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TEN FOOT WIZARD
To celebrate the birthday of legendary Alma Inn boss Jim MacGranthin, Riff Fest and Pity Fuck have put together a FREE night of boozing and balls out Metal! When I arrived at the Alma, the place was already packed out, which was marvellous to see, and filled with the many regulars who attend these brilliant North West Metal gigs and support their local Metal scene.
What better way to get a party started than to kick off with Ten Foot Wizard! The best party hard Metal band in the land! As per usual, Ten Foot Wizard prove they are one of the most exhilarating and purely fun bands in Britain right now. It is impossible not to get swept away with their positive vibes and their huge on stage energy, that always pulls in the crowd and gets them involved and dancing and moshing. Ten Foot Wizard have a stripped down Stoner/Desert kind of vibe that would certainly appeal to fans of Queens of the Stone Age. Their songs often come fast and chuggy. What they might lack in technical finesse and serious songwriting is more than made up for by their carefree and humourous songs such as "Covered In Tits" and "King Shit of Fuck Mountain". Once again, Ten Foot Wizard created a storm on stage with their delightful, catchy riffs and their energetic frontman Gary, who even whipped out a megaphone! Metal still needs bands like this, and Ten Foot Wizard's live experience is simply unmissable. They'll never fail to put a big grin on your face! 8/10.
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FORGED IN THE FURNACE OF THE SUN
This was my first time seeing and hearing Forged in the Furnace of the Sun, a Grindcore/Crust Punk band now performing at the Metal Mecca of their hometown Bolton. Let me tell you, these guys were something else! FITFOTS (nice initials there) burst into life with a crushingly heavy sound. They have mastered the art of switching between insanely fast blastbeats that weave into slower, groove laden punky riffs that have an essence of old school masters such as Discharge. Their guitar tone was suitably dirty, with (almost) bowel crushing low end bass and vocals sounding like the squawk of an eagle. The band had a fun sense of humour and banter between songs and showed a tight chemistry. In particular the fast, Grind moments of their songs were absolutely devastating, gripping and shaking the small Alma stage. I've seen similar bands play on this very stage, such as Burden of the Noose and Siege Mentality, and yet Forged in the Furnace of the Sun may have that little extra spark that leaves me even more excited. Certainly a band I'm going to keep my eye on! 9/10.
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CHUBBY THUNDEROUS BAD KUSH MASTERS
This was my first time experiencing Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters (yes that is the name they decided to go with) and with a name like that, and the fact the 3 piece walked on dressed in Brandon Lee's The Crow style corpse paint and wearing tie dye hippy shirts left me absolutely clueless with no idea what to expect! Within minutes of coming on though, I couldn't care less about any of those things. The Bad Kush trio were beyond excellent and really knocked me senseless. An incredibly dense and heavy sound that had obvious nods to the Desert/Stoner sound of Kyuss and Sleep, but with a bit of the technicality and winding song structures you would associate with the marvellous Slabdragger. The three men on stage didn't actually look that chubby at all, but their slow, thumping riffs certainly were. These guys had me headbanging the entire way through, and whilst they don't have the most original sound ever, they still manage to pull off the title of being Masters because their entire setup was just magical. Their guitar tone, use of feedback and psychedelic wah and reverb was just divine, and huge props to the sound engineers too as this was pretty much the ideal Stoner Metal sound in a live environment. Their riffs were so slow, lumbering, wavering and crushing that it reminded me of the Bantha creatures from Star Wars, plodding through the desert, bringing the barren heat to an otherwise cold and rainy day in the North West. The band closed with a slow Blues jam that mixed up their set a bit. The only criticism I can really throw at them is that they don't have a particularly original sound or their own little niche quite yet, but other than that, they performed the Stoner/Desert sound to sheer perfection! 9/10.
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BOSS KELOID
Since I last saw Boss Keloid, they've been signed to Black Bow Records and finished recording their second album, "Herb Your Enthusiasm", and judging by the new songs and their live performances, it is likely to be one of the most exciting Metal releases of 2016! If you haven't heard Boss Keloid yet, they are a powerful 4 piece that cater to two different sides of the Sludge and Stoner spectrum. On the one hand they create colossal Stoner riffs with a dense sound that will please any fans of Mastodon and Sleep, yet they have another side to them, a much more tech side that draws from the likes of Meshuggah and Tool. Boss Keloid are a diverse act that are not instantly accessible. You actually have to listen to them and take in the notes, feel the off kilter rhythms... But when it clicks, oh boy, you'll be hooked!!!
Tonight's performance was another flawless show of sheer technicality. The boys have been exclusively playing "Herb" tracks live for around a year now, and so they have nailed them to perfection and it shows with their recent performances. Boss Keloid don't just get you headbanging, but they are the kind of band who can hypnotise you, send you into a trance and reach deep into your soul. Their music has a real lifeblood running through it, and an almost spiritual vibe to it, in a similar way to Tool. Boss Keloid are definitely filling a void in the current Metal scene that you don't quite hear enough of, and if you like the more outside of the box and technical side of Metal, then you need a bowl of Boss Kellogs in your kitchen cupboard! Prepare yourselves... The 8th of April. "Herb Your Enthusiasm" is going to smash heads open! 2016 belongs to Boss Keloid!!! 9/10.
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BARBARIAN HERMIT
I've seen Barbarian Hermit perform in various venues in Manchester about 5 times now, and I swear to God almighty they get better and better every time I see them. Perhaps it is because they are relative newcomers to the fantastic North West Doom scene or whatever you want to call it, but Barbarian Hermit are a band that are evolving and growing, before my very eyes! They may have been a latecomer to tonight's bill, but the Hermie's earned themselves a headline slot and they certainly rose to the occasion! Barbarian Hermit belt out riffs so slow and crushing that it feels like you are being buried in an avalanche. All 5 band members just churn out something so powerful and unrelenting. Even their lead vocalist has an incredibly powerful bear growl to him. When they all come together it is magic, and each time I see them they seem tighter and more honed. I've got to know their songs well now and they even put out hilarious trippy music videos to accompany them. Highlights of their set included "Burn the Fire", it's just unreal how heavy this song is, "Widowmaker", which has an irresistibly catchy Goatsnake-esque riff that you'll be humming for days. They ended their phenomenal set with "Alma", a perfect tribute to the very pub we were standing in. This song really mixes it up by kicking you in the teeth with an insanely fast chugging Thrash riff. It's like they were channelling Sepultura or something, but it switches up majestically into a ballsy, crushing sludge riff, then going back and forth between the two seamlessly. It's the wild transitions that make this song so memorable and it is perfect mosh pit material. Barbarian Hermit are a band on the up, up and up and tonight felt like it was their moment to shine, the best I have ever seen them! 10/10
I would like to give my props to Jim, Adam, the promoters, the sound engineer and the staff of The Alma Inn. This FREE concert was the perfect way to kick start live music in 2016 and I and everyone around me seemed to be having an incredible time. The sound was absolutely spot on throughout and the night was very well organised. I've been to gigs I've paid for that I haven't enjoyed as much as tonight! It is also a wonderful thing that you get to see many of the same lovely faces at these gigs, showing how dedicated Metalheads are. Support your local Metal scene!
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January 9th 2016 @ The Alma Inn, Bolton. Photos by Frenchie & Mel.
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