Artillery - The Underground elite give it a good go!!!

July 20th 2014

London, Islington o2 Academy, UK

****
Artillery the new breed strikes in London town!

Artillery **** are a somewhat under rated band with a strong following with the underground elite. The band who has a range of out of print early albums cost a small mortgage on auction sites like eBay and Amazon ext... have meant they have gathered a lot of interest in the Thrash Metal community.

Artillery Having re-ignited in 2009 with the 'When death Comes' album, which pleased a lot of the die hard fans and even more so when in 2013 the band released a new album with a new singer and new drummer. It's quite funny when the Artillery hit the stage and start playing too see the age difference between the members but it soon becomes clear that age is nothing but a number because the band gel brilliantly.

Founding guitarist Michael Stutzer throws solo's left, right and Centre. New front man Michael Bastholm Dahl has fantastic range and commands the stage wonderfully. He tackles his own songs and the bands older material equally. Covering all era's he blends the bands whole catalogue making al the songs fit together. It is the hardest thing a band can do, to replace their singer but I think that Artillery have made a very good choice with the man they have got in.

Opening the set with three tracks from their latest album 'Legions' a rare thing for a band their age. It shows massive confidence in their new material. They start off with 'Chill my Bones, God Father' and the title track from their new album 'Legions'. The new songs keep the flavour of classic Thrash Metal with a modern freshness, 'Legions' in particular is bound to be a future classic.

When the band dive into their earlier material things get interesting. People want to see how the old and new songs fit together in a live setting. When the classic 'By Inheritance' from the long out of print gem of an album kicks in the crowd go mad. The real treat is when the band do a slamming rendition of 'Terror Squad' still to this day the bands best song and a pit classic. Artillery then go on to cover the rest of their back catalogue with a new found eagerness to impress. We are also informed that this is actually the bands first show in London, which is a big surprise and we hope this is the first of many more to come.

Review by Joe Denby