Metal to the Masses, semi final 1

11th May 2018

at Dryden Street Social

with Gallows High, Septolith, Seven Hells and Dawn of Anubis

Tonight’s show was organised by Resin Events and Metal 2 the Masses Leicester.

Reviewed by Martin Baker

Tonights semi-final was the first to kick off and it was kicked off in style.

We had Gallows High blast out on stage first with a great opening of seriously chunky set of awesome riffs for us all to get stuck into. There was some really nice guitar synergy that worked well backed up by the impressive bass lines.

This was exactly the start we needed and they performed 100% all the way through their set with some decent banter and a formula for song writing the clearly works well for them, bringing out some very worthy originals for us to feast on. Maybe a calmer number for the future to break the set up a bit more?

Gallows High Photo: Kevin Gaughan

After the high octane start next to face the crowd were Septolith, who unfortunately seemed a bit lifeless considering this was the semi-finals stage now.

There is no doubt this band has charm and even a bit of dry banter to be had about what each of their songs are about, but as before I can’t help feel a bit confused with their style mixture. Each of their songs is great in its own right (especially the acoustic one) and brings something totally different to the competition and clearly people enjoy their work.

Septolith Photo: Kevin Gaughan

After a short break we had the stage filled by Seven Hells, who I can safely say absolutely nailed their performance. With so many outstanding qualities this band gives you a well rounded tone, wonderful fast paced metal core, powerful energetic delivery of their entire repertoire.

As an audience we felt like we were with them the whole way as their interaction was amazing, these guys truly deserve a medal for their outlook on keeping the scene alive and providing us with music the brings something new to the table and kicks out asses with awesomeness at the same time!

Seven Hells Photo: Kevin Gaughan

The final competing band for the evening was Dawn of Anubis, who gave their signature performance with a great delivery.

These guys have got a great following and it’s nice to see so many people involved coming down to support them, I did feel though that it was just more of the same old “china cymbal breakdown” and maybe we could have been treated to something extra for the semi-finals?

Dawn of Anubis Photo: Kevin Gaughan

Unfortunately as both semi-finals were back to back the bands going through will only be announced in the second of the semis, so stay tuned to find out who went through!