As Gods - At The Joiners

This miserable Monday night opened with the frankly average SiverLith, however, to be fair to the band they were opening a small club show on a Monday night, playing to pretty much the other bands and their girlfriends, so “Not a bad turn out”, says singer Ryan Perks. Playing a barrage of their own tracks like, ‘Awakening’ and ‘Good Night’s Sleep’, as well as a few covers including Green Day’s ‘Basket Case’ and ‘Time is Running Out’ by Muse. A brave effort from the southern quintet, but it was nothing to write home about.
Next up on the bill was Ravenous, a local Southampton metal group bring their sound back to the Joiners. These riff machines bring everything about metal needed. Slayer riffs, Pantera solos, and not forgetting those Rob Flynn vocals. Similar to SilverLith, Ravenous played a few of their own including the death defining ‘Deathstiny’ and ‘Reverse’, as well as a cover of Machine Heads ‘Davidian’, which is not an easy feet to pull off. But they managed it, and with flying colours no less.
However, these bands aren’t who (we at BLAG) were looking. Just arriving by the skin of their teeth, As Gods clamber onto stage. Exploding off the stage with the title track off their fourth coming debut album, The Journeyman, set for release sometime this year, but the band have not yet commented on the actual date. As vocalist Howie belts out with that first scream, he beats his chest in an attempt to achieve almost forced vibrato, scaring the abundance of teenage girls at the front. Then leading into ‘Faith’, the latest single released on their MySpace. This gave an almost Killswitch Engage degree of comedy as Howie, yet again, proceeds to play air guitar on his microphone while kneeling lovingly at the feet of guitarist Jonny.
Now as you know metal isn't metal unless it has some vague aura of mysticism to. Much like the following song, ‘Revenge of the Kraken’, which for all those who don’t know, “The Kraken is a giant monster that lives in the sea that drags ships down” according to Howie. This was by far the heaviest track in the set, brutalising neck muscles across the crowd. Lastly of course, As Gods finished with the demoralising culmination of the album, ‘Frozen’, which, as expected went down the best...even getting a small singing section from a few devoted fans at the stage front. As Gods are now set for more shows in the near future, including the Old Fat Cat in Southampton on March 17th. Now this gig is free, so any metal fans around that night, should definitely take a look at this live sensation that is not to be missed.