'Bloodstock On The Road' – Featuring Biomechanical, 4-way Kill and Infobia
Thursday 30^th October
The Underworld, Camden, London

Following the success of this year's Bloodstock Festival in Derby at the end of August, organizer Vince Brotherton courageously took a trio of young British acts out on the road across the length and breadth of the UK, under the moniker 'Bloodstock on the Road'. Unfortunately the crowds did not turn out in great numbers which was more a sign of the apathy of London audiences than a reflection upon the quality of the acts on offer.

First up were Infobia, from the port of Hull in the north of England. I'd not heard a thing about this band before and unfortunately caught only a song and a half, but vocalist Derk thoroughly impressed me with his awesome lungpower and voice. The band's website (www.infobia.co.uk) claim that he has a range that clears 3 octaves and in the short period of time that I was able to watch them, he certainly demonstrated that this is true. Since the band play modern rock, he has to sing growl and scream – and boy, can he scream. For my money he outshone the respected John K, vocalist with the headline band. Definitely an act for me to keep an eye out for in the future.

Next up was 4-Way Kill. Wearing trousers cut-off at the knee and basketball shoes was a hint that they might not be the sort of band to play music I like, but the audience was up for them. Once again they played some kind of modern metal, with doses of hardcore mixed in. They had some great riffs, but the vocals became rather tiring very quickly. A competent live band, which the crowd certainly appreciate all the same.

Finally out came the headliners Biomechanical. There was no big introduction or overture and the band members were all in their places on stage before most of the crowd even realized that they had left the dressing room. They opened with 'Save Me' and continued with "2 songs which follow each other", namely 'Hunted' and 'No Shadows', all of which sounded very good musically, though I couldn't always hear John K's voice clearly above the other instruments. However for 'The Awakening', the song that the band have just produced a video for, his voice came through loud and clear, making this one of the most impressive songs of the evening.

The band are a 5-piece based in the UK, though vocalist John K is originally from Greece. His voice has great power and range and he is backed by a group of very capable players. In Chris and Jamie, Biomechanical feature two fine guitarists, but they tend to be rather static on stage. Bassist Jon Collins, on the other hand, is extremely lively and along with John K provides the majority of the animation on stage. These two were very busy throwing shapes and, in the case of John K, headbanging furiously, whenever the opportunity arose.

After a few more songs from their current album '8 Moons', John announced 2 new numbers from their 2nd album - 'Regeneration' and 'Empires of the World', neither of which really impressed on the first listen. Certainly neither matched the intensity and power of the tunes from '8 Moons'. It being the final date of the tour, they then invited the members of the two support bands on stage for a lively cover of Metallica's 'Creeping Death', which the crowd loved, before closing out their set with 'Assaulter'. They encored with a fantastic version of Pantera's 'Mouth For War'. Best gig I've seen from them so far.

Biomechanical Setlist:
Save Me
Hunted
No Shadows
The Awakening
In The Core of Darkness
Distorted
Destiny
Regeneration
Empires of the World
Creeping Death
Assaulter
Encore:
Mouth For War