Roadrage Tour @ Glasgow Garage

LAST year three of metal's most exciting new bands; Killswitch Engage, 36 Crazyfists and Five Pointe 0 were packaged up and delivered to the UK for the first ever Road Rage Tour.
And what a bundle of joy it was with the trio, especially Killswitch, justifying the hype at a sold-out Glasgow Garage which, in turn, created a fair bit of anticipation in the run up to this year's event. Bosses at veteran rock label Roadrunner Records certainly didn't disappoint fans when they announced a cast iron line up of the mighty Chimaira, Ill Nino and the grossly underrated Spineshank. In fact with all three bands recently releasing fantastic albums the only
criticism is that the gig wasn't upgraded to the legendary Barrowlands which would have better suited the awesome line up. Despite the fact that I was lucky enough to land a ticket for the show my thoughts did go out to the lost souls reduced to begging for a spare brief
outside.

Anyway, Chimaira; downtuned guitars, ground shaking drumming and the vocals that would have a pack of pit bulls quivering in their own piss; absolutely stunning. Frontman Mark Hunter looks as if he hates everyone, he sounds as if he hates everyone and by the ferocity of the mosh pit it would appear the feeling is mutual with some Tyson-like right hook being dished out.
But as the aptly titled Pure Hatred draws to a close so does the show's most brutally brilliant performance, cheers go up, hands shakes are warmly received and the crowd gets ready for the uplifting tunes of Latin-flavoured metallers Ill Nino.

Having all but banished any suggestions of being a second rate Soulfly with some memorable performances on these shores supporting  Machine Head, POD and Raging Speedhorn the quintet done nothing to tarnish their reputation as a stunning live act. God Save Us and Liar have always been and will continue to be the highlights of a set which blends unleashed aggression with soothing melody almost effortlessly. Watch this band grow and grow...

And talking of growing, Spineshank should by now be able to fill a venue of Garage proportions without the aid of popular label mates. With three solid albums (no matter what you read about debut Strictly Diesel elsewhere) under their collective belt Johnny Santos and co. have a
host of crowd pleasers to choose from and they make the most of their slot. After being blown away by Dry Kill Logic the last time they visited Glasgow Spineshank make sure there is no repeat performance. Hits Smothered and Synthetic have the by now exhausted crowd digging deep for one last burst of Road Rage insanity.

Road Rage 2004... Slipknot, Machine Head and Fear Factory anyone??

Gavin Mcinally

www.roadrunnerrecords.co.uk/