So, Picture this... A small high street pub, wide enough to fit around 8 people standing side by side comfortably to watch the bands perform at the front of the establishment. The rear of the house is packed with metal fans and friends of the bands, and they are all here for one reason... To celebrate with Tellurium, a local band, on the launch of their debut album; Conform & Consume.
To get the party started we had local grunge/rock band Small Town Silence, and I have to say the energy that these guys put in was amazing. Their set was a mixture of styles, from the toe tapping, fun and upbeat style of the brand new single Mr White, which is now available on Itunes and spotify for you all, to the lively, jump up and rock, pirate metal tune titled, The Pirate Song.
You can really feel the enjoyment that these guys feel when they are performing together, there's no feeling of nervousness or stress, they all are relaxed and having fun and that really shows through into their music. It was a fantastic set and the crowd had a blast watching them, especially when the guitarist went completely rock star and killed his guitar after the last track.
Next up we had, not so local band as they hail from Brighton, Harsh Times. These guys are a hardcore, pounding riffs, Punk band. Their set was filled with true punk style and attitude to match, especially when performing the outragiously incestuous track about the characters Luke and Leia Skywalker entitled 'Star Whores'. What A Track!
The whole group have an abundance of enthusiasm while performing their highly energetic tracks and there was no sign of them starting to flake or slack off.
Grabbing a few words from their interview, one of the key things they talked about was; "If you are in a band or wanting to start a band, you have got to be friends, otherwise it just won't work." This completely shows through in their performance as there is so much laughter and banter and kick ass tunes making them a treat to watch.
So after being completely rocked by these two bands, I was so ready for the headliners, Tellurium. Well what can I say... They absolutely killed! The combination of Marks pounding, melodic guitar riffs, the haunting sounds of Catherines vocals together with Mikes explosive vocals, the driving rhythm of Ants bass riffs and Scotts drum beats, definitely live up to the 'Progressive Pyscho Metal' term they have earned.
The whole set flowed beautifully, it was well rehearsed and fine tuned, the group were so relaxed and natural perfomers, despite the high energy and raging tunes. They engaged the audience from the very start, I don't think there was a soul in the house that wasn't paying attention!
There was a few shout outs made, In particular one Mike made to Catherines and his daughter Frankie, because the track Angel Maker was actually from a poem of hers. Little things like this I always find really interesting as it gives you an insight into the band and their lives, and what a truly beautiful track it made! was a pleasure to listen too.
During the upbeat title track of the album, Conform & Consume, you could feel the band love performing this one and that showed in the energy that came out whilst playing. The crowd could also feel this as we did have a mini mosh pit start up (well considering the size of the pub, it was a good effort!). With Futile Ambition, an angelic guitar lullaby with kick ass vocals kinda track, there was also one man crowd surfing (as that was about all you could fit in again!) who just happened to be the guitarist of Small Town Silence (haha), was good to see the other artists enjoying themselves too.
So when it was all over and we kicked back to Metal Meyhem Radios tunes, my ears were still ringing and heart beat was still racing and left longing for more Tellurium beats. Yes I think I've got Heavy Metal Poisoning... but in a very good way.
Well done to Littlehampton Alternative Rock Society for producing the whole event, to The Crown for hosting the night, to all the performing artists, and of course to Metal Meyhem Radio for broadcasting the event live and allowing me to write this blog and interview the bands.
Rock on people! Siobhan Trigg.
This Article was writen by Siobhan Tigg from our partner Metal Meyhem Radio.
The original article can be found here. Article ©Metal Meyhem Radio 2016.