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Laura, bassist with In the Absence of Light, by Neil Duncan

WITH two of the billed bands having recently played Basingstoke, I felt duty bound to head for The Star in Guildford to check out whether they really were as good as I originally thought. There was a rather meagre crowd, unusual for a Saturday night, but those of us who were there anticipated having a great time.

First up from Swindon were In the Absence of Light who just launched into their set without restraint. Vocalist Danny is incredibly charismatic and immediately clicked with the crowd. He looks far too young and slight in build to make the noise he does - it's amazing. He prompted much amusement with his trick of wandering out of the venue whilst still singing courtesy of his radio mic.

Second up were Akakios from Portsmouth, who benefited from some of the extra punters who had been attracted in from the main part of the pub. They played unrelenting metal, driving waves of guitar-driven sound into the crowd. Technically perfect and brutal enough to satisfy the hardest heart there.

The penultimate band were Raze from Surrey, playing 80s style thrash, and I have to take my hat off to the guys as it was amazing stuff. They had also brought a bit of a following with them and the mosh-pit became a death trap for the unwary. The venue was, however, big enough and had a layout that allowed everyone to enjoy the band in whatever way they liked.

The headline slot went to Nervous Endings from Borden, and they completed a very impressive line-up with a slightly different variation of metal. I found parallels with Avenged Sevenfold with the vocal delivery sung and screamed in equal measure. I am familiar with their material, which really helped me enjoy their set even more.

Musically it was perfect and just a few more bums on seats would have raised the show from four stars to five in my book.

-Neil Duncan, Issuepunkzine

10:30am Wednesday 11th June 2008

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