Crosshair / Skeletal Embrace
Week 17 - 9th June 2005
By Jo, the mofo

I’m the only reviewer today, as Sharkey and Tim have both ponced off to Download – pshaw! What’s at Donington that you can’t recreate in Yarmouth on, say, a Saturday night – with copious amounts of alcohol, a bit of tomfoolery in St. Georges park, a boombox and a fair bit of imagination?

But it’s off to the good ol’ Marina Centre tonight: and the question on everybody’s lips is, WHERE’S THE HARP? The obvious answer is, it’s buggered off to Canada along with (I gather) its owner. Dear oh dear, didn’t we have this issue last year with a certain Mavis and major frontperson line-up changes? As is so eloquently argued, it’s not like losing a bassist or two; the Crosshair we saw was not the same as before. It didn’t help, either, having a 12-minute fire alarm - false, don’t worry - right in the middle of the set! Bless you, Suzi, for getting things back on track again swiftly.
Anyway - the hauntingly high melodies and Sandman cover (I was well looking forward to hearing that again!) were what made this band, what distinguished it. Despite a pretty good effort by them all, and in the face of a diminished audience, they’d lost this humble reviewer. Even the enthusiasm generated near the end by a cover of - wait for it, Johnny B. Goode – didn’t thrill: there ain’t nothin new here. Find your niche again, lads: don’t do what everyone else does because it’s popular... Crosshair, I’m sure, will be back around soon, but perhaps not in this competition.

And oh, the lovely Skeletal Embrace. To everyone who left early: you fools! SE are up there with the greatest, their fine and subtle art of kicking arse via demolishing eardrums honed to perfection. With a setlist (all originals) of song names in the finest traditions of black metal – lots of satan, pagan, supernatural and death references, naturellement – they whipped the li’l pit into a frenzy and spewed out note-perfect spinebreakers of songs, all led by the diminutive yet marvellous frontman. The guitar was quite suitably widdly, the drumming (and drum kit itself) quite incomprehensible, the sound overall, er, overwhelming. There’s hardly any real metal bands around at the mo, and even fewer astonishingly brilliant ones: ok, so it doesn’t go down too well in the pub, but who cares? That f**k you attitude is essential in music at any level if you want to get anywhere.
I know I’m not the only one who thinks these peeps deserve slots at UEA, they’ve got the sound to fill it. What a final it would be between SE and Blag, eh!

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.