Metal Hammer Magazine Halloween Party

This was Halloween 2012 for me, good night it was too. This one was posted on Grapevinelive.co.uk.
Monday 29th October 2012, O2 Academy, Islington
Written by Ryan Whitwell
"I didn't mind because those £1.50 pints were mighty tasty."

So a very good friend of mine got me a ticket to Metal Hammer's Halloween party at Islington O2 Academy. The line up featured Heaven's Basement, Huntress and The Defiled, oh and also the brilliant Black Spiders who happened to be half the reason I went, for the princely sum of £4.50. £4.50 for 4 bands and £1.50 pints of Hobgoblin, sounds pretty good.

My friends and I missed Heaven's Basement, which was a bit of a shame as they were the other half of the reason I wanted to go, oh well. We did see most of Huntress' set however and, as a person that hadn't seen this American metal outfit before, I was stunned. They were dark, near medieval in tone as their doom laden riffs rocked the venue and I was surprised to find that lead singer of theirs, well she has an amazing voice, so raw and powerful with the kind of 'metal screams' usually reserved for male lead singers.

Next were The Defiled (after a competition to find the best 'horror screamer' in the crowd) and they did what any other hardcore industrial metal type band would do and dressed in women's clothing. Outfits aside I am not a fan of their genre, I prefer a bit of definition in my music rather than a wall of distorted noise to a fast paced drum beat, but many of the crowd enjoyed it and I didn't mind because those £1.50 pints were mighty tasty.

And after a best dressed competition in which an Umbrella (Resident Evil) zombie won (my Jack the Ripper costume wasn't even considered for the top 7) it was time for the band I wanted to see, I haven't seen them since 2011 and I am a huge fan, the driving riffs the amazing bass line the mental drummer, yes it was time for those hard rock heroes, Black Spiders.

The intro music was the same as when I first saw them in 2009, the standoff music from the good the bad and the ugly, the crowd waited, then a man emerged in skull face paint then another until the 5 members were on stage and then, they rocked so hard our hands had no option but to make a fist of metal and raise to the air.

I have always loved this band and I was anxious to hear some new songs after we spoke to the bassist at the start of the night at the merch stand. Black Spiders played their best numbers and a few new ones that they are currently recording for their second album, the new stuff sounds great and I can't wait to hear more when their album drops next April or May.

Well done Metal Hammer for getting this show organised, but next time can you leave more time for the headliners? Because the final set was far too short.

The following picture is me with Black Spiders' bassist, Liam. This photo wasn't on Grapevine's website, so consider it a bonus.