Baconmusic » Beholder

Beholder Announce UK Tour

Adam — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:06:42 +0000

UK Metallers BEHOLDER have announced that in September 2010, they will embark on a thunderous sonic assault of the UK! Featuring supports from numerous breaking metal acts this promises to be a refreshing return to pure head banging fury.

The penultimate date of the UK Tour will be shared with none other than the mighty MY RUIN and it’s no secret that BEHOLDER have a great admiration for the band, as like them, they stand for the true essence of heavy metal!

THE EDGE OF INSANITY UK TOUR

September 2010

2nd – ROADHOUSE, BIRMINGHAM
3rd – THE CENTRAL, NOTTINGHAM
4th – THE QUEENS HALL, NUNEATON
5th – HORSESHOE, WELLINGBOROUGH
8th – GRAND CENTRAL, MANCHESTER
9th – TRILLIANS, NEWCASTLE
10th – SNOOTY FOX, WAKEFIELD
11th – IVORY BLACKS, GLASGOW
12th – YARDBIRDS, GRIMSBY
15th – RIFFS BAR, SWINDON
16th – WHITE RABBIT, PLYMOUTH
17th – CHAMPIONS, BOURNEMOUTH
18th – MAMMOTHFEST, BRIGHTON
19th – FALMOUTH RFC, FALMOUTH
22nd – HOBO’S, BRIDGEND
23rd – CENTRAL STATION, WREXHAM
24th – O2 ACADEMY, LONDON (GHOSTS & GOOD STORIES WITH MY RUIN)
25th – THE OLD BELL, DERBY

Beholder – ‘The Awakening’ (Lime Records)

Adam — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:29:37 +0000

After seeing UK metallers BEHOLDER a few times this year, including their awesome performance at BLOODSTOCK, and multiple listens to their brilliant ‘Unleash The Hell’ EP, the wait is finally over for their much anticipated debut album, ‘The Awakening’. Well, was it worth the wait?! You bet your ass it was. This is an absolutely brilliant album from start to finish and has a fair bit of variety in the songs also, with the basis being an old school classic edge brought up to date with modern influences and techniques, which works fantastically well.

Opening track ‘Snake Eyes’ sets the standard for the rest of the album. With some great riffs, it is also fast, heavy and a headbangers delight, whilst ‘The Heretic’ shows off Simon Hall’s vocals which are full of emotion and help bring the songs more atmosphere and even to life on record, a trait that is constant throughout the entirety of the album.

‘Razorline (On The Edge of Insanity)’ picks the pace up and with its cracking riffs courtesy of the dual axe attack of Simon Cliffe and Martyn Blackwell, not only makes it a brilliant track, it’s a definite standout one too. Inspired by 300, ‘March of The Damned’ is definitely a track you just have headbang and pump your fists to, and more than worthy of your dedicated attention along with every other track on this album.

‘Born Into Pain’ is a slow building incrementing track which shows the talents off of Chris Bentley on drums, and shifts between melodic and more pacier brutal segments of this track with relative ease. As a laugh starts, the fast paced and also thrashy ‘KMA’ (short for Kiss My Ass) flies into gear and never relents its grasp – your head banging away until the very end!

Showing they also have a more mellow side to them, ‘The Brave Shall Fall’ is a really well constructed track and breaks up the pace ever so slightly, but because of the caliber of the track, it’s hardly noticeable as it flies by and you will find yourself playing it over again and again. Title track and first single, ‘The Awakening’, is made up of slower heavier sections with some crunching riffs that change pace back and forth when required to do so with so much ease which keeps the listener engrossed throughout.

‘Show No Mercy’ is an instant classic, simple as, and it works awesome in the live setting too. I would find it hard to believe that this number wouldn’t cause your head to start nodding in the slightest. The FEAR FACTORY-esque themed ‘Worm’ follows, and again this is another solidly written track which switches between choral and verse with relative ease. Along with the aforementioned ‘Show No Mercy’, this track is also quite damn catchy too which also helps it to stick in your head. The only member of the band I’ve failed to mention up until now is bassist Si Fielding, who does a wonderful job both on backing vocals and keeping things ticking over.

The final track on the album is also the slowest and most melodic. ‘Enemies of Reason’ is a beautifully constructed and flowing song, and it shows that Simon Hall can also produce a more soften approach along with his more aggressive and ferocious style shown in other tracks. To end on a melodic track can sometimes be risky, but there’s no risk here. It’s a great song to end a great album.

All in all, this is a truly superb album and it’s been a while since I have enjoyed an album from start to finish as much as this one. The quality of material is second to none, and the production is pretty good too. Everything is pretty crisp and clear from riffs to vocals to drums, and everything just fits nicely. So what are you doing still reading this?! Go out and buy it now!!! You won’t be disappointed! This is BEHOLDER and this is metal as it should be! Pure, Heavy, Powerful, Brutal and Rifftastic! Hats off to you guys!

Rating: 4.8/5.0

Released: 30th November 2009

Review By Adam Fredericks

Make sure to check them out live either on their current tour now (click here for Dates), or on their upcoming UK tour in the New Year (Dates yet to be confirmed).

Beholder Hit The Road In Support of Album Release

Adam — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:55:39 +0000

After a whirl wind year BEHOLDER are close to the highly anticipated release of ‘The Awakening’ with press already giving it a huge thumbs up!!

BEHOLDER can be caught live at the following shows, starting tonight in Derby, and will be announcing a full UK Tour for 2010 very soon.

26th November – The Old Bell Hotel – Derby
3rd December – Hard Rock Hell Festival – Prestatyn, Wales
4th December – TC’s – Birmingham
6th December – Redeemer – Leicester
19th December – The Queens Hall – Nuneaton
20th December – The Horseshoe – Wellingborough

Shows will have copies of the album available and the new range of BEHOLDER Merchandise, which again will look lovely under the Christmas Tree.

Beholder – Announce download single

Alex — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:26:11 +0000

On May 11th 2009 BEHOLDER will be releasing a unique worldwide download single through Lime Records with all proceeds going to The Sophie Lancaster Foundation.

Sophie sadly died on August 24th 2007, following the horrific attack on her and her partner Rob in Stubbeylee Park, Bacup, Lancashire on the 11th August.
Sophie and Rob dressed in their unique way, expressing their individuality as creative artistic people.

Vocalist Simon Hall wrote the lyrics for the song ‘Never Take Us Down’ after this horrific and senseless murder and when it was finally put to music and recorded it became apparent that the lyrics, and song itself, spoke volumes for the beliefs of so many who live their lives in an alternative culture.

From this point on the band then approached Sophie’s immediate family and offered the song to them to get their approval. This they graciously did and from here on they looked at using this as a tool to get the message out to all those who need to hear.

Vocalist Simon Hall said…

“On hearing the news of Sophie’s murder it sent shock waves around not only my immediate friends and family, but more so to all those who choose to be part of an alternative lifestyle culture. From an early age my thoughts on stereo typical perceptions of how people should look, act and conform have been strong in the belief that we are free spirited individuals, and simply because we look a certain way – does not make us bad people…….. Unfortunately this is not the way society views this and therefore I had to put pen to paper”.

By doing this we BEHOLDER hope to retain awareness of the fact that this, and many other attacks, are not simply crimes of unprovoked aggression – They are Hate Crimes.
Let’s face it If this attack was to take place for a religious or ethnic reasoning then would it not be classed as a Hate Crime?

In Sylvia’s words (Sophie’s Mother) ..

“The thing that makes me most angry is that it is seen as an isolated incident, maybe the seriousness of what happened to Sophie is isolated, but attacks are far from isolated. Just because you follow a different culture you are targeted; you are seen as easy pickings.”

We must not forget that Sophie’s murder, as brutal and as unnecessary as it was, it is not an isolated incident. Thankfully these incidents rarely result in death, but they still remain, and therefore BEHOLDER will do all we can to keep the awareness of such crimes until the Law recognises that these Hate Crimes must not be tolerated and must be eradicated.

Therefore with the support of Lime Records, along with BEHOLDER, who are both donating all proceeds from the sale of the single we are hoping that ‘Never Take Us Down’ will be a fitting tribute to a wonderful family and a worthy campaign.

Further to this BEHOLDER will be headlining the “Sophie Lancaster Stage” at this years Bloodstock Open Air, which was kindly renamed by Bloodstock in her memory.

Should you require any further information on The Band, The Single or The Sophie Lancaster Foundation please feel free to contact…

Simon@dspromotions.co.uk

or check out….

(inmemoryofsophie)
(beholderuk)