{"id":21323,"date":"2014-08-25T00:00:16","date_gmt":"2014-08-25T00:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=21323"},"modified":"2014-08-28T15:40:43","modified_gmt":"2014-08-28T15:40:43","slug":"live-review-mordred-25-08-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/live-review-mordred-25-08-14\/","title":{"rendered":"MORDRED \/ KAINE – 02 Academy 2, Islington, London, England (August 25th, 2014) | Live Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

MORDRED \/ KAINE<\/span>
\n\"\"
\n02 Academy 2, Islington, London, England<\/strong><\/span><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nAugust 25th, 2014<\/span><\/p>\n

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Rage Sadler and Dan Mailer (Kaine)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Pic: Neil Arnold<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

It was around 20 years ago that as a forlorn teenager I was told by Noise Records that San Francisco Bay Area experimental thrashers Mordred were no more. With Scott Holderby leaving the band, and their fourth studio release The Next Room<\/em> opting for grungier nuances before an amicable split, I never thought I\u2019d experience the same highs as the 1991 and 1992 London Marquee shows, and yet here we are again in 2014 \u2013 coming full circle \u2013 with a UK tour. The word \u201csurreal\u201d just doesn\u2019t do it justice.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Brighton rockers Furyon had to remove themselves from the bill due to frontman Matt Mitchell hemorrhaging one of his vocal chords. However, East Anglia metalheads Kaine were able step in at the last moment and proved to be a worthy replacement.<\/p>\n

Kaine were impressive and the perfect band to get the sweat dripping and heads banging. Their brand of melodic, progressive metal with thrashier touches resulted in a number of memorable numbers, bolstered for this show by three excellent guitarists; Rage Sadler on the rhythm \u2013 who also provides lead vocals \u2013 with Anthony Murch and newest recruit for this tour Saxon Davids on leads. The band also features a sturdy drummer in Chris MacKinnon, and an exceptional bass player by the name of Dan Mailer, who also shares vocals.<\/p>\n

Having formed in 2009 and with two releases (2012\u2019s Falling Through Freedom<\/em> and 2014\u2019s The Waystone<\/em>) under their belt, Kaine took to the stage like young masters, churning out some excellent New Wave Of British Heavy Metal-influenced material in the form of superb tracks such as \u2018Solidarity\u2019, \u2018Resistance\u2019 and \u2018Quality Of Madness\u2019.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, the band had more hair between them than the entire audience put together, but age most certainly didn\u2019t hinder the crowd when Mordred took to the stage at 9:20 pm.<\/p>\n

By this point, the venue was packed, merchandise was flying off the stall and the San Francisco rockers \u2013 armed with touring drummer Jeff Gomes \u2013 literally carried on from where they left off in 1992, to the same rapturous applauses and gasps of hero worship.<\/p>\n

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Scott Holderby and Art Liboon (Mordred)<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Pic: Neil Arnold<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Frontman Scott Holderby, clad in black and hair slick, addressed the crowd with wild and wide-eyed appreciation; the sextet thrashing into \u2018State Of Mind\u2019, fully armoured by the distinctive guitar chops and licks of Danny White and James Sanguinetti, who with rather emotional ease rolled back the years under those sizzling stage lights.<\/p>\n

\u2018Spectacle Of Fear\u2019 introduced itself via Jeff Gomes\u2019 drum avalanche and that distinctive Bay Area chug which kept the hardcore headbangers in attendance more than happy. But for many it was the jerking, soulful, hip-hoppin\u2019 experimentalism that so many craved. The quirky lick of Danny White\u2019s string caress gave us the unexpected glory of \u2018Fragrance Of Vagrants\u2019 (which appeared as \u2018The Vagrant\u2019 on 1992\u2019s Vision<\/em> EP). As a story of homelessness it ached of cosmic funk; Scott Holderby\u2019s soulful croon as versatile as ever and comforted by Aaron \u201cDJ Pause\u201d Vaughn\u2019s stabbing scratches and, of course, Art Liboon\u2019s mesmerising bass slaps.<\/p>\n

From 1991\u2019s mercurial In This Life<\/em> opus Mordred gave us a veritable feast of treats, the best of these being the epileptic streetwise groove of \u2018The Strain\u2019, the epic \u2018Killing Time\u2019 and above all the psychedelic twists, turns and downright spasmodic frenzy of \u2018Esse Quam Videri\u2019, where the crowd didn\u2019t know whether to breakdance or mosh! DJ Pause took the mic with great comfort for the rap injection but he truly shone with the slamming \u2018Close Minded\u2019; a sm\u00f6rg\u00e5sbord of heavy thrash chugs and hostile raps which had the crowd bobbing up and down and giving Mr. Holderby a run for his money in the showman stakes.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, it was a case of the band showcasing the sort of material that made them light years ahead of their time. The cover of Thin Lizzy\u2019s \u2018Johnny The Fox\u2019 is something they\u2019ve made their own since 1991; lyrically, it suits the boys down to a T. The fleeting \u2018Every Day\u2019s A Holiday\u2019 is equally joyous with Holderby barking \u201cI work up a sweat\u201d<\/em> as he bobs up and down like a maniacal jack-in-the-box, while the soundtrack to our lives \u2013 Liboon\u2019s constant jarring slap bass and DJ Pause\u2019s ice-cool samples and scratch breaks \u2013 litter the progressive spray of \u2018Reach\u2019 and new track \u2018The Baroness\u2019, which is spattered with Scotty\u2019s punchy tones.<\/p>\n

Of course, the best tunes are always saved until last according to some, but in Morded\u2019s case \u2018Falling Away\u2019 is simply sublime; the soaring guitar chords \u2013 resulting in more cascading droplets of sweat from Danny White\u2019s cap \u2013 and those unforgettable snippets of \u201cGet on down\u201d<\/em> via the nimble fingers of DJ Pause. \u201cTake me away from here\u201d<\/em> echoes Scotty, but we know he wants to stay on that stage forever, surrounded by friends who in union are dancing, moshing, bopping and rocking within a sea of sweat and electrified energy.<\/p>\n

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Danny White (Mordred)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Pic: Neil Arnold<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Sanguinetti and White have to be the most underrated double axe-team in metal history, providing metallic grooves aplenty, and with the stirring crunch of \u2018Sever And Splice\u2019 and the tumbling bass introducing \u2018In This Life\u2019 rounding off what can only be described as the perfect night, one can only hope that as the goose bumps die down the band will realise just how much they\u2019ve been missed on these shores.<\/p>\n

Back in 1991 I heralded Mordred\u2019s legendary Marquee show as the great night of my life, but while many are quick to get caught up in the moment I can safely say I was wrong, because some 23 years later I\u2019m finding myself saying it again. Without a shadow of a doubt Mordred will always be the coolest band to grace stage, vinyl, cassette, disc and ears, and while they may also be the finest band to never make it big, their cult status is preserved forever in the memories of those who once again were privileged enough to cram themselves into the O2 Academy 2 tonight. It\u2019s been emotional\u2026 very emotional. If only every day was a bank holiday like this\u2026<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MORDRED \/ KAINE 02 Academy 2, Islington, London, England August 25th, 2014 Rage Sadler and Dan Mailer (Kaine) Pic: Neil Arnold It was around 20 years ago that as a forlorn teenager I was told by Noise Records that San Francisco Bay Area experimental thrashers Mordred were no more. With Scott Holderby leaving the band, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1390,1313],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kaine","category-mordred"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21323"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21337,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21323\/revisions\/21337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}