Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats at Gorilla in Manchester review

Image: Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats 

Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats have been praised many times for their ability to recreate sixties and seventies era heavy metal sound; that talent was more than on show when they played at Gorilla, Manchester

A comparison to Black Sabbath could usually be a bit lazy, but the likeness is genuinely uncanny. The slow paced trudge of a typical Sabbath build up and the heavy distorted riffs quickly became a staple of the performance.

Similarities didn't end with just the song structures though. The vocals nudged eerily into Ozzy Osbourne territory at times. That same rasping, eerie whiny style that made the prince of darkness so iconic seemed mirrored in Kevin Starr's performance.

The boiler room like setting of Gorilla made for a pretty apt stage for the band. The murky room with its sheet metal roofing fitted insanely well with the band's whole rough around the edges appearance and style.

There was a real presence about the outfit right from the get go, a hugely menacing feeling around the whole group.

Set list wise it was structured very well. Keeping the audience on their toes by switching up the pace between the hazy stoner rock and big chord heavy seventies style metal. 

The main set was brought to an almighty end with a properly storming rendition of 'Vampire Circus' (listen above). A highlight was the animalistic performance on drums from Itamar Rubinger, sounding as if he was treading very close to tearing through the skins of his drum heads.

Obliging one more time to the crowds wishes, they re-emerged for a final display of riff filled darkness, rounding off the show with as much intensity that was on display right from the get go. 

Read: Albert Hammond Jr at Gorilla review