BEHOLDER, Under Blackened Skies, Adust @The Roadhouse 1/3/2012

Brummie Thrashers Adust are not a band we have come across before but they are a welcome surprise. Tight and talented, they have songs that tick all the right boxes but are far from a bullets and high top sneakers type retro tribute.

New track “Refuse, Replicate, Resist” hints at some fine things to come and they end a fine set with a medley of songs including Megadeth, Slayer, Metallica and Pantera.

Under Blackened Skies follow. Heavier than Adust, they are ostensibly here to plug new EP “Faceless Devastation.” The title track bludgeons and they lead the crowd into a fists-in-the-air singalong of “We are Together, We Stand As One” before they disappear.

But if these new breed of Birmingham metal bands were good, the reason we are all here is to celebrate the return of perhaps the best local underground band Beholder. It was 2009 when RTM clapped eyes on the five-piece for the first time, blowing us away as they opened the main stage at the Hellfire Fest at the NEC. Well now, the five piece are back. And this time, it seems, they mean it.

Frontman Simon Hall explains as much to begin with: “There are no fanfares, no intros, no encores,” he says. “Just an hour of heavy metal.” (Far be it from RTM to argue with Simon, who as you probably know is a very big man, but they don’t play for an hour, but actually an hour and a quarter…)

Tonight represents the first night of a major headlining UK tour for the group and also the first time they have played a lot of these songs live. New album “The Black Flag” is due soon and it showcases a heavier, angrier sound, borne out by their apparent frustration at the way the world is going, indeed the title track gets an airing and bodes extremely well from the upcoming opus.

They don’t forget their acclaimed debut either, with the likes of “Heretic” and “Snake Eyes” still sounding fresh and crushing, but it is perhaps “Never Take Us Down” the song written for Sophie Lancaster, the young girl who was beaten to death in 2007 for being a goth, that remains their best moment.

Indeed, it is perhaps the moment that best sums the group up, beneath the rough and ready exterior their beats the heart of a band with genuine warmth and appreciation for their crowd. It is also a band which has some fine musicians, with Si Fielding’s lead guitar especially impressive.

True to their word there are no encores, but they do finish with the title track of their debut CD before playing a new song “Footprints in the Sand” about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is a neat way to show the band they were compared to the band they are now.   

The fact remains, though, that whichever version of Beholder you care to listen to, they are a mighty fine proposition.

Welcome back, boys!