Airbourne – Glasgow O2 Academy – 6/4/10

Another miserable night in Glasgow, but anyone with any sense is at the O2 Academy rocking out with Airbourne.

First up, we have Roadrunner newbies Taking Dawn, they only have a half hour set, but they tear the place up. Smoke machines and strobe lights are used to the max during their set, showing that these guys deserve a bigger stage. The highlight of their set was a fantastic rendition of Fight Them With Your Rock.

Up next was the three guitar attack of Black Spiders. This was the first time i had heard anything from these guys and the blew me away, great musicianship and some of the chunkiest riffs you’ll ever hear. The singer was on fire and the drummer looked crazy, just what you want from a hard rock band!

Finally, Airbourne take to the stage, the blast straight into Raise The Flag from their new album No Guts, No Glory. The energy from the band is unlike anything I have ever seen, they were on fire and the crowd loved it as they sang along to every single word. Singer/Guitarist Joel O’ Keeffe was superb, he is a brilliant frontman, at one point he left the stage and walked up to the bar, whilst still playing, and every fan had their back to the stage, their eyes glued on O’ Keeffe. Highlights of the set were Runnin’ Wild, Blonde, Bad And Beautiful and Cheap Wine & Cheaper Women (introduced as Cheap Buckfast Wine & Cheaper Glasgow Women… Scottish people will get the joke.)

In all, this was a great night, some superb rock songs and good times all round.

Download Announce 22 More Bands

A whopping 22 bands were added to the Download festival line up:

Steel Panther
HIM
Saxon
Airbourne
Coheed & Cambria
36 Crazyfists
Dilinger Escape Plan
Dommin
Taking Dawn
Unearth
Cinderella
A Day To Remember
Lawnmower Deth
Whitechapel
August Burns Red
Ratt
The Blackout
We are the Fallen
HellYeah
Y&T
Rise To Remain
Job For a Cowboy

Some really good bands there, also some really crap bands, But download right now is looking much stronger than Sonisphere. I wonder how they will try to top this with their next announcement.

God Of War: Blood & Metal EP Review

God Of War: Blood & Metal

Roadrunner records have teamed up with Sony and Playstation to release this EP of songs from Roadrunner artist, paying tribute to the game.

First up is Killswitch Engage with My Obsession. This is a standard Killswitch song, they’re not breaking new barriers, but it’s still a great song, and if you are a fan, you will definitely love this track. I know a lot of people were disappointed with the last KsE record, and this is them back on top form, it’s much better than most of the tracks on the self titled album.

Next is Trivium with Shattering the Skies Above. On this track the band return to the style of their earlier albums, Ascendancy in particular. At first, I didn’t really like this track, as I wasn’t a big fan of Ascendancy, but after a few plays it really did grow on me. It has a fantastic chorus and the guitars are nice and heavy, with a great solo.

Dream Theater rarely disappoint on record, especially on an instrumental, Raw Dog is no exception. This is a fantastic metal track with great riffs and excellent musicianship, but this is expected from some of the greatest musicians to walk the planet.

This Is Madness by Taking Dawn is an ode to 300, with the lyrics borrowing from lines from the movie: “This is Spartaaaaa!” and such.  even though this song has brilliant subject matter, it does sound a little raw compared to the rest of the tracks on this EP, it sounds more like a demo. It is more “metal” than any of the tracks on their album however and is still a great song.

Opeth offer a break from all the heaviness with their track The Throat Of Winter. It’s a more acoustic affair, but it somehow still fits in with the rest of the EP. This is a beautiful track, and a great addition to Opeth’s stunning back catalogue.

The EP ends with The End by Mutiny Within, which is another great track and a superb way to finish a superb EP. This song would fit in perfectly with Mutiny Within’s début album, it has great musicianship and brilliant vocals, plus a chorus to die for.

In all, this is a great EP, the only downside is that its only 30 minutes long!

9.5/10

Taking Dawn – Time To Burn Review

Time To Burn

Roadrunner’s new blood, Taking Dawn, have just unleashed their début album, Time To Burn.

Opener Time To Burn, which was given away for free last year, is a brilliant way to open the album, showing exactly what these guys are all about, catchy rock anthems.

Next is Like A Revolution, with another great sing-along chorus and some great guitar work.

The quality of this album really doesn’t slip, tracks like So Loud and Fight ‘Em With Your Rock are prime examples of why you really should own this album but, some tracks don’t stand out as much as others and it does venture into cheesy territory at some points, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

My personal highlight of this album is Godless, it opens slowly before building into the verse and then exploding with a fantastic chorus. I can imaging thousands of people singing along to the lines “Preach to me, heresy!” The song then changes tempo, becomes more upbeat and burst into another fantastic guitar solo, followed with some great guitar harmonies before returning to that brilliant chorus.

So, you now have the impression that this band are all about fun, crazy rock songs inspired by bands like Motley Crue and Van Halen. Thats what I thought at least until the final track, A Fleetwood Mac cover, The Chain, which is awesome. That oh so familiar bass line near the end is played on rhythm guitar with the solo roaring on top of it. This was the last thing I expected from this band, but they pull it off perfectly and don’t ruin the original song (like so many other covers.)

So, if you’re looking for an album to party to, or just looking for some great, feel good rock n’ roll, this album is for you.

8.5/10

Highlights: Time To Burn, So Loud, Godless, The Chain

More Details About God Of War EP

The rest of the bands have been announced for the God Of war EP, it will be released by RoadRunner, so it is all RoadRunner artists.

Killswitch Engage, Opeth and Taking Dawn will be featured aswell as already confirmed Trivium and Dream Theater.