Live Review: Summer Bash 666: Hell In Hawaii at Reading Facebar!

It’s finally here. The moment we’ve all been waiting for. The sun is shining. The weather is sweet. Makes you want to move your dancing feet. It’s the the day of the annual Hawaiian beach party that is Summer Bash 666: Hell in Hawaii, hosted by Progressive Death Metal Kings Mercury’s Well. We arrive at Reading Facebar to find the place decked out with inflatable palm trees, flower necklaces adorning microphone stands and drum kits with the bands sky blue, red and white banner behind the Red (panic) Room stage. InAir bassist Finn Panhaleux is on the lights and Matt Yates is at the sound desk and an eclectic mix of Nu-Metal, Metalcore and Pop Punk courtesy of Mercury’s Well bassist James Tiffin. It’s gonna be a party!

As Chaos Theory got caught in a bear trap in the Canadian wildernesses and called it in at the 11th hour, previous Summer Bash survivors Tape It Shut [8/10] get the Hawaiian Beach Party started with an infectious blend of Punk Rock and jokes about… Pretty much everything. Joking aside (no pun intended) they’re a wordy band with a love of playing tunes at breakneck speed who express the opinions in the best possible way. Oh and they have a 16 minute long album called “Dinosaurs Vs Robots“. The self deprecating humour is hilarious and there are plenty of sing-a-long moments with the audience singing back “What a scam!” and “Trust me, I’m a Politician!“.

Traditional Heavy Metal force Kardinal X [9/10] throw down the gauntlet with a couple of blistering solos, an extended instrumental jam seeing their vocalist Jimi James depart the stage for a cigarette. That’s the kind of old school showmanship that cracks a nostalgic smile on the faces of more than a knowing few in the audience. The kit work is thunderous from drummer John Kane and it’s great to see the band playing original material rather than diving down in to the Wonderland of Alices rabbit hole and playing a set of classic covers. Instead cuts like “Heretic” and “Dark Water” shine with old school flare and a modern edge.

The wrathful Gods of Gear have Slug13 marked out not to perform and as a result, sadly they don’t get past their soundcheck due to endless, senseless feedback. S*** happens and we wish them well for the future.

Making our ears bleed once more are Bristol Sludge Metal meets Hardcore Punk trio El Chapo [8/10] who have come armed for the apocalypse with riffs fit for worship. Tunes like “Cold World” are designed to help you breathe more easily while “Demon Eyes” has that low and slow, raw guitar sound during an extended intro before the band step up through the gears. Rumbling bass and gang chanted vocal parts make it a set highlight, the stripped down, no frills approach ensuring that you feel every angst ridden moment.

Returning by popular demand after an incredible set at the 5th anniversary of Summer Bash last year are Reading natives Masquerader [8/10] who destroy our necks with their infectious rhythm section as Danny Molyneux and button pusher extraordinaire gets in the faces of the audience. Leaping from the stage with wreckless abandon alarming regularity claiming a horrible phobia of hard wood floors, he gets up close and personal during an as yet untitled new cut that is missing the bands trademark synths and it even gets an impromptu mosh pit. The three piece share their love of pop songs with a Hardcore cover of “Maneater” by Nelly Furtado which isn’t so unexpected after they brought out “Barbie Girl” last year and it leaves everyone in a sweaty mess.

A peach of new album in “Test Of Time” ensures that we’re excited to see what London Alternative Progressive Metal trio Maziac [8/10] have to offer in the live arena. “Fear & Fortune” is very much the sing-a-long anthem live as it is on the record, the angular riffs and complex drum fills even more prominent while they’re on stage. “Stoic” is also in the set, the band making the absolute most out of their time, keeping the between song moments to a minimum and instead letting the music do the talking.

“This song is called “Into The Night” it’s about immigration and people fleeing war. Let’s just let people have a safe life. Think about it”. Having already cranked out a set of anthems, witnessed a circle pit and inflatable tree sword fighting, Them Bloody Kids [10/10] are asked for one more song and they duly oblige. Never afraid to speak their minds and express their opinions, such a politically charged track is a refreshing set closer as well as being a poignant one. Earlier on the band saw a bass strap malfunction resolved by a knot after spending a song sat on the front of the stage and also gave us a blistering rendition of “Sugar” by System Of A Down. A bouncy sing-a-long classic, it’s one perfectly suited to what this band do and they do it justice. Having lost a friend “Help Me” is an emotionally charged moment, a reminder that we all need to show each other a little more love.

“Surrender. Heart and soul. Let the darkness swallow you whole” roar Mercury’s Well [9/10] as “Nadir” rings out and it’s a powerful, cathartic scream-a-long moment to bring the bloodstained curtain down on a crushing set of Progressive Death Metal from a band in their element. It began with a surprise cover of the Killswitch Engage classic “End Of Heartache” before hammering into a blistering and bold rendition of “Blood” from their self titled album. That’s met with equal ferocity by the scalding “Fire“, a song that had been scandalously cut from the set only to be bought back by popular demand. One of the things that makes a great live band, aside from being able to nail their songs and bring the energy is whitty banter and bassist James Tiffin, armed with a neon pink 5 string has plenty of that up his sleeve. A song titled “Mercury’s Well” brings the inception level madness and a joke with the audience swaying like marionettes to the sound of their darkness so by the end the trio have become puddles of sweat under the lights. It’s a cliché but it’s true. Tonight is a home town show and an utter triumph.

Intergalactic bee keepers Wallowing [9/10] flood the venue with smoke, their glowing green chest lights and lasers helping to create a dark and foreboding atmosphere to accompany their weighty sounds. A wall of sonic oblivion surrounds the hunters as they pull out caustic cuts from the black depths of outer space which mesmerise, Extreme Metal with downtuned dirge laden riffs and sludgy undertones being just part of what they create. Their electronics rig is huge and operated by both vocalists giving everything they do an eerie quality. There is no break or respite from during the entire set and at points the vocals are simply the screams of angoy of an alien creature with no disciphrable lyrics. But it’s all part of the game and the aesthetic as the faceless monster breathes. Moments of Post Metal and Doom rise to the surface as the set plays out, a spoken word passage changes the angle of the sonic assault on the senses before the band twist the screw once more.