Avenged Sevenfold

If anything was to be proved tonight it was that over the top, theatrical metal (with a large dose of parodying humour) is something that has long been missed in our heavy music scene. Just look at The Darkness. Of course they don’t expect anyone to take them seriously, apart from Japan maybe - they just want people to squeal along and have a laugh, in a devil horn-throwing *Wayne’s World *kinda way.

And it’s much the same with Send More Paramedics. Dressed-up like the ragged zombies from Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ _they combine breakneck thrash-metal with a brilliantly ghoulish stage show, their vocalist spitting out his snarled shouts through mouthfuls of ‘blood’ while his fellow guitarist appears like he’s foaming at the mouth as he reels off each smoking solo. And then there’s their zombie crew, tonight consisting of a dwarf and a fellow zombie roaming the crowd, face obscured with bandages, flailing his bloody limbs around and rallying bemused onlookers to sing along to their signature anthem _‘Zombie Crew’, with it’s quality lyrics, _“Back from the dead, goin’ to the show / I can’t feel my pulse but I’m still gonna go / I’m clinically deceased but I don’t give a fuck / I’m a flesh-creepin’ horror and I’m ready to rock!” _Marvellous.

With such a gob-smacking performance it seemed a very hard act to follow, and although *AKO *were much more in tune visually and musically with headliners Avenged Sevenfold it seemed there were more than a few who had to take time to recover in the bar. Not that it hampered their performance mind, the band delivering some epic-sounding punk-metal with some admirably searing melodic goth hooks, not to mention some spectacular solos courtesy of nicely coifed guitarist Ben. They seem a bit overwhelmed to be sharing the stage with A.V. but given the current wave of gothic punk/metal acts creeping out of the shadows AKO may well catch the surf before the waters become too crowded.

As they finish the lads make their way to the bar and a steady stream of girls file their way down the front to no doubt gaze lovingly into the eyes of whichever member of *Avenged Sevenfold *has been gracing the cover of their Geography book the past few months. The Underworld’s completely sold out for their brand of screamo-goth (did I just say that?) which makes it all the more commendable that the testosterone-oozing blokes manage to part such a huge moshing area for themselves and the few masochistic female nutters.

Live, Avenged Sevenfold are huge and expansive, with songs that manage to clasp at every thread of emotion in your body. While the Pantera-esque beatdowns of ‘Eternal Rest’ _get the pit-hoggers chest-beating and spinning around in a frenzy _‘Darkness Surrounding’ _from their debut album has the same group and – if the deafening ringing in my ears is anything to go by – pretty much the whole room, sucking in their diaphragm and singing with all their might the chorus _“Smell the burning embers / Night flickering away / Timeless soon be gone” as if resurrecting some unholy spirit of the underworld [sic].

But tonight, I’m afraid, Avenged Sevenfold were upstaged by bunch of zombie troopers from Leeds. In fact, I feel sorry for any band that has to follow Send More Paramedics’ theatrical thrash. If you ever get the chance to see this band, please drop everything and go. It’s an experience you’ll never forget.