Review: ALBUM: 'Beyond The Pale' by Shields

If you like crippling down-tuned riffs, growling bass lines, pummeling drums and emphatic, triumphant vocals then I direct you to this blistering debut album by Leeds medieval power rockers SHIELDS.

'Beyond The Pale' emits a monstrous signal reaching far back to ancient realms where pillaging and other primitive acts scorn the earth. A grave reminder that when four individuals come together to play music, it can be ultimately magical. Yes this band are unsigned and yes this band are local, which pains for me to say it. It pains me because there are so many other bands in Shields' situation; recording music that deserves more attention. However, that aside, Shields are a band on the rise and one can only hope that this album gets the reception that it deserves.

The album kicks in with the creatively named 'My buddy went to Azeroth & all I got were these lousy arrows' which is a whip cracking track on your quest through 'Beyond the Pale'. it features plenty of heavy, in-your-face transitions that strip and then dress right in front of your ears.

BS GIG: Telepathy / Himself / Cattle

Big Spaceships Presents...

It would appear that we may have smashed this gig together, sourcing four completely different bands as the main ingredients to some kind of riff soup, accompanied by a bread roll, buttered in a musical spread, churned in the mill of Rock.

So come join us aboard the Big Spaceship, spoon in hand, and prepare yourselves to enter a void of arcane vibrations....


TELEPATHY

These four gentlemen will be travelling light-years to come fourth and play this gig, from the distant land of Colchester. Bringing with them a metallic instrumental, prog offering of their own interpretation. Their EP, Fracture (available for free download from their bandcamp) is a culmination of mellow, dreamy prog crecendoes, some solid grooves and some spectacular fist in the air headbanging moments. It would be pretty daft to pass up a free download of this magnitude.

HIMSELF

And now for something completely different... 5 dudes from YORKSHIIIRE known as Himself, each member contributes to the vocal arrangment as well as playing an instrument, which lends itself kindly to the bands erratic pop sensibilities and comedic narrative. It would seem that some of the best bands around are the ones that don’t take themselves too seriously and effortlessly achieve a sound that many try very hard to accomplish. A few guys having a laugh + Talent = Awesome band. Its for that reason that you will see Himself playing gigs with bands of completely different stylings, regardless of whether you think they fit on the bill or not, this is because, all sub genres aside, they’re just really fuckin good.

CATTLE

Cattle are not your average 4/4 rock 'n' roll band. They formed earlier this year with nothing and everything in mind. Their music is a wobbly wheeled shopping trolly laden with noisy jazz and question mark ending riffs, taking influence from each aisle of the supermarket and producing a chunky stew soaked in a base of rhythmic precision and heavily seasoned with screaming feed back and fuzz groove.

First band around 8pm

400p

Gig: LIMB / BLACK MOTH / THRONE

Come gather round children and witness the day of the holy Sabbat. We here at the Big Spaceship sect are very proud to present a juicy night of psychedelic doom-vibes.

LIMB
Make sure you have acquired the relevant talismans for this daemonic group of heathens, for you will need every kind of protection (especially ear) against the evil forces emanating from the sound of this band. It is Limb's first time out of their lairs into the northern promised land of Leeds and they surely must be preparing well to meet the demands of Leeds' ghastly gig goers.
Limb hail from London and play dirgey sludge ridden doom for fans of Weedeater, Acid King and Electric Wizard.
Download their demo for free here:
http://limbtheband.bandcamp.com/

HAMMERS - 'Vardogr' (2012) : A Review

HAMMERS are a group of musicians hailing from Manchester with an original approach to creating brutal crust-laden hardcore. I wanted to include 'metal' in the synopsis, but as soon as I use the words hardcore and metal together my whole body cringes. It is crusty in that it projects gritty bass, low guttural voice and stampeding tempos.. all driven along in an adventurous early Dischord-era style where technical prowess and unpredictable structures aren't sneered upon.

The first track 'Casting Spells' oozes dark feedback(y) mess all over my ears, before spitting out a pristine sounding riff that instantly cuts through the layers of vicious feedback...From black metal to early Baroness in the flip of a switch. The titles of this album almost remind me of the chapter names of some prophetic book out of the middle ages; encouraging a bewildered sense of awe. A similar feeling most have experienced through attempting to read 'Dante's Inferno' when they were 17...intriguing nevertheless.

The kind of head-nodding (cause there are 'kinds') it gets out of me is a kind of blend between the focused jarring approach induced by math rock and the head-down-to-the-ground shake techniques regularly seen at your local thrash gig. Its easy to say Hammers envelop many styles in their music, it is hard to determine exactly how due to the fluency of it. A track that sticks out to me lasts a timely :23 secs named 'Endoteric'. Mainly because I have a great big mushy soft spot for grimy doom but secondly for that chord at the end of the riff; sounds like an orchestra of electric bass guitars all playing the same note in a massive expansive auditorium.