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Skindred, Idiom, Sanguine and Spitting Blood, Exeter Phoenix, 18th May ‘08

By David Knox

Sanguine
On first look at Exeter based Sanguine, you want to think Evanessence, then vocalist Tarin Kerrey, screams in a way that belies her gender, whilst also sucking you in by sweetly injecting some melody. I found myself a mixture of terrified and delighted by Sanguine, by the sheer power and sonic assault of the band and Tarin’s primeval howl that puts many male hardcore vocalists to shame. Their stage presence enhanced at one point by dancers heralded by the end of the world siren, their live show is an intense experience, It’s easy to see great things ahead for Sanguine – they will destroy everyone!

Spitting blood
Spitting Blood define their influences in the context of ‘all the above regurgitated and spat back into a cement mixer’ and so I’m expecting to see the band butchering pigs on stage in Kiss make up. Thankfully London based spitting blood have neither pigs nor makeup, but their set is fierce, intense, shouty and full of machine gun drum fills.

Idiom

Touring nationally with Skindred has been working well for Idiom. They have really brought their energetic blend of funk metal on and are far tighter as a unit than they were last summer. They work songs up mostly as a unit and this is evident tonight in the tightness and dynamics of their performance. Giving you a taster of songs from their new 12 bar blues EP, the set was brutal and full of harmonies, whilst bringing some new weaponry to the party. The closest I can define them tonight is aural equivalent of getting a smack in the mouth from Korn, a kick in the bollocks from System of a Down whilst being screamed at by the bastard offspring of RATM and Fishbone.

Skindred
Exeter loves Skindred and Skindred love Exeter it seems that every time I’ve seen them here in the past few years, there is always a great buzz and a huge atmosphere. The energy was up at full tilt tonight and with such a wide range of influences encompassing dub, metal, ragga and dancehall, Skindred’s unique sound is always a treat. I love the track ‘Pressure’ from their recordings the best, but with so much to choose from tonight, I come away with new horizons. They are easily one of the best live bands around just now, but still manage to make you feel that you’re watching one of the UK’s best-kept secrets. Singer Benji is the entertainer’s entertainer, engaging the crowd with almost open arms, whilst spitting rapid-fire lyrics and his rancehall ragga delivery injects sunshine into an otherwise complex and intense brew. The Phoenix doesn’t often rock as hard as this!

Overall a top night, a capacity crowd of up for it metallers which threatened to break the very seams of the Phoenix, and at one point looked like it would when the fire alarm tried to draw a halt to the proceedings. However, the sheer momentum of the evening won out, packing some of the biggest riffs and sending a crowd of sweaty, smiley people in black out into the mild spring night.

Tags: Idiom, Sanguine, skindred, Spitting blood

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 18th, 2008 at 10:48 am and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.