From Aural Innovations #31 (June 2005)
Wow….. This was going to be a heavy night. I met up with my friend Tom for a beer before meeting Jeanet and her friends. We arrived a little after 8 and Extol were already playing. They are a Norwegian band that plays heavy gothic-death-melodic metal stuff. They were ok but did not really grab me. Dozer, a band I have heard over the years but never seen were next and hit the stage pretty quickly. They opened with a few quick songs then slowed it down for some really heavy stuff and one long track that even included a bit of the lyrics to Tomorrow Never Knows by the Beatles in the middle (no one in the audience even noticed, too young!). They have a great energy, especially the heavy set lead guitarist, who really rocks! The crowd, a real metal crowd, really enjoyed them a lot though. They played one new song and as the second to last song of the set and this was one of the best I had ever heard by them and really different. They closed with a 3 minute headbanger. Short 45 minutes but damn good!
Mastadon, hailed as the next saviour in metal and on all the covers of mags, etc.. Opening for Slayer and Slipknot and now Iron Maiden on the coming tour are really flying but here was a chance to see them in a small venue, probably the last. I had never heard them before so I had no idea what to expect. They are tight and have a great drummer and some complex riffing but I was not really impressed with the vocalists at all, and they really reminded me of a not quite as good version of Slayer in many ways. I really liked a few songs of their 60 minute set and would like to see them again but I was not blown away as many had expected me to be. They rock…..but the next saviours…then the state of music is in really bad shape… I think Dozer won the battle on this night!
Reviewed by Scott Heller