From Planet loud

Blood Red Throne
Biomechanical, Evile, Gama Bomb
Purple Turtle, Camden, 12 December 2007

After spending the day lost and cold in London, you know the nights going to pick up when you arrive at the Earache Christmas Party and handed free shots of Jagermeister on the door !

Having not been to the Purple Turtle in Camden before was surprised how small the stage and floor was, as the fans piled in the first band, ‘Gama Bomb’ took to the stage. After travelling over from Ireland before the show the band didn’t let that stop what in my opinion was the most entertaining and energetic show of the night. Philly Byrne as front man did a fantastic job of getting the crowd going, and of all the gigs I have been to I have never see a crowd come so alive so quickly, halfway through the first song, crowd surfers were flying everywhere (including over the bar !) and a huge circle pit had developed in the middle of the floor. With eyes resembling Meatloaf and vocal pitches of Cam Pipes from 3inches of Blood he has everything a front man needs ! The drums were fast and the guitars were tight, with Joe McGuigan on bass and backing vocals Gama Bomb had the whole package. For the final song the band were joined by Aladdin from Bonded By Blood who travelled over from America for the night, here they covered the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme tune, was the perfect song to end a great opening set. The only bad thing I have to say about this band is that the songs on their myspace don’t show what this band is about. As the lyrics of Bullet Belt state ‘A new age for thrash metal is finally at hand’ and I think with help from this band, it could happen.

Next to the stage was Evile, I first saw this band when they supported Biomechanical at Fopp back in April, and to be honest thought they were pretty poor, and looked like a high school band playing their first venue that wasn’t a pub. After watching their set on Wednesday night can only think of four words to describe this band; harder, better, faster, stronger. What this band has done in 8 months is a real credit to them, their inexperienced schoolboy image has completely been destroyed and stomped on (although I have never seen a thrash metal band with such big grins on their faces as brothers Matt and Ol, and during that set, I cant blame them !) With bassist Mike Alexander and drummer Ben Carter providing the scary ‘im going to eat your babies’ image, it’s defiantly an interesting line up ! Once again the crowd loved them, and it was dangerous to be in that venue while they were on that stage ! With songs like Schizophrenia, Thrasher and Enter the Grave combining chuggy, fast riffs and technical patterns we could have the next Slayer on our hands in the next 5-10years. Couldn’t speak more highly of this band, it is clear how much work and effort they have put in, no matter what happens, they should be proud of that.

After much set changing, and technical difficulties the new line up of Biomechanical took to the stage for their first public appearance as a new band. Considering the band have only met twice and had one practise together, the new boys did well to hold the set together, there is no doubt that they are talented and experienced musicians, but were let down by the choice to play this show when the band clearly weren’t ready. The crowd didn’t help matters as they headed for the bar and didn’t create the same atmosphere as they did for the other bands. The sets down fall was playing old Biomechanical songs by the old line up such as Empires of the World and Enemy Within, these are songs that all bio fans know, and was sadly not up to the usual standard. In my opinion more practises are needed and the band need to get a bond going as there was no stage interaction. Give the band six months and they maybe something to keep an eye on.

The final band to take to the stage was Blood Red Throne, they sadly had very little crowd to play to as well as many people had now left, however this didn’t stop them from playing a very tight set and getting some of the remaining drunks to head bang and mosh ! There was nothing outstanding during the set, but remained at a good band to watch, the only criticism was they lacked, in my opinion, the energy and stage presence that a thrash band needs, however it was getting late and it looked like they may have had a few to many free Jagers !

Defiantly was a good show to remember, but was let down by the Earache team, the only sign that it was their Christmas party was the banner by the door, and I only remember seeing one of the earache crew the whole night. Other than all the bands being signed to Earache and providing entertaining sets, Earache need to learn how to throw a proper Christmas party.

Reviewer Suz Hawkins


Tis pretty good

"Eyes resembling Meatloaf"?

Was this the same review that was mentioned in Kerrang this week?

They never mentioned Blood Red Throne and it says Biomechanical played last.

blood red throne were fucking briliant...


stupid earache gimmick hunters..


BLOOD RED THRONE RVL3ZZ D4 PL4C3!!!!"!"£``213123411``1121111222222222

two!

H.O.D. Feemo wrote:Was this the same review that was mentioned in Kerrang this week?

They never mentioned Blood Red Throne and it says Biomechanical played last.

the emo kid for kerrang had to leave after bio to get home

Blood Red Throne were damn good!!!

It's a shame people didn't stick around for them.

The "come death" album is brilliant! i've never heard bass so high in a mix before!!

Right, that's it. No more Kerrangs for me. I've been a reader since 93 & i'm too old for it now! Pretending a band didn't play because a (semi) professional reviewer went home is the deal sealer.