GOJIRA, Trepalium @Wolverhampton Slade Rooms 12/11/12

France’s Trepalium are looking uncomfortable on the tiny Slade Rooms stage. Not their performance, you understand, which was a superb display of thrash and death metal, with touch of jazz thrown in. It is just that they have a massive drum kit and the five of them look ready to fall off the edge at a moments notice.

Thankfully, no one does go arse over tit and we are left to enjoy the show. RTM wasn’t familiar with the band previously, but they were extremely impressive. “Sick Murder Boogie” is aptly named, and if their finishing song is called “Usual Crap,” the group themselves are anything but. They offer something original and exciting.

As do their countrymen Gojira. They are really riding on the crest of a wave at the moment. This is their biggest UK tour to date and this year’s “L’Enfant Savauge” album is quite marvelous. In addition their show earlier in the year at the Academy was one of the gigs of 2012. This one doesn’t quite match that, but it was pretty damn close.

It is with “Explosia,” a track from “L’Enfant….” That they begin, and in common with all their songs, it seems it is built around a gigantic riff from Joel Duplantier and the driving rhythm of his brother Mario on drums. The band headbang their way through it and it is a jaw-dropping opener.

Like the set in June this is a career spanning affair, rather than focusing on one album, and soon they are attacking “Flying Whales” like their lives depended on it. 2008’s album “The Way Of All Flesh” is well represented – “Oroborus” sounding particularly impressive - while “Toxic Garbage Island” is perhaps the best song ever written about environmental issues.

The fact that Gojira choose to write songs about the planet rather war like some of their extreme metal contemporaries neatly sums them up. They are a serious rather than good-time group. This is exemplified by their attitude to the crowd surfer who nearly hurts himself near the end. Where bands like Down encourage such behaviour, Duplantier tells the crowd not to do it before he gets his head down to get on with his job.

The set ends with “Vacuity” before an encore of “The Gift Of Guilt” brings things to a brutal close. At that point you are left to reflect on how Gojira have done this in an old school way.

Coming from France – hardly a metal hotbed – must have been a disadvantage, but through a string of great albums and the hard work of touring with everyone they can, they can headline 10 shows in Britain and nearly sell them out – and do that twice in a year. But then quality usually rises to the top and Gojira are one of the best bands in extreme metal right now.

COHEED AND CAMBRIA, Fighting With Wire, Birmingham Academy 11/11/12

Fighting With Wire being the support tonight is a real unexpected bonus. The Derry band were the opening act for the Helmet gig back in August, but RTM couldn’t get there in time. They were then meant to be back in June but that show got cancelled because of the England football match with Sweden.

There is a real sense, then – as far as we are concerned at least - third time lucky tonight. Happily, the band do not disappoint. Comparisons with bands such as Joyrider, Therapy? and Wilt might initially seem lazy and based solely on nationality, but not so, it is because that is what FWW actually do sound like, for proof see title track of album number two “Colonel Blood,” new single ”Didn’t Wanna Come Back Home” sounds like the Foo Fighters at their best and mixes superbly with material from their debut “Man Vs Monster” opus. Fighting With Wire didn’t have to work hard to win friends tonight.

Tonight’s Coheed and Cambria show is being billed as a “Special Acoustic and Electric Show." In practice this means the New York Prog Metallers are playing a short acoustic set before they play their main show. The time they spend on stage doing that is not bad and “Pearl Of The Stars” sounds excellent in this setting, while “Wake Up” is turned into a real singalong, but actually, the fact that this bit came around 20 minutes after Fighting With Wire and that there is another break of 20 minutes afterwards gives the evening a bit of a stop-start feel.

When the electric stuff begins, though, it is mind-blowingly good. Main man Claudio Sanchez has – literally – let his hair down for this (it had been tied back during the acoustic portion) and the crowd goes ballistic for opener “No World For Tomorrow.” “Gravemakers and Gunslingers” follows and, with its solo to start, it gives the impression of a song that is bursting to rock.

Sanchez, in particular, is clearly loving things. Shooting the crowd a-la Steve Harris at the end of “Everything Evil” and whilst he falls over after mistiming a jump into Josh Eppard’s drums (dismantling the kit in the process) that is the only thing he does wrong tonight.

New album “The Afterman: The Ascension” is represented with three songs including the title track and “Goodnight Fair Lady” but if there is a quibble a couple more new tracks would have been nice. That said, the second part of the album is due next year, so perhaps they will flesh this part of the careers out a little more?

Such questions are for another day, though, because for 80 minutes Coheed were incredible. These are heady times for the proggy side of metal, and really if Rush were in front of us tonight, they wouldn’t have been better than this. Coheed and Cambria were that good.

ABSOLVA, Dakesis @Asylum 2, Birmingham 10/11/12

Fair play to Darkesis. In an age where bands have to work hard to get noticed, the Brummie power metallers are on their second gig of the day.

It has been a while since we saw them play an ill-fated show at The Roadhouse last year when the antics of Pagan’s Mind ruined it for everyone, and my how they have improved!

“Liar” has Maiden overtones, while “On Wings Of Steel” and old favourite “Valhalla” tick all the Power Metal boxes. Theirs is a set of great confidence. It is also their final gig of 2012, with the band set to disappear to make a new record, which – if this is anything to go by – might be a bit special.

So what of Absolva? Half of the band used to be in RTM faves Fury UK, with guitarist/singer Chris Appleton and drummer Martin McNee forming the new group after Appleton’s bother, Luke accepted the offer of joining Iced Earth. That does not mean, however, that they are merely Fury UK Two.

You see, completing the group are not only local lad bass player Dan Bate, once of Point Blank Fury, but also crucially a second guitarist in Tom Atkinson, this means that while Fury were all about Appleton’s playing, Absolva are able to move into a more classic rock area. This is particularly evident on “It Is What It Is,” which has a solo that Thin Lizzy would be proud of.

Elsewhere, “Flames of Justice”- which is the title track of the bands debut album - is a strident and in your face opener, while current single “Code Red” is an immediately memorable track and if “Free” is their most Fury UK-alike moment, then the new band has enabled them to explore other areas, “From Beyond The Light” is a very decent stab at thrash metal, and “Only When Its Over” is Appleton exploring the power ballad.

The hour long set sees Absolva play their album (although not in order) and tellingly no Fury UK songs are aired. This means that songs like the magnificent “Death By Lightening” have been put away for now, but it is a decision to be welcomed. This is a band that is looking forward to a future that deserves to be bright, and one that has a fresh sound.

RTM saw them at Bloodstock, but even in a few months giant strides have been made. Give it a year and – with the constant touring you know the band will do – Absolva will be even better. Their potential is frightening because tonight was a magnificent start.

ANGEL WITCH, Enforcer, Age Of Taurus @Institute Library 9/11/12

It must be hard for Angel Witch. In 1980 they were contemporaries – and genuine rivals of – Iron Maiden. Their self-titled debut album was better received than Maiden’s too.

Then they disappeared. Aborted attempts at comebacks saw three albums released in over 20 years before they drafted in guitarist extraordinaire, Bill Steer and released “As Above, So Below” in 2012.The sad truth is, though, that however good “As Above…” is the gig going public hasn’t caught on and there are barely 60 people in attendance tonight.

Indeed there are considerably less than this when London’s Age of Taurus hit the stage to bring the so-called “Live Evil Tour” to an opening. All of which is a tremendous shame as quite frankly the band are brilliant.

Displaying the type of stoner rock grooves to put them in the Orange Goblin bracket, Taurus’s is a stunningly powerful sound. Songs like “Desperate Souls Of Tortured Times,” “Sinking City” and set closer “The Bull And The Bear” are all built on huge riffs and are all uniformly excellent. Their debut album is out next year and we urge you to check them out.

Set against this power, Sweden’s Enforcer are, well, a little bit weedy. No matter, though as the Earache signed band are not here to compete, merely to have a good time with their NWOBHM style grooves. By no means a joke like the godawful shit of Steel Panther, but the likes of “Midnight Bite” aren’t to be taken too seriously either. The title track of most recent album “Diamonds” and best song “Katana” remind us that heavy metal can be about fun too.

That Angel Witch chose to begin with new song “Dead Sea Scrolls” is telling. They are not here to indulge in mere history, they still have something relevant to say. Now with just one original member (singer/guitarist Kevin Heybourne) in the ranks, they clearly want to look to the future.

There is, though, a heavy bias towards the debut album in the 75 minute set and when songs like “White Witch” and “Atlantis” are being played you really do get a sense of how special and revered that this band could – and perhaps should – have been.

The addition of Steer to the 2012 version is masterstroke. He has proved with Firewind and Gentlemen’s Pistols that he has a gift for 70s sounding metal and so it proves again. It would be easy perhaps for the band to go through the motions given the lack of crowd and some bitterness at the way their career has gone, but not a bit of it. Instead they give a fine performance.

If the one thing it lacked was some real connection between the stage and the crowd even that is redeemed by the end as the song gave the group its name is delightedly chanted around the room.

Angel Witch might have missed the boat in terms of making themselves household names, but it looks like they are happy enough in the role of NWOBHM metal’s largely unheralded gem.

EDDIE AND THE HOT RODS, Guitar Gangsters, New Killer Shoes @Roadhouse Birmingham 8/11/12

New Killer Shoes have given themselves quite a profile in recent months, as they have gigged incessantly around the Midlands. They get the chance to show their talents again tonight, but find themselves a man down with second guitarist Ben Smith missing.

The Redditch band describe themselves as “grit pop” but to us it sounds a little like the Buzzcocks, which isn’t a bad thing. “Lets Go Disco” is a catchy number as is “Snake Of The Charm.” They are a band who is standing on the very verge of their big break as they go on a European Tour with Brad in the early part of 2013. We will see them – hopefully back at full strength - on that jaunt.

Guitar Gangsters are another band we have never come across either. The three piece band from London claim that the last time they played in these parts was back in 1988, but their brand of punk belongs to an ear perhaps 10 years before that.

Singer Pete Ley – who looks like Billy Bragg – and his brother Phil – a dead ringer for The Fast Show’s Swiss Tony – have been in the band since its inception and their camaraderie shines through songs like “Guitar Shakedown, “ “Guitars, Bars And Getaway Cars” and “Class of 76.” “Everybody” is an attack on the Facebook generation and new song “Aftershow” is a jaunty affair. An extremely entertaining 40 minutes, if you like the Clash then check these Gangsters out.

In many ways the fact RTM is even here tonight is down to our love of The Almighty. Back in 1994 on the “Wrench” single there was a song called “Do Anything You Want to Do.” The 19-year old RTM didn’t have a clue about Eddie, or indeed his Hotrods, but we knew a great song when we heard it and investigated.

Well, the aforementioned tune is knocked out with casual ease about two thirds into the set tonight, and for us is the highlight, seeing as we’ve waited nearly 20 years to see it live. What we didn’t expect, however, was just how good the rest of the set was. “Get Across To You” and “Why Should I Care Anymore” sound as fresh as they would have 30 years ago and the old punks who largely make up this audience lap it up.

The Hotrods, though, were – like Dr Feelgood – never a punk band in the conventional sense, as they prove with the trio of covers they choose to end things with tonight. Mott The Hoople’s “Once Bitten Twice Shy,” “Gloria” by Van Morrison and “Born To Be Wild” might seem an odd choice, but they work well.

Really this was pub rock at its absolute finest. Eddie and the boys support the Quo this Christmas and, if they are as good as this, they will be fine way to start that bill off too.

JACK WHITE, Willy Moon @Academy Birmingham 7/11/12

Sometimes, you feel a bit out of the loop. Take the fella who races up to RTM before this gig and excitedly says: “I can’t believe Willy Moon is supporting tonight.”

RTM’s blank look alerts him to the fact we have never heard of Mr. Moon so he almost pleads with us: “Willy Moon!” he exclaims. ”He was amazing on Jools Holland…? The iPod advert song….?” To extricate myself from this conversation – which took place in the toilets of the Academy (not a place any bloke should chat in) I say “yeah, never heard of him, mate. Still I will check him out. Have a good one.”

Such is the way when popular culture and RTM mixes, but here we are, on the back of the fact we liked the White Stripes (a lot actually) and like Jack White’s solo effort “Blunderbuss” from earlier in the year. To get there however, we have to watch the aforementioned Moon and his band.

Amazingly, we do recognise his first song. It is a cover of “I’m Shakin’” but that is it really. He has a lady on guitar, another on drums and a chap on what he describes as “the ones and twos” (a mixer to you and me) and to be fair to him he isn’t too bad in a Beck type of way. He does the iPod song (called “Yeah Yeah” according to wiki) and is ok, although frankly we can’t see why we would ever see him again.

There is an inordinate delay before Jack White and his band hit the stage. Initially it did look like it might be an exercise in style over substance as the stage is covered in white sheeting and roadies, dressed in sharp suits, have asked us not to take pictures. But in fairness once White is in front of us, it is very much a conventional rock and roll show.

White does appear stuck in a halfway house. Now a slow artist, he plays more White Stripes songs in his 90 minute set than solo songs. Indeed, proceedings kick off with one of them in “Black Math.” That is followed by a trio of “Blunderbuss” tunes, with “Missing Pieces” the pick, before a rollicking “Hotel Yorba” takes things up a notch.

The singer does seem to be enjoying himself, though, playing guitar with gusto and also keyboards and piano on more than one occasion and you can’t help but reflect that in years gone by he might have been a wizened old bluesman – a fact he seems to acknowledge by playing “You Know That I Know,” an old Hank Williams song he re-worked for a project.

The encore brings with it a raft more White Stripes songs, with “Hardest Button To Button” and “You Got In Your Pocket” amongst them, before that riff for “Seven Nation Army” brings things to a close.

Largely it was an interesting show, and White is a compelling live performer, but one who, you sense, is still trying to decide what he wants this part of his career to be.

NIGHTWISH, Pain @Academy Birmingham 6/11/12

You know all those great Scandinavian bands you have in your collection? The likes of Sabaton, Amon Amarth, Dimmu, Children of Bodom? The chances are that they have albums produced by Peter Tagtgren.

Well, in addition to being a producer extraordinaire, Tagtgren fronts his own band, Pain, and a very interesting proposition they are too. Difficult to classify, they are – if such a genre existed – a symphonic power industrial metal band. The White Zombie-esque stomp of “Dirty Women” is perhaps their most immediate number, with the disco stylings of “On And On” and set closer “Shut Your Mouth” displaying a confident swagger that wins the huge crowd over.

Nightwish, as is evidenced by the sold out signs outside are a seriously big deal. That they have done all this despite losing a vocalist on October 1^st says much for their consummate skill.

Annette Olzon left the band barely a month ago, but rather than cancel shows as many bands would, instead they drafted in former After Forever singer Floor Jansen and on the evidence of her quite magnificent show this evening they made the right choice.

Jansen, dressed strikingly in red, is very much the focal point of the group, sharing talking to the audience duties with Marco Hietala and is seemingly comfortable in her role, grinning throughout.

The band are here on the back of the quite brilliant “Imaginaerum” record, a fine opus that takes in many styles and in microcosm it encapsulates the ethos of the live show. There are very few metal bands – and make no mistake this is very much a metal show – who could headbang their way through set opener “Storytime” and “Dark Chest Of Wonder” and then ease themselves into the jazz of “Slow, Love, Slow” without batting an eyelid.

The show is built on the intricate guitar work of Emppu Vuorinen, as much as the vocals of Jansen and Hietala – their interplay at its peak during “Ghost River” - but comes into its own with “I Want My Tears Back” with its echoes of Iron Maiden, and as if to emphasise the eclectic nature of the near two hour show, one minute it is “Ever Dream” and some tremendous double kick drumming, while the next, Englishman Troy Donockley is adding a folky bent to proceedings.

The result, by the time “Last Ride Of The Day” closes things is a frequently bewildering, but always brilliant show. It is also one which, given the circumstances, is perhaps an even bigger triumph than might have been expected. This was truly memorable and we couldn’t have wished for more than that.