This is an excerpt of an article written by Tom Girard
A decade ago Guernsey’s metal scene was a place packed with heavy metal bands, with the likes of Iron Cobra, Astral Casket, Ferox and more regularly gracing stages.
Staging shows for theses bands, amongst others, were Havoc Events, made up of Martyn Brown (now seen non guitar with Burning At Both Ends) and Scott Michel (bass player with WaterColour Matchbox and, until recently, Static Alice).
Now, ten years on, the duo have reconvened and, for their first event, have looked to rekindle something of that feeling of the L’ancresse Lodge or St Margaret’s Lodge shows, with a night of music at The Fermain Tavern featuring some of the current crop of Guernsey’s heavier bands – Of Abscess And Amputation, Granite Wolf, Gentle Suburban Boys, From Darkness and WaterColour Matchbox
With five bands to get through things kicked off early and it was good to see The Fermain Tavern already getting busy as Of Abscess And Amputation took to the stage for what I think is only their second public outing.
Made up of two-thirds of the aforementioned Ferox (guitarist and vocalist Matt Burdett and drummer Pip Blondin) along with bass player Luke Gallie their music was pretty much what you might expect, brutally eviscerating death metal.
The set started with a doomier edge to the sound on Forever Abscess And Amputation before growing in intensity as it went on reaching a crescendo with Night Of The Necro, working through tracks with titles like Prelude To Disembowelment, The Chronicles of Pestilence and Fucking Whore Slaughter.
It might just be my memory but it seemed to be far more sonically diverse than Ferox with groove along with some precision technical passages and, across their 45 minutes or so, the band were as direct and to the point as you might expect.
Amongst it all Burdett’s voice remained the highlight making sounds like no one else on the island and leading the vicious charge that seemed to be very much appreciated by the audience, though it was hard to escape that (not for the last time tonight) the band really deserved a swirling, manic, mosh to really set off the music.
After the punishing brutality of the openers Granite Wolf (on rather early thanks to another gigging commitment for frontman Shinfo) were a refreshing change.
Doing exactly what we’ve come to expect with plenty of groovy riffs and beatdowns that balanced an upbeat feel with the heaviness very nicely.
It might just have been in comparison to the precision of the first band but they felt a bit too far on the loose side, making for not their best outing but it’s hard not to be swept along by their enthusiastic metal and hardcore mash-ups.
Another band new to the scene were up next, Gentle Suburban Boys, playing what they said was their ‘second gig, and first to an audience’.
The four men on stage may well be suburban, but they certainly weren’t gentle as they launched into a set of the heavier brand of modern mainstream metal.
While there were several hints of promising stuff in their mix of covers and originals unfortunately a lot got lost in translation. Whether it was nerves or other factors I’m not sure but it all felt a bit sloppy and the rhythms that should be pummelling were just a bit plodding.
By the final track they did start to pull things together so I look forward to seeing them again as clearly they have a lot of promise, but, aside from a cracking cover of Napalm Death’s You Suffer (all three seconds of it) I found them hard to get on board with here.
From Darkness have spent this year carving themselves a niche as champions of the kind of metal that made its mark in the early part of this century and, while still not breaking any moulds, they continued that here.
With some more nuance and dynamic across the set this was certainly the best I’ve seen them and there’s no denying they have a solid set of their own material which is always good to hear.
With that though I couldn’t avoid the feeling that they still lack something of a sense of over all cohesion in their performance and they are missing a certain something that could make them an exciting and unique prospect.
Another band I’ve sometimes had trouble finding the unique appeal in, WaterColour Matchbox, rounded off the long night with the audience still up to rock out.
Despite my previous misgivings, tonight was a stand out performance for the prog-metal quartet that mixed sharp tones with a great energy and, while they said themselves they were the softest band of the night, this was probably the heaviest I’ve heard them.
New drummer Luke Corbin (also of From Darkness) seemed to have settled in very quickly alongside bassist Scott Michel as a tight and solid rhythm section, allowing Mikey Ferbrache’s guitar and Peter Mitchell’s vocals to lead the charge from the front.
This combination kept the crowd headbanging (Guernsey audiences seem to have lost the ability to mosh) to the end and, if it hadn’t been for Of Abscess And Amputation excellent opening set, WaterColour Matchbox would have been band of the night.
Still though they managed to close the show on a positive note as all bands helped reestablish Havoc Events who are now looking forward to more shows, starting in the new year with a more musically varied double-header at The Fermain Tavern featuring Kings, Lifejacket and more coming up in March.
