Payday Friday in Gävle and nothing to do? Looked like it but for some a status on Facebook flashed before my eyes, "I'm DJ'ing at Club Monster tonight, come down and check out FIREBIRD and HATE AMMO". Said and done, better to go down and see some bands than to just sit home and watch TV. After all, it's nice to celebrate the new pay check at least. I don't know what was up this time though, the promotion prior to the gig was absolutely non-existent. And to check the Club Monster page don't do much good, it's rarely updated. For this night though the information was correct but what good does that do if no one checks the page? There were a few people who found their way down the basement at least but far from what these two bands deserve.

HATE AMMO was probably not the most suitable opening act for FIREBIRD because there's quite a contrast between the first bands rough Death Metal and the latter's Hippie-Groove. Anyway, HATE AMMO impressed from the start it's just unfortunate for them to have to travel all the way from Umeå (far north Sweden) to play for crowd this small. The band did their best to fit on stage and rock hard though, the acid comment about the place being like a Jazz-club was absolutely justified since people were applauding politely most of the time between the songs. But this is the way Melodic Death Metal shall be played, no frills, no keyboards, no backtracks, just pure Metal. It gets so much more believable, more interesting and alive when it's played like this. I was actually surprised how good everything sounded, first because the sound at Club Monster for this type of music normally isn't the best but they had a really nice bunch of songs too. They had enough variation to not get boring but still with a red thread through it all. HATE AMMO is a relatively new band but that doesn't mean they all new on the market, the members originates from bands as ASSAILANT, NAGLFAR and LIVE ELEPHANT and that explain a little how a band can show up from nowhere and still be this good. For the about 40 minutes this band played the major part was absolute kick ass, there were only one or two songs that didn't hold as high standard as the rest. If that was due to the nature of the songs or just a bad day I leave to it with no comments since I haven't heard this band at all before. HATE AMMO is absolutely something worth checking out in the future.

HATE AMMO setlist:

1. "I.U.W.E"
2. "A Psychotic Episode"
3. "Rise Up"
4. "Far Beyond Hatred"
5. "P.O.V"
6. "Seeds"
7. "The Narcissist"
8. "When The Tide Begins To Rise"
9. "Destroy, Enemy, Police"

Then it was time for FIREBIRD. Last time I saw Bill Steer was with the CARCASS reunion and there's where I'm used to see him, playing Death Metal. It's strange how something like that can get stuck in ones head and just lock everything. Bill today looks exactly the way he should for the type of music FIREBIRD plays, still my mind kept wandering towards the Gore scenarios once displayed at Rockborgen in Fagersta ages ago, all I could see was the grunting blonde guitar player. It really took a while to get into the mood for this but that was only due to my past rather than anything displayed this evening. I was thrilled when the first self titled CD was released but I can't say I was as impressed when listening to it. This sparse evening at Club Monster though this band convinced me they're absolutely something to be reckoned with. Bill and his crew just sneaks out on stage and cautiously got the groove going. People were watching politely a bit away from the stage, and that's not as strange because normally a show is started off with a bang, here it was just a short break on the stereo and the music came from stage instead but as soon as they really started playing at least a few started rocking out a little, another song into the set more people joined in.

Bill is perhaps not the most versatile vocalist but the roughness suites the music really well. His voice absolutely makes it heavier and a little more raw which suites my taste very well. It's actually strange how something that is as laid back as FIREBIRD and done as humble as they do still can be intense. Much had to do with bass player Greyum May though did his best to fill out the very modest furnished stage as Bill was mostly tied to the microphone. Greyum and Ludwig Witt (drums, also in ex-SHINING and SPIRITUAL BEGGARS) together are a very solid and groovy ground and backs up Bill perfectly. With four records in the trunk and the fifth one coming FIREBIRD has a nice catalog to choose from, this evening they served a whole bunch from coming "Double Diamond" and most recent release "Grand Union". A very nice selection of songs, the greatest surprise was when Bill took out a mouth organ and really got the groove going. Super-cool, Heavy music really CAN be played on a mouthorgan. The fun thing is that the music didn't lose any heaviness even if the guitar was dropped.

All in all it was a really good set and a great experience to see this, especially since Bill seemed to enjoy himself a lot more here compared to the CARCASS reunion. Next time I can be more prepared too and fully enjoy the whole set without seeing the butchered limbs of various creatures in my head. The really bad thing though was the crowd, embarrassing that not more people showed up, FIREBIRD sure deserved a lot more than they got this evening.

FIREBIRD setlist:

1. "For Crying Out Loud"
2. "Blue Flame"
3. "Soul Saviour"
4. "Fool For You"
5. "Silent Stranger"
6. "Horsedrawn Man"
7. "A Wing & A Prayer"
8. "Jack The Lad"
9. "Ruined"
10. "Zoltana"
11. "Bright Lights"
12. "Torn Down"
13. "Slow Blues"

(photos by 'firegirl' Erika)