August 16, 2006
Spirytus
It is Heat 7 and now this years competition is in full swing and starting to really heat up! Starting tonight off we have last year’s runners up, who will be hoping to go one better this year, it is the mighty Spirytus. The atmospheric intro and build up lead well in to a huge burst of energy and power as the band take the stage. The riffs are big and powerful with each guitarist taking it in turn to show off their skills on lead and being backed up by deep, driving, funky bass lines and huge crushing tight drum beats. Spirytus are one of those metal bands that ooze power and attitude and with Joseph, the frontman, leading the line they are also great to watch! Joseph roams the room with his wireless mic, climbing across the bar and on top of tables and uses the full power of his well written vocal patterns to great effect. As the set progressed they played some newer material but it still has the power and strength of their older anthems, sadly they had some technical problems (with an amp blowing) but they carried on with professionalism and attitude. This was a great performance from last year’s runners up but I have seen them better and at times they didn’t seem to have the want and aggression they did last year but it was still a warning to all other bands in both this heat and all others, that to beat Spirytus you will have to be tight, powerful, confident and have bags of attitude.
http://www.myspace.com/spirytus
To Die For
So that breath taking start To Die For have everything to prove and they start about it with great heart! As the deep, booming bass lines crash down and the chunky, beefy guitars kick in this shows us a nice range of metal influence. The vocalist roams around and mixes screams and grunts with some more melodic moments, his singing voice however seemed to get lost behind the barrage of booming music that backed him up. They mix thrash, death metal, nu-metal and hardcore well and have some interesting and dynamic song structures. This is powerful stuff and is full of emotion, anger and intent and with a huge bellowing scream the frontman is eye catching and confident, however where To Die For fell down was the rest of the bands movement and energy. The frontman roamed the stage and crowd but the others were often stuck to the spot on stage and had little energy and no image, if To Die For could work on their stage presence they certainly have a powerful enough brand of music to go far.
http://www.myspace.com/metaltodiefor
Hoofbite
So far the night has suffered due to a broken amp but both the first band’s have got on with proceedings well, next up Hoofbite seem to get the worst of the guitar sound. Again this is a band who I have seen before but they now have a second guitarist and I think this added diversity and power to their sound. The beats are fast and the songs mix simple punky ‘Greenday’ riffs with some more complex moments of riffage and lead breaks. The song structures are quite interesting and have big choruses which reminded me of The Offspring at times. The guitars and bass work well together and are fairly tight with the drums, the vocals mix some nice catchy harmonies and more old skool shout outs but at times aren’t strong enough. They moved well on stage as well and looked like a band with their suits and ties! But they did moan about the sound a lot, even though they did it in a light hearted and amusing way! But this punk band have good tempo changes and some interesting dynamic with catchy melodies and well written songs, I think they could be a little tighter but over all Hoofbite seem to be really getting their act together!
http://www.myspace.com/hoofbitemusic
Nephu Huzzband
So it has been a good night so far even with the technical problems and to finish it off we have Nephu Huzzband. They don the stage wearing cardigans and stripy T-shirts and look like a weird mix of indie, emo and my grandad’s closet but it sort of worked well with the music…sort of! Their riffs are well written and interlock well mixing a weird indie rock sound with a very progressive edge, imagine a tug of war between Franz Ferdinand and At The Drive in with The Pixies cutting the rope and it all ending in a huge messy pile! They used complex riffs with some good dynamic changes going from softer melodic moments to more heavy sounds and it was all pretty tight too. I felt they could have had better presence with only the bassist moving around really and at times they lacked real kick and power. Nephu Huzzband had a interesting sound but they need a cutting edge, some extra power and attitude and it was only the final song where they started moving and going mental on stage, which is what I had been waiting for from the beginning but still musically a solid and original band with some good ideas.
http://www.myspace.com/nephuhuzzband
The Winners of Heat 7 were Spirytus
Reviewed by: Gaz and Steph
