IT was a really cold evening as I walked the short distance to Sanctuary for a night of metal and I had not actually been to a metal show in ages.

Unfortunately one of the bands had pulled out at the last minute, but fortunately the three remaining bands were of outstanding quality.

First up and from Reading were Black Emerald, only a three-piece, but they certainly knew their stuff.

Basingstoke Gazette:

They were nice and heavy, pretty up tempo, in fact classic heavy-metal. I warmed to them straight away a flair for both writing and playing awesome songs.

The crowd grew in size as their set progressed and I was pleased to see how well they went down. Good start to the evening.

Next up were Metaprism from Bournemouth and they too won me over in fairly short order. As well as being technically brilliant, they use dual male/female vocals to deliver contrasting melodic and harsh styles.

Basingstoke Gazette:

This definitely makes the songs more interesting and gives them opportunities to vary their songs. The music was spot-on and the visuals greatly helped by the male lead singer's impressive head-banging and the female lead singer's hypnotic smile. How could I not get one of their EPs?

The headline band were Cambion, who I have seven several times before, so I knew I was in for a treat. Very heavy and very technical, which really lifts their style of death-metal way above many others.

They have been around a while and they are experienced exponents of their craft.

Basingstoke Gazette:

The venue had filled up by now and quite rightly so. All in all, a very enjoyable night all round.

Thanks to all the bands for being great and to Rockbitch for promoting, doing the sound and running the venue. A pleasure, as always.

Neil Duncan, ISSUEPUNKZINE