JUDAS PRIEST @ Donington 2008

Satyricon, Leeds (November 25th 2008)

Somehow I have totally forgot to add this video on here already.



Check out this clip of Satyricon, taken at the gig that I attended in Leeds. The gig happened about 6 weeks ago, so I am slightly late with this, haha. In case you were wondering, I shot this video using a D90 camera (many thanks to the kind people at Rios nightclub and also Satyricon's tour manager for arranging that). The original clip looks amazing, it's a shame that uploading it to Youtube has dramatically degraded the image quality. Ah well.

Bonus points to the 1st hetpenger who comments to say the name of the song they're playing.

SJW - Gigs Of 2008

Okay, so this is going to be my "Top 10 Gigs Of 2008" list. A few things that you should know about the list below:

1) This is the list of gigs that I attended that I enjoyed most
2) The gigs highlighted in bold were attended by 3 men, 6 claws
3) This list is in chronological order
4) I tried my best not to use the word "Awesome" while writing this, but it slipped out 3 times
5) If you don't understand what I mean, fucking listen to VENOM's Acid Queen

Okay, here's my picks for this year's winners!

Feb 8th - BRUTAL TRUTH (Sheffield)

We have a thing for Brutal Truth here at Claw Towers, they are our #1 grind band (followed closely by Rich Hoak's wonderful TFD). I am not too keen on the venue for this show, Sheffield's "Corporation", but that's possibly because they appeared to put BFT's set on in a small room at the back of the club. The band played on a stage that is 6 feet higher than the pit where the audience stands, so we got a great view of Kev Sharpe's feet at least! Also this was a memorable gig because hardly anybody bothered t "get into" the show until towards the end of the set - apart from THEE CLAW that is. After the set was over we ventured into the main Corporation club, where they had a rock night in full swing - and we were soon jumped by a very wild and very animated HOAK, who stunk to high-heaven of green. What a memory that still is! We travelled a fair way across England to be a part of this gig, but then again I did travel further for the next on the list...

Feb 16th - IRON MAIDEN (Tokyo)

So I took a short 10 day vacation from my hum-drum existence here in England (an existence that consists of listening to high volume relentless blood daubed blast beats) to jet out to check out the Japan leg of IRON MAIDEN's 2009 tour. All expenses paid for by THEE CLAW, we all drew straws and I was chosen as the one who got to head off to "The Land Of Moonspeak" to review the world's greatest 'eavy metaaaal band. What a trip man. I saw Maiden play twice while over there, first of all at a place called The Pacifico in Yokohama and then at the Makuhari Messe Convention Centre in downtown Chiba City (which is just outside Tokyo and right by Disney World Japan). Maiden's set at both gigs were identical - identically awesome that is! Fuck, you should see those Japanese metallers go for it when they are at a show, they are so into the whole deal. Maiden figure in the list later on in the year, at England's Twickenham rugby stadium.

Apr 17th-12st - Roadburn (Tilburg)

Patchie and Myself headed along to the Dutch ROADBURN FESTIVAL in April to ensconce ourselves in the Euro Metal scene in the truest of CLAW fashions. We came, we saw, we clawed the fuck out of anyone who came within swinging distance. Roadburn is a real blast, there is no other music festival like it. The whole vibe of the place is very Dutch - no fights, no friction, it's all about being happy and getting in as many awesome shows as possible into 4 days of glorious Tilburg. Highlights of Roadburn 2008 (for me) included CHURCH OF MISERY, TROUBLE, BORIS and THE DEVIL'S BLOOD. (By the way, THEE SKUM never came along because we all decided one of us had to go along to the GRASPOP FESTIVAL in Belgium and he drew the longest straw in that contest, the lucky dirty bastard!)

May 27th - DIO (Birmingham)

You know, I look back on the past 12 months of shows and I think about all of the great bands who we have seen, I think about all of the songs that I have witnessed being played by some of my favourite bands in the world. Strangely, the one thing that sticks out in my mind more than anything else is the moment during Rainbow In The Dark when DIO drummer Simon Wright messed up the beat and Ronnie James turned to him and screamed "ARE YOU FUCKING DEAF?!?!" in a blaze of rage. Dio is certainly a man with a temper, and while he might not have been in the best of moods during this show, you can be sure that THEE CLAW lapped up every last second of it. I am tempted to say that this show was the highlight of 2008 for me, but then I am biased as hell. Oh and it is entirely possible that GIRLSCHOOL were the best support band of the year too. (And Saxon do NOT count as a support band, just so you know!)

June 13th - JUDAS PRIEST / MOTORHEAD / KISS (Donington)

Another gig without THEE SKUM in attendance... what the hell were we thinking about by that?? Patchie and me made the wonderful trip to Donington once again, across the English countryside into a field set in the middle of nowhere. A field that played host to England's biggest metal festival of 2008. Let's not go into the whole "Nu metal has destroyed Donington" debate right now (although, now that I am thinking about it, I want to rant for a good 10,000 words about this very topic), instead let's talk about the 3 bands who really mattered at this event - PRIEST, THE HEAD and KISS. In all honesty, we turned up for PRIEST AND MOTORHEAD, we stayed for KISS. Priest were good, MOTORHEAD were great, and KISS... well, KISS were something else. I have never been so overwhelmed by a band who I wasn't 100% sure about, as I thought that this could have been a big let-down to be quite truthful. Far from it! As soon as they hit the stage (they were lowered down from 100 feet in the air on a huge platform), Stanley, Simmons, Singer and Thayer blew the fuck out of my mind. It was relentless, hit after hit, every song was a winner. I mean, they played Parasite for fuck's sake! Even Tommy Thayer's guitar solo was awesome. I just wish that we had stayed right until the end of the set, but duty called.

June 25th - MORBID ANGEL (Wolverhampton)

Childhood dreams achieved! I visited Wolverhampton this year! Haha, no not just that but we also saw MORBID ANGEL and even managed to arrange a press pass to get some photos and get evidence of DAVID VINCENT's exceptionally dodgy dress sense. M.A.'s set included all of the classics.

July 5th - IRON MAIDEN (Twickenham)

GIG OF THEE YEAR. At least it would have been, had Maiden's manager not have booked such awful awful AWFUL support bands. I will not speak their names on these hallowed pages, but I am sure that if you Google "Maiden Twickenham Support Bands" you will see who I am referring to and you will then think "Why the fuck did I bother searching for THAT?". Seeing THE IRONS slaughter almost every MAIDEN fan in ENGLAND, all in one go, that was well worth the journey. This gig was also my #1 of 2008 because this is the one which we saw with almost all of our friends. And I got to watch Patchie cry when he finally heared Wasted Years played live, haha!

July 12th - DOOM METAL INQUISITION(Bradford)

We had already visited the 1 IN 12 in Bradford earlier in 08 (to see DEVIATED INSTINCT), but a return trip to check out bands such as LAMP OF THOTH, WARNING and PAGAN ALTAR was more then welcomed by all of THEE CLAW. A long, long day but once PAGAN ALTAR hit the stage at midnight me and THEE SKUM were up front and centre, headbanging like a pair of slavering monkeys. I couldn't hear for 4 days after this show.

Nov 14th - MOTORHEAD & SAXON(Manchester)

It was a long wait but by November we got to add another notch to THEE BED when we saw SAXON and THEE HEAD together in concert at Manchester's Apollo. Again, it was more than 3 hours of the best metal you could hope for... why do gigs like this not come past as often as they should?

Nov 22nd - DAMNATION FESTIVAL(Leeds)

DAMNATION ended the beginning of the end of a long year of shows for us, and it certainly finished things off with a (head)bang. ONSLAUGHT, SIGH, BENEDICTION, NAPALM DEATH, CATHEDRAL... the list goes on. Oh and apparently a band who the kids all seem to like called CARCASS played there too. Again, all 3 men were there to watch their favourite bands in action, with 6 claws high in the air.

There were several other shows that we took in this year that I should really give a mention to, such as SUFFOCATION, EARTH, ORANGE GOBLIN, BORIS, WITCHCRAFT, CHARGER and the mighty BLACK SUN & THEY ARE COWARDS. In fact, I think that I should sit and write out another list really!

2008 was a landmark year for THEE CLAW, possibly not one that is going to be topped. If that is the case, well at least we did pretty fucking well while it lasted! See you in 2009, droogies.

two thousand and fucking eight

's that time of year again, the end of another twelve months of travelling, headbanging (hetpenging), sleeping on floors, drinking, spilling tea all over bus floors, surviving on vegan curries and foreign sweets. We outdid ourselves this year, visiting some amazing cities and meeting some new friends along the way. It's pretty hard to pick the "best" of the year out of everything that happened, and I'm sure I've overlooked some stuff, but let's see... Top Gigs of 2008 (in no particular order) Cathedral - Damnation Festival Waited around sixteen years(!) to see Coventry's finest again, and they didn't let me down, apart from not playing Soul Sacrifice, but you can't have everything. Dorrian's Eyes!!! Motörhead/Saxon - Manchester Apollo Thee Head were amazing at Donington, but you can't beat seeing Lemmy and the lads in a theatre. The fact that it was a double whammy with the legendary Saxon too just made this Heavy Metal Heaven. Pagan Altar/Lamp of Thoth - Doom Metal Inquisition Amazing set from thee Lamp, a band on the brink of greatness, and as ever, a masterclass from NWOBHM/Doom legends Pagan Alltar, in the sweaty confines of Bradford's 1 in 12 club. Iron Maiden - Twickenham Stadium As part of the "Somewhere Back in Time" tour...a setlist to die for. I finally heard Wasted Years live, and as such can die a happy man. Morbid Angel - Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall Maze of Torment? Check. Chapel of Ghouls? Check. Evil Spells? Check. David Vincent may be the most unintentionally camp frontman in Death Metal but Morbid Angel are faultless live. Ravens Creed -Leeds Fenton Bank Holiday Monday, and an almost completely empty Fenton (shame on you) was treated to some true, underground thrash, worshipping the idols we grew up with. Fuck all this Earache nu-thrash nonsense. Gloomy Sunday/They Are Cowards/Black Sun - Manchester/Bradford The same three bands played at the Star and Garter and the 1 in 12, and laid waste to both. Three of the most intense bands walking this earth, all together getting drunk and loud....nasty. Deviated Instinct/Extinction of Mankind - Bradford A childhood dream come true, total terminal filth stenchcore in a sort of one-off, the pit fucking stank at this gig, and I was right in the middle of it. Two bands that will be sorely missed by me. Trouble / Grand Magus / Church of Misery / The Devil's Blood - Roadburn, Holland. The roaburn festival this year was a ball from beginning to end...from seeing John Lennon as Steve Harris in Liverpool Airport through hungover eyes (we'd been to Leeds to watch Witchcraft the night before) to trying stuff all our merch, CDs and Vinyl into our bags in the airport coming home, not even the non-appearance of Celtic Frost could ruin this weekend, with those four named bands being the highlights for me. The only way they could top this would be to get Saint Vitus and Angel Witch back together to play next year....oh wait...they have.... Albums of the 2008 (Again, in no particular order): Darkthrone - Dark Thrones and Black Flags More blackened crust thrash from Gylve and Ted, true as fuck. Jesu - Why Are We Not Perfect? Something to relax with, sonic dreamscapes from Justin K Broadrick, expanding on the jesu ethos and blasting off into space. Motörhead - Motorizer A great album from an amazing band who never dissapoint, the new songs sounding amazing next to the classics in a live environment. Grand Magus - Iron Will Total fist-pumping, headbanging heavy metal. Very modern whilst still retaining that old-style true sound that Thee Claw loves. Lamp of Thoth - Portents, Omens & Dooms Victorian England's premier doom trio with their first full length album, updating some demo tracks and a weighing in with a couple of new compositions, recorded by gaslight in a Yorkshire stately home for you to listen to on your gramophone. Black Sun - Paralyzer Filthy fuckers from Glasgow who will come to your house, drink Buckfast and not flush the toilet after themselves, because they are in rush to get their clothes off in the pit at Charger gigs. They Are Cowards - Demo My tip from the underground for 2009...slow, brooding, hate-filled sludge from the wastes of Northwest England. With riffs....oh my god the riffs!!! Personal Highs and Lows: Highs: Kirk Windstein telling me never to shave and kissing my cheek. Orange Goblin playing some Saxon for me. Singing with Skum onstage with Motorheadache. The fact that me and SJW can now navigate our way around any major (and not so major) European city. Finally seeing Deviated Instinct. The birth of Thee Cult ov Cold Lake. Lows: The death of Richard Wright. The fact that Metallica are still recording, and performing a sell-out UK tour. Celtic Frost pulling out of Roadburn and splitting up. Not being able to get a copy of sunnO)))'s Domkirke LP after a 1,500 mile round trip to actually attend the performance that this recordng was made at back in 2006. Anyway....next year is going to be even better!! \||||/ STAY TRUE!! \||||/

A few words on the year that was 2008....

By H...

A lot has happened in 2008, lots of albums, gigs, travelling etc, met loads of new metal minded folk on our travels, here are my highlights and lowshites of a very good year!!!!

Best Album of 2008
MOTORIZER- MOTORHEAD!!!
An amazing year for Motorhead. Their new album was their best offering since, well, the album before that haha!
The lyrics, the riffs, the solos, the drumming, vocals, attitude and also a killer gig in november and everything else they've been involved with this year, they delivered the goods in '08, one of my favourite, consistent, reliable bands ever, they never let me down.

Best Gig of 2008
IRON MAIDEN, Twickenham Stadium, July 5th!!!
What an emotional show, a setlist to die for, the greatest history lesson ever taught in this country from THEE greatest ever heavy metal band, a band we've grown up with, gone through all the highs and lows with and stuck with them through thick and thin, I've always said they're like a football team, even when they have their bad days you still support them to the end.
This was one of those gigs we'll certainly all still be talking about in many fucking years to come, an experience I will never forget, an excellent show on so many levels.
Support bands??? What support bands, as far as I was concerned there were no fucking support bands, just a load of time wasting cunts filling the air with their shitty sounds to replys of choruses of boo's from the Maiden Faithful.
A very long day, very long, drunk, knackering day, with apologies to thee driver of course!
Let's see Maiden top this show on the next tour, I have a feeling they'll be dusting off some old underated songs for the true few!!!!


Some of the Best Of The Rest.... 2008 Albums.... In no particular order...
Ross The Boss- New Metal Leader.
Whitesnake- Good To Be Bad
Yngwie J. Malmsteen- Perpetual Flame.
Darkthrone- Dark Thrones and Black Flags.
AC/DC- Black Ice.
Testament- The Formation Of Damnation.
Cynic- Traced In Air.
The Lamp Of Thoth- Portents, Omens and Dooms.
Alice Cooper- Along Came A Spider.
Death Angel- Killing Season.
Judas Priest- Nostradamus. (the first cd)
Exodus- Let There Be Blood.
Witchfinder General- Resurrection.
Sammy Hagar- Cosmic Universal Fashion.
can't remember anymore but there was a shitload of good albums this year.


2008 Personal Live Highlights.....
SUFFOCATION!!!!!
Seeing Queen.
KISS and Maiden ruling at Graspop, Belgium.
Forbidden at Graspop.
Testament at Graspop.
Pagan Altar at The Doom Metal Inquisition in Bradford.
Cathedral and Napalm Death at Damnation, Leeds.
Brutal Truths excellent show in Sheffield/Bamford!!!
Today Is The Day in birmingham.
Dio shouting at simon wright in birmingham.
Me and Patchie singing The Ramones with Motorheadache in birkenhead!!!
Our first look inside our new arena for Whitesnake in liverpool!!!!
Motorhead and Saxon in manchester!!!
Too fucking many great live moments to remember them all!!!

The Shit Bits of 2008....
Don't even get me started with Death Magnetic and Chinese Democracy.
The new Venom album sucked too.
The new Queen album was also a bit of a letdown.
Judas Priest at Graspop, very slow, very disappointing, playing old fast classics like Sinner and Eat Me Alive at a snails pace is not good, they must surely realise that megadeth and testament are gonna kill them live over here in february.
Def Leppard at Graspop, "Welcome to the sparkle lounge" said joe elliot, no thanks lad.
Can't remember if the Down 3 album come out in '08, I must have blinked and missed it cos I only listened to it twice.
The new Soilent Green album Inevitable Collapse in the Presence of Conviction didn't impress me.
I honestly can't remember any other shit.

The Death of Richard Wright.
This made me really sad.
The dream is over, and now fans can stop wishing for reunion gigs.
Personally I didn't want them to reunite for a tour but maybe do one or two shows and release it as a dvd, there is no way they can even contemplate doing anything under the pink floyd name now because Rick Wright's keyboards were the unmistakable, undisputed sound and mood of pink floyd. It baffles me they did The Final Cut without him but is that really classed as a proper floyd album? No, to me it ain't.
I'll miss Rick Wright, I thought it was great to see him involved on David Gilmour's last solo album and tour.
R.I.P. Rick!

Also the death of Jerry Reed.
I'm kinda glad that Jerry Reed's death wasn't as publicised as much as Johnny Cash's.
I haven't encountered any band wagon jumping yet but this is england, I can imagine it being different in america, Reed was legendary in his own country, over here if I mention his name I usually get the answer, WHO? then I usually have to follow that with "cletus the truck driver from smokey and the bandit" and the man meant so much more to me than cletus.
Reed was a great musician, totally love his guitar playing, he will be missed!

See you in 2009!!!!

...H

Satyricon @ Rios, Leeds

I went along to watch Norwegian black metal legends SATYRICON play a show in Leeds this evening, a bit of a journey to get there but it was well worth the effort. They played everything that you would expect them to play; KING, Mother North, Fuel For Hatred and all the rest.

Damnation Festival 2008 (Patchie)

So, Saturday saw THEE CLAW head over to Leeds for the annual trip to the UK's most prominent underground metal festival, the 2008 Damnation festival.
This year's trip was a bit different for me than most of the road trips I've been on the with Thee Claw over the years, as I was joined by my girlfriend Becky who is four and a half months pregnant, so I knew there would be no going crazy in pits or getting covered in fake blood on this outing.
I didn't mind much because there were quite a few bands that I wanted to see, so let's get going.

We were also joined on this trip by the living legend that gave birth to the claw (The Claw, not Thee Claw), the godly being "Quagmire Petch". Gaze upon his metal countenance in the above picture and tremble.

After an unenventful trip through the Penines listening to loads of NWOBHM and King Diamond, we met up with the gang who had headed to Leeds from all four corners of this pleasant land, and went for a few pints...the sight of Quagmire drinking a pint of Stella with about two inches of candy letters in the bottom will live long in the memory.

We headed over to the venue just in time to buy some completely overpriced beer (£3.95 for a can of Tuborg? it's 90p a can in the shop at the bottom of my street!) and get a good position to watch the first band I wanted to see, UK thrash stalwarts Onslaught.
Their set was being recorded for an upcoming live album, which I guess will be pretty good to get a copy of to give to the baby when it's older, this being it's first gig and all! (as a side note, the little one had been asleep all day but immediately woke up and started kicking when Onslaught came on! Thrash baby on it's way!).
Onslaught played a mix of material encompassing their career, as you would expect from a band recording a live album.
They sounded top notch, Si's voice sounding as peircing and brutal as it does on The Force and Killing Peace.
Lots of people seemed to be using this time to get themselves decent positions for Carcass, who were headlining this room later, but when Onslaught had finished we went for a little walk.
Well, when I say went for a little walk, I mean we walked around in circles for about an hour, ending up in the Jagermeister room over and over again, bumping into people here and there.
We decided to sit down around now, get something to eat and get me a couple of drinks, before heading into the Rock Sound stage to check out Ramesses.
The other Claw Brothers weren't too bothered about seeing them as they were going to see them with Grief the day after so I left Becky and the bump relaxing on one of the sofas at the back and headed down just in time to hear them tear into "Master Your Demons"....I sweated a bit in that crowd and threw some total CLAWS, Adam looking menacing as fuck in an ancient Godflesh Streetcleaner shirt, and Mark hammering his drums to peices in the way only he can....amazing.

After this we headed over to the Terrorizer stage to catch Napalm Death... there were so many people in the room it was ridiculous, and when they started, all hell broke loose!
Becky and I were stood right at the back of the room (we could literally touch the rear wall) but we were getting shoved and jostled so much that we didn't want to take any chances and went back to the Rock Sound stage so I could get another drink. Devil Sold His Soul were on in here; we suffered their insipid Mr Fancy Pants Matalan Outfit Plastic Metal for half an hour or so, but at least we got amazing seats on the balcony (really a six foot hight wall at the side) next to the PA for a good view of Cathedral. DSHS - sub-par-cod-Isis-clone-mania. Avoid at all costs, unless you are going to kill them. And if you are, give me a call so I can film it. Geg-rock at it's finest.

I hadn't seen Cathedral since 1992 in Liverpool, so the whole disco-doom era passed me by in a live setting, and I was desperate to see them, with The Garden of Unearthly Delights being one of my favourite albums of recent years.
They didn't dissapoint!
Opening with Utopian Blaster (HUGGY BEAR OOOOH YEAH!) and going into Enter The Worms...I was leaning over the balcony with claws in the air!
When Lee Dorrian introduced North Berwick Witch Trials I abandoned my place and ran headlong to the front of the stage, meeting up with Thee Skum and SJW! Quagmire was off watching Carcass^♠, so he missed Corpsecycle the airing of new song Open Mind Surgery. During Equilibrium I nipped out for a breath of air *ahem* and had a peek in the near empty room were Pitchshifter were going through the motions with their also-ran nu-metal.
Nice lads Pitch Shifter, but they should have stuck to the Godflesh worship.
Cathedral finished their set with a one-two of encores Ride and crowd favourite Hopkins (The Witchfinder General)....amazing setlist although I was pretty dissapointed there was no room for Soul Sacrifice.

All in all a brilliant day out, I just wonder how they will top it next year!!
^♠I am reliably informed that Carcass DESTROYED all-comers at this festival. Songs from EVERY release were played, including, I believe, stuff from Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment. Ken Owen came out and played a little drum solo; apparently as soon as the room was full nobody was allowed in or out. Good on you Carcass, local boys come good.

Damnation 2008 (SJW)

SJW here, this is "live from the gig" update from this years Damnation Festival in Leeds. These things rarely work out, updating during the event I mean, but here goes anyway.

VENUE:
I dunno what this place is called yet, but it's a different venue than last year. Much bigger and much better. Kudos to thee promoters! 3 big stages, it's a good set up.

Bands:

Here's who I watched at this year's event.

TAINT
Welsh 3-piece, I caught 4 songs by these guys. We were a little late turning up for the event so Taint were already into their set when we first got into the venue and it took us a little while to find The Jagermeister Stage (AKA "The Main Stage"). Their song Drunk Marksman was particularly good.

ONSLAUGHT
Some guy just came onstage to announce that tonight performance would be recorded and released as a live album. This keeps happening to us. After a few rounds of "Damnation!" and "Onslaught!" the intro music ushered the band onstage to a rapture of drunken applause.
Whoa - Sy Keeler's vocals are amazing. That voice is peircing! It's just like on Power From Hell. Skum is stood here with me and he doesn't recognize all of the guys in the band... but they're a tight unit, you can't deny that.
Songs included Metal Forces, Planting Seeds Of Hate and Demoniac. Great set.

SIGH
After some atmospheric intro music, avant-garde metallers Sigh started with a fury. These guys are from Japan and this is their 1st gig in the UK for 13 years. Man, what a display. The 2 vocalists, one guy and one chick, are sharing an almost constant barrage of the singing duties, only he (Mirai Kawashima) was doing the high parts and she (namely "Dr. Mikannibal") was a lower growl by comparison! There's hardly an 8-bar of music without one of them adding a touch more in the way of vocals. It's non stop!
Plus also the good lady doctor is wearing a tiny leather mini skirt and bikini top... I nearly forgot to mention that for a minute! There's lots of flesh on show up there right now. How could I miss out telling you guys about that one? The photographers down in the pit appear to be jockeying for position in order to get the best view up her skirt.

More about SIGH:
The guitarist (Shinichi Ishikawa) has the most awesome bowl-head haircut and is wearing a camo t-shirt for some reason, meanwhile Kawashima-San (male vocalist) is wearing some kind if 19th century style pall bearer costume get-up. It's strange how each band member is dressed for a different genre of music!
I have just noticed that our lovely lady vocalist, Dr Mikannibal, keeps having to fix her bra top in between every song. There's a guy in the crowd nearby to where I am stood who has shouted "Show us your teeets!" about 5 times now, like that's real funny to him or something. I dunno eh!
Also she's playing a saxophone as well, but you cannot hear it so well unfortunately. man, she's the real deal.
Sigh finish their set with a cover of Venom's Black Metal. At the same time that they are covering this black metal classic, Dr Mikannibal is holding what appears to be about a dozen red candles, which are lit, up in the air, directly above her chest and letting the hot wax drip down onto her bare chest! Whoa, what a gal!
SIGH all about the performance - it's awesome!

BENEDICTION
I've just ran straight across from Sigh's set to catch some of Benediction's set over on the Terrorizer Stage in the next room. Walked in just in time to see a crazy pit being fuelled by tremendously fast thrash! Another well designed room for a metal gig, the outside of the room is raised up while the centre is like a pit, literally. I only got here to see the last ten minutes of their set. Looks like Napalm Death are on in here next, so I am sticking around for that.

NAPALM DEATH
Sorry guys but no live review during Napalm... but it's kinda hard to blog from in a pit! That's right, I was one of the bald guys in the pit running about at the front of the Terrorizer stage watching everyone's favourite grind band from Brumingham.

Best gig of the day so far IMO. I knew all of the songs after all! Well 95 percent of them at least (they played a couple of new songs from an upcoming record).
One complaint from during this show - the on-stage bouncers were being rather heavy handed with anyone trying to stage dive during Napalm's set. I understand that these guys have ajob to do (I am a doorman in another line of work, in case you didn't already know), so I know that you have to be firm but also keep safety as a priority. Which is why I got very angry when I saw one bouncer react to a guy who was in mid-air, diving from the stage back into the crowd, he stopped the guy back grabbing him by the arm and pulling him back to the stage! That could have turned out to be a very nasty dislocation! Very unnecessary. And its not as if the band were put off by the stage diving.
Anyway, it wasn't that big a deal I guess.
Something I just learned: N.D. have been going 28 years this year. Imagine that! Speaking of old-school Napalm Death, next band up is CATHEDRAL...

CATHEDRAL


This show was Cathedral's 1st gig in 2 years, or at least Lee Dorrian told us from on stage.
They played North Berwick Witch Trials! I love that song!
It seems that each band gets better as the day goes on at this festival.
Bravo Damnation!

Cathedral Setlist @ Damnation 2008:

Utopian Blaster
Enter The Worms
North Berwick Witch Trials
Cosmic Funeral
Carnival Bizarre
Corpsecycle
Open Mind Surgery (New!)
Equilibrium
Cathedral Flames
Melencholy Emperor
Upon Azerel's Wings
Ride
Hopkins

Okay that's it, end of my "live review". Hope it isn't as bad and as jumbled as I kinda expected it to turn out!
It's been a great great day. Just a shame that the guys who put Damnation together this year weren't able to arrange THEE CLAW a photo pass to get our SLRs in for a few photos. Hell, we asked... I guess maybe we might get lucky in that department next time round. In any case, there's no complaints from our end of the deal - it's been a total ball of a day. Plaudits all round to the organisers, this was one of the best festivals we've been to this year (and we've been to a fair few so we're good judges as far as festival metal goes!).

Now I just hope my car is still in 1 piece and parked where I left in behind the fenton.....

You can't please all of the people all of the time...

...but it would be nice to please some of them some of the time.

As you can see, the running order of the bands playing at the Damnation Festival in Leeds next weekend have been announced. I apprecite that sorting out the running times for festivals is a bit of a logistical nightmare but, fucking hell.....Sigh, Benediction and Ramesses clashing? Napalm Death and My Dying Bride clashing?
One thing I am glad of though is that Carcass and Cathedral are clashing.
I must have seen Carcass about 15 times in Liverpool between 1990 and 1992, so I'm really not bothered about missing half of Arch Enemy cover Carcass tracks with Bill and Jeff*.
As this is the only UK gig the "re-united" Carcass are playing, hopefully everyone will be in there watching them leaving me plenty of space to enjoy some good disco-doom from Cathedral who I haven't seen since mid 91.  And as for Pitchshifter...what in the name of Fenriz are they doing on the bill? Hopefully loads of kids will be in there watching them.

*I know Carcass have reformed to do these shows for the benefit of Ken Owen who will most likely never work again, let alone play the drums, and I think that's very, very admirable of them, their motives for doing this should never be doubted by any metalhead who has a brain.  I've bought my ticket, so I've done my bit. I just won't be watching them.

Nile, Grave & Bal Belphagor @ Leeds Rios, 21st September 2008

Me and THEE DAWG went to see NILE in Leeds last night, great gig! It was absolutely jampacked with stinking sweaty death metal fans in the city's best rock venue, I haven't seen a gig there so full for quite a while. So much for the credit crunch! Neither of us had any clues about who was going to be supporting NILE before we arrived at the gig, so imagine our delight when we discovered it was GRAVE. They played a binder of a set, lots of old school death - they reminded me a lot of GOREFEST. The 1st act on, BELPHAGOR (called "Bal Belphagor" on the ticket) are an Austrian outfit, they were going for a VENOM kind of sound. All in all a great bill of death and sweat!

Gekfest

This name sounds a bit too much like "Gegfest" if you ask me, but a day of death metal is nothing to be sniffed at!


Date: Sunday 23rd November 2008
Venue: Satan's Hollow, Manchester, UK
Price: £10 on the door (that's £1 per band!)

Will Thee Claw be there? That remains to be seen!

Brutal Fucking Truth - End Of Summer Tour

Claw favourites BRUTAL TRUTH have announced even more European tour dates:


August 2008

Friday, 29 Bergen, NOR - Hole in the Sky
Saturday, 30 Magedeburg, GER – Blow Up
Sunday, 31 Rotterdam, NL - Waterfront

September 2008

Monday, 1 Bristol, UK – The Croft
Tuesday, 2 London, UK - Underworld
Wednesday, 3 Helsinki, FI - Nosturi
Thursday, 4 Meran, I - Jungle
Friday, 5 Pinarella di Cervia (Ra), I – Rock Planet
Saturday, 6 Roma, I - Palalockness
Sunday, 7 Cremona, I - CS Dordoni

Fuck yeah!

UK Media Frenzy

This photo was taken last week, just before we went to see Iron Maiden at Twickenham, the Maiden article is from the tabloid newspaper The Daily Mirror, the Venom one from the alltogether more pretentious Guardian.

You'll Dig It Or Die

(Please note; Patchie would like to make it clear that he will have left by the time Gentlemen's Pistols come on, unless people stop comparing them to Pentagram in the meantime, because they're not, basically)

Saturday 2nd August 2008
3pm - 10.15pm

ninehertz.co.uk presents...
A massive stoner rock and doom all dayer, plus rock art poster show, at the UNDERWORLD, Camden, London. ( click here for map )

GENTLEMANS PISTOLS
From: Leeds. Ex/current: The Horror, Sex Maniacs. Label: Rise Above. Influences: Free, Pentagram.

END OF LEVEL BOSS
From: London. Ex/current: Hangnail, The Winchester Club. Label: Exile on Mainstream. Influences: Voivod, The Atomic Bitchwax.

A HORSE CALLED WAR
From: Norwich. Label: Calculon. Influences: Eyehategod, Palehorse.

GRIFTER
From: Plymouth. Label: Fury 76 / Catacombs. Influences: Motorhead, Clutch.

SUNS OF THUNDER
From: Swansea. Label: What the Deuce? Influences: Grandfunk Railroad, Alabama Thunderpussy.

CHERRY CHOKE
From: Leicester. Ex/current: Josiah, The Derailleurs. Label: Elektrohasch. Influences: Cream, Blue Cheer.

WHITE FANG
From: Leeds. Influences: Pelican, Black Sabbath.

OLDE CRONE
From: London. Influences: Pentagram, Saint Vitus.

RACHMANITE
From: Sheffield. Ex/current: Bumsnogger, Excelsum Superbum. Label: Calculon. Influences: Keelhaul, Dove.


Plus a rock poster show including the work of:
Jacknife // Luke Drozd // Kate Kamikaze // Drew Millward // Michael Cowell // Graham Pilling // Jemma Treweek // Tom A // Jamie McGregor // Two Ducks Disco // Rhyfer Inc. - Rhys Wootton // Chaos vs. Cosmos // 3D Glasses // Droid


And finally...
Skill Wizard DJs // Mindzap light show // Distros

£8 advance, £10 door. Tickets available from www.ticketweb.co.uk and www.stargreen.com

Doom Metal Inquisition 2008 (Patchie)

I love the 1 in 12 in Bradford, it's one of my favourite venues.

I think I've said that before like, but there you go.

Decent beer (if you don't buy the Polish lager), a good PA in a decent sized room, and a vegan cafe at the top of the building.



Anyway, we headed off there on Saturday for the Doom Metal inquisition, a yearly gathering run by the druids of The Miskatonic Foundation to bring the best doom to the people who deserve it.

Thee Claw clambered into Thee Clawmobile early on, picking up Paul (of They Are Cowards fame) on the way, and arrived just in time to miss most of the first band.

Grimpen Mire opened up, good solid doom here, natch, with some Frost, but I missed most of their set by bringing too much beer to the venue and having to try and drink it outside whilst saying hello to everyone.

Misericorde next (have a word with the soundman, get them vocals higher in the mix), then Witchsorrow who played a cracking doomed up (or doomed down) version of Mayhem's Freezing Moon. As I was on my way out to the supermarket to buy cheap booze, sorry.

Next up were Yorkshire's Lamp of Thoth, who were one of the main reasons that I wanted to go to thee Inquisition, and they didn't dissapoint.

New track Hand of Glory is fucking killer; I think SJW got a video of it but it's gonna be about ten minutes long.  Definitely one to watch, they could be the new Cirith Ungol. Fact.

Randy Reaper (Lead Guitar) was telling me afterwards that he'd sustained some form of comedy, Carry-On style injury the night before, but you'd have never known it.

The crowd response was fantastic as well, loads of headbanging, fists in the air and flagons of ale being waved about (pint pots at least!)



Next up were Centurion's Ghost, who I have forgiven for soaking me with dirty filthy puddle water when their van drove over a cigarette lighter causing it to explode earlier in the day.

Good solid set of tunes from this mob, great stage presence, Mark - you're terrifying.

And Fed - sorry for getting you mixed up with someone else, I knew you weren't rude to me in Holland because I remember sitting outside Clancy's with you on the Sunday! (they are on tour in the UK with Converge now, so get along, and leave before the star-tattoo-on-the-side-of-your-neck-fest starts)



Warning were next; plagued by technical difficulties at the start of the set (dodgy lead gets my vote, although Paul has the same guitar and says it was the pickup selector) but total melancholy goodness from Pat and the boys.

SJW was in his element, as these are one of his favourite bands, and I'm sure he'll write a great review about their set, but truth be told, I was all set for some of the vegan food that I love so much from this venue that I scarpered upstairs before they really got going, missed Forsaken and got back just in time for the cultest of the cult - Pagan Altar.

If you don't know who Pagan Altar are, you are a false.

End of.

Total underground classic NWOBHM-infused Doom Metal, I was swept along on a black wave throughout their set.  After all these years, they still leave most modern bands in the dust with their songwriting, and the ability to set a mood and get the music across live.

I know that joy isn't something one expects to come away from a doom gig feeling, but after this I did.

Utterly timeless.

The Pagan Altar set went along the lines of:

Pagan Altar / Sentinels of Hate / In The Wake of Armadeus / Judgement of the Dead / Dance of the Druids / Armageddon / The Aftermath / Lords of Hypocrisy / Black Mass / The Cry Of The Banshee / Witches Pathway

Massive hails to all the brothers and sisters from around this green and pleasant isle (and beyond!) that I had the pleasure of meeting with and drinking with.

And Dean - as soon as I find out where in Huddersfield you live, your house is getting burgled for that Upside Down Cross LP!  You lucky bugger!

Claw Tour 2008 In Photos (The Story So Far)

As you might have noticed, here at Claw Towers we travel all around Europe & beyond checking out the best (and the worst) that hard rock & heavy metal has to offer in 2008. We recommend that all of our friends (you know who you are!) do the same as we do, set your sights on checking out as much live music as you can and get to a whole stack of gigs. The live concert experience is something that cannot be replicated in the home environment, you can talk about "the good old days" until you're blue in the face - hopefully by now you've worked out that none of that matters to Thee Brothers Claw! All that matters is the next beer and the next gig!

So, in the best of Claw spirit & for the enjoyment of all our friends and the amazing bands that we've encountered during this year's Claw Tour, we've arranged a collection of our favourite pics that we've taken during the last calendar year's gig frenzy. Just click on the fucking link below and check it out!

Thee Claw - Gallery 2008

SJW, THEE FUCKING SKUM & PATCHIE VON BULLETBELT want to wish all of our Claw buddies out there the best 2008 music experience that you can possibly endure and we extend an open invitation to each and every one of you to get out there and come see some shows with us. Just remember, we don't give free rides to ANYONE so be prepared to make your own fucking way to the gig okay! Get yourself into the touring spirit and be as true as you can be... and don't take any shit from Thee Enemies Of Metal. We sure don't!

PS - Fuck the Nu Metal Bullshit Machine! \|||/

The Lamp Of Thoth - The Doom Metal Inquisition @ 1 In 12 Club, Bradford - 12th July 2008

Saturday 12th July 2008: Thee Doom Metal Inquisition, Bradford, England. A very serious day of pagan music, orchestrated by a shadowy organisation known as "The Miskatonic Foundation". They served up a grim feast indeed, including Claw favourites such as Lamp Of Thoth, WARNING and Pagan Altar.

I dunno about thee other 2 guys but I had a blast!

Set of the day goes to Keighley based The Lamp Of Thoth. In fact I reckon that their set at the DMI might have been a contender for Thee Claw's show of the year! I wager that this show is gonna figure somewhere up at the top of our top 10 list of gigs at the end of 2008. And that's some high praise indeed, considering we've already seen bands of the stature of Iron Maiden, Trouble, Judas Priest, KISS, Dio *and* Motorhead!

In our opinion The Lamp Of Thoth should rank spectacularly amongst that list.

It's no exaggeration to say that these guys will one day be as well known and successful as all of the above. Thee Claw loves The Lamp!

The Lamp Of Thoth's set @ The D.M.I. included:
Lamp Of Thoth / Wings Of Doom / Blood On Satan's Claw / Pagan Daze / You Will Obey / Hand Of Glory

More reviews regarding this day's bands to follow from the rest of Thee Brothers Claw, hopefully!

The Lamp Of Thoth myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/thelampofthoth



Quote from guitarist Randy Reaper (which he called out during their song Hand Of Glory): "Nu Metal is no laughing matter!!"

Iron Maiden @ Twickenham Stadium, July 5th 2008

What a gig!

Iron Maiden, Twickenham, 05/07/08

So on Saturday, we set off early for the long drive to London, to see Iron Maiden play at Twickenham, the home of English rugby.
Much fun had on the way down, Skum and myself started drinking pretty early (this led to us falling asleep almost as soon as we got back in the car on the way home, leaving SJW with a five hour drive on his own. Sorry lad, won't happen again) and there was much fun listening to compilation CDs of Maiden B-sides (Reach Out being surely the best song never to appear on a Maiden album), drinking more tinnys and just generally being all excited.

The reason for the excitement, for me at least, was that we knew that on this tour The Boys were playing a full greatest hits set from their "Golden Years", basically from 1982 to 1988 with a couple of other tracks thrown in, and whenever I have seen Maiden in the past they've always been touring in support of a new album and their refusal to play classics on these tours is the stuff of legend.

We met up with the Northy Clan in some pub in Hounslow, had a few pints and something to eat and then headed off to the stadium, taking in a few more pints on the way.
Twickenham truly is an impressive stadium, from the outside it looks like one of the Italian football stadiums like the San Siro, and it's got a capacity of 82 000 seats, so my guess is that full, for a concert, you could probably fit around 90 0000 people in there.
This was also the first time Maiden had played an open air stadium show in the UK.

So, it was buy some shirts (and a scarf that I insisted on wearing over my face like some scally bandit... I thought it was funny at the time), and head inside to see the end of whatever shit band were on and boo them, and then wait for Maiden to come on.
It must be one of the hardest jobs in the world to be a support band for Iron Maiden, similar I imagine to when supporting Slayer and having their name chanted all the way through your set, and having bottles lashed at you constantly.  People were actually filming the stick being handed out to the support bands on their cameras.

So...the stage is set, Doctor Doctor by UFO comes on and we wait for Maiden to take to the stage.
There's a short video showong the band travelling around the world on this tour, shots of Ed Force One and stuff, and then the voice that sends a shiver up the spine of any Maiden fan...

We shall go on to the end.
We shall fight in France
We shall fightover the seas and oceans.
we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air.
We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be
we shall fight on beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds,
we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
we shall fight on the hills.
We shall never surrender!

 ...and with a huge bang of pyrotechnics, the band run on stage going straight into Aces High. 

It was classic Maiden track after classic Maiden track, highlights for me being Revelations, Wasted Years (yes, I did go all misty eyed) and strangely, Rime of the Ancient Mariner which I had thought would bore me rigid but was actually pretty cool; the lighting rig at the top of the stage was swaying slightly during the quiet bit, and the with the sound effects of the mariner's ship creaking, it gave the effect of being on a listing ship in the ocean, albeit one with a huge stage and ninety odd thousand people on it!  Bruce running around in a cloak singing this song!
Powerslave was an unexpected surprise, a little bit more theatrics here with Bruce delivering the song in a mask, followed by a trip back to my favourite album, Somewhere in Time for Heaven Can Wait (complete with Bruce Air singalong bridge and a fucking awesome backdrop based on the album cover).
During Iron Maiden a huge mummy Eddie burst out of the back of the stage with sparks flying out of him, and a ten foot tall cyborg eddie came onstage and had a mock fight with the band.

Another nice surprise to round the night of, a one-two from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son  that I didn't expect, Moonchild and The Clairvoyant.

All in all a great day out (apart from upsetting SJW by falling asleep on the way home) but still a few too many I've-heard-this-song-every-time-I've-seen-Maiden-can-I- get-to-the-bar-and-back-before-the-next-song type moments for me.

Twickenham Setlist in Full: 
Transylvania/Churchill's Speech
Aces High
2 Minutes To Midnight
Revelations
The Trooper
Wasted Years
The Number Of The Beast
Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
Powerslave
Heaven Can Wait
Run To The Hills
Fear Of The Dark
Iron Maiden
--------
Moonchild
The Clairvoyant
Hallowed Be Thy Name

Crawe / Dragged Into Sunlight / Bendal Interlude / Charger @ Korova, Liverpool

Thursday July 3rd, 2008.

Here's some words & photos from last night's gig in Liverpool city centre. This 4 band event was held at a place called Korova which is right in the centre of the city, surrounded by trendy nightclubs full of disco and pop lovers. Korova has a reputation for being expensive and "snobby" but I've been there a few times for gigs now and I love it as a venue.

It seemed like there was a good turn out for the show, but the concert space Korova is such a small area that is can't have been much more than 50 people in total. The people who did turn up seemed to have their favourite bands who they'd turned out to watch and so a lot of they decided to come and go between sets, which is a shame.

CRAWE
4 guys from Yorkshire who are good friends of ours. This is the 1st time that I've seen them play and they did a fine job too... very slow doom with piercing Anal Cunt style vocals. More of the same, please!

DRAGGED INTO SUNLIGHT
Atmospheric black metallers from Liverpool. They played in pitch darkness with lighting from candles and the occassional flash bulb from their crowd's cameras. None of the band wanted to turn and face the audience. Very grim. They were noticably louder than Crawe, but I think that was mainly because the sound engineer had put the board levels right up! I don't know if they just played one long song for their entire set, about half an hour or so of constant black metal riffing.

BENDAL INTERLUDE
Another Liverpool band on tonight's bill, they had Foxy from SSS performing vocals with them. A more rock-orientated sound than the 2 bands that preceded them, B.I. had a bigger crowd and shorter songs!

CHARGER
Stoke's favourite Sludge band played a great set in the tiny Korova venue. The crowd pushed right up to the stage for their set so it seemed like everyone was on top of one another.
Approximate setlist: The Pride Of Essex / Shake Baby Shake / Cult Verses Cunt / Ultra Violet Flyer / The Amputee / God Made Us In The Image Of His Ass / The Bereavment Dividend

As you can probably tell I am not one for reviews! Good gig though - 9 hours later and my ears are still ringing.