This was a gig that I may have dismissed but for two factors. The first was helping pick someone off the floor at a metal night a couple of weeks before, who was a singer in a band, She Must Burn, and then being told that Cage Fight would be playing as well. The rest of the bill would have been offputting.
Second band of the night were Gates to Hell, a band from the USA, touring with a Japanese band. I am not a fan of hardcore but these guys had an energy about them and they were engaging and entertaining.
Next on were a band that I had become aware of as a long-term fan of their vocalist, Rachel Aspe. For those of you unaware of how she came to fame, she appeared on La France a un Incroyable Talent ten years ago, surprising the audience and panel with her awesome voice. She subsequently replaced Candice Clot in one of my favourite French bands, Eths. Anyway back to the night. As well as Rachel on vocals the rest of the band have strong pedigrees, James Monteith on guitars and backing vox (Tesseract) , Jon Reid on bass/MC, and Nick Plews (Aghast) on drums. They played an aggressive set with a depth most bands in the sub-genre lack.
The headline band, the aforementioned She Must Burn were a very different flavour to the rest of the bands, playing a set sounding like a mix of Cradle of Filth and death metal. They had had problems that week that would have stopped most bands, with both their vocalist and bass player falling ill. They were helped out by Dilan from Harbinger who brought his own vocal talents to the band. Valis, their female singer has a strong voice with a good range. Guitars and drums were a solid backing for the vocalists. It was an entertaining set and I look forward to catching them soon with their regular line-up.