LAMB OF GOD, Decapitated, Huntress

When Huntress appeared on the scene with the release of 2012 album "Spell Eater" they garnered rather more column inches than the usual new band.

Most of this coverage seemed to fixate on singer Jill Janus. Watching them onstage tonight it is easy to see why. The band seem largely content to let Ms. Janus do her thing - and to be fair to her she does a grand job. Musically it is a straight ahead twin guitar metal assault, lifted ahead of the norm by the frontwoman. The title track of their album is perhaps the pick given that it moves things into a real over the top power metal type area, while "I Want To F**k You To Death", written by Lemmy, is better than it you think it might be, which neatly is a metaphor for the band itself.

Polish Death Metallers Decapitated are a welcome addition to the bill, not only are they are tighter than Donald Duck's backside, but they have overcome tremendous, heartbreaking tragedy to be here. In 2007 a bus crash left their drummer dead and singer in a coma. Most bands would call it a day.

These boys are made of sterner stuff, though, and in 2011 leader Wacław Kiełtyka put a new version of the outfit and they released a new album "Carnival Is Forever." They play four songs from that tonight and whilst death metal will never quite be our thing at RTM, Decapitated are good at what they do and musically superb - achieving bonus points for playing a superb version of Pantera's "Walk" as a soundcheck, which they do themselves with no roadies.

RTM saw Lamb of God twice in four days back in August. Once was a faltering display at Bloodstock, where everything that could have gone wrong did so, while the second was a stellar effort at the Wulfrun. 

Those were their only UK shows of 2013, now, though, they are back for a full tour, indeed one of the type that American groups used to do back in the day.

They are not, however, at full strength right now. Guitarist Mark Morton has stayed at home to sort some unspecified "family issues." He has been ably replaced, however, with LOG frontman D Randy Blythe explaining "we went on the internet and looked for a dude with long hair and a beard." They got one too, Paul Waggoner from RTM faves the experimentalists Between The Buried And Me, who slots in seamlessly. 

The setlist he plays is the same as last years, with a crushing "Desolation" kicking things off and taking in 75 minutes of monstrously heavy, yet accessible material before it concludes.

So we get "Walk With Me In Hell" and "Set To Fail" mixing with "Omertà" and "Black Label" to add up to a thrilling mix. All the while the crowd does, as per Blythe's instructions - invitation if you will - lose their minds. With "Redneck" every inch their anthem.

What makes the band so good live - awful Bloodstock effort apart - is Blythe himself. Whether he is just glad to be onstage after his legal troubles, or making up for lost time for his band is hard to tell, but he bounces, headbangs and runs his way through the set like a man on a serious mission - pausing only to thank Black Sabbath for inventing the music that created his job.

It's this sheer hard work that, rather like Pantera before them, people connect with and with a collection of songs this good, Lamb Of God can surely continue to grow.

This was a gig that, considering Blythe could have been in a Czech prison, and the awful things Decapitated had to cope with, might never have happened. You can only be glad it did.

Just one thing, though, Randy. Birmingham isn't in the Black Country. It is probably best to forgive this mistake, as it's the only one made tonight.

LAMB OF GOD, Sylosis @Wulfrun, Wolverhampton 13/8/13

Regular readers might have spotted a pattern or two in the couple of years I have been reviewing gigs as Rock The Midlands.

One is that I go to a lot of gigs and watch a lot of genres (although I hate dance and pop if you are asking…) another is I rarely write in the first person unless I am attempting to make a point (believe me there is one coming!) and  a third is that the certain bands that watch a lot and champion the cause of. Malefice are one of these, as are melodic power metallers Neonfly and most definitely Sylosis too.

The very first review I ever wrote on this blog (using horrible blue font for which I apologise!) was one of their show at the Institute Library on a blisteringly hot Friday in September 2011.

It is therefore gratifying to watch the band confidently stride out as the support to Lamb of God tonight, the sold out crowd is chanting “Sylosis, Sylosis” and knows their songs off by heart. Here is a band that not only has a stunning amount of talent for creating heavy, dense thrash metal with a proggy twist, but has done it on their own terms by playing live almost constantly and building a following the old fashioned – and for our money right - way.

Given 45 minutes tonight, they play songs from each of their albums, starting with “Fear The World” from the most recent “Monlith.” Other highlights include “Conclusion of An Age” and “Empyreal” and if anyone doesn’t know them before, they surely will after this.

The technical problems that led to Lamb of God’s disjointed performance at Bloodstock were not their fault, but either way, you always felt that this might be the show to see them in anyway. The chance to play a small venue for their only UK show of 2013 evidently appeals to Randy Blythe too. “We are like you,” he tells the crowd. “We aren’t from a big town, so this is cool.”

Blythe and rest of the God squad look happier tonight than two days before too, ploughing through the same set – an 80 minute romp that starts with “Desolation” and ends with “Black Label” but somehow looking invigorated.

As everyone knows, Blythe could have been in prison instead of in Wolverhampton tonight, had he been found guilty of the manslaughter of a fan in the Czech Republic. He mentions the incident just once tonight, calling it a “tragedy” that the young man lost his life, instead the group concentrate on the music.

From their beginnings as an almost death metal band, LOG have morphed into just a fine metal band. “Set To Fail” is an incredible song and “Redneck” remains an enticing proposition, just as it was when we first saw the five piece support Slayer a few years ago.

They are back in 2014, and if you missed it this time, make sure you are there then. And, that, as the band might say themselves, is an invitation.

Moreover, what tonight proves is that however good a festival is, there is no substitute for watching great bands in a great, but small venue.

BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR DAY TWO: Catton Hall, Derbyshire 10/8/13

Day two, then, and we begin on the RJD stage to have a look at Stormbringer. A riff machine from Northamptonshire, they include ex members of Viking Skull. Stormbringer have less of a party approach to rock than that band, though. They play a chugging brand of metal/rock and they are very good indeed. “Grinder” and “Traitor” are more than enough to entertain anyone who has ventured in early.

After Krusher has seen us relive our youth watching Raw Power on TV and got us saying “rock hard, rock heavy, rock animal” to our mate just like when we were at school (and if that means nothing to you, then tough!) it’s the turn of Beholder. The Midlands thrash band (and with new album “The Order Of Chaos” is so heavy the band easily suits that moniker) singer Simon Hall always cuts an imposing figure and today is no different, as he strides the stage of the festival he helps organise. “Toxic Nation” is typical of the group’s angrier sound and “Footprints” is a fine closing song.

Being Canadian it was perhaps inevitable that 3 Inches Of Blood might stick some Rush in their set, but apart from the burst of “Tom Sawyer” it is fists-in-the-air pumping metal all the way. There is a Dio impression from singer Cam Pipes and they are big, dumb fun throughout. The likes of “Metal Woman” and “Battles And Brotherhood” are just there to be enjoyed, not analysed.

Just occasionally, watching gigs can be a jaw dropping experience. So, with that in mind, we say welcome to Hell. Best known, perhaps, for having producer to the stars, Andy Sneap in their ranks, for 40 minutes Hell put on one of the most stunning performances we have ever seen. From opening track, “Let Battle Commence” to the ending brilliance of “Save Us From Those Who Would Save Us,” Hell are phenomenal. From the ashes of the original band in the 1980s, their “Hell Awaits” album is superb, but nothing prepares you for the dose of fire and brimstone you get – and did we mention at one point, singer David Bower wears a pair of stilts and a goats head? No? Well he does. “Can you smell that burning?” he asks. “That’s your souls, that is.” Proving beyond all doubt that the devil does have the best tunes, Hell are one of the bands of the weekend.

How do you follow that? The blunt answer is that you can’t. What you can do, though, is go and watch the end of Scarab in the Sophie Tent. Israel’s premier metal export, they are keen to tell us how happy they are to be here and how metal is a unifying force. They are ok too.

But the reason we are in the tent isn’t for Scarab with all due respect, but for Mael Mordha. One of RTM’s favourite doom bands for a couple of years, this is the first time we have seen them – and it is most certainly worth the wait. “Hello, we are here to clean English cocks” might be a strange greeting, but it is the only thing that doesn’t quite hit the spot. Mordha are an incongruous thing. Monstrously heavy, but also using a flute, they have a new album coming out and “Bloody Alice” hints it might be a bit of a cracker

Neonfly are our perennial favourites at RTM. This is our fifth time seeing the band and we like them. We like them a lot. They are power metal, they are melodic, they sound European and they have members from all over the place. They also have one of the best frontmen around in Willy Norton and tons of good songs, like “Morning Star.” They apparently have album number two in the bag and play a few today. “Misspent Dreams” sounds like what we have come to expect, but “Highways To Nowhere” is altogether different. A band that will – we hope – achieve good things.

Especially as Power Quest are giving up after tonight and leaving the way clear for somebody else to become the flag bearers for UK power metal. You either like songs like “Call To Love” or you don’t, and tonight – as they bring former members out for one last goodbye – the band are very much preaching to the converted. And doing so very well.

How do you explain a band like Avantasia to people? Frankly, the collective, led by Tobias Sammet, vocalist in Edguy, and supported by a cast of many, many others, notably tonight, Bob Catley of Magnum, Eric Martin of Mr Big (who brilliantly chirrups “hello Birmingham” when he strolls out onstage…..) and Ronnie Atkins of the Pretty Maids, are a power metal fans wet dream. Gloriously intricate and overblown songs, they are more rock opera than rock band. Clocking in a 90 minute show, they are able to let rip with songs from new album “The Mystery Of Time” and whilst not everyone totally buys into their brilliance, for RTM this was very special indeed.

More special, unfortunately, than Lamb of God. The sense of anticipation that greeted the band’s first show on these shores since what Randy Blythe terms “our legal difficulties” wasn’t quite matched by what happened. Songs like “Ghost Walking” and “Set To Fail” of course are excellent, but their set is dogged by problems with the barrier and result in big gaps and lost momentum. Never mind, though, as we are seeing them do it all again on Tuesday in Wolverhampton…..