Eden Lake

14.01.2014

The Talking Heads hosted a 6 band extravaganza of live music for those rock fans that were brave enough to head out in gale force winds to enjoy a night of epic rock.

First to take to the stage were We Capture Kings. With a new lead singer joining the band only a few months ago, the band were on great form and sounding polished from the start. With songs such as ‘Roll With The Punches’, ‘If It’s Not Game Over, Its Game On’ and ’White Lace’ full of punchy riffs and melodic vocals, the songs went down well with the crowd. With a thumping rhythm section behind strong sounding songs such as ‘Armchair Critic’ and ‘One Step’ the band were a great start to the night. Along with some energetic moves on the floor in front of the crowd from the singer, the final track ‘Hold On’ was full of riffs, harmonious vocals and an impressive rhythm, wrapping up a powerful first band of the night set from We Capture Kings.

Gravel Rash took to the stage and were here to show the crowd some monster riffs. With ‘Big Leg’ and ‘Piss On You’ opening the set, it was a powerful sound of heavy riffs that reverberated through the venue. With a heady mix of pounding drums, dirty sounding bass and crunchy guitars over gravelly powerful vocals, the band were sounding epic from the start. Enjoying themselves on stage as much as the crowd there, ‘Never Again’ and ‘Sail’ were loud riff based tracks that melted your face. With some witty banter between songs as well as the music, Gravel Rash were also here to entertain and they certainly did that. Continuing with strong tracks such as ‘Zombie’ and ‘Immolateding’ the band had that heavy riff based sound that is always attention grabbing and with some nifty co-ordinated dance moves, this was a band that does rock and does it well. Finishing the set with ‘& 28 Days’, it seemed the set was over far too quickly as those killer riffs were brought to an end.

These Septic Stars were up next and having already seen them before last year, it was a chance to enjoy another live set from them. With the bassist once again donning a biohazard mask, they took to a stage and immediately launched into a set packed with their signature rock meets alternative sound. ‘Biohaze’, ‘New Free’ and ‘Sub-Human’ were full of delicious sounding riffs and a monster sounding bass line throughout as the vocals soared melodically through each track. With heavy sounding drums and powerful riffs, the vocals resounded round the venue and with a variety of styles within the genre of rock, it made for a great set. Moving on to an animal themed second half of the set ‘Horsefly’ and ‘Adder’ were both strong sounding songs and with the singer throwing in a few snake hip moves as well, the band went down very well with the crowd. Finishing on ‘Seagulls’ with again it’s heavy bass line prominent over soaring riffs, the band ended what had been another strong set from them.

Taking to the stage to a sample of ’Unite’ which made for a powerful start as the words sounded through the venue, These Days Are Numbered put on an energetic set from the very beginning. With heavy riffs and swirling vocals, songs such as ‘I Refuse’ and the band entitled ‘These Days Are Numbered’ were a mixture of killer drums over a slick rhythm, whilst the vocals soared along with a interjections of a deeper metalcore sound and managed to entice the crowd into some serious moshing at the front. With a new drummer, and a bassist helping out for the evening, the band were sounding incredibly tight as they played together. ‘S.S.D.D.’ with its heavy based riffs got the crowd going even more before ending on ‘Siren’s Song’ with its slightly slower tempo starting the track, before a crescendo of sound of guitar based riffs brought an excellent set to a close from the band.

Syren City were the penultimate band of the evening and had made the trek down from Bristol to play the show as they were not in the area for their March tour, so they got extra bonus points just for that fact alone. Full of melodic heavy riffs and captivating, rich sounding vocals, ‘Our Disease’ and ‘Long Way Down’ opened the set to killer bass lines, thunderous drums and riffs that opened up into a lush sound. With the bassist jumping around like Tigger on acid it made for a mesmerising set from the start. With the monster riffs of ‘Bleed’ and ‘In The Ashes’, the tracks were loud and heavy, whilst the vocals soared over a deep, dirty sounding rhythm in a delectable combination of rock. Even a couple of Spinal Tap moments did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the band as they powered through a set of enticing sounding tracks, the riffs opening up to a wall of sound on every one of the songs. With a mixture of songs from their latest EP and older material, Syren City rounded off their excellent set with ‘Asphodel’ and ‘Fire In Your Name’ and the crowd were more than delighted the band had made the trip down to the south coast, after what had been a brilliant but all too short set from the band.

Headliners for the night Eden Lake took to the stage to be the final band of the night, which had been an epic night of live music already and were very well chosen to bring events to a close. Hard sounding riffs and heavy vocals behind an even heavier rhythm section blasted through the venue as the band launched straight into their powerhouse track ‘Unearthed’. With gritty sounding guitars over gravelly vocals, the songs packed a powerful punch as each note played. Tempting the crowd into once again continuing with the moshing theme, this was a set full of energy as the band moved onto ‘Folklore’, again full of crunchy sounding guitars and rhythm behind monster sounding drums. With strong vocals that were more than capable of delivering a powerful sound behind such a heavy riff, ‘Solace’ was the next song to be played. With a soaring guitar riff that complemented the heaviness of the sound from the band, the set was full of melodic yet raw sounding tracks and their own cover of ‘Turn Down For What’ sounded far better than the original version, as the epic sounding riffs created a much heavier sound and worked really well in the set. The final track of the evening was a new song, which has yet to be given a title and it was another one of those dark yet melodic sounding tracks the band excel at and ended an outstanding evening of live music. With the band back in the studio next month to record some new music, along some more live dates with fellow bandmates for the evening These Days Are Numbered, Eden Lake well and truly kicked off 2015 in epic style with their first headlining gig of the year.