And then there was the Seige...and Northenr Ireland lay waste to Limerick

IT was not intended that the intrepid band of brethren and sistren from Northern Ireland would be attempting to review the Siege of Limerick - the six-monthly gathering of a tribe of long-haired and loud types.

However, it is worth a line or two to congratulate the bands from Norn Iron for tearing up Dolan's, causing geological faults across the west or Ireland and tsunamis to roll across the Atlantic...

As your trusty editor managed to take the 'longer route' to Limerick we missed what is reportedly a great set from Altus.  We also learned that our colleague in reviews Mel has a road rage issue when caught behind traffic...

But when safely booked in, with our bellies filled through the excellent fare in Dolans, we ventured forth into the increasingly packed venues.

Wandering around we perchanced upon the eclectic Rather Be Alive who were entertaining, with a mixture of deathcore, funk and System of a Down...it shouldn't have worked, but it did.

Leaving that aside, we were mainly focussed on the Norn Irish contingent.

There was meant to be a timing clash between War Iron and Maverick, but owing to the main stage running a bit late we were able to enjoy the deathly rumbling and sludge of War Iron; however seeing as they had a guitar on stage it was a little unusual for regular viewers. That didn't detract from the bottom end destruction of many people's internal organs.

With guts churned into liquefied jelly we made our way to where Maverick were rapidly converting the crowd. On paper Maverick shouldn't have had a chance amidst a crowd mainly consisting of fans of the more extreme end of metal spectrum.

Did they fuck - Maverick won over the crowd with their hail and hearty rock, as infectious smiles beamed across the audience. Beside us two men wearing Carcass and Cannibal Corpse t-shirts began headbanging and throwing shapes that displayed sheer enjoyment.

'Rock 'n' Roll Lady was bellowed out by the Northern Ireland fans; 'Got It Bad' was as infectiously dangerous to the cerebellum and central nervous system; 'In Our Blood' got underneath everyone's skin in a good way; and, 'Paint by Numbers' wove patterns of light and shade across the blackened venue. God help The Poodles because Maverick are going to give them a serious run for their money when the Northern Irish rockers go on the road with them. Grins on band and crowd alike - job done!

With the representation from the province of Ulster well and truly established yet more was to come.

Astralnaut have been gradually building up their 2015 presence after two plus years of steady growth and development.

In Limerick the Armagh monsters brought their mighty sounds to life, with a set that straddled the earliest to the latest. It was as if from the mists the titans of the ancient Ulster knights had grown tall and brought the power of mysticism, gave it muscles and applied it to a musical brutality that gave birth to groove.

From the bottom end of Astralnaut to the sound of windows breaking across the entire country as Joe from Rabid Bitch of the North hit note so high that they induced a resonance wave fit to fracture even the sturdiest glass. It is as well that most pints were being served in plastic containers...

Undoubtedly even Joe, Chris and Gerry could not have expected the response from the crowd as mini-mosh pits emerged and stage diving got to such an extent that a queue formed to be the latest to launch themselves from the stage.

The contrast of Joe's Rickenbacker bass, Gerry's riffage and soloing alongside Chris pounding the kit into submission with the high-pitched singing brought a sheer joy to all in attendance.

'Us Against Them' and '...1999' were just two of the many excellent songs as Rabid Bitch proved that 'Defending Two Castles' is not only possible, but inevitable when this trio take to the stage.

From the NWOBHM inspired of RBOTN to hardcore....

It's Belfast hardcore...do
you have a problem with
that?

By Any Means are not only experienced, but still have the joy of taking up musical arms writ large upon their attitude.

Quickly they had madness spreading across the audience. Keep Paul on stage?  Not likely. Keep Paul from riffing out? Impossible. Chris and Gavin from laying down a rhythm that roared? As per usual...

But, there is nothing 'as per usual' about any By Any Means set. The passion of the band spreads to all present. 'Built on Respect'. Too fucking right!

From there as Panic Cell once sang "Black Juice down, it's gettin' a little bit hazy; I look at you and I don't know what you're saying". Well we weren't there to review the Siege...

Overoth were as always excellent by all accounts, and Alunah brought their Brummie take on contemporary metal with spirit and verve.

Siege of Limerick was a delight, heralding the bridge between the Celtic seasons of Cutios and Giamonios. [Yeah - drink may have been taken, but we still do our research.]

The whole thing can be summed up in a words from our colleague in metal, Donal: "Mighty!"

Lost in the moment

Have drums, will hit 'em

Guitar wank face level eight achieved

The roar and the riff

Paul proves he can out-pose Zakk Wylde...

Apparently people enjoyed themselves at Siege...

How to hit the high notes, Joe explains to eager listeners that you need
to have really, really tight jeans to sing the chorus of ...1999.

INTERVIEW: Rabid Bitch of The North on 2014 and future - exciting - plans. Oh, and drinking Bucky with Portrait

WHEN it comes to re-births they are few and far between – all too often bands dwindle and fade away, but hairy metal crew Rabid Bitch of the North have seen the past two years as something of a phoenix-like rise from their early roots.

Currently out on a UK tour with Swedish metallers, Portrait, (review to follow) the band knows that the past 12 months in particular were spectacular.  We caught up with the band and quizzed them about it.

“2014 Was indeed our biggest ever year, so far!”he said. “With so many opportunities fired at us, it’s hard to pick out any one thing, but I suppose being invited along to play at ‘Bloodstock Open Air Festival’ was a pretty big one, along with being invited to play at our first ever ‘Siege of Limerick Festival’, asked to play at the first ever ‘No Sleep ‘till Dublin Festival’ and being invited to join ‘Alone Records’ from Greece to put out a few releases with them.

Looking back seemingly took the guys quite some time to recall all that went down...

“All [were] landmarks in our history and strong friendships gained from each.

“Playing at ‘Bloodstock’, ‘Siege’ and ‘No Sleep’ were all unforgettable and we have amazing memories from our experiences at every one.

“We have yet to experience what our friends in Greece have lined up for us, but we’re eager to get over there and meet them. Also, getting to meet and support ‘Tim Ripper Owens’ was a massive thing for us in 2014, as we are all immense fans of his. He was a true gentleman to us and gave us some great advice!”

It was also the year that saw the release of ‘Defending Two Castles’ cassette single. But why in the name of Satan release a cassette tape?

Together Joe, Gerry and Chris explained:  “We put out a CD a few years ago and no one bought it. We were then told by those in the know and a few others, that we would have shifted more of our first EP had it been on a different format i.e vinyl or tape

“Initially it was suggested that we do a vinyl first, however, it just worked out better financially to release a cassette tape instead, which then went on to sell 300 units!!!  Which we are very happy about!

“It baffles us slightly that an old format like that attracts anyone but people still seem to like tapes and there is a certain underground audience who like an analogue copy of their music as well as digital. There may be a certain element of format snobbery with that, but who cares, we’re just glad people were interested and wanted to buy the single.

“We wouldn’t say no to another tape in the future, it’s cheap, its fast and people all around the world bought one.”

The release also saw RBOTN use pop-up stands, and cut-outs on-stage; something too few local acts do. they agreed that it is something essential to bands.

“ No effort, no logo and no individual style appear to be all the rage at the minute, we like to go against that and reflect our personality and originality through our music, image, art work and stage presence,” they said. “It has to be more than a banner with a logo, it has to have some personality and meaning to what we’re doing at the minute.

“Like the cut out castles and knight which we made to reflect the release and time period of our ‘Defending Two Castles’ cassette. Future releases will have their own themed stage props and imagery to help create an atmosphere and give personality to what we’re doing.

Seeing as it was the band who mentioned the future we wanted to know more about the plans for 2015 once they complete the Portrait tour...

“In 2015 we plan on taking the band further a field and out of the U.K. Where we are going yet is still in the works but there is a definite need for a passport this year which we are all really pleased about.

“On top of that we are releasing a brand new 7inch single which will mark our first vinyl release. This will be released by ‘Alone Records’ (Greece). There will also be a re-release of our first EP on CD again but this time it will include extras, such as our first ever live demos from the garage days.

“Towards the end of the year we may have something else up our sleeve to put out but we will have to see how things go. We are going to be very busy with live dates you see, one of which will be the ‘Siege of Limerick’ again, but you never know. There could be a follow up single come out close to Christmas.

Jeez guys – workaholic a bit! But at least they kicked off with the Portrait slot, something of a ‘perfect match’.

“The Swedish have been doing things right in the world of heavy metal for a long time now (Grand Magus/Wolf/Enforcer/Oz/Gotham City/loads more too) and it is great to be touring Ireland and the U.K with one of their big guns as of late,” said Joe.

“Portrait have been rising to new heights with this line up and their latest album. For RBOTN it is a great chance to expose a new fanbase to what we have to offer.

“Last time we played on a bill with Portrait and Age of Taurus and it was quality. From what I remember of that (Buckfast heavy) night, they wanted to keep the party going into the small hours and beyond! It will be a fun, messy occasion on the road and a ‘vicious bite to the jugular’ type of year ahead.”

And with that they signed off with: “Heavy times ahead.”

Rabid Bitch of the North are one of the current crop of Northern Ireland bands who are stretching their limbs, reaching further afield and wanting to spread the word that NI Metal and Rock is amongst the best out there!