Risen Prophecy + Black Talon + Rat Faced Bastard @Trillians, Newcastle. 3/2/11 (REVIEW)

Risen Prophecy + Black Talon + Rat Faced Bastard @ Trillians, Newcastle. 3/2/11

Despite being in one of my favourite bars, I felt a little out of place at this gig, as literally everyone was wearing black – though I’m sure that’s just a coincidence and nothing to do with the grindcore and thrash metal bands that lovingly assaulted our ears.

Photography © Melissa Mortiis

Rat Faced Bastard took to the stage as first support and played a short intro before exploding into their first song (not sure which because it seems the set list went out the window).  The frontman managed to combine screaming and throwing himself around to great effect. The music was super fast paced, and the vocals terrifying with unidentifiable lyrics. What seemed like a few false starts turned out to actually be just incredibly short songs, like ‘Happy Birthday’.  The whole set was dripping with irony and good humour, with hilarious dedications throughout; including the song ‘Defiled’ which was dedicated to a friend who apparently did something unspeakable to a pigeon when drunk. The addition of Manowar’s ‘Black Wind, Fire and Steel’ to the set with the ambition of being known as “that dodgy grindcore band who do that fucked up Manowar cover” was a massive success – the crowd loved it! The local boys put on a good show.

Photography © Melissa Mortiis

The second support band, Black Talon, came all the way from Edinburgh to play their brand of thrash metal for us; and were received very well by the local crowd. As their energetic frontman liked to say a lot, their songs were “super fucking heavy”. Their music was slightly more serious and epic than the first band’s wonderfully sleazy thrash. The vocals were heavy, the riffs were heavy, and the drum beats were heavy.  With awesome guitar solos and fully distinguishable lyrics, they had the audience captivated.  Then they threw in a cheeky Slayer cover, and suddenly the crowd were eating out of their hands! Black Talon are a group of talented musicians who are obviously going to go far, you can tell by watching them that they love what they’re doing, and so did the audience.  Headbanging fun to be had by all.

The headliners of the night, Risen Prophecy, completely owned. They seemed to have it all; exceptional vocals, bags of energy and stage presence, and amazing guitar solos. They saluted their support bands by claiming “we’ve got our work cut out”, but they played the best riffs by far last night. Their self-titled song ‘Risen Prophecy’ consisted of screeching “risen prophecy” in a really high pitch for the chorus, which the audience was soon joining them in singing! (I also noted that all of the bands had a self-titled song, is this a theme in thrash metal?) At times there was beautifully melodic guitar, which for some reason I wasn’t expecting. Then without warning they’d launch into a brutally heavy guitar solo, whilst the charismatic frontman headbanged with the crowd in front of the stage. This was pure epic greatness. I am converted. As an added bonus, unlike a lot of thrash metal bands, their songs didn’t all sound the same. Their show was visually impressive too, during their album’s title track ‘Screaming for Death’, the deep red lighting set an appropriately dark atmosphere.  The guys from Sunderland put on an all round excellent show; they exuded cool, they had flawless timing, and were thoroughly enjoyable.  They are certainly going the right way about building up a reputation as a great live act.

So basically what I’m saying is, buy their album or go out and see them live – you definitely won’t regret it.


















Risen Prophecy's Album 'Screaming for Death' is available now.
http://www.facebook.com/Risen-Prophecy

http://www.risenprophecy.com
http://www.myspace.com/risenprophecy1
http://www.risenprophecy.bigcartel.com

Black Talon are currently recording their debut EP.
http://www.blacktalonthrash.com
http://www.facebook.com/blacktalonthrash

Rat Faced Bastard: 
http://www.facebook.com/Rat-Faced-Bastard


With thanks to Melissa Mortiis (found here @ http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/melissa.mortiis, http://www.facebook.com/mortiism) for the use of Rat Faced Bastard photos.