Beermageddon Festival 2022
Beermageddon Festival 2022
Stoke Prior Sports & Social Club, Bromsgrove
26 – 28/08/2022
Review and Photography by Beth Jones
Beermageddon has been a mainstay in the UK Metal scene for a decade! It’s only a small indoor festival, but that makes it one of my favourites, as you truly experience the ‘Metal family’. Everyone knows everyone, and it’s more like a reunion party than a festival. It’s close knit and intimate, and my new favourite festival, after attending for the first time last year. For this 10th anniversary event, all the bands performing were selected from bands who have performed at previous years, which made it even more of a reunion event.
We arrived on the Thursday this year and had time to catch the Thursday night disco. Which was awesome. There is nothing more perfect in the world than us bunch of ‘misfits’ (as society would make us) dancing to the Cha-Cha Slide! Copious ale was quaffed and a great night was had by all! And after a night in the tent, and a morning and afternoon to recover from said quaffing, it was time for the music to begin properly!
Day 1
Melted Messiah
This unintentional one-man Black Metal band played at Beermageddon 2021. I say unintentional, because they’re usually a 2 piece, but this year the drummer got Covid the day before the festival. Last year I think I said something along the lines of ‘it would be better with a full band’. I wanted to be able to say something different this time, but with the drummer missing, I can’t. He’s got some good riffs, but it needed drums at the very least and would still work better as a full band. What I will say though is hats off to him for getting up and doing it, rather than cancelling the gig. That takes courage. I just really hope that next time I see Melted Messiah, it’s as a full band.
https://www.facebook.com/MeltedMessiah
Sorceress Of Sin
Again, these guys played last year. They’re fast and furious, and their frontwoman, Lisa Skinner, has one hell of a voice. They seemed a lot more punchy this year, and got the crowd going straight away. After a few songs they slowed it down with a ballad, that showed their softer side really well. I liked these guys last year, and I still do!
https://www.facebook.com/Sorceressofsin
After our first two bands, it was time for the annual fancy dress show! This year’s theme was The Wild West, and there were some very… very interesting twists on this! There are certain things that I just will never be able to unsee… And the less said about that, the better! But the eventual winner was a gorgeous little cowboy of about 6 months old, with his panto horse dad. Very cute, although I think the cheering was a bit much for him… And the baby didn’t look too impressed either, boom boom!
Wired THC
What better way to follow some crazy fancy dress nonsense than with some Hardcore Thrash? And Wired never disappoint or fail to bring the party and the crowd! It was awesome to see so many kids absolutely loving it down the front, and we were joined in the photo pit by a budding young photographer, who looked chuffed to bits and scared to death in equal measures! This is what we need! More of this. More of the next generation living their dreams!
https://www.facebook.com/WIREDTHC
Ashen Crown
Our first night headliners were the ever heavy Ashen Crown. They went down a storm here last year and won the public vote to headline the Friday night this year. And they did just that in style. Ultimate powerhouses in every department, their performance was tight, professional, and thunderous. The perfect way to round off day 1.
https://www.facebook.com/ashencrown.uk
Day 2
Day 2 started with a sponsored head shave, with all proceeds going to RACPA (Rock Against Child Pornography and Abuse) who are the charity mainstay at Beermageddon. The soon to be shaven lady was our very own queen of North East Wales Metal Productions, Beany’s good lady – Kelly Hatton! She looked terrified and a little hung over, but they raised £215 in the charity bucket and more still on the just giving page! The final total by the end of the weekend was nearly £700. Fair play to Kelly – a great sport, and for a brilliant charity.
Bloodyard
After a brief pause to grab another beer and roll a fag, it was time for our first music of the day. Another favourite of NEW Metal Productions, and us at Ever Metal, Bloodyard provided the perfect way to shake of the remaining hangovers and aching heads. They’ve got more punch than a Title belt fight, and boy did they bring it to this show! Donna Hurd is such an amazing front woman, and her presence on stage is both aggressive and mesmerising in equal measures, and the rest of the band are just as punishing and brutal. Metronomic drums, killer riffs, and pure power from the bass make the whole thing an epic sound. LOVE them! One of my sets of the weekend!
https://www.facebook.com/bloodyard666
Ruadh
From a brutal Death Metal fist in the kisser, to Atmospheric Black Metal! Scottish band Ruadh brought the dark and tortured forest into Stoke Prior Sports and Social Club. No easy achievement, but they did it gloriously! I’d never come across them before, but our roving reported Rob recommended them, and he wasn’t wrong. With a great mix of really beautiful clean vocals and growls, and some expansive samples fitting into the burning riffs and rumbling bass, they had the room in the palm of their hands. Great job!
https://www.facebook.com/ruadhofficial
Agrona
If we thought we’d been heavied earlier, then Agrona were about to make us think again! In full corpse paint and capes (which make for great photos), this 5-piece Symphonic Black Metal band from our homeland of Wales brought heart pounding beats, blood curdling screams and spine-chilling growls, with some epically heavy riffs and rhythms to boot. The sun beating down outside in contrast to the metaphorical lagoon-like blackness on stage was quite a paradox. Music like Agrona needs to be accompanied by fierce, raging tempests! They were a bit too heavy for me, but nevertheless very skilled. Another great set!
https://www.facebook.com/agronaband
Stahlsarg
Another Black Metal band in full corpse paint! Musically, I think these guys were the tightest all day, purely because they had a lot of changes within their songs, that required careful navigation. Their front man looked every bit as tortured as his screams and growls sounded, pulling some brilliant faces and writhing around as if possessed by some dark force. The bass player however had clearly been possessed by evil Tigger! He was a very bouncy chap! Again, this wasn’t really my cup of tea, but they are very good and the crowd enjoyed it a lot.
https://www.facebook.com/stahlsarguk
Godslave
German Thrash! I’d never heard these guys before because, if you’ve ever read any of my reviews, you’ll know that Thrash isn’t really my thing. But these guys absolutely smashed it out of the park – stage presence, charisma, talent, party spirit, and more importantly GREAT FUCKING MUSIC!!! They’re more Thrashy Heavy Metal, and in my opinion, they should have headlined the night. You have a new fan in me chaps! Danke!!! Another massive highlight of the weekend for me! And the brilliant thing is that they have now been announced as NEXT YEAR’S HEADLINERS!!! Whoop!
https://www.facebook.com/godslaveband
Footprints In The Custard
If I said I’d never seen these bunch of ne’er-do-wells before I’d be lying. I’d also be lying if I said they didn’t hold a special place in my heart. So it was ace to see them as main support here, and they brought their usual brand of madcap, observational comedy Thrash / Death / Whatever The Fuck It Is Metal to the now sizeable crowd. There was chanting and bouncing from the get go, and it was, as always, a pleasure photographing them! I have to confess that I ducked out pretty quickly though, because the room was so full and so hot that I had the choice of ducking out or dropping in a heap, and this camera shit is expensive! But I stayed outside and ate chips while I listened, and they were, as always, super smashing great!
https://www.facebook.com/Footprintsinthecustard
Rannoch
Saturday headliners Rannoch are a very technical Progressive Death Metal 3-piece who haven’t come on my radar before. The first thing that struck me was no drummer. Everything percussive was sampled. They are all obviously very skilled musicians, but I want live music to be at least mostly live, and this took so much away from their set. Call me old fashioned if you wish. I’m not sure whether they have a full-time drummer as the photographs I can find only shows the three of them, but apparently the drummer who was supposed to be with them was ill so couldn’t attend.
This performance was also blighted with horrific feedback. Not the band’s fault obviously, but it made it impossible for me to stay in there. The crowd had already thinned massively after Footprints (let’s face it they’re a hard act to follow), and this forced a lot more people out of the room. All this combined made them look nervous on stage, and that made it difficult for me to really connect with them as a band. It was a shame to be honest, because their technicality was brilliant, and the rest of the day was absolutely killer!
https://www.facebook.com/rannochband
Day 3
After the first proper sleep since Wednesday, it was time for us to do it all again! First on the bill for day 3 was the traditional group photo, along with a hand fasting ceremony. This was just lovely! Call me girly if you want, but it made me all emotional! The couple being handfasted had their original hand fasting at the first Beermageddon, and this was renewing their vows after ten years, with festival founder and top man Jim Beerman as their minister! After that, it was on to the music.
Cuttin’ Edge
Our first band of the day was some Scottish high octane Heavy Rock in the shape of Cutting Edge. These guys opened last year’s festival and were great. They’re no nonsense and basically just channel their inner Motorhead. The absolute perfect way to start the last day, which always has a ‘fuck it let’s just celebrate the hell out of shit because we’ve all got to go back to normal life tomorrow’ feel about it. Loved them.
https://www.facebook.com/cuttinedge2018
I Saw The World Burn
I’ve been wanting to catch these guys for a while, because I’ve heard a lot of good things about them, so I was very glad to the chance here. It was their first gig for 3 years too! They pack a punch, and their front woman has a hell of a growl on her! She had a mic issue here, though, which was a shame. She jumps around a lot, but the sound kept cutting out because of what appeared to be a dodgy cable. The sound guy tried to sort it out after the 3rd song, so we could actually hear the sound of the effort she was putting in on stage, but it still didn’t work. Next was a mic swap, but that didn’t work either! It was finally tracked to a DI box issue, leaving the band playing instrumental while the frontwoman had a boogie on stage, so the crew could plug her up a different way. Despite this technical malfunction, they were still awesome! Will look out for them again soon.
https://www.facebook.com/isawtheworldburn
Kill All The Gentleman
This is another band I’d not come across. They’re a Melodic Death / Groove band from Devon. One word. Tight. No in fact two words! Fucking tight!!!! They were shouty and heavy, but musically absolutely brilliant, and frenetic from the start. The gathered crowd loved it. Great set.
https://www.facebook.com/killallthegentlemen
Raised By Owls
The true gods of Comedy Metal! Any band that has a 2 second song about memes and can get the crowd dancing to the Chucklevision theme music, wins points from me. They are essential Extreme Metal Redcoats, and that is totally cool in my book! The audience was large and every single one, from the kids to the older generation was smiling and joining in with the copious audience participation elements. The stage presence of these guys is enough to captivate the audience alone, but then add in some face melting riffs, and crazy but hilarious vocals and you have a complete performance. Every household should own a miniature Raised By Owls band like a pet, which they can pull out for parties so everyone goes ‘Nawwww’. End of.
https://www.facebook.com/RaisedByOwls
SOTEN
This time last year, Sun Of The Endless Night (SOTEN) played their first ever gig here at this festival. This year they came back as a last minute replacement for a band that had to pull out, and I was bloody glad they did! Seeing them a year on was just beautiful. They no longer looked nervous, they looked commanding. Si Cobb is an awesome front man anyway, but the rest of the band matched his level of stage presence, and they all looked like they were having a ball. They’re Thrash, but they’re good Progressive Thrash that’s exciting, and current, and I am excited to see just how far these guys can grow. Along with Godslave, they were my favourites of the weekend!
https://www.facebook.com/UKThrash
Face Up
When the party needs to get really pumped to the climax then these are your band. Good solid Hardcore / Punk, with Thrashy riffs, charisma seeping out of every pore of their anatomies, and most importantly, damn good tunes! They whipped the crowd up straight away, and the room was packed with excitement. We got an extra-large photo pit, with added security for this one, too, which was ace for us togs! I love watching bands having a great time on stage, and these guys really were. Again, an awesome show, and a highlight of the weekend.
https://www.facebook.com/faceup.uk
Acid Reign
Acid Reign headlined last year, and it was something very special, so to see them back again this year was great. With the addition of new guitarist Matt (Control The Storm), they took to the stage for another hour of madcap tomfoolery and it was again the perfect end to this great festival. H was on form, climbing on speakers, jumping into the crowd, and bouncing about in his usual fashion, and the rest of the band looked happy and relaxed, which was great to see.
https://www.facebook.com/acid.reign.thrash
And just like that, the festival was done. I had an absolute blast this year, and Steve, who was a metal festival virgin and had been cautious about the weekend, finished the weekend saying “I’m gutted it’s over – I don’t want to go home! It’s been amazing!” That basically sums up everyone’s feelings. Huge thanks to the bands who played killer sets, the crew and security who made everything run smoothly, and of course to the main man, Jim Beerman, for being crazy enough to organize this whole thing in the first place. Here’s to the next ten years!
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Disclaimer: This review and all photographic images are solely the property of Beth Jones and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
