Despite a disappointingly low turnout across the board, June’s Skeletor Metal night at the O2 proved to be one of the best local gigs I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing so far! The night opened with Annero, whose energetic, breakneck thrash metal seemed to build in confidence as the night went on, giving their set far more momentum and influence over the crowd in their closing songs than their openers. Guitarist Tom Mills and bassist Samma Charles definitely won Annero the award for ‘best hair of the night’, and they used this to great effect, headbanging in support of Craig Chatfield’s aggressive vocalizations. Had Annero begun their set with as much energy as they ended, they would have truly shown themselves as a force to be reckoned with!

I have had the pleasure of reviewing Empire Divided twice before, once on record and once live, and therefore I feel I can speak with authority when I say they always put on a good show! I was clearly not the only one expecting something special from Empire Divided, as the atmosphere in the room was buzzing when they took to the stage. However, I felt tonight the band’s performance was carried almost soley on the shoulders of frontman Josh Day, while the other members stood in a disappointingly static manner. Having said this, the band were tight, and Josh’s larger-than-life stage presence gave them an explosively energetic set, whipping up the first few mosh pits of the night, with Joe Samuels of Dedlok joining them on stage for a crushing Devildriver cover.

In my attempt to research each band before the gig, I found The Crushing oddly enigmatic. I’d heard good things about them from other people, but I could find little information on their Facebook page, and no recordings or videos at all! Their performance proved to be one of the best on the night, with their frontman (who is listed on their Facebook page as ‘Snuffy Walden’) shamelessly pelvic-thrusting into the crowd as he sang enthusiastically about pirates and cowboys. However, don’t disregard The Crushing as simply an amusing gimmick – their music also proved to be refreshingly original! My only disappointment was in my inability to grab one of their demo CDs before they ran out.

Tonight’s out of town band, No Consequence, represent a new wave of metal featuring genre-bending technicality and crushing brutality, and as such, its understandable that this relatively young crowd responded so well to their music. The band coupled their supremely technical music with a commendable level of energy, achieving a perfect balance between technicality and performance where so many similar bands fall short.

The anticipation for Crysis’ set in the crowd was noticeably building throughout the night, and this buildup proved to be more than deserved – the band once again proved themselves a formidable force of nature, with bassist Kyle Quinell and guitarist Shaun Linstead taking to the crowd for the now famous ‘Ginger Orbit’, and vocalist Kial Churcher proving even a little guy can have a massive stage presence as he lent over the barrier to deliver both old and new songs from the band’s repertoire to a warm, openly receptive crowd. Crysis proved a fantastic end to a good night, and at this point I see no direction for them to travel but onwards and upwards!