There is no better way of spending the Friday night of a bank holiday weekend than going over to the Ferret in Preston to see a few bands. Tonight, its’ a double header with Foetal Juice and Red Method bringing their wares. First up Foetal Juice, the Oldham based band known for their outrageous song titles and extreme death metal style. The opener Dutch Oven sets out their stall straight away. Fast, furious speed/crossover punk-based metal. Lots of influences from 80s / 90s cross over bands like Crumbsuckers, D.R.I., Broken Bones etc. with brutal death metal vocals. This is right up my street as this is what got me into metal in the 80s,
Typical Viz or gore-soaked lyrics, Foetal Juice’s songs include the glorious Take Your Face for A Shit, Noneckahedron and Mountain of Gore, demonstrating that British metal still has a sense of humour. Lead singer Dez prowls the stage, growling out his humour or horror-soaked lyrics whilst bass player Lewis bounces around throwing out slabs of rhythm in conjunction with the ferocious drums of Rob, whilst guitarist Ry is constantly shredding his thrash style riffage. Although the between song banter needs some work, I really warmed to this band, and will seek them out in the future. Next up Headline band Red Method, a band I saw at Bloodstock a few years ago. I really enjoyed them so when I saw they were playing just up the road thought it would be rude not to pop along and support them. Despite the lengthy set up and sound check, once they kicked off their set with Messiah the crowd was quickly bouncing.
They have the obvious influences of Slipknot, Fear Factory etc, but Red Method have managed to establish their own sound. Lead singer Solomon J is a great front man, his vocals ranging seamlessly between clear and death grunts. Their industrial metal style works really well in a small venue, although the size of the drummer’s kit restricts the rest of the band’s movement on the Ferret’s tiny stage.
A slightly challenging mix at the start makes their sound a bit muddy in places, but this improves as the set progresses. Only one new track is played and that is All for One, which sounds good and sits well amongst there others.
Highlights for me include Cycle of Violence, My Psychosis, and the crowd pleasing Limp Bizkit style, Counting Corpses. The crowd seemed to respond positively to the band, but technical problems, and sound issues detracted from their performance. I still enjoyed the band overall and look forward to seeing them again. As always, this was an excellent night with the venue, friendly staff and regulars all contributing All small venues need the support, and for me, it’s places like this which are still the best place to see live music.
Review and photos by John Caffrey
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