There's nothing quite like being out on a Monday night drinking beer
and enjoying a bit of metal as work the next day seems an eternity
away (though it always arrives quicker than you think) therefore a
four band line up at Tunnels seemed like the perfect excuse to kick
start the week.
First up were “Man Of The
Future” who, interestingly enough turned out be a duo a la the White
Stripes and sure enough there was even a degree of White Stripes in
the music along with a healthy dose of Nirvana, punk and indy rock
all played out at a pretty frantic place. Whilst the crowd were
politely receptive throughout it has to be said that Man Of The
Future didn’t really fit on this particular bill and it all came
across a bit messy and unstructured.
Next up were thrash stalwarts
Dead Metal, a band who have been making a noticeable impact on the
Aberdeen Metal scene with their brand of highly melodic yet take no
prisoners thrash. Unlike their last outing the sound mix was on
their side and they put on a blistering display of quality metal and
they're a band that just get better and better and really need to be
seen on the national stage with the likes of Evile and SSS.
Downfall hit the boards as main
support with their unusual style and fantastic technical ability.
Think “The Sword” meets Led Zep on a dark night infused with some
80’s thrash riffery and you sort of get the picture. Like Dead Metal
before them Downfall are a cut above the average local band and have
potential to make major waves.
Finally came the aptly names
Thrashist Regime- band who do very much what it says on the tin! The
mighty Joe of Black Atom fame fronts this high energy technical
thrash outfit, reminiscent at times of Megadeth and Sanctity. As per
usual the frontman bounced around the venue like a hyperactive jack
rabbit, one minute on someone’s table and the next swinging from the
lights. It's almost worth the admission money alone just to see what
he gets up to. Musically Thrashist Regime are a tight powerful unit
and even though this wasn’t a vintage performance it was still light
years ahead of what most up and coming bands are capable of. A
stonking version of Testament’s “Into The Pit” went down a storm and
fitted well with their own 80’s influenced thrash style so overall
this proved to be a quality night of proper metal, one that left
this reviewer more than happy if more than a few beer tokens poorer.
