This is an excerpt of an article written by Tom Girard
After a quiet first month of the year for music in Guernsey February started with a bang as a pair of the island’s heavier bands newcomers Gentle Suburban Boys and comparative veterans Granite Wolf, did their best to tear the roof off The Vault on Friday 1st.
Following their debut public outing back in November I’ll admit that I had trouble finding much to like in Gentle Suburban Boys take on metal that combined elements of thrash and death with more modern variants on the style.
Here though, from the off, they were tighter and their songs and delivery far more coherent.
A particular highlight in their sound was the way they used the duel vocals of Matt Pyle and Corey Rive to create a contrasts between higher register screams and deeper growls while original songs Reap and Mind Killer show they have a knack for a good tune too.
Their cover of Slipknot’s Left Behind might have missed the mark for me and they might at points lose their grooves to something a little too plodding, but on the strength of their original songs Gentle Suburban Boys are headed towards being a solid new entry at the heavier end of Guernsey’s metal scene.
There’s no arguing that Granite Wolf were more direct and in the faces of the audience from the off as frontman Tom ‘Shinfo’ Domaille perched himself on the monitor to scream out the band’s take on hardcore infused groove metal.
As always all five members were as high energy as they come bringing their own aspect to the band while acting as one in tremendous fashion.
Particularly of note here was the drumming of Dan Garnham that pummelled the audience in the best of ways (even through the venue’s acoustic screen).
As the set went on the band did something I don’t think I’ve seen in The Vault before as they got the crowd moshing with probably as big a pit as could exist in this space kicking off and lasting, on and off, for the rest of the set which included a brand new song that provided a highlight moment.
Leaving the stage with the audience wanting more Granite Wolf played maybe the best set I’ve seen from them and, along with a good outing from Gentle Suburban Boys that certainly showed a good deal of promise, they kicked off my new year of new music with an undeniable bang.
