Carnage at the Keep (The Gryphon, Bristol 30th April 2011)

From the first look at the line up of Carnage at the Keep and you could tell it was going to be a good night of fast, heavy metal. This night saw bands from all over the South West (including Bristol’s very own Darkening Suns, End is Nigh from Bath, Inimisus hailing from Trowbridge and, travelling from Exeter, Red Mist) supporting the mighty Brutai from THAT London.

Using the smallish venue The Gryphon in Bristol, you could see that this was by no means going to be a massive event but kicking the night off were End is Nigh with a nice blend of their very own apocalyptic metal. These guys are a fairly new band having only played one or two shows before but they didn’t let that stop them as they got the capacity crowd moving with a good set.

The next band to squeeze into the small ‘stage’ area in the corner of the humid, sweaty room was Trowbridge warriors Inimisus. This metalcore five-piece really had the room shaking with their thundering grooves and heavy guitar riffs. The audience warmed to this punishing set a lot more than the first bands’, but this may be mainly due to Inimisus being a more established band.

Darkening Suns tear up the stage...

By now, the walls were dripping with the sweat of 70 frenzied metal heads and the floor was soaked with spilled beer. The mainly male crowd kept the cheers coming as local boys (and girl) Darkening Suns stepped up for their first ever gig. For a band who had never played before they had a remarkable fan base and the room stayed at capacity. It took Darkening Suns a short while to get into the groove of things and unfortunately the first half of their set was a little misfired. This changed as if by magic at the halfway point and these new faces stepped it up a gear to blast out their melodic death metal riffs and screams to the initially sceptical audience.

Featuring on the Gryphon’s predominately rock & metal programme before, Red Mist felt right at home when they took to the stage. This Exeter band played to a slightly smaller crowd as the room emptied a little as the audience went in search of fresh air and strong ale. Despite this, they blew away the 40-odd people who had stayed to watch.

London's Brutai pound their way through a great set

The final band, coming all the way from London was metal ear-abusers Brutai. This band took the unfamiliar atmosphere in their stride and produced an astonishingly good set which had the (by now slightly merry crowd) banging their fists and singing along.

This band was the perfect way to end a strong, heavy night of metal and, as people gradually hit the road, you could still feel the foundations of the Gryphon trembling.