Prologue:
I was set to go out to The Doghouse to catch the bands playing this night. About two hours before, I got a call from Hustlers manager Dave to ask if I was coming down tonight. I turned out that a band who I'd recommended to Dave to book to play at Hustlers were playing there this very night and were asking if I was coming down. Well, I could hardly refuse, even though it meant a band at The Doghouse wouldn't get a review (the unfortunate Beautiful By Design, as things turned out). Now, the band concerned - Siphon Plane - had sent to me their four tracks to play on my weekly radio show, and they proved to be a rather fine heavy metal band, opening track OK, next two tracks good solid metal and overall, good songs with classic rock vocals and rather enjoyable, if a tad lacking in production. Decidedly worth catching if they played live. So, without too much anticipation, I wandered from The Doghouse to Hustlers....just as this band were ready to hit the stage. What happened next was both unexpected and...well, see for yourself......
There are these guys on stage - the visual epitome of the archetypal metal band and definitely eye-catching. So, the lead singer and bassist moves towards the mic. Out hollers "let's get ready to rock, Dundee". There followed this absolutely blistering salvo of Classic Metal riffing, a bass loud enough to destroy a tank and two guitars unleashing a storm of electricity, drums thundering out loud enough to drop a plane from the skies, as the vocals scorched out of the PA. The song roared to a guitars-fuelled middle wqhere the pace dropped as this massive hurricane of metal then exploded to jaw-dropping degree. Via a searing lead guitar break, the song bores holes in your head in the best possible way - as fiery a metal band opening number as they come.
Next up was "The Fight" - simply immense!! Now this was pure vintage Mtca and no mistake - close yer eyes and you're in Metallica heaven. Even the vocals sound like Hetfield and the mix of thrash and Classic Rock is just awesome. The lead guitar break hits like an iceberg into the Titanic as another gem of metal mayehm leaves you in absolute awe. The drumm intro to the next track has you thinking of Led Zep's "Levee Breaks" before the great god Riff explodes in your face as the thunderous bass enters and the band moves into an unstoppable force of mid-paced muscle with the Hetfield-esque vocals topping this roaring earthquake of solid rock, energised by electrifying guitar solos along the way. "Reborn" is an instrumental - a classic riff-driven rollercoaster rhythm with dirty riffing that explodes and climbs. The soaring lead guitar appwears as one rocket ride of a track runs the full range from sludgy metal riffing to hi-end leads. The track twists and turns through paces, is uplifting and drives like a train, explodes and shreds, finally going supernova in a seriously frenzied metal finale. Next, they do a cover of a Metallica song - that you couldn't tell the difference is beyond dispute and higher than hope. Up next is "Fortune Teller". Even compared with what we've heard so far, this one truly erupted into life and you realise that just one of the great things about this band is the way, just like early Metallica, they fuse thrash, Classic Rock, metal and melody into one gigantic metal melting pot where the end result is like being at the end of existence and loving every adrenaline-rousing second of it. In this track there's also a great use of counterpoint vocals as the band rushes headlong into a massive whirlwind of Classic Metal riffs, as a red hot guitar solo belts out like a solar flare, before they head back into the mighty driving arrangement that is the immense song itself. The final track is called "In This Life". It starts with a mighty riff from the guitar, rock solid drumming, mountainous bass and a scorching lead guitar - and that's just the intro!! Then it's another corker of as headbanging riff as this absolute sucker punch of a song roars into life with harmony vocal depth as an added attraction, a memorable hook and one towering chorus on what's possibly the most commercial (in metal terms) of what's been an addictive bunch of tracks throughout, to say the least, one so far. You can't resist moving to it, singing with it, headbanging in front of it and allowing this tidal wave of addictive metal to engulf you. Rarely has drowningt in rock been so pleasurable. A lead guitar break fires out like a banshee's wail as the song returns and it all powers ahead in an out of control express train finale.
Quite simply, one of the best Scottish unsigned metal bands I've seen in the last two years and if you're a promotr out there and you want a metal band that's going to blow your audience's heads off in the best way possible, then this is the band you have to get to play for you - immense, and this is just the beginning. (Oh yeh...good though the CD is, it doesn't come close to reflecting this awesome band's live performance - but buy it anyway just for the superb second and third tracks).