Metal Goes Mental - The Zanzibar 08.03.13

Well despite a chilly wet evening I was still really looking forward to this gig even if I had seen all four bands previously, although The Torn Prince and Elephantom had made quite big changes to their line-ups and sets and with new tracks from Bury The Fallen and In Our Defence it was definitely worth checking out.


In Our Defence
The old bone of contention “Metal-Core” you either like it or hate it, however I fall into the category of like! Simply for the fact I like the raw power and delivery it has, but I expect a lot more younger metal heads are into it because of the year they were born and more exposed to it. I think in my case I am more broad minded than most.
In our Defence were quite tight and delivered a really solid aggressive set Alex’s vocal were scathing and brutal and by the end of the first track he looked absolutely shattered – but then again this is a very “lively” genre and a lot of stomping and jumping around the stage was had by most members of the band – so hardly surprising!



The tracks Shere Khan and Ultimatum were really superb and stood out for me as being the best – Shere Khan had some amazing pulverising riffs and bass with really superb vocals and one of my favourite tracks by the band. It was delivered with absolute precision and held a lot of pumping rhythms that you could not fail to move your head to in time to those snappy and uncompromising beats. The screams were just out of this world and highly tasty and Ultimatum was heavier and again well executed.
Off the record - It seems that the band nearly suffered an arrest from Police as their white van was being used in (not) a real kidnapping scene for something they were filming and their producer forgot to inform Merseyside Police – funny that really as if it was in real life the Police would take about an hour showing up and the kidnappers would be long gone, but I digress...
Really strong set from the band and they are to release their first full single 'Shere Khan' from their E.P 'A Lesson in Self-Control' out 11/03/13 so if like me you love Metal-Core you are simply going to love this! Check it out!

Bury The Fallen
Always a pleasure to witness Bury the Fallen, full of style, rhythm, melody and brutality all rolled into one! With superb stage presence having multi-talented members in the band - loved them since first hearing their 4 track E.P. “Messages” and was thrilled and enthralled by its contents.
Although the Zanzi was not awash with bodies this time round the people that did make the effort to go and see the event were well pleased with Bury the Fallen’s set and who could blame them? Still as brutal as ever and last night they seemed a lot more melodic in approach with banter still reigning – these guys just know where to hit the spot!
Good performance which was expertly executed and enjoyed by the people there. Solid and engagingly superb tracks, that was highly enjoyable to witness. The change-over between Roj and Jacob happened for the Killswitch Engage cover “End of Heartache” and had hair flying a plenty.



“Homeward” was the band’s newest addition to the set and brutal it was into the bargain! Looking forward to hearing that one again for sure!
Half way through the set when Roj was at the mic he announced “And this is the part where we try and get Midd a girl-friend!” Midd looked less than pleased at the remark but being the quiet and unassuming member of the band just took it all in his stride and went on to give out some brilliant riffs.
A lot of good feedback for Bury the Fallen who no doubt will stand the test of time and hopefully get a lot more gigs from it – outstanding performance – well done guys and see you next time round!

The Torn Prince
With total changes plus new bass player Markus Rylance The Torn Prince were ready to rip your faces off, despite one or two shaky patches during the set where at one point it sounded like the band were playing two separate tracks at the same time – still managed to pull off a most brutal set.



Chris who once sung for the band now does backing vocals and Joe who once played bass decided to take over the vocals which have changed The Torn Prince forever.
Now simply pure and raw as Joe growled his way through the set under a mountain of hair the set really got the heart racing and the temperatures rising although after seeing the band on a few occasions previously was difficult to get into the new set up i.e. not seeing Joe with a bass for one and the tracks now contain less melody and are more right in your face hard core!
New bassist Markus did really well and fitted into his new surroundings very well, not a bad set at “Metal goes Mental” – looking forward to seeing what The Torn Prince have up their sleeves for the next gig and knowing them it is going to be a scathing performance.
If you were thinking that Chris owns a similar guitar to Ben from Bury the Fallen you would be wrong as Ben stepped up to help Chris out as his guitar was not working properly – so cheers Ben this kind of support is always welcome.

Elephantom
From 24th September 2012 Arkaidence died and out of the ashes arose Elephantom complete with gas masks and suits.
It seems a lot of bands are changing their images and although the tracks are the same they now have a stage presence to follow where by before the band did not follow any pattern apart from a progressive one and so the fact they have one now does make a difference.
I am not totally sure how the band came to call themselves Elephantom but I am presuming it has something to do with the gas masks they now wear on stage but I could be wrong.
It can be difficult to get into at times - with progressive metal blended elements, of heavy metal and progressive rock music, taking on the loud aggressive mode but Elephantom cope with this really well and last night’s performance was really entertaining and a befitting end to a good evening.
The band always mix the set list up never playing all the same tracks which is a good idea as you get to hear different tracks all the time and not the same ones over and over  although the problem being there is that you may not hear a track you liked previously but then there is always next time round.


Al’s vocals did not always hit the top notes at times but he really put in 100% effort and I did enjoy the set last night though has to be said and Pete was just superb on drums as ever really giving them a pounding!
Hats off to them for providing us all with a good solid set to end the evening.

Special thanks to Mike Hardy as ever, for putting on another good gig for Metal goes Mental. Tony, Paul, Toffo and Oliya – who incidentally did an amazing job on the sound for the evening, (watch out Pat!) - Ian “Cuzzy” Laver for giving me a heart attack when I found out he was pissed!! Andy Deathwave and Phil Vidamore for coming out and supporting the event – enjoyed the chat guys! And to all the bands – In our Defence, Bury the Fallen, The Torn Prince and Elephantom for providing us all with a good night’s entertainment.


Reviewer: Pagan Hel
Mar 11, 2013
Next review: Sclavinia - Polonized

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