If you want to do a review of a concert you've been to recently, please email it to us at kevin@burieddreams.com. Please include the lineup, venue and date of the gig.

Grip Inc., Skinlab, Kill II This
Napalm Death, dBh
April Floor, Blind Nation, Brown Eye Sugar Fly, Rebel Sweeties

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• 59 Times The Pain
• Waylander
• Dying Sun
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Kill II This has to be one of the dodgiest names I've heard in ages, in the same league as Knightmare II. Despite this they seem to be quite a good band, and played a good set. They were all really getting into it, which is just as well because the music is like a cross between Pantera and Machine Head. Excellent powerful vocals, like a particularly angry Robb Flynn blast from the speakers backed by thick heavy guitar. An excellent vibe and a fun band. I bought their album, sadly titled 'Another Cross II Bare' (again, in the same league as Knightmare II's 'The Edge Of Knight'), and it's very good, if not a bit too similar to Machine Head. I had the two tapes play alternately and found it hard to tell the difference at points.

I'd been waiting to see or hear Skinlab for ages, being a big fan of Steev's former thrash band, Defiance (I've got two copies of their 'void Terra Firma' album and nearly bought a third a few weeks ago). They were (in case you don't know) a crap 80s thrash band that were neither crap nor 80s.

Sadly I missed Skinlab by a few minutes supporting Machine Head, but tonight they were excellent. Not that they have the best songs on the planet, but they are good and make an excellent live show. Steev seemed to enjoy flailing around on the stage, knocking over not only his own mic stand but also one of the drum mics which had to be repeatedly fixed. At one point he accidentally smacked his head off his mic! Unfortunately despite Steev's mid-show attempts to remedy the situation, they were fucked over by the sound-man, with the vocals being barely audible through most of the set.

Most notable moment: Mark Mynett (Kill II This) wandered on stage for a short(!) appearance with his shorts around his ankles and nothing else on!

Grip Inc are, in short, excellent! Obviously the reputation of their drummer, Dave Lombardo, overshadows the rest of the band, but they all deserve success. The live performance was impressive: one of the few sets I have enjoyed without knowing more then one song. I went there to see if Dave really is the best drummer in metal. Shit! He's amazing! He plays impossible drums without breaking into a sweat, and frequently turned round to talk to someone whilst in the middle of one of his stunning rolls. I was fucking stunned, really, and spent most of the set staring at him and thinking "How the fuck does he do that?". You really have to see him live to get any idea how good he is.

Sorry, I'll stop rabbiting on now. Buy their albums! See them Live!

Worst moment: The bastard next to me got Dave's drum stick.

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Kevin

Unfortunately I missed most of the dBh set due to auditioning singers for my band, but I caught the last few songs. Quite good actually. Heavy as fuck.

If you haven't seen Napalm Death live, you really don't know what you've been missing. Barney is a lively and energetic frontman, and unlike most frontman, you know he's not just repeating the same inter-song diatribes every night. He converses with the crowd, makes amusing comments and puts on a great show. Tonight wasn't as good as times I've seen them before, or more likely it just didn't have the same impact on me: I'd already had a really good day before the concert. The sound wasn't quite as good as usual, but that's likely due to the Cathouse being crap. All the usual songs were played (Nazi Punx..., Scum etc) and of couse 'The Kill' during the encore. Some bastard nearly ripped half my hair out, using it to pull himself up over me. If you like Napalm you'd have loved this, if not, you'd need earplugs.

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Kevin

It wouldn't be fair for me to comment on the last two bands of the night, as I only saw the first two, and a little bit of the third band. Anyway, first up were The Rebel Sweeties. I was intent upon my newly-purchased portion of chips, when they started their set. It was loud. The Sweeties are three girls who know how to make a lot of noise. Pity they can't make music really. I did admire the drummer for managing to play the bass drum, snare, toms and cymbals standing up. We were all debating as to how she managed this without falling over, especially as she was also the main vocalist. The guitarist added some additional vocals, while the bassist just looked a tad bored. The "singing" was rather piercing and almost managed to put me off my chips. The general sound of the band was a sort of yelling-grungy-alternative. Probably not my sort of thing.

Next up were Brown Eye Sugar Fly. Apparently, the bassist and drummer were new and had only been playing with the band for a week. They must have been practising hard, cause they sounded pretty damn good to me. The poor boys were beset with problems, but coped with them admirably. The rhythm guitarist/vocalist managed to break one of his strings, during which time the rest of the band managed to entertain us with a cover of Nirvana's Territorial Pissings. Despite giving him this opportunity to change his string, he didn't manage and had to borrow a giutar from one of the other bands of the night. The band went on to play a good set, including an interesting rendition of Postman Pat. The band's troubles were not over yet, however. One of the drum skins burst and the band somehow managed to play on.

Not long after Blind Nation started, we decided to go off and investigate the club going on downstairs and, naturally, get some more drink. The night was alright I suppose, and well worth the three pounds I spent to get in.

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Wolfbitch