Heavy Metal Oxford

The Oxford metal scene

Posted on by talfineman

Oxford has a thriving and busy heavy metal scene, and one that’s been going from strength to strength over the past couple of years – yet it can often get completely, and inexplicably overlooked. In order to redress the balance at least slightly, MusicInOxford.co.uk asked a couple of people involved in the local scene to give us an overview of what’s going on out there, and choose a couple of their current favourites…

Tal Fineman is the guitarist and vocalist for Overlord, a four-piece formed this year

“The Oxford metal scene has really been picking up lately, mostly thanks to the efforts of two relatively new local promoters championing the genre. The first, and arguably most prominent of these is Skeletor Promotions, run by John of the now-defunct technical/progressive metal band Taste My Eyes. Skeletor arrange a monthly metal night at the O2 Academy Oxford in co-operation with Room 101, the Academy’s rock, metal and punk club night. So far, John has pulled in some pretty big names, most notably British thrash/death metal band Malefice, and up-and-coming progressive metal band Xerath. Despite these well known headlining acts, so far all support has come from local bands, such as the stunningly technical Prospekt, awesome thrash band Dedlok, and a personal and incredibly brutal favourite of mine, local death/groove metal band ZAOS.

“Another great artist that has played at Skeletor gigs is local stoner metal band Desert Storm, who run the other large Oxford metal promotions outfit, Buried in Smoke Promotions. Buried in Smoke hold their own monthly metal gig at The Wheatsheaf in central Oxford, with mainly local bands or small touring artists playing, and have been generous enough to offer lots of bands who are new to the scene, my own amongst them, a ‘leg up’ onto the gigging circuit through this monthly night, making them an invaluable asset to the local metal scene. On top of this, they have booked British stoner metal legends Orange Goblin to play at the O2 Academy in April 2012, and added a line-up of local support bands making this a promising contender as one of my personal favourite gigs of 2012!

“As a relative newcomer to the Oxford metal scene, I’ve found that everyone is extremely welcoming and friendly. Bands are keen to support each other in whatever way possible, whether through online promotion via Facebook, where many local bands have a strong presence, or ‘real life’ assistance. The atmosphere at gigs is fantastic – at one of my first local gigs, not only was I engaged in conversation by a total stranger while queuing outside, but within the gig there was a friendly and welcoming atmosphere throughout the crowd. This even permeated the moshpit, where I am almost ashamed to admit I slipped and fell, only to be hauled back to my feet by another mosher standing close by. In fact, a testament to the friendly and welcoming nature of the local scene is the success of metal band The Reaper, with an average age of just 11!

“Of course, the best way to get involved with the local scene is to find some bands you really like, and discovering some of the higher-profile local bands is made easy by the aptly named compilation album City of Screaming Spires, released by local melodic death metal band Aethara in conjunction with Skeletor Promotions. The free compilation contains a hugely diverse selection of tracks from local bands, from melodic, three piece prog band Unknown Flow, to local psychedelic metal band Mother Corona, through to the crushingly heavy Crysis – there’s undoubtedly something that any kind of metalhead could get headbanging to somewhere on the album! Download the album for free here.

Richard Marshall is an ardent fan of the local metal scene

“Over recent years Oxford metal has grown from a mere hatchling into a mighty and formidable beast with talented bands springing from every pore of its thrashing, chugging, wailing, screaming and thoroughly musical surface. The bands that it comprises make it something of a continuum; it houses the melodic and the raucous, the precise and the bludgeoning and everything in between.

“While there are many worthy of mention, one of the most salient bands in the scene is stoner metal outfit Desert Storm. The local five-piece, led by bellowing vocalist Matt Ryan, have been honing their bluesy yet hard-hitting sound for going on 4 years, setting all venues they play in alight with a groove and energy like never before.

“Swapping the mid-paced swagger for a helping-and-a-half of heavy metal attitude are relentlessly irrepressible heavy metal fivesome Crysis, dishing out blast after blast and chug after chug of downtuned, gruff and wholly aggressive metal. Their live shows are dominated local ‘little man of metal’ Kial Churcher, bossing the crowd and creating mercilessly violent mosh pits wherever he goes.

“Perenially popular are thrash-metallers Dedlok, who have earned their reputation as brutal local overlords over years of headbanging, crushing and health-and-safety-defying gigs. Also noteworthy are epic metallers Aethara, blending an unstoppable death metal sound with melody and harmony to create a sound full of urgency and drama, massive enough to fill a stadium.

“A less conventional side of the scene is shown in sludgecore outfit Undersmile. Led by the ungodly wailing and ethereal harmonies of guitarists/vocalists Hel Sterne and Taz Corona-Brown, they have carved their own niche in the scene with their unrelenting doom-laced metal symphonies. Also fighting the female corner are melodic metallers Ways Across, who have risen quickly in local esteem by way of a set full of metal anthems packed with rousing choruses and instantly involving riffs.

“Adept creators of metal masterpieces are prog metal kings Prospekt, a five-piece band who have been on an upward path since their inception in 2007. Their guitarist Lee Luland has raised countless eyebrows with his mind-blowing guitar wizardry, and their anthemic ‘Shroud’ was featured in Nightshift’s top tracks of 2011, establishing them as another local metal favourite.

The Oxford metal list: compiled by Skeletor Promotions’ John Smith

What about you?

Feel free to let us know in the comments whether there are omissions in the list, who’s floating your metallic boat in Oxford right now, and who your favourites have been in the past. It’s pretty clear that Oxford metal is a constantly evolving beast, and it’s very worthy of coverage and attention.

  • Risen In Black

    A lot of good Metal bands in Oxford and it is a scene that often gets overlooked when it comes to the review stakes for example. Still, thanks to Skeletor and other promoters its a scene on the up here and here’s hoping for a great 2012 for Oxford Metal!

    Merry Christmas to all
    Risen In Black

  • Spikeymike

    Nice to a feature on local Metal here but I don’t buy this often repeated mantra that the scene is under-reported. I think for its size it gets plenty of coverage, mostly it must be said in Nightshift – -remember there Metal special last year? The best local Metallers have always got good coverage in the past – Im old enoughto remember back to JOR and Black Candy. Maybe the problem is while Oxford has plenty of decent Metal bands it’s still waiting for someone special enough to breakthrough onto the national scene and create some momentum? Desert Storm look the most likely candidates but theyve been at it for four years and no one else has come through to equal them in that time.

  • Simon Minter

    Fair point Spikeymike – more coverage on this very website is what I’d like I guess, as there’s so much great stuff going on out there (and the positive response to this article suggests a lot of enthusiasm). If anybody out there wants to contribute reviews of Oxford metal gigs/records to the website, get in touch, that’d be awesome.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000131903365 Tal Fineman

    Spikeymike, obviously I agree that someone breaking out on to the national scene would definitely bring Oxford metal a TON more publicity… especially considering the tight-knit relationship many local bands share… but I do think that the scene deserves more publicity than it gets… fair enough, nightshift usually give us a mention, but considering the amount that goes on locally, there’s a LOT of stuff that goes uncovered.

    Also, I think, as great as Desert Storm are, there’s also potential for someone heavier and more technical to break through – the increasing popularity of ‘djent’ and tech metal of late means there’s a LARGE online audience for a more technical band like Prospekt…

  • Skeletor

    Great article, thanks Simon!

  • Jim Sandy

    Got to say  it has been a pleasure watching the growth in truly good noisy bands in Oxford. There is a huge amount of talent, covering most of the bases of “metal” music. I am really looking forward to see what 2012 brings as this

  • Ab

    Awesome article! need more articles like this =] looking foward to what 2012 brings, see what awesome treats skeletor has in store for us next year!