have rather been left behind in the arena-filling stakes, and there is appreciably less people here tonight than there was the last time they played this venue a couple of years ago.
That doesn’t however stop the Florida band putting on a fine show. Opening with the title track of new album “In Waves,” they seem more relaxed and at ease than ever before. The career spanning set it an unexpected joy, the largely unheralded “Ignition” in particular sounding surprisingly good. The faithful go seven kinds of mental all night and this time round there is a palpable increase in bond between band and fans. Of course “Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr” remains their trump card but the set is much stronger than RTM recalled their back catalogue being.
The maturing band could yet enjoy some sort of Machine Head type renaissance if they can come up with their version of “The Blackening.”
A fine night all round but everything else looks a trifle weak compared to Ghost.
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