Sunday 6 December 2009

Gig Review: Sonic Syndicate - The Roadhouse, Manchester - 06/12/09

It’s not often that the first band of the night, especially when it’s a local band, turn out to be this good, but it’s safe to say that Obsessive Compulsive (7) blew me away tonight. Half an hour of gloomy, alt-metal Manchester quintet is enough to seriously impress me and leave me wanting more. Most female fronted bands don’t get the respect they deserve, often seen as somehow not on par with their male fronted counterparts, but with the air of confidence and self assurance shown by lead singer Kelii Compulsive, I don’t think that’ll be a problem for this band. Such is her confidence and stage presence that I’m reminded of a young Tairrie B or Aimee Echo. Obsessive Compulsive will be releasing their debut album in the first half of 2010 and I, for one, can not wait!

Second on tonight’s bill are London’s The Defiled (8), a band who, it seems, should be sponsored by Jägermeister, given the amount that is being drunk on stage during this set. Despite a crowd that seems to have gone to sleep, The Defiled manage to put on a blistering set in their allotted half hour, giving it all they’ve got despite the half empty venue. The Defiled’s unique brand of aggressive synth injected metal is one that really appeals to me and their live performance simply serves to back up what’s heard on their current EP. The future should hold big things for this band.

And so with the UK having been represented by two of the best bands currently on the underground metal scene, it’s time for the Swede’s to show us what they’ve got. The crowd seems to wake up slightly as Sonic Syndicate (8) hit the stage. This is first UK headlining tour, so it’s probably been a while since they’ve had to play for such small crowds (more use to playing support slots of 8,000 people in their native Sweden.) Nether the less they put on a good show, putting plenty of energy in to their show and doing their best to get the crowd going, which appears to pay off as by the 4th song the crowd seem to have woken up a bit. Now, I said it was the turn of the Swede’s, but as many of you will know, there is one English member in the band now. Nathan J Briggs, formally of Shrewsbury’s The Hollow Earth Theory, is currently handling lead vocal duties in Sonic Syndicate and with several of his former band mates, flat mates and various friends in the crowd, tonight is somewhat of a homecoming for him and it shows in his performance, as even with a sore throat he still gives it his all and puts on an excellent show. The crowd continue to wake up during the set but never get quite as excited as you’d expect, maybe it’s ‘cause a Sunday? Or maybe it’s, as The A.V.D. (The Defiled’s keyboardist) says, maybe it’s just ‘cause this crowd sucks. Either way, Sonic put on a decent show, finishing on Jack of Diamonds and everyone seems content as they leave the venue.


Overall gig rating: 8/10. A good gig, with a lot of promise shown by the two English bands on the bill. If you want to check out any of the bands, you can find them here:
Obsessive Compulsive: Myspace, Facebook
The Defiled: Myspace, Facebook
Sonic Syndicate: Myspace, Facebook

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