Unleash the Archers are back in the UK after releasing their superb new album ‘Apex’this summer.
Dave heads down to the Anvil, Bournemouth to check them out along with Endea and Hanowar.
Hanowar kicks off the show, the tribute to, yes, you’ve guessed it, out’s Manowar.
Manowar are a fun, bouncy (if not slightly cheesy) band who sing about heavy metal. Hanowar, rather unsurprisingly, no different. What is more surprising, is how much I genuinely enjoyed them- they went through Manowar’s classic back catalogue perform the likes of ‘Hail and Kill’, ‘Heart of Steel’ and ‘Warriors of the World’ interspersing it with banter and props. They gave plastic swords to the audience which were a hilarious addition to the moshpit as well as giving each member of the audience a party popper who then all popped them together (shoutout to the cleaner who had to tidy it up!). Hanowar struck the balance nicely between playing songs, audience involvement and fun. A great start to the night.
Next up was Endea. A Bournemouth based band, who I didn’t know much about until tonight. Hanowar had already blown the audience away and there was still the headliner to come, leaving them in a difficult position with the audience and it showed. The audience didn’t seem to care for them initially and didn’t respond to vocalist Grimshaw’s attempts to gee them up. It was sad as they clearly had talent with strong songs such as ‘Signals’. Grimshaw didn’t give up and by the end they had won many of the crowd over who were interacting and singing a long with the guys. A set rescued.
Then of course it was the time for Unleash the Archers to come out, to big cheers around the venue. They wasted no time, launching straight into ‘Awakening, the first track from the new album. They promises us ‘loud and heavy’ in the interview before the show (which you can check it out here) and that’s exactly what they gave us. Lead vocalist Brittney Slayes was on top form, showing her power and range. They went through new tracks ‘Cleanse the bloodlines’ and ‘The Matriarch’ before going back in time to play ‘Test Your Metal’, ‘Time Stands Still’ ‘Dreamcrusher’ all from their 2015 album ‘Time Stands Still’. They then go even further back in time to 2011 performing ‘General of the Dark Army’ before closing with arguably their best known song ‘Tonight We Ride’.
Unleash the Archers are a hugely talented band who clearly love playling live. Their performance had an infections energy as the crowd was jumping up and down, moshing and singing along as Brittney and Co did the same. It was a surprisingly and disappointingly short set and personally, I felt there was a distinct lack of songs from ‘Apex’ of which I was looking forward to hearing more of.
However if the biggest complaint of a band’s set is that it wasn’t long enough, you know you’re onto a winner!
Don’t forget to check out our interview with Brittney
Keep up to date with ‘Unleash the Archers’ at http://www.unleashthearchers.com