Tuesday 28 August 2012

Beermageddon - Day One



In the village of Somercotes in Derbyshire over this last weekend, a new metal festival was born. Just a fortnight since the mighty Bloodstock festival, Beermageddon steps foward, out of the shadow of it's neighbour, for its first, mighty roar.

On the Friday, four bands mark the start of Britain's newest heavy metal festival. First up, to open proceedings is Haerken, who unleash a huge sounding set of folklore-filled death metal, and an equally mighty arsenal of inflatable weapons for the audience to have some fun with - moshpit swordfights a-plenty, Haerken kick off the festival with the perfect atmosphere, you really get the feeling that everyone is here to have a good time and listen to some fantastic music.

Check out Haerken here

Between bands tonight is a burlesque act, doing three separate shows, but Big Metal Bastard chooses to go and sample the delights of the bar at the Black Horse, the pub in which the festival is being held. Fair play to the Black Horse, they had good beer, catered for all tastes, the staff were friendly and the music was good. Not a lot more could be asked, really!

And so after a quick beer or two, BMB heads back in to see A Fable For The Curious. Unfortunately, I have a confession to make. I didn't like them when I saw them, but have since listened to them via their Facebook player and now don't know what was wrong with me. They really are a very good band.

A Fable For The Curious

After another burlesque show, Fell On Black Days take the stage, and blow it to pieces. These guys are fantastic and really make the stage their own with their skull-pounding riffs that leave no head un-banged. The track 'Days of Ruin' will remain stuck in the head of BMB until the next morning. Certainly one to look out for in the future, this band from South Wales threaten to upstage Evil Scarecrow - the headliners of the night.

Check out Fell On Black Days here

Evil Scarecrow themselves are incredibly well received by the fans, playing through the likes of 'Robototron' (causing many, many robots on the dancefloor) and 'Blacken the Everything'. Setting the bar for silliness closing their set with a cover of Europe's 'The Final Countdown' having challenged the crowd to can-can for the duration of the song. The crowd succeed in doing so, and so bring the set to a close.

Evil Scarecrow

Welcome to the Big Metal Bastard blog!

Hello my headbanging friends! Big Metal Bastard here, letting you know what the deal is with this blog.

The Big Metal Bastard is committed to spreading the word of the finest upcoming metal bands the UK and beyond has to offer. Raising awareness of underground bands, concerts and festivals to give some real support to hardworking and kickass bands trying to break through to the big time.

You can expect reviews of shows and releases new and old, you can expect some of the best new music around at the moment and you can expect to bang your head into oblivion.


See you soon, my friends!

Big Metal Bastard.