Ballsdeep & Ironrat - Trash, Bradford
I ventured on down to Trash in Bradford last night to see Ironrat andBallsdeep perform as part of the eighth day uk tour in what I thought was going to be a gig that would blow my mind... and my expectations were exceeded. Both frontmen, Chris from Ironrat and Rich from Ballsdeep, seemed to channel their inner Phil Anselmo. The best way to describe it is if Ironrat are like Down with their sludgy, stonery sound being a fusion of heavy and clean guitars with elements of the bass player taking centre stage at times then Ballsdeep are most certainly like pantera with their fast, aggressive riffs with just the right amount of groove built in. The guitar and drum work from both bands was a spectacle to behold. The drums sounded like rifles going off and you could feel it in your very core and the guitars and bass hit with the force of a 12 gauge shotgun pressed to the base of your skull. It was loud, it was heavy... it was undeniably metal
Ironrat burst onto the stage with a blinding rendition of Thunderlord and never let up through their entire set playing tracks from the Monument album as well as some new ones. The riffs are hard hitting and their ability to change tempo at the drop of a hat without missing a beat makes these guys a band to watch out for and the twin harmonies on tracks like dead river are enough to give anybody, male or female, an orgasm because they are on point and sonically pleasing. Which brings us nicely onto Ballsdeep. Their Facebook page says aggressive not progressive and oh boy did they live up to that. For a band that only has one guitar player they are heavy as fuck and the stage presence of not only Rich but of Paul (Guitar) and Will (Bass) made me feel like I was at a show I would gladly pay £30 and over to attend just to see this band. My mind was eviscerated by the sheer brutality that Paul brought on Guitar on tracks such as Spit, A life less overrated and way misguided. If your mission was to turn everybodys brains into gelatin then I would say it was mission accomplished because I know mine certainly did, I'm still feeling it now on the morning after.
Kudos goes out to both bands it was loud, it was heavy and it is a concert I won't forget anytime soon. Kudos also goes out to the venue, TRASH Bradford, for putting these two bands on and giving us a night of loud music and cheap beer
