I caught Domination at the Wolverhampton date in the legendary "The giffard arms"! Even though its a small room the sound is great and the people of wolves are loyal to support the local scene tend to attend.
Starting the night off we have a local band to wolves EXILES a Melodic / Hardcore / Post-Hardcore outfit at the get go these are not in their "scene" which i appreciate but with slamming breakdowns and intense screams they did their thing regardless, Unfortunately for me the energy and intensity was there but not the technicality to make them stand out. There was a evident divide between the room and them and they did not try and close it in anyway but they still did a sufficient set either way. The vocalist made antagonistic and sarcastic comments during their set(is that their thing?) that just came off childish which is not the best way to win a crowd. 6/10
Second on was SURRGE these rockers from Warwickshire started off with a cover of Velvet revolver - slither, I am not a big fan of the band but the cover was decent and was a good warm up, They then did two songs of original material which stood out more than the covers which is a very good thing! The vocalists attitude was very attractive and charming so did not take her long to win the crowd. They ended with rage against the machine - Killing in the name which was a solid end and was a good cover but I would rather see more of their own material in future. 7/10
Third up was atmospheric black metallers from lichfield and a client of mine that i done the logo for SAARKOTH! Now being their SECOND gig playing live i did not know what to expect, They blew open with beautiful atmospheres awesome grooves and epic black metal synergies of double bass and guitar work! a few hiccups here and there but nothing gig breaking but again it's their second gig so much can be overlooked! The vocals were intense and shrieking and almost hauntIng which played well with the atmospheres they were creating! looking forward to seeing these guys in the future! 7/10
Fourth up are SE7ERN, a groovy rock/metal band from the midlands! These guys had attitude groove and personality and won over the crowd quite quickly getting the room moving. Se7ern are playing the finals in this years Bloodstock M2TM Coventry make sure you go support them if you nearby! They played a cracking set and made a good standard to follow! Definitely catch these guys if you can. 8/10
Finally our headliners! Domination is a Thrash/Groove metal band from Athens, Greece. Currently based in UK the home of heavy metal! They opened up with good energy and fasts riffs blasting drums and intense vocals...The energy they pumped into the room was well received and by the second song there were pits in nearly every song afterwards. Aggressive headbanging was a constant by the Domination boys and they crafted that stage and blew the place apart! They were very genuine dudes on top of that and gave the show their all to small crowd and we responded in kind! Definitely would see them again and wish them well on their remaining dates. 8/10
Shout out to LIVEWIRE for organizing this gig and it's good to see the scene still alive and bleeding.
- Kieran Scott