Sleeping Panda Presents:

Brighton Hobgoblin

Thursday 9th December

Tonight is the second event for Sleeping Panda Promotions at the Hobgoblin featuring a heavier selection of music of punk, death metal and sludge. First act on were:

Rose Keller www.myspace.com/rosekellermusic

It's early days on the circuit for Rose Keller and tonight they show signs of a promising future. Their music takes influence from modern Death Metal bands such as Job For a cowboy, Despised Icon and Suicide Silence, so in other words brutality. Their songs are well written with some head-bang worthy grooves complete with over the top harmonics but their performance is what lets them down. They don't look like members of the same band wearing completely contradicting items of clothing and lacking a collective performance. However I am looking forward to what these guys do in the next few months as once these problems are ironed they may well become serious competitors for Brighton's Death Metal crown.

Target Girl

I did not review these guys tonight in count of how many times I have seen them over the last few weeks, I however helped Calum (Sleeping Panda promotor and Target Girl frontman) on the door.

Sak-Less Jack www.myspace.com/saklessjack

Sak-Less Jack are always a great live band to catch on the local circuit and tonight is no different. The festive season is not lost on them with the frontman and guitar player wearing Santa outfits, also acting as a sweat sponge. They play to a smaller crowd but perform as if it were full. In addition to their set they play a new song that features a slight stylistic change with skank guitar that also sounds dubby in places. To complete their set and with this festive mood in mind the band play a full on Sak-less styled cover of the Christmas classic, “All I want for Christmas” - is my two front teeth.

Uncle Debauchery www.myspace.com/uncledebauchery

This is the first time i've reviewed these guys and for a band that claim to be out of practice, they sure deliver a tight set worthy of their headliner position. Their sludge doom metal style can be likened to Down, Mastodon and Kyuss but is not like anything that can be heard in Brighton. Their songs are really interesting showing great use of dynamics and disgracefully dirty tempo changes that are painfully slow in places (in a good way).

Personality leaks from every member of the band who compliment each other very well making a huge presence in the venue. The frontman also gives off a great vibe as he prowls around the place like a circus clown gone wrong. It would also appear that Uncle Debauchery are irresistible to a particularly drunken fan who also makes a memorable performance of her own.

Underground

Black Sunday Promotions Presents: "Headbangers & Thrash 2"

Brighton Hobgoblin

Saturday 4^th December

Tonight's event at the Hobgoblin sees a well fine crowd of loud and proud thrash hungry fans complete in their leather, spikes and denim. With the recent snow passing way to relentless wind and rain there is only ever one place to be and that is under the great hosting of Black Sunday Promotions. Due to circumstances out of my control I have failed to review Kickfist (www.myspace.com/kickfist) again! I am sorry guy's it wasn't meant to be. Maybe one day our paths will cross in a glorious conjuration of Metal and harmony, but for now it's time for:

Hawka Hurricane www.myspace.com/hawkahurricane

This is the second time I have reviewed these guy's and the second time I am left unimpressed. Their new singer has definitely done more to integrate himself with the band and give of a better vocal performance than before. But their sound comes off the stage as a sloppy barrage of noise with tempo's fluctuating and guitars feeding back. They do however incite movement from the crowd with some heads a banging. But for these guys to really improve they need to adopt a more ruthless approach to mediocrity.

Mutually Assured Destruction www.myspace.com/madestruction

M.A.D. hit the stage delivering a tight set that really catches my attention. Their guitars are sweaty with condensation as is the audience with some serious windmilling going on at the front and a pit that the singer later joins. M.A.D. draw from a wide range of influences from the old school Thrash of Megadeth and Exodus, guitar and drum breaks of Dream Theatre and the party atmosphere of Municipal Waste. With track names such as 'Thrash Grandad' and 'Blu-tac Attack' there is everything in here for all Metal heads to like.

Apparitions Of The End www.myspace.com/apparitionsoftheend

These guy's offer their take on Thrash bringing in some more Hardcore Punk influences on vocals. There was a complete paradox on stage with the frontman giving off great amounts of energy and the bass player, acting as a black hole that sucks it all back in. These guy's had some brutal grooves, some great tunes and an awesome drummer but it bothered me to watch them with a member that looked so genuinely unenthusiastic, how are we supposed to like it if you don't?

Divine Chaos www.myspace.com/divinechaosband

In the absence of a Bass player, Divine play to a backing track with the drummer wearing headphones meaning they had to be tight, and damn it they were. They play to a slightly smaller crowd than the previous bands but still give off an aggressive performance. They take from an eclectic range of influences, bringing speed, attitude, intense shredding and a huge drum kit that gets seriously worked on to the table. Their most interesting track of the night featured an Opeth like break down section into clean guitars. This dynamic change really makes for an interesting listening experience and would be better carried out through their set. These guys will have an album arriving on the scene sometime in January or February and I will be looking forward to what they sound like with a live bass player.

Underground