Gig: Xero, Trenchknife and zhOra, Kasbah Social Club, Limerick, 12 May 2017
Hey all, welcome to the blog. That'll do it for intros.
To start with, let's talk about last night's showing in the Kasbah Social Club, the smallest, heaviest part of Dolans, and home to most of BadReputation's gigs. It was the usual story; three bands, a few quid on the door, a hell of a night. If you're a metal type and you're in the Limerick area, you owe it to yourself to check these out.
For starters, Xero, a brand new gang of young'uns from Limerick provided something in between groove metal and alternative rock. Their new album, 'Beyond the Glass' is a fine collection, and we'll get a review of that up shortly. Groovy rhythms (technical term!) are complemented by hard-rock clean vocals, and gain surprising melody from the addition of a keyboard. This is a band that are melodic and laid-back enough to appeal to alternative rock fans, but retain the necessary punch to be well at home among the Limrock metal scene. Hope to see them as a real rising force in the next few years.
Without having seen them before, I was expecting definite competence from Trenchknife, as they were pushed as something of a Limerick super-group, incorporating members of both Shardborne and Three Hour Ceasefire. It certainly showed; there are echoes of both acts in their sound, with THC's thrash/death intensity being twinned with some elaborate solos and time signatures that suggest Shardborne's math influences. While Xero level out their heavy and melodic elements simultaneously, Trenchknife prefer to alternate between them. A recurrent motif involves them quieting down to allow for a top-class guitar solo, followed by a floor-shaking scream. The death-metal beats and vocals kept going throughout, and overall it was a top-class demonstration of the genre.
zhORa, the big Tipp heavyweights rounded out the night. Mad, sludgy post-rock got the front rows of the crowd into open warfare, and even broken strings couldn't silence them. Two vocalists and two guitars make for an especially dense sound, and there's an almost jazz-like spirit to the way the four lads are seemingly competing to dominate the stage. These more complicated sounds can get lost amidst the clash and echo in a small place like the Kasbah, but the rhythm remains strong, and if you're the kind of listener who'd rather drown in waves of noise, it isn't an issue. They've played Wacken Open Air before, so I'm hoping to catch them in a larger venue some time soon to see if it makes for a different experience.
The crowed seemed both larger and more energetic than usual; hopefully this is a sign of growth rather than an outlier, because the regular metal shows that are going on in the bowels of Limerick deserve all the attendance they can get. That's all from The Dark Side for now. Keep the Faith!
To start with, let's talk about last night's showing in the Kasbah Social Club, the smallest, heaviest part of Dolans, and home to most of BadReputation's gigs. It was the usual story; three bands, a few quid on the door, a hell of a night. If you're a metal type and you're in the Limerick area, you owe it to yourself to check these out.
For starters, Xero, a brand new gang of young'uns from Limerick provided something in between groove metal and alternative rock. Their new album, 'Beyond the Glass' is a fine collection, and we'll get a review of that up shortly. Groovy rhythms (technical term!) are complemented by hard-rock clean vocals, and gain surprising melody from the addition of a keyboard. This is a band that are melodic and laid-back enough to appeal to alternative rock fans, but retain the necessary punch to be well at home among the Limrock metal scene. Hope to see them as a real rising force in the next few years.
Without having seen them before, I was expecting definite competence from Trenchknife, as they were pushed as something of a Limerick super-group, incorporating members of both Shardborne and Three Hour Ceasefire. It certainly showed; there are echoes of both acts in their sound, with THC's thrash/death intensity being twinned with some elaborate solos and time signatures that suggest Shardborne's math influences. While Xero level out their heavy and melodic elements simultaneously, Trenchknife prefer to alternate between them. A recurrent motif involves them quieting down to allow for a top-class guitar solo, followed by a floor-shaking scream. The death-metal beats and vocals kept going throughout, and overall it was a top-class demonstration of the genre.
zhORa, the big Tipp heavyweights rounded out the night. Mad, sludgy post-rock got the front rows of the crowd into open warfare, and even broken strings couldn't silence them. Two vocalists and two guitars make for an especially dense sound, and there's an almost jazz-like spirit to the way the four lads are seemingly competing to dominate the stage. These more complicated sounds can get lost amidst the clash and echo in a small place like the Kasbah, but the rhythm remains strong, and if you're the kind of listener who'd rather drown in waves of noise, it isn't an issue. They've played Wacken Open Air before, so I'm hoping to catch them in a larger venue some time soon to see if it makes for a different experience.
The crowed seemed both larger and more energetic than usual; hopefully this is a sign of growth rather than an outlier, because the regular metal shows that are going on in the bowels of Limerick deserve all the attendance they can get. That's all from The Dark Side for now. Keep the Faith!
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