PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
The final band night of the year for North Wales Metal saw us once again gathering at the Railway Institute in Bangor. A venue that from the outside may look a bit ‘tired’ but is actually a cracking little place, nice tight stage, really good acoustics, oh and a cheap bar.
The organisers always try to put a diverse line up together for these affairs and tonight saw two quite different bands musically speaking take to the stage.
First up were Manchester 3 piece Fantasist, who waste no time at all in firing up the crowd with their bass laden, funk driven brand of Rock. It had been a matter of some months since I had seen the boys play live and so I was interested to see how they had been progressing, so it was good to hear that the band have a new album in the pipeline for next year and have just released an acoustic E.P. titled ’Suited And Muted’.
Fantasist come across as a band who love being up on stage. Bassist Robb, guitarist Ollie and drummer Seb are all pretty competent on the vocal side as well, which makes for a great mix of styles, although Seb by his own admission was suffering a bit from the dreaded cold virus but still soldiered on.
Tracks such as ’The Divide’ (for which the band have an official video) showcase just what these guys are about, full of energy, full of grooves and all delivered with a good dollop of humour thrown in, also they chuck in a great cover of Rush’s ’Spirit Of The Radio’ for good measure as well, excellent stuff.
As originally tonight was due to be a three band line up but was unfortunately now down to two, headliners I.C.O.N. had been persuaded to play an extended set for this event, well I say persuaded, such is the bands passion for Metal it can be a bit of problem to get them to stop. I.C.O.N. hail from Burnley and in short are a band in the true sense of the word. You would be hard pushed to find a more hard working bunch of guys as they continue to get their faces and music out there in the old fashioned way, by gigging like crazy and getting new converts along the way. Musically the band are Heavy Metal in its purest form, as they hammer out riff after riff of bone crunching, head banging Rock that you really can’t sit still to. Tonight’s set sees only there second ever gig in North Wales and so they were out to prove a point.
Vocalist Mark Sager just prowls the stage and delivers a perfect chest smashing voice that bleeds raw power, whilst in Scott Knowles the band have not only a kick ass guitarist but also a bloody good showman, constantly interacting with the crowd, including an off stage solo to get all up close and personal. Bassist Reece Bevan and drummer Aaron Youd complete the line up and keep everything tight and ticking along. Tracks such as ‘Seven Second Warning’ and debut album title track ‘New Born Lie’ really do show what strength in song writing ability these guys have, and put in a live setting it sounds simply excellent.
The night finishes with I.C.O.N. throwing a great little cover set together to entertain the crowd who by this time were eating out of their hands. The tour continues well into December so check the remaining dates to see if they are in your area.
Again, another cracking night of Rock and Metal in Bangor, a night which will return again in February.
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