PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
The Unleashed Festival was brought to us by EHT promotions in association with PlanetMosh, Overdrive and Down The Barrel Photography. EHT are directly responsible for my extensive liver damage and my issues with regularly losing chunks of time in a given night. Some might say it’s the alcohol and I would ignore them. Three days of metal of varying types went down pretty well in Dublin.
The first band on Friday was Vicious Enigma who I sadly missed (because Dublin bus are liars and don’t understand the basic idea of a timetable). My fellow PlanetMosher, Steve, said that the guys played a fun set with covers and songs that showed them as a young band that wore their influences on their sleeves. (not a bad thing).
Second of the night was Crossfire. They’re 100% a thrash band. They performed well and also threw in a few covers – most notably Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls”.
Third up, another thrash band, Animator. These guys always put on a good show. They’re getting to a stage now where their songs are like anthems that everyone is familiar with. In God we Trust is a great example of this. The track is threaded with all the elements that make a good thrash hymn. When they played live it always gets a good reaction. As usual the guys gave an energetic performance and the crowd were loving it.
Theories Divide were next. These guys were really good! The last time I saw them perform was in a venue notorious for its bad sound quality, so it was great to see them play somewhere that would do them justice. They seem to be getting stronger every time I see them play and Friday’s gig consolidated this sentiment. They have a different style to a lot of the other band on the scene which is refreshing. They always bring a massive crowd too which is great to see. They put on a great performance and if they keep going the way they are now, you can expect to see a lot more of them.
AeSect were the final band of the night. Unfortunately it was front man, Shane Kiernan’s last performance with the band. As always AeSect played a blinder and had the crowd going nuts! Playing songs such as Mortal Coil is like a signal to the crowd to fling someone up in the air with little or no regard for physics or human life. Each member of this band has their own appeal and presence on stage – most definitely not a one man show. As usual they demonstrated great musicianship and strength in performance. Although the fate of AeSect is slightly up in the air with the departure of their charismatic front man, they still have the components that make up a great metal band. I hope they continue on because they have too much of a good thing going – to waste it would be blasphemy!
All in all it was a great night with great bands, and it seemed like everyone had a laugh which is all anyone really asks of these gigs.
A full gallery of images from the weekend by Down The Barrel Photography is available here:
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