| Review: Of Mice & Men @ KOKO - 18/04/2014 |

First on stage tonight are Caleb Shomo's latest musical endeavour Beartooth - a hardcore metal punk band. Having worked with Austin Carlile previously in the bands Attack Attack! it's great to see the pair teaming up again on this tour. Having rocked the Barfly in Camden the night before on the headline tour, Beartooth are presented with a much bigger audience but step up to the challenge like champions opening with the song 'Set Me On Fire'. Driving the crowd into mayhem, Caleb Shomo's vocals destroy those on the floor, blasting out the song 'The Lines' , 'Pick Your Poison', 'Go Be The Voice' and 'Dead'. The audience is then split in half for a brutal breakdown. Beartooth's energy on stage is something that has to be seen to be believed, with guitarists and bassists diving off amp stacks left right and centre. Closing on their single 'I Have a Problem' ,the band has managed to establish themselves as a strong upcoming band that will surely have a great future ahead of them. (8/10)





From the moment the lights go to down, the crowd's cheers erupt from the crowd. It is time for the Atlanta-based metalcore group Issues to grace the stage. Opening with the first single from their self titled album 'Stingray Affliction', the band are keen to control the crowd from the very get go. Judging by the amount of action going down in the pits tonight, it's clear to see that Issues have a strong stage presence with vocalists Tyler Carter and Michael Bohn proving themselves as a force to be reckoned with. The set shifts into 'Love. Sex. Riot.' from their previous 2012 EP 'Black Diamonds' and the crowd responds with a positive vibe.When Tyler Carter comments Michael Bohn on being a tough guy, the question of whether there are any tough guys in the crowd tonight is thrown to the crowd. The pits begin to open up with increasing intensity as the band delves into 'King of Amarillo' showing the band that the fans are clearly interested in the band. Mid way into their set the band take a calmer approach with their song 'Never Lose Your Flames' which balances a strong vocal line from Tyler Carter and a rocking groove behind it. As the set closes, the band make sure to keep things moving and the energy flowing with 'The Settlement' which sees a surge of crowd-surfers get carried to the front of the stage much to the band's expectations. Ending their set on their single 'Hooligans', the crowd is joined in unison as everyone sings along to chorus, bringing the set to a close effectively and with new gained fans. (8/10)


Not Not long after Issues have left the stage the headlining act are getting ready to blow the crowd apart. Then out of the darkness and screams, Of Mice & Men come to the stage with vocalist Austin Carlile belting out the opening lines to 'Public Service Announcement'with the crowd strongly backing him up. Energy is not in shortage here at KOKO tonight as the audience is flustered into a hurricane of moshpits and bodies jumping together. Next up from the LA quintet is 'The Flood', a bonus track from re-issue of the album of the same title. The chugging riff is strong enough to break bones, bringing surging waves of power throughout the crowd. Austin Carlile asks "How many of you have come to see us before?" and the fans cheer with enthusiasm, to which Carlile dedicates the next song to the older fans, with hit single 'OG Loko' crushing the audience, who most definitely 'go hard in the paint' on the breakdown of this song. Given the band's line up changes with previous vocalist Shayley Bourget leaving, we finally get to see bassist and clean vocalist Aaron Pauley's debut on his first UK headlining tour with the band.



Tonight's setlist is primarily full of new material from the band's latest album 'Restoring Force' and the next three songs take from the album with 'Feels Like Forever' opening to guitarists Phil Manansala and Alan Ashby combining a soft reverb guitar line with heavy distortion. Pauley's vocals are on top form here tonight sounding just as good as on the record. 'Bones Exposed' is next on the setlist and really allows drummer Valentino Arteaga's chance to show exactly what he is capable of, with a pounding drum intro followed by Carlile's destructive screamed vocals. After this is 'Would You Still Be There' which has been gaining lots of radio time recently on American and British radio alike.

The The band then go back to their album 'The Flood' for 'Still YDG'n' which brings the crowd together and unifies them, soon followed by Carlile dedicating the next song to anyone who has lost someone in their life with 'Another You' from 'Restoring Force' before jumping back to their debut album for their most famous song 'Second and Sebring' a song which the crowd sings as one huge choir like voice - an emotional moment for sure. To end strong, the band closes on 'Glass Hearts' and 'The Depths' which some of the heaviest songs to be played here at KOKO tonight, we can see that Of Mice & Men follow by the rule of'go big or go home' ending strongly. To conclude their set they finish on the first single 'You're Not Alone' from 'Restoring Force' which is dedicated to each and every person here tonight. It is here that the unity between the fans and the band is really demonstrated and it is clear that the fans really are a huge part of pushing this band's career forward. Judging by tonight's show as well as all of the other dates on this European tour selling out within a month, it is clear to see that the band have surpassed any expectations they had which can surely guarantee that the band will go onto bigger shows in the future. An excellent show which really pushes Of Mice & Men's career forward in the right direction. (9/10)

| LostAlone Interview w/ Steven Battelle, Alan Williamson & Mark Gibson | 07/04/2014 | London Barfly |

"..I actually faith healed someone last night at the show. She had a migraine and I grabbed her head whilst I was doing 'Vesuvius' with the other hand." 

It's a rainy day in Camden today but despite this the Derby trio LostAlone are determined to bring a night of big riffs, anthem-like choruses and bloody good music to the London Barfly in celebration of the launch of their album 'Shapes of Screams'. I was lucky enough to chat to them about their tour and all things wacky:

TOATM - So LostAlone, London Barfly and it's the launch of Shapes of Screams, so how are you feeling?

Steven Battelle (Vocals & Guitar) - Relaxed looking forward to the show, we're always quite subdued before we play a show.

Alan Williamson (Bass) - When I think about the show tonight I'm quite excited, but right now I'm so fed up with this day and how it is outside. However I'd rather play it in this as opposed to last time we played here where it was ridiculously hot.

                                                                     

TOATM - How did you come together, how did LostAlone form?

Steven Battelle - For starters me and Mark (Gibson) were at school together and we were in loads of bands, we had like thirty bands, then we formed a band. We had a different bass player at that point, and he didn't like the note 'G' and I did, so we parted ways, then we found Alan (Williamson) and we found we're all on the same page.

TOATM - Well it's great to see because you're very in flux with one another and the chemistry really shows through when you're on stage. So you recently embarked on your tour in celebration of your album Shapes of Screams, and it's the fifth date today so how is the tour going so far?

Steven Battelle - Wow is it really the fifth date already? I didn't realise that!

Alan Williamson -  Yeah it's been cool so far and the shows have been great.

Steven Battelle -  Yeah it's been fun, we've been trying obviously the new tracks and new arrangements in the room, there's been times where I have played the entire gig in the audience.

TOATM - So what's the response to things like that been then?

Steven Battelle - Well I think it's been good, it's been bad for Alan and Mark they don't like me doing it. But for the audience it's been like they seem to like it and it's a special thing for them.

TOATM - Now I know you're a huge fan of Queen, I've seen some of the pictures, if you had to pick one song by them which describes where you are right now what would it be?

Steven Battelle - There's one called 'All Dead' that Brian May wrote about his childhood pet cat, so I'd probably go with that one. *laughter*

 TOATM - I'm also aware that you are a big fan of Jurassic Park..

Steven Battelle - Well who isn't?

TOATM - Well it's dinosaurs running around doing crazy stuff, it's pretty awesome. But do you say you would have a favourite dinosaur?

Steven Battelle - I wouldn't say I have a favourite dinosaur, but I have a favourite dinosaur from Jurassic park and that would be the velociraptor, it's very menacing.

Alan Williamson - I think mine would have to be the ones with the fans that come out from their neck and then they spit like this! *Imitates dinosaur with fan and spitting*

TOATM - Oh the Dilophosaurus? Yes they were pretty freaky to me as a kid!

Anyways back to the music - you said on this tour you're playing all new songs so what are your favourite songs to play live from the album?

Mark Gibson (Drums) - For me it would be the opening track on the album 'Crusaders' is my favourite to play as we put so much into recording on it and there was a long time between recording it to playing it live so we had to put a lot into playing it but it sounds really good now and it seems to go down really well.

Alan Williamson - I'm enjoying playing 'Scarlett Letter Rhymes' and 'Apathy' - We played that once and they are both great fun to play for me.

TOATM - I think my personal favourite on the album so far is 'Requiem' which I had as my alarm this morning, it was a great form of motivation.

Alan Williamson - We played that song live once on this tour already actually.

TOATM - Today is launch date of Shapes of Screams, so I was wondering whether you have anything special planned for tonight's show at all in light of that?

Steven Battelle - Well I think that as this is show five, we are specifically trying to home it on the album, as on the first few shows people probably didn't have the album. But I don't really want to go and put emphasis on this being a special show as it might be unfair to people coming to the show tomorrow for example. But there is no denying there is a special feeling because we put in so much work into making the record and today is such a release for us really to have it out.  You were saying about the reviews for it earlier, and me personally it's more the fans of the band's reactions that actually mean so much to me.

Alan Williamson - It really has been amazing yeah.

Steven Battelle - There's not really much to say but it's when there's a rush of messages saying 'This is my favourite album' from everywhere it's amazing. I've been really overwhelmed by the reviews and positivity so far, I've not seen any rubbish reviews for it yet!

TOATM - Well just like seeing the connection between you and the band it's great to see just how engaged you are with the fans through social platforms, it echoes very well with the fans.

Steven Battelle - Well I've never really understood with things like Twitter, and we're not in the 70's anymore where rock stars are so removed - I don't see any problem with replying to a tweet. I mean if I see a tweet I reply to it. Some people freak out but I don't get why, it's like if you send me a tweet about music I'll reply to them, but if they send me some boring thing about garbage I just won't reply to them but yeah if it's about music and they wanna talk I'll reply.

TOATM - Now big question.. we gave you some Lindt chocolate earlier..

Steven Battelle - Of course.

TOATM - We know you're a huge fan of it..

Steven Battelle -  Massive fan.

TOATM - So combining your two favourite things, would you rather have a Lindt size dinosaur or a dinosaur sized Lindt? It can be any flavour you want.

Alan Williamson- That's a great question *laughter*

Steven Battelle -  That is a great question actually, when you say a Lindt size dinosaur do you mean the little ball Lindt? Because I think it'd be ace to have a T-Rex that big that you can just get to run around!

TOATM - Is that the dinosaur that has featured on your track 'Doooooooooomageddon (Global Thermonuclear Metafictional Warfare)'?

Steven Battelle - Well that actually was a T-Rex harmonised with a Uruk-Hai from Lord of The Rings in D-minor.

Alan  Williamson - That noise actually ruined my hearing for four days! It was in the rehearsal studio, and Mark (Gibson)  had it on his little sample pad, and it was SO loud that I just had to go home - it still haunts me to this day.

TOATM - In Kerrang! we've recently seen you as a Rambo in quite a dramatic photo, so do you think you embody the power of Rambo on stage and if not who would you say would  is a great hero figure to represent you?

Steven Battelle - I'd say more a combination of.. well mentally Rambo definitely I've got that political corectness. Jack Bauer from 24, there's a lot of him in me.. that's what she said.. *laughter from everyone* . I definitely see myself as few characters from Lord of The Rings. I guess you could say that on stage I'm just an amalgamation of mythical people..

Alan Williamson - ..And John McClane?

Steven Battelle - Oh there is a LOT of John McClane in me!

TOATM - Do you just kick people off of the edge of the stage and watch them fall in slow motion?

Steven Battelle -  Well I actually faith healed someone last night at the show. She had a migraine and I grabbed her head whilst I was doing 'Vesuvius' with the other hand and just lowered her head like this *pushes Alan's head down* and started shaking it. There's a great photo of it and apparently it cured her for a few minutes.. what can I say there's a lot of healing power within these hands..

| Review: LostAlone "Shapes of Screams" - | Graphite Records [Album] |

"Shapes of Screams perfectly demonstrates the high quality of music that this magical music trio are capable of producing."

Majestic harmonised' vocals, shredding guitar work and a delivery that leaves you begging for more, it can only be another cracking album from the Derby-trio LostAlone with their latest release 'Shapes of Screams'. Brace yourself for a rollercoaster of emotion as the band bring a whole new meaning to the term epic.

Two years after their previous release 'I'm a UFO In This City' , LostAlone have seen nothing but constant runs of success, with support slots on some of the big names in the industry at the minute; My Chemical Romance, Evanescence, Enter Shikari and Paramore to name a few. The group most recently came off tour being main support to The Blackout through January and February before shifting their focus to the release of their forthcoming album. The album itself was produced by Dan Weller who also has a strong CV including Enter Shikari and Young Guns. On their previous tours the band have been debuting songs from the album progressively, these tracks include 'The Bellls! The Bells!!' , 'Crusaders' and 'G.U.I.L.T.Y.'  

"The overriding theme of the record is 'time and lock of it' of destiny and of legacy played by a band pushing themselves to a collective limit and then passing that limit" - Steven Battelle (Vocalist and Guitar) comments.

This album really does take the listener on a dramatic journey through 'Shapes of Screams', opening up with the song 'Crusaders' which stars on a clean guitar chord intro with Battelle singing along in sweet harmony to the chords. The lyrics take us on a trip of self-appreciation and discovery with the line 'You'll only find yourself if you let go.' The song progresses from a slow beat to a fast paced chorus with the help of bassist Alan Williamson's bass grooves and drummer Mark Gibson.

The next track was the first single from the album, 'The Bells! The Bells!!' is probably the heaviest song on the album, opening with the chimes of church bells before the band erupt into the song with ferocious attitude. Strong vocal lines come together on this track with powerful lyrics including 'Everybody hopes for change but they don't know what to change about themselves.' The song falls into a solo that brings everything together before a climatic finish.

'Hostages' opens up the next string which is a song with a bed of dramatic strings in the background mixed with Battelle's vocals leading the song like an army's charge with chorus lyrics including 'We are hostages of our own attack, and the consequence there's no turning back, as we guard ourselves we were born to lead not follow'. The song has a great anthem like vibe to it which is matched perfectly by the sweeping solo that explodes out of the quiet ambience.

'Sombre Party' is the following sing which is the most pop like on the album which is a song focusing on the issues of questioning life choices 'We're afraid to love or is our love afraid' and our restrictions on ourselves 'We're a consequence of our fears and doubts...If you trust in fate our future's already made.' It's rocky, pop and just a damn good song.

The next song on the album is more recognisable to LostAlone fans who have seen them live in the last two years as 'G.U.I.L.T.Y.' is chanted out by the band - this song can easily demonstrate the band's love for structure and progression throughout the song as well as harmonies being a huge part on the song - drawing on Queen's material it may seem.

'Mental Health' is a more reflective song for Steven Battelle, reflecting on his past through the lyrics including 'When you're down and crying out for help, you've got to lose yourself inside your illusion commenting on the song:

"It's a strong title to put on a record, but it came from a real honest place... it's me being honest, and this is painfully clear what I'm saying and the music reflects it. Talking about when I felt I'd completely lost my mind"

With the next track 'Apathy' we see bassist Alan Williamson taking a strong presence on this song as the bass progresses through the song, the chorus is an undeniable hook which implants itself in your brain and stays there for the next few days

'Scarlett Letter Rhymes' is a return to the band's heavier side of the band, starting with a arpeggio chord progression before the pure brute force from the distortion driven bass and crashing drums destroy the tranquillity. The song just has pure awesomeness written all over it, however the lyrics are quite something to get your head around; 'The rhythms of life are not syncopated, a hurricane strike is a fate worth sailing on a fictional tide for.'

 'I Was Born To End This Way' takes us back to the rock-pop aspect that LostAlone heavily draw upon when writing. An upbeat guitar and synth combo combined with Alan Williamson's bass gives the song a strong body making the song an enjoyable song to listen to.

'Requiem' begins with a choir chanting in harmony with one another soon followed by the band's presence. The choir's vocals are an underlying audio bed in this song which is key to this song, and it definitely brings a homely feel to the song which brings positives feelings all around, 'I don't feel real, I don't feel distrust in my heartbeat. Everybody wants to know that there's a reason, everybody wants the world to hear their requiem'

If the song wasn't cool enough, 'Doooooooooomagedon (Global Thermonuclear Metafictional Warfare)' is a song which has a chant similar to that of a tribe fighting march call and it packs a punch with the head bobbing rythym, strongly lead by Mark Gibson's drumming. This song is a great closing song for the album to fade out on.

To close the albun 'Breathing in The Future, Exhaling The Past' once again slowly eases into the song with a choir chanting, and quite fitting it ends with Battelle's preaching lyrical wisdom (even more of it?) and ends the album on an emotional end which leaves you wanting to play the album once more.

In conclusion this album is simply fantastic, whether you're a fan of the band already or a person listening to the band for the first time, Shapes of Screams perfectly demonstrates the high quality of music that this magical music trio are capable of producing. This album deserves all the praise it has gotten so far and 2014 will be the year of LostAlone. Excellent work guys.

10/10

| Review: Yashin @ The Borderline 01/04/14 [Live] |

"An absolutely cracking set from the band,I only wonder whether anyone has seen The Borderline’s roof after Yashin blew it off"

First on the stage at The One Hundred, a four-piece metalcore act with heavy guitar tracks mixing with rap. The venue is half full but the band persists nonetheless trying to bring the crowd to life. Tight guitar riffs and crashing breakdowns come together, but the crowd response is disappointing given the guys’ constant perseverance to get the audience moving. Latest releases ‘Kingsmen’ and ‘Breed’ are signs of a positive future for this band, but the band’s vibes seem to clash with the crowd here tonight. Ending the set on one of their heavier songs, The One Hundred leave stage with a round of applause but there is an uneasy tension in the room. (6/10) Following up to The One Hundred is I Divide, a rock group from Exeter as main support to Yashin on these three dates. Bringing powerful rock melodies and strong vocals, the band quickly takes control of the crowd. Vocalist Tom Kavanagh takes the crowd in his hand like a puppeteer and gets everyone to move their hand in time to the beat of latest single ‘I’m Not Leaving’ claiming “We’re going to pretend we’re at a rap concert”. Blasting through hits from their album ‘What’s Worth More’ the band is firmly establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with to any who did not know of them before tonight. For those who were here for the heavier tracks, I Divide brings out all the stops on the penultimate track and gets them singing along in harmony together to ‘Follow Me’. Splitting the crowd in two and unleashing a wall of death on the drop, a sudden outbreak of energy disperses throughout the crowd. Ending their set on ‘Burning Out’ the band ends strong and leaves a resonating wave of energy pulsing through the crowd. As the members leave the stage a strong response to the set list can only reassure the band on how great their set was – top notch guys. (8/10)
As anticipation beings to rise amongst the crowd, the lights dim and Yashin take to the stage, with scream vocalist Kevin Miles bellowing the opening to their latest single off the forthcoming album ‘D.E.A.D.’. Tonight’s show acts as a celebration to their single release of ‘D.E.A.D.’ and B-Sides ‘Lady Carousel’ and acoustic track ‘S.O.S.’; all of which make an appearance over the course of the night. The setlist brings out songs across all of the band’s albums, playing singles from ‘We Created a Monster’ including ‘Make It Out Alive’ and ‘New Year or New York’ which releases all the crowds energy, with constant mosh pits breaking out through the crowd –mainly due to other vocalist Harry Radford’s motivation. Mid-way through the evening the band takes an opportunity to slow things down where the electric guitars are exchanged for acoustic guitars. Here Harry Radford gets intimate with the crowd and comes into the crowd and gets everyone to sit down for a  “Little kumbaya song” where we see ‘S.O.S.’ and fan favourite ‘Stand Up’ played, allowing guitarists Connor MacLeod and Paul Travers to demonstrate their skills.Following the acoustic set, key tracks from the 2010 album ‘Put Your Hands Where I Can See Them’ formed into a medley of ‘Get Loose!’, ‘Friends in High Places’ and ‘Get Loose’ which is a firm reminder to show that the band still sticks to their origins. The high point of the evening comes as Harry Radford reveals that a new track from the new album (which Yashin claims is to be released by the end of the year) is about to be played titled ‘The Renegades’, where Kevin Miles claims “It’s going to get heavy right now.” The song packs a smashing guitar line with vocals that hit you hard like an uppercut to the jaw. To finish the Yashin lads close their set on their leading single from 2012 album ‘We Created a Monster’, the band ends on ‘Runaway Train’ which completely obliterates the venue. The crowd leaves the stage to cheers and applause from all those in the venue. An absolutely cracking set from the band,I only wonder whether anyone has seen The Borderline’s roof after Yashin blew it off. (10/10)