The Divide / Forever Falling
Week 13 - 12th May 2005
By Sharkey

Well here we are at the second round of Lock and Loads Battle of the Bands 2005 and what an event it has been so far! My apologies to Forever Falling this week for not getting any photo’s, I managed to break my camera so if you have any photos please send them to me and we’ll get them up! Anyway, on we go with…

The Divide - The D boys launched to the stage with the epic original sound and stage costume to match, blasting out an all original setlist of classic and innovative songs. They went out on the stage in a wave of smoke, energy and very memorable guitar lines.

The guitar playing tonight is well over par for this group, certainly no local pub rock band they are not! These guys know how to act on stage and give out a huge performance wether the audience is two people or two hundred. They really give out a good vibe and amazing energy.

They have the power in their music too, especially in one of their songs “Addicted” where everything drops out and the screeching guitar just beings everything back in with amazing timing and coodination and a mental riff.

As I remarked the last time The Divide played, their use of synth keyboards really added that epic sound to some of their songs and gave their whole set a definitive atmosphere. This weeks performance is defiantly more powerful than their last one.

The singer was definitely dressed for the part, almost Alice Cooper-esque with his hat and all. Bringing the band’s overall sound to a good climax with his powerful voice, which never yielded to any pressure or lack of strength and managed to keep it going throughout the whole set.

20 years ago if this band had been going about they would have been huge and I’m surprised they havn’t gone any further than the local pub and club scene. They have the stage prescence of Iron Maiden and the song writing skills of Black Sabbath and if you are a fan of the latter then you really should check this band out.

Forever Falling - As soon as the sound check had started, a mass of fans swarmed to the stage to greet Forever Falling as they lined the stage. Obviously not unknown in this area at all.

They drove into their set with equally as much power and intensity as the Divide did. The crowd growing and growing with each new song and like last time FF pushing out the Hardcore/EMO songs.

There was lots of movement on stage especially near the end of their set where they were diving into each other and writhing about on the floor adding so much more intensity to their songs.

Their songs were sung along by the eager crowd chanting and cheering their name throughout the set and given a huge response in return. FF giving lots of crowd interaction. The songs, like last time, filled with plenty of good alternative/hardcore riffs with sentimental singing and perfect rage filled screaming to please any Emo fan in the immediate vicinity. The lead singer especially putting lots of passion and aggression into his performance, even passing out the microphone to fans who knew the lyrics and letting them sing along.

One of the reasons I like this band is that they put more emphasis on songs and performance rather than individual band members personal abilities, although there was some excellent drumming.

That’s all from me this week, come next week for Round 2 of the quarter finals!

Majere writes:

So, here we are at the start of Round Two, and in accordance with BOTB forum policy we move over to low-calorie reviews- less fattening, with only polyunsaturated verbs. A healthy crowd is waiting to enter the Marina tonight- it may not be the biggest ever, but everyone seems to want to get in at once...

Could The Divide improve on last round's performance? This veteran quintet impressed musically the last time around, but got less crowd reaction than a quiet fart on the London Underground. This time around, clearly galvanised by the general air of anticipation, The Divide come out with all guns blazing, the frontman sporting a look that is two parts Alice Cooper to one part Worzel Gummidge whilst the rest of the band add more leather and general flamboyance to the look. (Special mention must be made of the fly-speckled hat!) Interestingly given the new rules, The Divide have ditched their one cover from last time around in favour of more original material. The set is well received, though the crowd at the front is still not the largest, but overall The Divide certainly reinforce their reputation as a class act. (But apparently a class act with no CD! Come on guys!)

PS: Since I missed reviewing The Divide last time, here's one last cover recommendation:
Majere thinks The Divide should cover: "Whole Lotta Rosie" (AC/DC)

INTERLUDE - Why is a digital video camera like a rhino with arthritis? Both of them take forever to charge....

Forever Falling are in the odd position of having a lot, and at the same time not much, to do. On the one hand, the lively crowd attending their set from the start shows that the herculean task of getting the BOTB crowd on-side is done and dusted. On the other, both their own impressive first round performance and The Divide's preceding set have certainly raised the bar somewhat. So do Forever Falling pull it off? Weeelll, a bit. They certainly don't disappoint, and the axe-twirl in their first appearance is neatly topped by two synchronised twirls this time around, but it's hard to see any major improvement or development from last time... but then last time, like this time, was Very Good Indeed. There's no new material on offer, but the demo CD seems to have led to enough fans knowing the words for the odd singalong, and the crowd interaction is once again excellent. Time will tell whether Forever Falling have done enough tonight, but there's no doubt they have entertained, and that may just be more important.

Tom writes:

Well, well, my first attempt at a review. And what a week to be reviewing, for this week saw the return of classic metal band The Divide and screaming demons Forever Falling.
I must say, I needed a little help when it came to The Divide, for my knowledge of the genre is very limited. The band boomed on the stage and immediately I noticed the interesting attire of the lead vocalist that looks remarkably like Slash; the vocalist. The pounding drum beat brought metal fans running clean for the dancefloor, and as the band broke out into the fast paced intro heads began to mosh. After the first song the vocalist introduced his crew and the riff began to develop for song number two. Throwing a little synthesiser into the mix defiantly gave an interesting twist to the band; making them very different to many other groups playing hard rock.

Worryingly, the vocalist did at one point ask if the crowd could smell their sweat, but I took this to be a very fitting attitude so shrugged it off and continued watching with growing interest. Thank you very much to Jo for pointing out the resemblance of the front mans voice to that of Alice Cooper, and coupled with the absolutely fantastic guitar work from both players, notably the lead, who’s fingers moved across the fretboard faster
than I can get to the bar with money for a drink.

That's very fast, for those of you who don't know. Well into the set, I became increasingly enthralled by this band, and soon realised why. There was a explosive stage presence from all members, a sense that they just looked like they belonged. The dramatic anitcs of the front man, who warned that band "Listen to the words to this song, and you may never fear death again". Also, some classic stances from the axe-wielders, and the drummer just couldn't stop bashing
those skins. As for the bass player, though somewhat subdued, managed to play very well and even managed to throw himself around a little too. All in all, The Divide are a well accomplished band and fill the part very well, if they don't do well in the future, I may actually eat my hat.

Influence formula
Alice Cooper + Judas Priest x Iron Maiden = The Divide

After the break, which consisted of buying a drink and discussing with Raven the worrying amount of small people running around and the inevitability of one of them breaking something, Forever Falling took to the stage.

Not for very long though, as what I thought was their first song turned out to be a soundcheck and the curtains closed around the band, leaving the ever lovely Suzi to introduce them. Not that they needed an introduction, in the sense that members of the audience were already positioning themselves at the front of the stage ready for them. Admittedly, certain crowd members were just lingering from their encounter with The Divide, but they were there nonetheless. The four members took to the stage once more, looking very emo, what with the provocatively low trousers, tight black t-shirt and, most importantly, the fringe! You can never forget the fringe! After an introduction from the front man, the band pushed straight into the first number.

I joined the mass of dancing lunatics almost immediately to do some 'In-crowd research'. Turned out, most of the audience were too busy pushing each other to the beat to give me any opinions, but my conclusion was that from up here, the band seemed to be looking very settled. I sat back down after the first number to make some notes on this coclusion, then decided I rather enjoyed jumping about like a maniac, so decided to join the crowd once again. Very soon after they had played several songs, it became apparent that the band had a very large female fan base. They were, after all, rather good looking chaps.

The melodic guitar hooks and three part harmony vocals were permanently being juxtaposed with screams and raw bass lines, and the guys seemed to be having a wonderful time dancing in circles on the stage and even falling over at several points towards the end. With some wonderful crowd interaction and idle banter, it seemed that everyone was enjoying themselves (apart from Ozzy of course, Ozzy hates emo). Finishing up on the floor, the band were tired, the crowd were satisfied, and I had my research. I grabbed a CD and proceeded to leave, although several females decided they weren't up for it until they had given band members phone numbers. Yet again, another band that’s sure to go far.

Influence formula
Avenged Sevenfold + Senses Fail x Emo Fringe = Forever Falling

Adam Wrote:

Well everyone, this is my first ever review! I suppose your wondering why I’ve taken so long to grace everyone with a review. Well, its simple, I just had to express my opinion on this heat between The Divide and Forever Falling.

The divide was absolutely electrifying! Never before have I seen a band that have looked comfortable on stage and sung with such passion before in all my BOTB attendance. I have to raise special awareness towards the stage presence that the band brought with them as all band members were dressed in clothes that suited their genre of music. And the energy of the lead singer was surely the best I’ve ever seen. I remember a year ago to the day almost, where the band performed at the Viberoom and done great tunes including their original, ‘lizards’. From that day beyond, everyone knew they had potential to quickly gather a crowd’s attention. And they did just that! It was quoted by a few members of the audience that the lead singer appeared similar to Alice Cooper in terms of physical appearance! This is a great compliment considering Divides lead singer’s performance matched this musical legend as well as its physical aspects.

Overall, this band is far the most entertaining band at BOTB’s this year. Divide got 102.5 points, putting them behind forever falling on the leader board. Early days yet thou!

It’s always going to be hard to criticise a band like Forever Falling, especially when they finish 2nd on the first round leader board and have the majority of the audience crowded at their feet as soon as they come on stage. But in all honesty, I will say it – I didn’t enjoy the band. I’m not saying they weren’t good at what they do; it just wasn’t my kind of music so hence why I didn’t like it.

Well done Forever Falling on receiving 108.5 points for their performance thou. We’ll have to see if it’s enough to put them through to the 3 rd round.

Over and out.

Add Your Comments

Any written material published on this review is not a direct reflection by the judges or event organisers.

The reviews listed are an opinion by the individual carrying out the review which happens to be a personal and honest account. These reviews are displayed on this website for the bands to obtain some truthful feedback on their performance. There is no point in us posting dishonest reviews here, as this will not benefit the bands who are looking for advice and constructive feedback.