IN spite of not getting in until two in the morning and feeling seriously wrecked and dangerously old, less than 12 hours later I found myself at Sanctuary for a real monster of a show.

In fact, it was two shows in one. The Desert Rat promotions show should have been happening at the Mousetrap but was forced to move - or cancel - so Rockbitch at Sanctuary stepped into help and the combo was born. 

Fifteen bands in about 10 hours at 50p per band is one hell of a big show.

First up were Three Thrones all the way from Colchester, a very heavy doom-ladden three-piece. They pumped out some really brutal music and I found it helped get my adrenalin up a bit and wake me up. I was also impressed that even at this very early hour (on a Sunday afternoon) a decent-sized crowd was beginning to gather.

They were followed by Hummune who come from Southampton and who I have seen before. Another super-heavy, grinding three-piece with vocal duties being shared across the band. Fantastic music to meditate to and clear your head of any frivolous nonsense cluttering the synapses. Nothing to do with the music, but the guitarist had one seriously impressive beard.

Third band in was Wolfshead, another insanely heavy three-piece and I was definitely getting to see a pattern emerging here. They had much in common with the first two bands, but they were a bit more up tempo and so I kind of enjoyed them more. There does seem to be a certain speed threshold necessary to boost the overall power of the music.

Then it was time to head upstairs for the first band on the second stage. This was local lads Artemis who would normally be the heaviest band on most line-ups, but they had to leave that accolade to the doom-merchants downstairs and concentrate on what they do best - playing really fast, powerful, catchy hard-core punk and playing it very well. No denying that this was more my cup of tea.

Back downstairs for Old Man Lizard who I have seen before, but probably not under the best of circumstances. They did much better today, tight and heavy and playing to a greatly swollen crowd. Still lacked the speed I need to get my motor going, but I can appreciate what they do and understand why others get more excited.

Upstairs again for Grappler from London - gigs with two-stages are great because there is virtually no down-time in between bands. These guys were heavy, fast hard-core punk, with some huge riffs and clever interplay between the various vocal parts. I really enjoyed these guys, but with the crowd up there to see them, they really could have done with a bit more room to jump around. Still, the atmosphere was positive and it was a nice intimate performance.

Downstairs again and delighted to see something a little different, a four-piece rather than a three-piece, with a female drummer no less. The band were called Limb and I am not sure where they came from. Whilst they were pretty heavy and doomy, they definitely had a bit more going for them so far as I was concerned and they also seemed to have a much bigger crowd too.

I headed upstairs as the final song downstairs was being played - I'm a fast learner and found myself a cosy spot at the front of the stage. The band was We Never Learned to Live from Brighton who were a melodic hard-core band and probably the lightest band of the whole show - not that that really meant anything in the present company. I was happy to sample a change as it helped to break up the day a little.

Witchsorrow were up next downstairs and I have seen them before - another very, very, heavy three-piece-doom band, I have to say that the fatigue was starting to kick in. You might love chocolate, but a chocolate starter, followed by a chocolate main course, followed by a chocolate dessert with chocolate and drinking chocolate to follow was just a little too samey for my tastes.

Upstairs there was a lot more variety and Svalbard from Bristol were an amazing hard-core band. I have not seen them before, but I have heard of them and was keen to check them out. Vibrant and exciting, with powerful music and impressive vocals. They had a female guitarist who also did some vocal duties, so they got a nice bit of variety going on there. They leapt around like manics too. I like maniacs.

The next band downstairs was for me, the best 'heavy' band of the day - Ageless Oblivion are from Basingstoke, but are being hailed, (quite rightly) up and down the country and further afield for the quality of their death metal. They have recently released their second album which is getting raved about all over the place. From their opening riffs they just slayed it, as far as I was concerned. This band have put in a lot of hard work and it is all paying off.

Back upstairs, it was time for Employed to Serve from Woking to give my ears and eyes a treat. I have seen them before and wow, what a band. Female-fronted hardcore punk is a pretty rare thing and this band do it so well. The band went nuts and the crowd went nuts and it was a really intense but amazing half hour. I will checking them out again real soon.

After the apocalypse that was Ageless Oblivion downstairs, I returned to the doom & gloom three-piece, set piece dudes. Perhaps connoisseurs of this genre can appreciate the subtle differences between all these bands, but to me it could have simply been the same band playing six or seven times. The band were called Bast - they had their fans and fair play to them, everyone seemed to enjoy the performance, which is the main thing.

The last upstairs band of the night were Pariso who I believe come from London. I have seen them many times over the past few years so I knew I was going to be in safe hands. A good solid, heavy hard-core band, playing with plenty of experience and a back catalog of great songs. One of their guitarists broke a string and yet had it replaced and tuned up in no time - I was impressed.

Last band of the night was downstairs, they are called Conan and they have played in Basingstoke before and always get a good reception. Yes, they were another three-piece doom band, but even I was able to see and hear their quality. The place was packed and the music so heavy and loud that it would surely destroy the organs of the uninitiated. It was a pretty epic end to a long old day.

Thanks to all the bands, and to the promoters Jon and Ollie and to the management and staff for a real well run all-dayer.

Neil Duncan, ISSUEPUNKZINE