On Friday the 17th, I returned once again to the King's Arms to watch some local bands. Headlining were prog rockers, Mothra, accompanied by fellow Auckland acts UU., Rule Of Thieves, and Big Punch. As usual, I was running late, so I missed out on seeing UU. (which I'm actually really annoyed about) and arrived part way through Rule Of Thieves' set (glad I didn't fully miss them!).
Rule Of Thieves remind me a lot of Deftones, which is certainly not a bad thing. They are an alternative metal band with a nu metal influence (the good stuff) and surprisingly, there aren't too many bands of this genre lurking around in NZ at the moment. Well... there probably are, I just haven't seen very many of them, as the dominating metal scene in NZ is death metal (in my opinion anyway). Rule Of Thieves are a six-piece, making use of a keyboard, which is always interesting to see in a metal band. The vocals are a mix of clean and growls, and the vocalist is a cutie too. They have an album coming out sometime this year, which I'm looking forward to. I might even pay for it. If you're a fan of bands such as Deftones, A Perfect Circle, early Linkin Park, and other alternative metal from the early 00's, then definitely check out Rule Of Thieves. But anyway, from what I saw of them, they were really good and I recommend them. Hopefully their album will be out soon and they will go on tour to promote it.
Official Website | Facebook | Bandcamp
They have a free E.P., titled Silhouettes, available for download, so check that out. (The track Champage is so delightfully Deftones-esque!).
Next up was Mothra. Kinda weird how they played third when they were the headliners. They did this last time I saw them too. Oh well, they're talented as, so they can do whatever they want. Mothra are a three-piece progressive/experimental instrumental rock/metal band. They sound very Tool-esque and I would even go as far to say that I enjoy them more than Tool. They are an instrumental band and it's hard to decide whether vocals would add to their awesomeness or detract from it. The bass is chunky, the guitar effects are cool, and the drums are solid. They all complement each other and you can tell that each musician knows their shit about their weapon of choice. The drummer is amazing (drums are they only instrument I can properly comment about). He makes good use of double kick (i.e. doesn't over use it) and can pump out some awesome tom fills. He's not too bad looking either to add icing to the cake. Needless to say, Mothra put on a great show and they have a very professional manner in my opinion. They even have a band banner! My one gripe about instrumental bands is that it is made harder to remember the titles of the songs. I did catch one name though, which was The Beginning, which has a video coming out for it soon I believe.
Anyway, check Mothra out, especially if you are a Tool fan or a fan of prog rock/metal. Surprisingly, the only music they have out on the internet is a live demo on their Bandcamp page and a few live videos. However, they have an E.P. coming out sometime this year, which is pretty exciting.
Official Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Twitter
The last but not least band to perform were Big Punch, which was another three-piece instrumental band. I think I would classify Big Punch as alternative hard rock. I think their music could be very fitting on Dragon Ball Z *massive grin*. These guys were pretty talented too. The bass player was the fastest slap-bass player I have seen! I was impressed. He looked a bit like Matt off Nip/Tuck lol. The drummer was pretty pro too, and left handed! You don't see very many left handed drummers. For their last song, the front man for Prowler got up and did impromptu vocals for them. Sounded pretty good for him never hearing the song before.
Big Punch have two free tracks available for download on their Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/BIGPUNCHBAND
I decided to wear my Tool shirt to this gig and some weird guy started talking to me and making bad Tool puns. Like I went to get a drink of water and he said "I notice you're drinking water, it's like that song Sober" and "Speaking of Stinkfist, this next band are called Big Punch"... Pretty funny now but at the time I was face palming inside my head. However, the guitarist from Mothra, who's a hottie (I believe his name is Hugh), said "nice shirt". Perhaps I should have talked to him. I'm such a chicken when it comes to initiating conversation, especially with attractive people. Although what am I gonna say? "Hi, I'm Julia. DTF?".
In conclusion, this was a really good gig and I'm glad I went, as there was another gig happening at the Whammy Bar that I was tempted by. All of the bands were talented and hopefully we see some more releases from them this year! Especially from Mothra!
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