This was a last second show for me hence no camera pass and photos but that gave me more time for drinking and thrashing, well it should have done as far as the latter is concerned but I am at the stage where this is best left to the younger ones in the audience and I was more than happy to stand in the sidelines and watch. The crowd was a nice cross section of drunks, punks and hardcore chunks and it certainly looked like being a lively show tonight. It was one with a good supporting cast for the visiting wasters too and the venue quickly filled up.

First up were Hybris and if you have not heard of them this should change very quickly. The London based multi-national band comprise of ex members of bands such as Centurions Ghost and Abgott as well as the normally undead vocalist from Stuka Squadron. There was nothing lifeless about their brand of technical thrash and as their ‘Vulcano’ erupted throwing molten hot lava off the stage the crowd moved down the front to lap it up. It’s nice to see a mixed sexed up band like this in action and there is plenty of girl power from Liv and Fed on bass and guitar but they were given a run for their money as far as the posing action was concerned from James and Achilles. As far as vocals are concerned there are some occasional powerised croons from the singer taking this beyond the realms of meat and potatoes thrash and the technicality at times really shines through, ‘Emperors’ sounding particularly Voivodian and at times the spectre of groups like Nocturnus hangs over the sound. For those not quite sure about things the announcement that today would have been Ronnie James Dio’s birthday wins over the rest of the crowd and horns are held high. Finishing with ‘Hubris’ the band left the stage on a mission to hand everyone a free demo, so they will not be forgotten in a hurry.

Mutant are a band who are well established around these parts even if I have not caught up with them in a while, some of our writers swear by them so I was keen to see how they had progressed. They take to the stage and there is a nice slow build up with plenty of power behind it and then wham, they are off with a spot of ‘Psycho Surgery.’ The band whip their hair around, shout “Oi” and generally make a right thrashtastic racket. They also get those at the front of the stage doing the same. The jagged riffs and flavours of yesteryear were too much for some who were holding back to control and the pit really fires into action by the second song. With the drums forward on the small stage there may not be much in the way of room to dive at the moment but let’s see what happens later. Galloping along and throwing out solos with wild abandon you would have to be brain dead not to be enjoying this and the excellent sound was certainly helping the cause. They asked for a circle pit for the ridiculously named ‘Turbo Hyper Ultra Mega Power’ and got one. Job done, necks wrecked!

It has been a long time since I last caught newly resurrected UKHC mob Freebase in action. In fact chatting beforehand I was reminded of one particular night that they supported Anal Cunt at the Borderline as well as plenty of shows at places like The Devils Church. I thought they were an odd support but then again it’s all punk innit but how exactly would the audience react to this bunch of bald guys and one very hairy singer? With meaty and muscular drums pounding away and angry vocals those in the know were quick to heed the call but it was quickly evident that for many here they were wondering just what was going down. It was bruising and violent and aggressive and antagonistic and songs like ‘The Cull’ should have caused carnage. Still with not that many willing to step up it at least gave those of us that wanted to watch the band plenty of room to do so. Ian Glasper bounced up and down on stage and the band really threw themselves into things with singer Mark causing a ruktion up close and personal on the dance floor. The re-invigorated band with added members of Assert and Stampin Ground really did it for me and songs like ‘Back For More’ were more than just a statement of intent! Rapidly firing out as much material as possible in the allotted half hour set there was hardly a pause for breath although the band did take brief time out to dedicate ‘Scars’ to ex Medulla Nocte drummer Jammer who very sadly passed away last week. It’s been too long, my memory of some of the older numbers is just about there but hopefully there are plenty more shows to come and more material on the way from this mob.

From memory I have not seen Municipal Waste for quite some time, certainly not outside a festival show. I remember sitting down and interviewing the band in 2005 after the release of Hazardous Mutation and then seeing them destroy the Boston Arms, so what has changed since then? Well sod all really this is old school thrash and it does not do progression, the band are the same line up wise as they were that day and they are now on album number five giving us tracks from ‘The Fatal Feast (Waste In Space)’ The stage is there for invasion as long as you don’t fuck with the players and get off quick smart and the songs are as fast as ever. The one thing that has changed since that 2005 show are that there is no beer bong or inflatable terror sharks so perhaps the band have grown up a bit. Nope not really as the ‘Mind Eraser’ is brought out the song even partly remains the same.

One noticeable change is that all those hanging around the back of the venue for the supports now all wanted to be at the front and it was carnage as new and old favourites were flung out at breakneck speed. Songs such as ‘Wolves Of Chernobyl’ and the amusingly entitled ‘Thrasin Christ’ storm out the speakers and flatten anyone who has not already been decked in the ensuing chaos. Never has a band been more suited to the words “party on dude’ than this lot; they are US frat party that has refused to grow up and are there hoping that some pissed up chick may give them an eyeful and flash their tits. What can you do, join in and party on down with them or leave the floor basically. I have to admit things quickly got repetitious for me, I guess if you were looking for a bit of diversity you were shit out of luck, just a brief Carpenteresque intro piece to the new album broke things up at the midway point before the ‘Toxic Revolution’ threw them right back in time. By the time we reach the last number ‘Born 2 Party’ I was certainly all partied out. Still on the whole it had been great fun and there’s always a hangover to look forward to come the morning!

Pete Woods