Tonight was to be a night of “heavy” featuring two Bloodstock alumni and three bands who each ply their own version of metal.
Openers Burner played the SOPHIE stage at Bloodstock last year and prowled the smaller stage at The Catty as if they were back in Derbyshire. No holds barred, everything turned up to eleven, they mix death metal and hardcore with a bit of… well, lots of other things. Their sound is nothing short of brutal and their short set crammed in enough brutality for a summer season of R-rated-for-violence films.
Making the most of the growing audience, Burner invited those who’d arrived earlier to bang their heads and make sure they were warmed up for the main event. My neck muscles were definitely feeling the “burn” by the end of their set. Sorry.
“Hurt Locker” was my most notable track of the evening, but it was up there alongside the likes of “Siege Fire” and new single “City 17”. Would it be cheesy to say that Burner set the stage on fire? Probably. But I’ve said it now so it’s too late. Sorry again.
Celestial Sanctuary were the one band on the bill I didn’t know, and opened with a nice greeting of “We hope you cunts like death metal” before launching into forty minutes of… really good death metal. With limited time and long songs we only got about half a dozen tracks, including what is now their most recent single “Choking on the Rotten Seed” which was released a couple of days after the gig.
The band are a no frills outfit. No daft costumes, no silliness, no jokes, no attempt to do anything different. What they do do is play quality death metal very, very well. With little encouragement the audience were cranking their heads back and forth, and obviously enjoying their own introduction to the Cambridgeshire four-piece.
Celestial Sanctuary have been going for about five years and recently signed to Metal Blade, and I think the label have themselves a bargain. Suffice it to say that I enjoyed them enough to buy a shirt after their show and I’m wearing it right now as I type up this review!
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Employed To Serve are another band we caught up with at Bloodstock, this time in 2023. Another lovely bunch of people who make wonderful noise when given instruments and a place to play, they were warmly greeted by the Glasgow crowd before launching into “Atonement”.
The focus is going to fall on Justine as the singer, but she deserves the attention and plaudits both for her singing and for her way with the audience. Confident without being cocky she’s smiling between the growls and obviously loves being up there. Credit also to Sammy Urwin, his backing vocals (and guitar obviously!) go a long way to fleshing the songs out.
With an hour to fill, the band took time to engage with the audience while still throwing around a dozen songs our way. Four of the songs were from now-new album Fallen Star that was released a couple of days after the show, all of which debuted only the night before at KK’s in Wolverhampton. They fitted well into the set, and despite being new they went down as well as the more familiar tracks.
The pit got nicely wild as the evening went on, and a wall of death was organised towards the end of the show. I also saw “shoe lady” from Gama Bomb again (hello, Gillian!) who fortunately this time left with her footwear intact.
There was no doubting the excitement when the likes of “I Spend My Days (Wishing Them Away)” and “Mark of the Grave” were wheeled out, and they nailed the final number with “Party’s Over”. Definitely a case of saving the best (of a great bunch) for last!
We wish Employed to Serve all the best with the release of Fallen Star, and there are more live dates to come over the next couple of months. Grab those tickets now!
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Photos by Alan Swan Photography
