GIG: Defenders of the Faith - Brixton Academy, 26th April

Ah, Brixton Academy. A legend of a music venue, home to some incredible live concerts over the years. If you’re a band and you’ve managed to sell out this place, you’ve made it. A grand old theatre drenched in character, with the added bonus of wherever you are standing, you’ve got a good view. A favourite of mine, and seeing the biggest metal tour of the year here arguably demands a fantastic gig; especially for each long-haired metalhead wearing the customary shit-eating grin present tonight. A hell-load of expectation has preceded this tour. Opeth and Arch Enemy better put on a blinder of a show, or they’ll have to answer to the most muscle-bound, hairy, tall, pierced and tattooed crowd this writer has ever had the privilege to be part of.

The show kicks off, as such, with Three Inches of Blood: the less said, the better to be blatantly honest. The singer’s voice is… unique? Distinctive? Whatever word you attempt to tag it with, it still sounds like a fucking wolf having its balls squeezed in a vice. Let’s move on.
‘Devil Driver! Devil Driver! Devil Driver!’ is the name being boisterously shouted into my ear around the whole venue. These guys are, after all, famously known for their frequent attempts at beating the world record of biggest circle pit ever. Scary stuff. Gladly, they do produce the biggest mosh of the night, and are so ridiculously loud they hurt my ears. Just a little louder and I would have got tinnitus, a fact I was ready to make clear to their sound guys at the back. Dick-head.

Then it was time for the band I was looking forward to the most, Arch Enemy. Death Metal is a sophisticated subgenre, a blend of deeply melodic lines and subtle key change- LOOK OUT, PIT!!! They are just great: singer Angela Gossow, besides knowing how to scream as well as the best of her male contemporaries, is a perfect frontwoman. Sexy (when not roaring her lungs out), and truly making the stage her own. While Devil Driver may have ripped Brixton a new arsehole, Arch Enemy more than aptly fuck it sideways with their own breed of heavy-as-fuck. They complete their long set with an encore, in the form of some song I don’t know (S.S.I.D.K.) and a very teasing cut from Fields of Desolation, before taking about two whole minutes of drum crashing and guitar thrashing to finish. A rousing performance, and I believe they had the biggest applause of all bands there.

An aspect that is noticeable is the intervals between bands. Gigs I’ve attended at Brixton before have had the longest, most agonising length of time between sets… something which isn’t apparent tonight. Most likely a good idea… you don’t exactly want thousands of 7-foot tall Opeth fans rioting the place to the ground. The bigger of the two co-headliners, hailing from Sweden, Opeth are ready to make their appearance. They don’t make the greatest start, it has to be said. Mikael Åkerfeldt has sound problems with his guitar, strumming a few dodgy chords, keeping the audience in a still-hopeful awkward anticipation instead of simply launching into their first song. By song, I mean ten minute-long suite. Throughout the course of their headline set, Mikael is quite the captivating speaker – a well-paced, patient voice, not one sentence without importance or humour. At many points, their music rises to inspirational levels of complexity and volume and yet my would-be highlight did not occur: the bastard speaks of a cover of Right Said Fred’s I’m Too Sexy for My Shirt which everyone around me wants to hear, but instead they played one last song and fucked off without even an encore. Underwhelming, it must be said.

Marching out of the venue in the drone of whooping leather-clad fans into the refreshing cold night, the masses are pleased. A brutal gig, and quite influential gigin the veins of metal. Devil Driver and Arch Enemy gave it their all, while Opeth almost made the cut for me - but fell out on the last hurdle. A hard-working band capable of better things, something I believe many, many people would agree with.

Overall: 7.5 / 10

p.s. please remember to vote in my poll, I'm interested in what you think.