Randy Blythe released from Czech prison

Lamb Of God frontman Randy Blythe has been released from prison in Prague after being held on possible manslaughter charges. After just over 7 weeks behind bars, Blythe has been granted bail by prosecutors on an 8 million Czach Koruna charge and the singer will still face a trial. Martin Ravman, Blythe’s attorney, told Radio Prague  “That’s what he wants to do. As a world-renowned artist, in a specific genre of music, of course, he cannot afford to simply disappear. There would be posters with his picture all around the world, and if he wants to continue performing, he will have to return (to the Czech Republic). And he wants to return because he believes he is not guilty of anything he has been charged with.”

Blythe was arrested on June 12th after Lamb Of God’s return to the country, unaware there was a warrant out for the singer’s arrest after an incident in 2010 when he allegedly pushed a fan off stage who later died of head injuries 14 days later.

The incident shook the rock world and many musicians have expressed their shock at his arrest and backed his bid for freedom.

 

Lamb of God singer arrested

Lead singer of metal band Lamb of God, Randy Blythe has been arrested in the Czech Republic in connection with the death of a fan back in 2010. 

News service Novinky reports that police were waiting for the band when they arrived in the country for another show. He was questioned about an altercation in May 2010 when an audience member jumped on to the stage and ended up scuffling with Blythe. The fan later died of injuries sustained during that fight.

Lamb of Gods US pr have released a statement clearing a few things up in a bid to set the record straight….

“Lamb of God Management will be issuing an official statement on Monday regarding the charges made against singer Randy Blythe. As no formal charges have yet been made and the case is only in the investigation stages, it would be premature to make an official statement filled with false truths or innuendos.

“Having said that, management wished to address today one false piece of information that has been included in many of the news stories released so far. Under no circumstances was there a fight of any kind involved. This incident deals with a fan that three times during the concert jumped the barricade and rushed Randy during the performance. It is alleged that the third time, security was not able to reach him and that Randy pushed him back into the audience where supposedly he fell and hit his head.

“Again, until the investigation is concluded this weekend, nothing more will be released, but clarity and the facts needed to be addressed on this one reported point which is totally inaccurate.”

We expect to hear more news on Monday with regards to this, until then fans have gathered on Twitter and other social media to show their support for Blythe. 

 

Metal 2 The Masses - Bloodstock Competition. Ivory Blacks, Glasgow.

Ivory Blacks is one of my favourite venues in Glasgow for live music. It’s basic and all about the music meaning good or bad, you get to see bands absolutely stripped bare. 

Tonight, Ivory Blacks is quite full and the 6-band-bill are battling against each other to get into the next heat to win a chance to play at Bloodstock Open Air, a metal festival that has acts such as Motörhead, Napalm Death and W.A.S.P billed. 

First band to grace the stage are What’s The Damage?! The WTD lads are getting quite a name for themselves in Glasgow. A very modest band with nothing but love for the music and their fans.

When WTD stepped on stage, I could only see four people watching, within a minute more and more people were standing up to watch, what a fantastic start to the night! 

What’s The Damage have chemistry and are forever-growing as a band. They are so much more tight than they were even six months ago, their passion is obvious and they are getting heavier and heavier. 

The best improvement I’ve seen though, is drummer Rob’s dramatic improvement. When I first saw WTD, it was almost as if he was scared to drum but that’s long gone now. He has the ability of a man with twice as much experience. 

There were a few slight glitches but they didn’t affect the performance at-all. 

This is a meaty band with a hell of a lot of promise, their harmonies will become their signature and their hard work is paying off! It’s been fantastic watching them grow into what they are now, they’re just set to get bigger and bigger. 

Catch them at Mayhem Underground this Friday.

Or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/whatsthedamageband

For fans of:

  • Lamb of God
  • Megadeth

Core

“Wow” was a word that was squealed, uttered, gasped when Core broke onto the stage last night. Core are professionals that I kind of don’t believe are actually here. The audience were incredibly impressed, they bounce off the audience’s reaction and tonight that’s added to the already amazing atmosphere in here.

Core are bursting with attitude and when anthem “Hollow Inside” takes off, I think it’s fair to say everybody was blown away. It’s hard to not let your hair down and head-bang to Core, they are very obviously influenced by Rage Against The Machine and their musical acrimony is something the metal world seems to be lacking lately.

I can’t help but wish the best of luck to the Dundee trio. Not only are they fantastic but they are great showmen and very grateful to be where they are. 

Catch them on April 30th at Beat Generator, Dundee

Or have a listen to them on Facebook 

http://www.facebook.com/thisiscore?sk=wall

For fans of:

  • Rage Against The Machine
  • Hatebreed

Search For Solace

Last time I saw Search For Solace, they were so bad that I actually left… I’m very happy to say that tonight they were a thousand times better than they were two months ago. The excitement throughout the whole band is infectious and they are entirely loveable despite their not-so-great performance.

Search For Solace have potential, charisma and talent. They have all the tools to become a successful metal band but they still don’t quite work. It seems like they are doing everything right but still not quite making it. They don’t gel well together, the vocals are very off-key and unfortunately I think last night they realised it. 

They interacted with their audience as much as they maybe should each other. They don’t seem entirely comfortable as a band and would benefit from a few months off from gigs, just in the studio.

For fans of:

  • A Day to Remember
  • Escape The Fate

Absent Manifesto

With all the positive energy around the room, it wasn’t too obvious that Absent Manifesto got off to a bad start, they seemed stiff, lacking in passion and not really feeling the electricity around the room but I think it is fair to put that down to nerves more than anything else.

Despite their efforts, I found this band to be a little less than exciting. I didn’t like them and I didn’t dislike them. They do, in their defence have absolutely delicious riffs and they really managed to win back the crowd with their last song in fact, they got the best reaction of the night so far!

Catch them on Friday at Beat Generator, Dundee

Or on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Absent-Manifesto

For fans of

  • Killswitch Engage
  • Five Finger Death Punch

Scarcinogen

When I spoke to Scarcinogen, they told me that while they’d been together for over two years, they have only played a small handful of gigs. They wanted to make sure that the line-up was perfect and that they were good enough as a band to be doing live performances. Well. all their hard work more than paid off. 

They are a tight, extreme, energetic band that are consistently great. The most common mistake I’ve found tonight is bands performing to the best of their ability on the last song of their set. Scarcinogen didn’t have this problem, they are exceptional musicians who are consistently brilliant throughout the whole set. Their sound is menacing and strong- metal at it’s finest.

It’s strange to think this is only one of their first gigs, Scarcinogen have confidence, they are professional, there are no glitches, nothing but fantastic metal booming for 20 minutes. 2 years is a long time to go without gigging much but this should be a lesson to all aspiring bands: working to perfection pays off. So much so that Scarcinogen got through to the next heat!

Catch them on Friday at Mayhem Underground

or on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/scarcinogen

For fans of:

  • Arch Enemy

Shapeshift

Shapeshift were the final band of the night. What a band they were as well. Nobody wasn’t watching, everybody was smiling and everybody was impressed. 

Guitarist Jamie Paterson is an expert on guitar. He single-handedly sets the theme and the tone of Shapeshift’s set with his almost Metallica-esque riffs. We also learned that the vocalist was new to the band, wasn’t obvious at-all, he comfortably took over the stage and we heard his very varied range. 

Every song is perfectly defined, Shapeshift were the perfect end to what was a fantastic night all round. They had the crowd roaring with them, they gave their absolute all and proved exactly why metal is something special; there was not one member of this band that wasn’t full of talent, of passion and that wasn’t afraid of busting balls on stage for the sake of getting our attention.

Catch Shapeshift on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shapeshift

For fans of:

  • Mastodon
  • Pantera

This was possibly the best small gig I have ever been to. Shapeshift, Scarcinogen and Core got through to the next round, all worthy winners in my opinion but the best part of tonight was that no band was bad, sure some were weak but not awful and on top of that, there was a sense of community, even though it was a competition, no band was just out for themselves.

A fantastic night that will not soon be forgotten by anybody I’m sure.

Sarah-Louise Kelly.

What’s The Damage Photo courtesy of Lauren Millar.

 

Introducing… What’s The Damage?!

It’s no secret that I have a weak spot for Scottish unsigned metal bands and the guys who started this obsession were Balloch’s very own What’s The Damage?! Forming in 2008, WTD?! have played alongside the likes of Fallen Fate, Sworn Again, Katatonia and Freak Kitchen. Continuously leaving the crowd’s ears rattling and pining for more.

  

With bloodthirsty vocals, screeching guitars and a whole lot of ball breaking attitude, WTD?! do not, under any circumstances adhere to the ever-growing popularity of bands such as Bring Me The Horizon and instead look to metal Gods such as Lamb of God, Children of Bodom and Devildriver for inspiration.

WTD?! are not only a fantastic band, they’re a great group of friends who genuinely love playing together. When they’re on stage you can see the chemistry between these guys, there’s an immovable sense of respect between them and they seem to have the foundations to be huge in the metal scene.

2011 is the year for this band and I suggest you catch them now, they have a small but loyal fan base that only looks set to get bigger and better. They hold a lot of promise and I wholeheartedly believe that they have the tools to get far with their music.

Catch them on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/whatsthedamageband

On Spotify

What’s The Damage?! – Rules Of Revenge

Or go see them in action!

On the 22nd of April, What’s The Damage?! will be playing The Vale Bar, Glasgow along with Let’s Play God (http://www.facebook.com/LetsPlayGod )and Scarcinogen (http://www.myspace.com/scarcinogen) only £5 a ticket for three great bands and one brilliant venue!

-Sarah-Louise Kelly

 

Ivory Blacks 16/02/2011

Last night, I had the chance to go along and review 4 of Glasgow’s unsigned metal bands in Ivory Blacks. It was to say the least interesting, and definitely worth the trip.

Twisted Conspiracy


I found out a little later on that this band were playing without a singer, their singer couldn’t make it so I understand why they were the way they were now a lot more than I did at the time.

The band seemed uncomfortable, the set wasn’t very tight at-all, they didn’t seem to have any kind of awareness of one another, it was incredibly messy sounding, it also didn’t help that the stand-in singer wasn’t confident in his abilities and was singing so quietly that I missed almost all of the lyrics. The bassist seemed to have an arrogant air about him and the crowd seemed generally quite uninterested.

However, their harmonies are brilliant, they clearly have the ability and I think the absence of a vocalist affected their confidence and therefore their performance, I would go see them again because they hold a lot of promise, it’d just be nice to see a full band, and to see the overly arrogant bassist knocked down a peg or two.

Despite their poor performance and lack of interest from the crowd, they finished their set on a very high note, they did a cover of System of a Down’s Chop Suey which seemed to excite the audience a little, and they did do a fairly good cover as well.

I hope to see them again as a full band and hope that last night was just an off night for them, they really do have potential.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Twisted-Conspiracy/176721064979

For fans of

  • Bullet For My Valentine
  • Trivium
  • A Day to Remember

Lost Persona

This band were fantastic, they were relaxed, confident, opened the set with a killer riff accompanied by Tim Mcllrath-esque vocals, the crowd instantly came to life and Lost Persona gave us some much needed hope in the night ahead.

They had brilliant stage presence; there were no inflated ego’s in sight, they were having fun, they are a brilliant balls out metal band and they know it, they quite obviously have a serious passion for music, they’re experimental, they’re watertight and they should be in a much bigger venue than Ivory Blacks, much more suited to Barrowlands.

They went out with an absolute bang, gave their all, Lost Persona don’t have one weak member and deserve every bit of recognition they get, they’ve worked hard and are definitely one to watch for the future.

For fans of

  • Rise Against
  • Machine Head
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers

http://www.facebook.com/lostpersonascotland

The Rare Breed


“There’s a reason this breed is rare” quipped a member of the audience and sadly, I have to completely agree. 

As the extensive amount of merchandise and equally extensive amount of young fans started pouring into the venue, I held high hopes for this band, they seemed to have a lot of support from quite a few people!

However, The Rare Breed did not live up to expectations at-all. Their sound was completely off, it was just noise, there was no indication that they knew what they were doing really, the vocalist Jason Harris kept going out of his range, Harris’s unwarranted cockiness did the band absolutely no favours, “try hard” was mumbled once or twice.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, The Rare Breed actually brought somebody on stage to advertise their already in plain view merchandise. Considering each band got a 20 minute time slot, I thought this was unprofessional, desperate and time wasting, completely unimpressed. 

Despite their pretentious air, The Rare Breed are nothing to write home about and have a long way to go before they can live up to their own hype. 

For fans of

  • Cancer Bats
  • Machine Head
  • Whitechapel

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Rare-Breed/149061101790513

A Ship Going Under

This was A Ship Going Under’s first gig in around 6 months so while they were obviously a little rough around the edges, they were generally quite brilliant, they are very modern, very now, they were obviously what the crowd had been waiting for all night and they were absolutely worth the wait.

The only people sitting down are myself and two others, they are definitely crowd friendly and know exactly what they’re doing on stage. They have fantastic energy, gutsy vocals and great variations between songs. 

A Ship Going Under seem to make a statement that they know they’re good, they like what they do and they’re here to stay. I have to say, they do have the right balances when it comes to skill, attitude and confidence, they are doing everything right on the road to success.

Looking forward to seeing these guys again, definitely worth keeping your eyes peeled for.

For fans of

  • Lamb of God
  • Winds of Plague
  • Man Must Die

Sarah-Louise Kelly.