It is now 8 weeks to go until we get to invade the fields of Castle Donnington again, rock out to a whole host of rock and metal music in a field, and get drunk with friends. To celebrate the countdown to one of the UK’s biggest rock festivals I have decided to highlight a number of smaller or less well known bands that you may have missed on the line-up.
There is always the small possibility, when you go to a Baby Godzilla show that the venue won’t be left standing once everything is over. So then, the question must be asked, why did they decide to put these hardcore nutters in the smallest tent, on the Friday? The chances of coming out of this set intact are slim to none. Baby Godzilla have certainly started to garner some attention purely for their off the wall and downright intense live shows. If you want to start off your weekend at Donnington with a metaphorical (or will it be?) explosion then Baby Godzilla should certainly be your first port of call.
The Nottingham hardcore newcomers are the UK’s answer to the near God-like Every Time I Die. They take the raw southern sound and ramp the fervency up to 11. The band themselves don’t have that much in the way of released material, but what they do have highlights everything that they stand for, high octane energy and complete and utter destruction. Their debut album ‘Oche’ is pure unadulterated passion from track to track. There isn’t a single point during the entire 25 minute run time where you’re given any moments peace. Vocalist, Matt Reynolds has anger spilling from all orifices once he puts mouth to microphone. Drummer, Tom Marsh doesn’t pull punches when it comes down to an all out attack on his drums, and guitarists Paul Shelley and Jonny Hall are both technically brilliant and overall psychotically quick when it comes to some all out riff action. Their 2013 EP ‘Knockout Machine’ is by far their greatest achievement to date though. It doesn’t take long for the EP to be over once it kicks off, but what it inevitably leaves behind is your brain both dazed and confused about what it’s just been put through. Let’s compare it to hardcore drugs, you know it’s probably going to harm you down the road, but you can’t get enough of the quick hit, that quick buzz from the all out attack on your ears.
Baby Godzilla are going to be one of the unknown live hits at this weekend’s Download. You can listen to their tracks all you want, but you will never know the true monster until it starts climbing over the crowd and screaming down from the heavens. Start your weekend right, and remember this, if you leave a Baby Godzilla show with all your limbs connected, you’re not doing it right.
Release to own: ‘Knockout Machine’
Three tracks you must listen to: ‘Powerboat Disaster’, ‘Whorepaedo’, ‘A Great Idea Bastardised’
You can catch Baby Godzilla on the Red Bull Studio Stage on Friday 13th June.
