Titanfest 2016 Review
It’s a dark, miserable, rainy Saturday night in London Town and in the once dark and dingy but now refurbished Dome we have Titanfest an all dayer of beer and heavy metal. Unfortunately I managed to get to the venue just after Brit Thrashers Annihilated’s set began. The band blaze through their set with white heat intensity. They have always mixed fast and furious Thrash Metal but with the rawness and punk edge. The Set up is a stage upstairs and downstairs so the crowd goes back and forth watching each act with no time clashes and it works brilliantly.
So on upstairs we have the excellent Hell with a slightly stripped down show compared to what they have been doing of late but with a 50 minute set the band do the best with what they have got. With costume changes etc. Front man David Bower commands the stage like an actor rather than a traditional rock front man. Constantly in character he has the bravado, flamboyance and charisma of the greats. It’s a bold statement but I’m making it he is the demonic Freddie Mercury! Hell should and I have every confidence they one day will be huge.
Back downstairs and rock veteran Kory Clarke and his latest incarnation of Warrior Soul are plowing through their set. There’s a massive advantage to every act having limited time it gives all the bands a sense of urgency so Warrior Soul are taking no break between songs. As soon as one ends they blast straight into the next. New tracks Like “Payback” fit nicely into the set but it’s the classics like “Jump for Joy” and “Wasteland” is what gets the whip up the crowd. A great party atmosphere.
Next upstairs we have Skyclad’s first London show in 13 years and the band are celebrating their 25th Anniversary. Arguably the first folk metal band. If you imagine the scene in the first Lord of the Rings with the festival with the crazy fireworks, if there was a metal band playing Skyclad would be that band. There’s just something about this band that demands the listener drinks ale! Leaving everyone happy the band closes their set with a wonderful version of Thin Lizzy’s “Emerald”. The lead during the chorus is replaced Georgina Biddle’s stunning fiddle and they make the song their own.
Up Next is Oliver/Dawson Saxon the band again whip up a party atmosphere. Front man Brian Shaughnessy gets his onstage banter written by Keith Platt! Highly likable and funny as fuck the band whips through a set of Saxon favorites. Whatever your opinion of the bands authenticity these songs are played brilliantly and they put on a great show.
On to the headliners Onslaught. The main event tonight is a play through of the bands 1986 masterpiece “The Force”. The band blasts through the album. Founding member Nige Rockett and vocalist Sy Keeler are the only members of the band that where on the album that are in the band today. With no disrespect to former members but the current lineup give the songs a new lease of life especially new guitarist Iain Davies who plays some blistering solos and drummer Michael Hourihan is a beast behind the kit. (Kudos also to Michael for getting a drum changed mid song and he didn’t miss a beat!) Considering the album is 30 years old I did wonder how Sy Keeler would handle some of the high notes on the songs. I thought he quite reasonably abandoned doing some of the high pitched vocals. Well, more fool me! He hits them effortlessly and sounds awesome! The songs have aged like a fine wine and sound as relevant as ever. I really hope there is a live release of this tour because the album sounds fantastic in this live setting. At the end they run through a couple of more recent tracks and then leave the crowd with a couple of tracks from “Power from Hell”. All in all a fantastic night. Onslaught is better now than ever. On to the next album!
