Silent Descent sent into exile in shock semi result!!
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Metal play-off in Dartford!
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Alternative play-off this Tuesday
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Charity all-dayer this Sunday

Join the group on facebook now: Facebook group - Unified Sounds Presents BAND QUEST 2009!

LATEST BAND QUEST RESULTS

Thanks from the Team at http://www.unifiedsounds.co.uk

Sponsors:

DINGO JACKS MUSIC STORE | ELEPHANT MUSIC | ROADRUNNER RECORDS UK | MEDIA SOURCING | WHATEVERNEXT RECORDS

Partners:

BLOODSTOCK-METAL TO THE MASSES | ORE NET SERVICES | JIGGA JAM STUDIOS | BANANA ROAD STUDIOS | DEMELZA | HELLFIRE FESTIVAL

Support from:

BEXLEY COUNCIL | DARTFORD COUNCIL | HOLLOWEBDESIGN

A day full of live bands and great music all in aid of an amazing cause...

Charity Fundraiser All Day Event at the Red Lion.

£2.50 for those with flyers, £3.00 for everyone else.

Band Quest 2009 will be bringing the METAL TO THE MASSES to you every Monday in Bexleyheath as bands battle it out for a place at Bloodstock!

Due to their being two bands involved in Band Quest that played Bloodstock last year it would be unfair to let the bands who came second to them in earlier heats not have the chance to get to the final. So here we are - ODESSA STEP SEQUENCE take on LYCAN'S BLOOD and SILAS for the last places in the final! DJ LACUSTA spins the heaviness.

Win a Bloodstock Ticket as guests of this event in a Super Draw! Ask at the event for details.

Invite people to this event on facebook by clicking here

Band Quest 2009 - Metal Mondays at Bull and Vic in Dartford every Monday.

£2.00 for Gold loyalty card holders, £2.50 for those with flyers, £3.00 for everyone else.

What track would you really like to hear played by the DJs at Band Quest 2009 - Metal Mondays? – Email us a request now!

The alternative side of Band Quest 2009 continues tonight in Dartford.

With the semi finals now over there is only this playoff left to decide which band takes the final slot in the Band Quest alternative final. THEIR STRANGE GATHERING, PHIL LETLEY and SKULLS 158 battle it out.

Win a Reading Ticket as guests of this events in a Super Draw! Ask at the event for details.

Invite people to this event on facebook by clicking here

Band Quest 2009 - Alternative Tuesdays at the Bull and Vic every Tuesday.

£2.00 for Gold loyalty card holders, £2.50 for those with flyers, £3.00 for everyone else.

What track would you really like to hear played by the DJs at Band Quest 2009 - Alternative Tuesdays? – Email us a request now!

The alternative side of Band Quest ends in the final. Bands battle it out for the last time in the hope of winning a spot at some of the bigger local festivals, amongst other prizes.

This day will see a giant clash between MAD DOG and APOLLO WITHSTANDS, two of the top bands from last years band competition. Also waiting in the wings this year are FACADE, LIVE POLITICS, HOPELESS SONS, HOOF, IN THE RED and THE CONSPIRACY THEORY.

Win a Reading Ticket as guests of this events in a Super Draw! Ask at the event for details.

Invite people to this event on facebook by clicking here

Band Quest - Tier 1 Final - Alternative at Acacia Hall in Dartford.

£3.00 for Gold loyalty card holders, £4.00 for those with flyers, £5.00 for everyone else.

What track would you really like to hear played by the DJs at Band Quest - Tier 1 Final - Alternative? – Email us a request now!

Bloodstock Open Air returns in 2009 and is set to increase in size for the 5th year running. Three days full of pure metal and a little bit more at Catton Hall!

Weekend tickets are available and can be ordered from the Bloodstock website - Order Bloodstock Open Air tickets.

Here are the bands confirmed so far:

• CARCASS
• ARCH ENEMY
• CRADLE OF FILTH
• BLIND GUARDIAN
• EUROPE
• AMON AMARTH
• SATYRICON
• SAXON
• GWAR
• KATATONIA
• TURISAS
• MUNICIPAL WASTE
• ENSLAVED
• KREATOR
• THE HAUNTED
• CANDLEMASS
• MOONSPELL
• BATTLELORE
• GIRLSCHOOL
• SABATON
• DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER
• EQUILIBRIUM
• MILLION DOLLAR RELOAD
• BEHOLDER
• PYTHIA

Click the Link Below to view our VIP Packages Now!

www.bloodstock.uk.com/vip-camping.html

For more information on the festival visit the Bloodstock website.

FUSED needs:

- Bassist

Contact the band here: fusedmusic@hotmail.co.uk.

Bassist available - Contact Jamison Nesbitt here: jtn70@btinternet.com or www.myspace.com/jamoid70.

NEONFLY needs:

- Drummer

Contact the band here: neonfly@hotmail.co.uk or www.myspace.com/neonflyband.

BAND WITH NO NAME YET needs:

- Singer

Contact the band here: John Riddle jr224a@yahoo.com.

DRUGDEALER CHEERLEADER needs:

- Bass player

Contact the band here: info@drugdealercheerleader.com or www.myspace.com/drugdealercheerleader.

BAND WITH NO NAME YET needs:

- Singer

Contact the band here: Nel on 07798640786 or nelcooper@hotmail.com or Joe on 07752519676.

CONQUEST need:

- Bass player

Contact this band here: leslie.clayden@ntlworld.com or ring 07832 235715.

BAND WITH NO NAME YET needs:

- Song writing guitarist

Contact the band here: www.myspace.com/ajddk.

UNTIL I BLEED need:

- Guitarist (with some lead ability)
- Bassist
- Drummer
- Female vocalist

Contact this band here: tombwibble@yahoo.co.uk

ROY STONE needs:

- All musicians

Contact Roy Stone here: admin@roystone.com or www.myspace.com/roystonelink.

1st) Into Exile
2nd) Silent Descent
3rd) Affluenza

Another week and another semi final in the Bexleyheath metal category of Band Quest, with 3 bands battling for a place at Bloodstock with the addition of 7 other bands to make this an all-dayer!

Non Band Quest bands:

Since his split from local trad metallers Conquest Roy Stone (5/10) has plied away on his solo project, which now includes him singing with recorded drums. This has turned out better than his previous guitar solo slots as it helps showcase his ability to write songs rather than just throw frightning fast 15 minute guitar solos at an unsuspecting crowd. Today though there is no crowd as Roy Stone is opening the all-dayer to one man and his dog, minus the man and his dog... Unfortunately, the thirty minute set sees the return of the awful guitar sound which has haunted Roy Stone shows in the past, but at the same time one of the songs contains an almighty riff which beats anything (guitar-wise) that follows on the day and is a perect example of why Roy Stone is one of the most frustrating acts to watch.

By the time next act Enemy Embrace (7) start there is a healthy crowd to take in their impressive set of deathcore. Unlike Job For a Cowboys tepid mainstage set at the Download Festival a few years back Enemy Embrace fill their slot with enough variation to keep everyone interested. Powerful, blood curdling vocal screams are backed up by a useful rhythem section, while the melody is supplied by the lead guitar. Good stuff.

If Slayer are the mainstays of any true metal festival then Zocalo (7.5) must be the mainstays of any local all-dayer worth going to. Today they deliver one of the best received sets of the event. The female vocals of Sarah Humphries gives their groove induced metal a slight edge over the norm, and in ex Inbreds/Mad Dog drummer Rob Gamblin they have one of the best drummers south of the Thames. Pete Humphries rhythem guitar sound works alongside the bass of Chris Smale to create a beer-fuelled underbelly of groove-soaked melodies. With a collection of new and old songs Zocalo simply do the business today.

Dystolic (6.5) then blast through a set of industrialised metal like they have something to prove. What they do prove is that they have an extremley strong base to build apon for next years competition.

Bad day at the office? Bad hair day? Bad luck? Call it what you will but the set from Murder In Utopia (4) is nothing short of a car crash. Their confidence is commendable but they really need to be able to step up and deliver a thirty minute set to their fans at the very least. With their instruments seemingly against them, roughly played songs and idle chit chat the set was one they would like to forget.

In their first and only Band Quest heat Inner Fire (8) had the unenviable task of taking on the almighty Sanctorum and an inspired performance from London hair metallers Roxville. They may have lost out in that respect but if this performance is anything to go by the early exit has had a positive effect, as today Inner Fire steamroller the place. The band were in top gear with Cliff Bonds melodic vocals outstripping anyone elses at the Drayman so far this year. Tonight their modern European slanted metal sound left the crowd with sore necks and a thirst for more metal. A solid, enthralling performance.

Band Quest Semi:

Losing your lead guitar player shortly before a semi final was obviously not the best way to prepare for battle, but Into Exile (7.5) took the ball by the horn and just played. With only one guitar player they lacked the sheer power that carried them through their first heat. In its place though was a rawer, more savage sound which the crowd still lapped up. An outstanding vocal display from Darren and excellent tracks like 'Gorefields' helped sweep these pieces of musical dirt under the carpet. They won this semi with a gritty, professional performance. Whether they can repeat this against certain bands in the final is another question.

Affluenza (8) attack their set like a madly arranged gun fight. The amount of influences they manage to twist into their metal onslaught is impressive and at times they sounded like The Haunted covering Black Flag. The actual songs have a quality which deserve to be heard on a bigger stage and are backed by some high level musicianship. An ill conceived rant at the soundman near the start of the set dampens the athmosphere which is a shame as Affluenza were the best band of the day.

With a pile of successess, including performing at Bloodstock behind them Silent Descent (7.5) are used to dealing with situations such as a Band Quest semi final, but today they start sloppy with several backing track problems. They manage to regain momentum by hitting their packed and energetic crowd with popular tracks such as 'Living in false eternity' from the excellent 'Duplicity' album. A portion of the crowd are not sure how to take their brand of trance metal but for the rest it is business as usual meaning mosh pits, walls of death and unrelented head banging. Silent Descent make up for their slow start but not enough to win this time.

Guest headliner:

Local metalcore giants Falling Empire (7.5) finish off the night in style sounding much better than they did the week before. The almighty crunchy riffs were back along with improved and stronger vocals. A fine set from a band who promise to tear down more venues in the near future. A nice finish to a long day in Bexleyheath.

Review by Alan Hicks

In honour of thrashing death anti-heroes THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, Metal Blade Records has selected a handful of websites to premier exclusive clips taken from the band's upcoming DVD, 'Majesty', out this May. Our friends over at Metal Sucks were cool enough to to present the second clip available.

Stay tuned to www.MetalBlade.de for details on more exclusive clips, which will be going up between now and May 12th.

'Majesty', 2DVD Digipak includes over 3 hours of footage featuring interviews, performances and complete THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER audio/visual history. Available in Europe May 8th / May 11th and in the US on May 12th.

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