Korn + Limp Bizkit, Manchester Arena, 12/12/2016

The last time Korn and Limp Bizkit toured together was a few months before I was even born, closing in on 20 years now. However, neither band had reached their respected success at this time; Korn were on their way there after the releases of their first 2 albums, Korn and Life Is Peachy whereas Limp Bizkit were still waiting for their first album Three Dollar Bill, Y'all to even be released.

Fast forwarding 2 decades, however, sees both bands reunite on a dual-headlining tour of the UK. A collective 16 studio albums (which spawned a further 75+ million album sales) distance their last tour together to this date, stats that justify why both artists can both claim the headline title in today's age.

Beginning their first leg -of a six leg tour- in Manchester, nobody knew what to really expect other that Korn being the closing act of the evening, and a *sold out* Manchester Arena played testament to the fact that this tour was what people were eager to see. (I say *sold out* because there were no more tickets available on first hand ticket websites but there were plenty of empty seats- courtesy of ticket touts.)

Nevertheless, there was a huge cheer when the lights first went down, as the crowd were eager to welcome the self proclaimed 'NYHC' (New York Hardcore) band Madball. Laying out the core basics of what the hardcore genre is all about, Madball powered through their set with aggression. Hard, fast, heavy beats were the backbone of their material, carrying vocals that shared such aggression and which furthermore fed the audience into the mood for the evening. The band, nearing their 30th year together, worked strongly as a unit. Each member played off each other with cohesion and compatibility, they certainly played their part in the line-up well.

Almost 3 years since their last visit to Manchester, Limp Bizkit were the first of the night's headliners- the penultimate headliner, if you will. Minding the pun, they really got the night Rollin'. Opening the setlist with their most popular song is testament to everything Limp Bizkit stands for; from their name to their stage presence to their lyrics, they just don't give a single fuck.

"No-one brings the party harder, heavier, and more exciting than us" exclaims Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst, a statement that you can see he truly believes. Out of the 11 songs in their setlist, 8 of them were out of their highest selling album 'Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water' taking the audience back to a year 2000-focal night where Bizkit were at the pinnacle of height as a band. As for the remaining 3 songs left in their setlist, they took us even further back. 1999's 'Nookie' and 'Break Stuff' played in the latter stages of their set ensured everyone kept riled up and the well known cover 'Faith' (from 1997) is hard to not join in with. 'I did it all for the nookie' were lyrics definitely chanted one of the loudest and the drop foregoing 'break your fucking face tonight' was undoubtedly the band's crescendo for the evening.

Almost 3 years ago I saw them play the Manchester Academy to an audience of around 2,000 other people on the annual Kerrang! Tour (which I also coincidentally reviewed...) and am lucky to have seen them now in a larger environment to now appreciate that Limp Bizkit are an arena-suited band. Not taking away anything from how they are in smaller venues, but Bizkit's music is made to be blasted through loud speakers- a few blips in the sound aside, this was the main reason why they were so good this night.

The last time Korn played Manchester was June 2015, a lot sooner than fellow tourmates Limp Bizkit, however, they now return after releasing their twelfth studio album 'The Serenity of Suffering.' Unlike their Nu-Metal counterparts however, Korn's setlist was in no way weighted to one particular album, in fact, the 15 songs played were extracted from 8 albums, one of those songs even being a cover song and the albums played range from 1996's Korn to 2016's The Serenity of Suffering, giving them the best of 20 years of material to plough through.

The songs weren't played chronologically, however, as the recognisable opening riff to 2003's Right Now slowly emerged through the solo drumming of Ray Luzier to a huge cheer from the crowd. A plethora of the band's most well known hits then followed; Here To Stay, Somebody Someone and their new single Rotting In Vein received a frenzied audience response whereas their cover of Word Up! (which was the first time they played it live since 2004) had everyone singing in unity.

Korn's light show was quite something too. Roughly 7ft high lights span the midsection of the stage, only splitting down the middle to home the drumkit, and a row of lights hung above the stage brightly accompanying the music- and I mean brightly. I was sat on the back row as far away as you could get from the stage and even I was seeing lights for hours after the concert finished. Glad to say my eyes are fine now and there wasn't any permanent damage to my corneas- or Korneas, if you will- but there was a definite irony, I felt, when they were on the closing end of their set playing Blind. 'I can see I'm going blind', yeah, me too Jonathan mate.

All jokes aside, this was an evening displaying 3 bands in their respected genres standing the test of time and proving why they deserve to still be valid. Granted, Fred Durst may not be a name as big as it was 15 years ago, with him allegedly dating Britney Spears, performing duets with Christina Aguilera at the 2000 MTV Music Video Awards etc... but 40 million album sales, 3 Grammy Nominations and 4 out of their 5 albums reaching the number one spot in at least one country shows that they've cemented their place deservingly as one of the leads in rap-rock/nu-metal.

Korn may have not experienced the level of fame Limp Bizkit initially did, but they've certainly amassed a loyal following- a loyal following that gets them high 'top 10' chart status across all major countries repeatedly, time and time again. This tour was focusing on how two bands can spearhead the introduction of a new type of metal genre, bring it to the mainstream and still be valid decades on. And they both definitely have made their mark.

Avenged Sevenfold ~ The Stage, album review. An Unexpected Adventure.

In this day and age, for any artist to completely hide an album release, throwing millions of people off with a fake release date before unleashing an all-out assault on every market platform (iTunes to Spotify to worldwide album release) is quite a feat. Front-man M.Shadows jokingly commented on the approach of the release, "it's 2016, people's attention spans are too short at this point, who has time for 3 months of lead-up?" A statement which differs vastly from the approach to their last release, Hail To The King (2013.)

The release of their seventh album, The Stage, which is the longest album the band has released to date (clocking in at just under 74 minutes), takes the listener on a journey. The concept album, which focuses on the thoughts of human compatibility and juxtaposes is with broader thought of existence, leads you into new territory that has been previously unexplored by the band, guiding you with soft ballads and disrupting you with hard hitting head-bangers.

The album is also a feeding introduction to new drummer, Brooks Wackerman (Bad Religion, Tenacious D), who justifies his place in the band with an explosive drumming style, which was the first thing audiences were treated to upon hearing their new single, "The Stage" which released a few weeks prior to the album of the same name. His drumming style helps give the album it's own personality, separating it from the other work Sevenfold had previously produced.

Previous drummer Arin Llejay, who joined the band in 2012 and helped produce the band's 6th album Hail To The King which was a great success for the band, seeing them top charts in the UK and numerous other leading countries around the world, spawning a huge world tour and countless festival headlining appearances. HTTK's pre-release posed an agonising number of weeks for fans, who's promotion ranged from IOS games that leaked UK tour venues, to having a radio on their website that leaked new songs, to even leaking the album artwork piece by piece to eventually reveal the full album cover.

In comparison, I think the surprise album drop took away the "new album hype", making it feel almost as if it wasn't serious. It took away the aspect that previously built up excitement for a release. For me, it almost felt like it wasn't a real album, and more of just a ballad mix; there were no real stand-out songs unlike other past Sevenfold albums and a few of the songs even sounded similar too. You get what you come for though and in now way am I inferring it's a disastrous album, but it's nothing like the level we all know Avenged Sevenfold are capable of.

Careful planning, dedication and execution played a large part in what made their previous albums so successful. Live and learn on this one.

2/5.

Billy Talent, Manchester Academy, 15/10/2016

Off the back of an agonising 4 year wait, Billy Talent finally return to the UK presenting the 'Afraid Of Heights' tour following the release of their 5th album of the same name, which released late July of this year.

The atmosphere amidst the fans waiting outside the Academy was definitely tense, hoping that after a huge world tour which saw the band visit countries such as Japan, America and Australia, it was finally our time to get a fix. The hiatus wasn't without reason however. Lead singer Benjamin Kowalewicz explains, "after the Paris attacks last year, we were hesitant on touring Europe." Ben explains that a victim of the 2015 attacks on the Bataclan was a friend of the band, before adding "...however, we feel very welcome tonight, so thank you." A speech that was met with a collective round of applause.

A shout-out has to be given to the night's support acts; Say Yes and Young Guns. Both brought their own individual energy and proved themselves as suitable support bands for the evening, evolving the excitement through both of their sets, something Young Guns frontman Gustav Wood was adamant about pushing. And it worked.

Ultimately, Billy Talent then took to the stage, powering through a solid setlist with contagious energy. It made it almost impossible for that energy not to be transferred to the crowd below, a statement justified by the atmosphere that night. The setlist pattern had a feeling to me that it was purposefully structured to go from fast, to slow, to fast. Songs like Devil In A Midnight Mass and Viking Death March, which were played first and last, respectively (before the encore) sandwiched much slower songs like Surrender and White Sparrows, which were played right at the very heart of their set, acting almost as a metaphorical roller-coaster dip- bringing the energy up, down, then right back up again.

Kudos has to be given to the support for the evening, who were definitely an appropriate build up to the main finale, as they undoubtedly gained more fans that night through their enthusiastic, energetic performances and catchy songs. Billy Talent sped through their songs with great intensity, be it through the more intimate softer songs or the more riff-heavy ones, making them an electric experience to see live, something I would wholeheartedly suggest for anyone to see. Although they've just recently left, I know I won't be the only one hoping that the next time they return, we won't have waited as long as we did before.

The Defiled, Manchester Academy 3, 1/12/2014

London industrial rockers were joined by foreign bands; Killus (Spain) and Sweden's very own Avatar, literally just over a year since they supported Avenged Sevenfold and 5FDP on their Manchester-based leg of the UK tour (which you can coincidentally find my review to on the left hand side of the page/in the 'December 2013'.)

Nevertheless, this European trio congregated in the Academy 3, a 200 max. venue that always promises an intimate concert. And always delivers.

From Villarreal, Spain, industrial metallers Killus opened the evening and with a unique image of body paint and eye lenses, it was evident they were out to entertain. The standout role had to undoubtably be awarded to their bass player, 'Premutoxx', who had the juxtaposed aesthetic qualities of Rob Zombies' Captain Spaulding and Batman's The Joker. His creepy grin, over sexualised and often random stage movements made it hard to break view from him. Their on-stage antics, combined with blatant Rob Zombie/Rammstein-inspired music, produced an overall performance the crowd thoroughly enjoyed.

Avatar returned to Manchester a year after the Hail To The King arena tour in support of Avenged Sevenfold and Five Finger Death Punch. Although moving from a 21,000+ capacity stadium to a 200+ capacity room can be quite a downgrade, the support that they mustered previously is still very evident.

The headliners for the evening, The Defiled, had an unusual turn of fate when the electrics for the show cut out only a few songs into their set, leading the crowd to give the venue a discount light show using the torches on their phones and lighters. After orchestrating the song simply titled 'fuck the lights' (which coincidentally happened to be the only lyrics in the song), the electric finally came back on, sadly meaning the show was cut short by a song or two. 

The unfortunate situation was played through really well and with good spirits, with the crowd buzzing in anticipation for the continuation of their set, which saw tracks like Sleeper, Call To Arms and As I Drown meet an avidly enthusiastic crowd response. Whereas for '5 Minutes', the crowd stepped back to see the bands passion really show through.

With the set on its final song and the whole room raving, you could tell people would be leaving the venue waiting for their return. A highly energised night with a really intimate feel to it, the perfect combination for a concert goer to experience. All 3 bands really won over their audience with style and on a very theatrically focal night, it was a genuine shame to see the concert end. I would highly recommend you keep an eye out for them all in the future. They didn't just play, they performed.

Kerrang! Tour 2014, Manchester Academy, 17.02.14

Almost a year since they headlined the second stage at Download Festival, treating the UK audience to a set list of epic proportions, Limp Bizkit mark their return by headlining the 9th annual Kerrang! Tour. With help from Japanese electro-metallers Crossfaith, Californian power-metallers Nekrogoblikon and Nottingham speed-metallers Baby Godzilla, Limp Bizkit had all the help they could want to create a night to remember.

Upon opening the night, Baby Godzilla thought a rearranging of the stage was needed, tending to move the protruding speakers from the stage to the section in between the stage and the crowd, before using them to stand on...whilst playing. Disregarding all personal safety, they were really an excellent spectacle. You'd imagine how terrifying they'd be in a smaller venue, as they wreak havoc as much as their name would suggest.

After a much needed stage tidying, the stage was clear...for a while. Californian quintet Nekrogoblikon, introduced by charismatic mascot John Goblikon as his "favourite band", unleashed head-moving ballads with comic effect, even calling out to the Oxfordshire based 'Hobgoblin' brew to sponsor them, jokingly, of course. It was evident that by the end, Mr. Goblikon had the crowd in the palm of his bony, green hand as he told them to all raise their fists to the roof, which they did so willingly, furthermore creating one of the highlights of the set. Nekrogoblikon compliment metal and humour perfectly, creating the perfect entertainment cocktail- a live bando I could really enjoy seeing again.

Widely renown for being an exceptional live band, the impact Nekrogoblikon made + the anticipation of electro-metallers Crossfaith equals an extraordinary atmosphere even before their set began. The Japanese quintet sounded brilliant, seemingly hitting all the perfect notes. With appealing visuals and fantastic music, Crossfaith really are a perfectly aesthethic, a real entity in the genre they have so deservingly rooted themselves as the leaders of. Celebrating the birthday of guitarist Kazuki, Crossfaith were stellar at being tight and together, being phenomenal at what they do. All biased views aside, these are one of the quickest rising bands in the world, don't be surprised if you see a headline tour very soon!

Headliners Limp Bizkit then arrive a little later than planned, just over 10 minutes- nevertheless they're welcomed by a roar of cheers. Ploughing through a total of 6 cover songs (The Cowboy Song, Welcome To The Jungle, Heart-Shaped Box, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Master Of Puppets and Faith) it could be argued that a set list more Bizkit-focal would have been preferred. They did, however, play Rollin', My Generation and Hot Dog- which, judging by the audience reaction throughout, were blatant fan favourites. The set, which started late, significantly altered the way the show flowed. It turned it from a start-to-finish set into a 'play what songs we can in the time we have' kind of set, which is a shame, but the aspect of the crowd choosing what songs to play was a good idea- with the majority choosing 'Break Stuff' over 'Take a Look Around'. Had the support acts have been as unorganised as Limp Bizkit were, the concert would have been a disaster, but in fact, their brilliance compensated it. Overall, the atmosphere wasn't halted by any of it, a great atmosphere for a great night.

Lamb Of God, Manchester Academy, 19.01.14

Black clothing, beards and beer. Even before Huntress hit the stage, the 2,600 capacity venue was in full swing, with the occasional beer-cup projectile seen high above the crowd and the communial chanting to the pre-show music of AC/DC's 'Highway To Hell'. It was a vibe which was prominent throughout, and it was most certainly one everyone was a participant in, somehow or other.

Firstly, Huntress- the rising 'doom metal' Californian quintet, meeting the expectations of the crowd who were already buzzing prior to the bands introduction. Parading confidently around the stage with her knees up high led Jill Janus, proudly boasting Huntress' fine collection of head-moving anthems, especially 'I Want To Fuck You To Death' which was co-wrote by the golden god of heavy metal, Lemmy Kilmister. Nevertheless, Huntress also wanted to point out that after a seemingly successful set at Download '13, they have been asked to play again this year, at Download '14- which the crowd, that had been won over by their prowess, cheered enthusiastically. Huntress can confidently walk away from the night knowing their fanbase has grown.

Intricate death-metallers Decapitated were next, throwing speedy bass drums and exciting riffs the crowds way, resembling a Pantera/Machine Head-esque style of music that was hard not to enjoy. With dreads down to his calves, Rafał Piotrowski screamed venomously, which left the crowd chanting for more- when they weren't in the pits, that is. Needless to say, Decapitated did brilliantly in preparing the crowd for the headliners of the evening. 

Then the leaders of groove metal arrived. The almost 24 year old going-strong band claimed the stage- Chris Adler's phenomenal, envy-inducing double bass drum kit taking up a large portion, may I add.

A new face was even welcomed too among the Lamb Of God lineup, as temporary guitarist Paul Waggoner (from the band Between The Buried And Me) filled in for Mark Morton. Lead singer, Randy Blythe, stated that his abence was due to him having to be with his family, and for them, "family comes first, no questions asked". Their justification on their choice of guitarist was "he had long hair, so why not?" joked Randy, before unleashing their flawless monster of a set.

The sound inside the Academy complimented them brilliantly; emphasising Randy's superb vocal range, Chris' drumming (which has been the best I've heard in a long time) and the guitar riffs, which Paul nailed, cementing himself as an exceptional cover guitarist. The sound was only outdone by the level of energy in their performance, which forced time-outs for the frontman so he could douse his head in water to cool down, even claiming "I'm sweating more than a whore in church".

For what seems to be an exciting year for Lamb Of God with the release of their documentary 'As The Palaces Burn' which comes out on February 27, they've most certainly started the year with a bang.

Scar The Martyr, Manchester 14.12.13

As with most supergroups, Scar The Martyr would always be hit-and-miss. This was the second supergroup I've seen, after Axewound, and there is most certainly a visible trend of people going simply to see the members that make up the band. 

However, it most certainly doesn't mean that the content being played wasn't inadequate, or at least dance-worthy.

With great support sets from 'The Hell', they chants of 'Joey' really brought to light who the majority of the people in the 200 > venue were there to see, and Joey Jordison (who happened to leave Slipknot the night previous to the gig) proved why his reputation deserves to be one of the highest for his profession.

Playing their self-titled album in full,  Scar The Martyr were alright, not bad, not brilliant. Normally you could render comparatives from previous concerts a band plays, but as this was their first UK tour and literally their second show in the country- little was known on what to expect from them.

Nevertheless though, I can confidently speak on behalf of the crowd in Manchester when I say they have our repeat purchase confirmed have they happened to be touring again. Great band, great idea, possibly bright future ahead- watch out!

Papa Roach, Manchester, 05.12.13

Straight back from throat surgery, Jacoby brings the 'Silence Is The Enemy' tour. Quite possiby the perfect way to celebrate his voice being better than ever, that, and the fact Papa Roach entered its 20th year in 2013. The fans knew they were in for a treat.

Texan band American Fangs, who are making their UK debut, kicked off the show, met with an excited response from the crowd. As the band fed rock song after rock song to Manchester, American Fangs, who is obviously heavily influenced by Papa Roach in their music, came to an end. Their closure met by a thunderous, welcoming roar.

Middle Class Rut started slow, however, and compared to their predecessor, weren't as energetic. It was evidently shown by the crowd response, where the method of stop and stare was more popular than the alternative of dancing along. I couldn't help but feel that maybe the positioning of the starter bands could've been different, and maybe a better crowd response would've been gained from this. However, the band delivered a smooth, rock groove which has to be appreciated.

Then the lights went down, the imminent arrival of Papa Roach made the crowd produce a deafening roar.

Sending the crowd into a crazed frezy from the off, Papa Roach hit the stage. picking songs from there huge catalogue of fan-favourites, it's safe to say they picked well. Each song was met with an equal, estatic reaction and this was displayed through how the crowd acted, and they were insanely enthusiastic.

Jacoby is most certainly a natural performer, shaking the hand of every crowd-surfer who was being hauled off to the side by security, whilst jumping around, persuading the crowd to follow suit. It leaves the viewer to wonder where he gets all his energy from, as it's seemingly unlimited.

Bodies climbed others, vocals were sore, mosh pits were seemingly never-ending and the whole place was bouncing furiously from front to back. It was a fantastic sight to see a band enjoy themselves as much as the crowd did too.

Papa Roach are definitely a band that'll always be welcome back to the UK, not that their presence will ever really leave in the first place.

Avenged Sevenfold, Manchester, 30.11.13

The self proclaimed 'leaders of this eras heavy metal scene' proved quite simply why they aren't wrong. Upon returning to the UK after almost 3 years away and even smashing the no.1 spot in the charts here, the anticipation couldn't be higher and the fans couldn't be more excited.

The supporting acts, I thought, were brilliant for their role- warming the crowd up for the band that comes on next. Swedish metallers, Avatar, who replaced Device (as their lead singer, David Draiman, was looking after his newly born child) were good, especially for a band most of the crowd hadn't heard of, producing songs of a Rob Zombie/Rammstein-esque fashion.

Then they came. Jumping straight into 'Under And Over It', the ear-deafening chant of 'Death Punch' from the crowd let you know how warm the welcome was for arguably the hottest band going at this moment- Five Finger Death Punch. The first example of crowd participation was evident here, and how could it not be? Ivan Moody's charisma could get even the most antisocial person crowd-surfing or singing at the top of their lungs. This continued throughout their set, even through the first half of 'Far From Home', where the soft, melodic side to 5FDP didn't stop fans from lifting up their lighters, phones and singing along enthusiastically. Utter brilliance from a band who could easily have headlined the evening.

Getting straight to the point, the headliners got off to an explosive start, literally. The opening to 'Shepherd Of Fire' had pyrotechnics and explosives set to erupt in-sync with the music, immediately setting a theatrical theme to the show, which would remain throughout.

Although it may be argued that the Californian quintet didn't play their 'greatest hits', they astounded all regardless. Primarily focusing on songs from their new album (as it was the 'Hail To The King' tour) they didn't refrain from skipping back through the eras, treating the crowd to songs from Nightmare, concluding the show with songs from Waking The Fallen.

The newly-crowned Download 2014 headliners are bigger, better and more unstoppable than they've ever been before. As Matt Shadows said, they're carrying the torch for heavy metal, and it's hard to see an end to their reign in sight.

Crossfaith - Apocalyze.

Utter brilliance from the world's fastest-growing band. Crossfaith have ultimately proved that there's a gap in the metal-market for electro/Japanese/metalcore and are finally getting the recognition they deserve with their newest album, Apocalyze. Crossfaith brand themselves as potential stars with tracks like 'Eclipse' and 'We Are The Future' proving that metalcore, dubstep and electro can be infused into one genre- and well.

Look out for Crossfaith in the future, they'll be big.

Crown The Empire + Issues, Gorilla, 19/09/2013

I bought tickets without any *real* idea about both bands, but the deeper I delve, the more I became enticed.

The venue was unusual, but brilliant. Gorilla replaced NQ Live as the venue, as NQ Live sadly burnt down- and I was skeptical that Gorilla could live up to the reputation NQ live had so rightly acquired, but I couldn't have been more wrong. 

From the very start, Crown The Empire had the place jumping and singing, hitting the crowd hard with 7 of their best songs. Songs like 'Memories Of A Broken Heart' and 'Makeshift Chemistry' being among fan favourites.

Issues were suffice, from what I could tell. They were perceived to be the 'marmite' of the night's entertainment, you either loved them or you didn't- there wasn't much in between and it unfortunately split the crowd. However, it didn't mean they weren't good at filling the crowd with energy, which they did with stellar competence. 

With help from strobe lighting and smoke machines, a surreal atmosphere was delivered to the crowd. An excellent end to an excellent night.

Paramore, Manchester Arena, 20/09/2013.

Paramore have been a favourite of mine for sometime now- I'd even go as far as to say they got me into the music I enjoy today. I couldn't pass up an opportunity to see them whatsoever.

Paramore celebrated their highly anticipated return to the UK with a stunning performance, "it's been a long, difficult time for us. We thought we'd lost something within ourselves which we never thought we'd get back. But that just goes to show, we didn't give up, and we pulled through. The same goes to you guys in the audience" Hayley explained, met with a huge, emotional cheer.

They then barraged the audience with 21  songs, old and new- of which the crowd sang along to their upmost, even matched with dancing when Hayley enthused it. 

The feel-good vibe the band gave off evidently got shared with the crowd, as everyone came together to create something memorable. Hayley even joked "I don't know what's going on in Manchester tonight, but it can't be as good as this."

Although it seemed the older songs were met with a better reception, one thing is for definite; Paramore are back.