Words: Mav

Pix - Mav

Saturday the 12th of July kicked ass for three reasons. Maniacal, Hebephrenic and Exhibit A.
The Sugarmill got a thorough workout thanks to a heaving circle pit born from the heavy goddamn metal produced by these three local bands.

This show was made for me by not only the outstanding talent of all three bands- notably headliners Exhibit A who have proven themselves time and time again as local metal giants, but also by the refreshingly different style of Hebephrenic.

Hebe are a high powered band but instead of a hardcore metal front, they use rhythm and melody to great effect. Yes, metal kids, there’s a tune in there. I know it’s scary and maybe it doesn’t make you feel as macho, but it’s what good music has. Their tracks have atmosphere and use the metal genre more like a vehicle than a style to deliver a wide ranging sound. Strong vocals from front man Nick were supported by a good level, by which I mean a proportionate amount, of drum and guitar. Hebephrenic have their own recipe for music which works and made this gig more than just a metal free-for-all. The band played some great tracks from their brand spanking EP, Clear Skies. Check out the track ‘The Fatalist’ on their MySpace. We caught up with the guys after the show:

“Yeah we thought it went fairly well, we find it more difficult playing to metal fans these days due to the fact we don’t really consider ourselves to be part of that genre anymore but we enjoy the challenge and will always try to convert people regardless of what they listen to (even if it means going into the crowd and conversing with every single person individually).”

“I think its good to get people involved in what you do, especially if they're paying good money to see you perform. We've seen far too many egos in bands over the years, bands that appear disconnected or uninterested because they think the world owes them something...we don’t want to be like that, we're grateful for every single person that takes an interest in us.”

The headliners Exhibit A were as usual on top form, with hard as concrete playing and plenty of stage antics, including the launching of a piñata into the mosh pit (which was brutally fought over and ripped apart like a thai hooker).

Opening with ‘Personification of People’, Ex-A stormed through a set of great tracks with brutally heavy guitar and drums with buckets of heart and soul. Jon’s vocals excel in the live arena thanks to a great amount of power and clarity. As we covered in last month’s Sleeping Giants section, the band have a loud and balls-out style to be proud of and make local metal into a thing to be respected. Their rendition of ‘Death of Love’ which can be heard on their MySpace was great and stood out as a track to remember. Ex-A have a great amount of on-stage harmony that seems to come from a mutual love of metal and mutual lack of the usual big-headedness. As they said:

“Yeah that was great show, lots of familiar faces, lots of beer, free porn, free malteasers, condoms and tampons our new guitarists phone number hidden inside the piñata with the message 'for free sex call me' which no-one found! What a shame! All in all though a good night I thought, good to see so many people coming out to see us.”

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The gig was kicked off by Maniacal who gig a lot around these here parts and have cropped up in the mag many a time. A great band to make a ‘gig’ into a ‘night’, Maniacal blast their fans with everything they’ve got and bring pure passion to a show. We were treated to a ‘Relentless’ which kicked ass and took names. The guitar work of Woody and Jason continues to get better and better as they form a hard hitting team especially on stage.

“The night went really well for us as the energy from the crowd fuelled our performance to a higher level. There is nothing more enjoyable than feeding off stoke metal heads to bump up your adrenaline. We are currently taking time out to write and record a few more tracks to follow up with an E.P later on this year. We will resume gigging again in the autumn and start spreading out to other areas of the UK.”

This night was made by three things; Maniacal’s powerhouse kick start, Hebephrenic’s breath of fresh air and Exhibit A’s raw metal talent. I really want to see these three together again... now excuse me while I try to find that phone number from the piñata...

http://www.myspace.com/exhibita

http://www.myspace.com/maniacalstoke

http://www.myspace.com/hebephrenic