Having been to London a few times this year on music and non-music related trips I was happy to see the sun out for the first time in many months, that was until I saw the queue for drinks at Camden’s Ice Wharf bar (twenty minute wait for my blackberry cider!). Never the less, I managed to kill an hour or three in Camden before thinking of heading down to Brixton to join the line for the Metal Hammer magazine sponsored tour.

I followed the queue round the back on the building, and then round a corner, past the tour buses, past another corner, then another, until I was back near the entrance of the venue again, this was probably the longest queue I had ever had to stand in. But like any waiting line, there are always some fun people to talk to and some amusing things to see. Getting to view the fine ‘culture’ of London’s Brixton area being one of the more amusing things one can do to pass the time, commenting on Brixton curtains and garden ornaments (which to non-Brixton dwellers means windows covered in newspaper and empty cans and bottles on the greenery).

After a forgotten (long) period of time I got into the venue swarming with all kinds of music fans. Porcupine Tree, Slayer, Devin Townsend, Isis, Alice in Chains, Rush, so many varieties of rock/metal t-shirts under one roof, perfect for the diverse bill (from a metal fans point of view any way).

The first band on was Canada’s Three Inches of Blood, welding high pitched power metal-esque vocals with heavy metal music. Their new album (Fire Up The Blades) having been very well received by most critics and fans last year, and their live show tonight being very well received by me. Plenty of energy came from Cam Pipes (lead vocalist) as well as the other band members. Due to the long wait outside I was only able to catch the final three songs which included the mandatory Deadly Sinners from the album that got them noticed ‘Advance and Vanquish’. The final song of Three Inches’ set being The Goat Riders Hoard from Fire Up The Blades. Over all an excellent if short performance, the band also benefited from the best sound of the night. (8/10)

Up next, California’s Devil Driver, on tour in the UK for the hundredth time to promote last year’s The Last Kind Words album. Devil Driver never fail to give a good show, Dez Fafara being particularly more energetic on stage than usual. Stand out songs of the night being Clouds Over California, End of the Line and I Could Care Less. Now, I don’t want to sound old, but Devil Driver’s sound was far to loud, even as I speak (24 hours after seeing the band) my left ear is still ringing, a few members of the crowd agreed with me after, proving that I’m becoming a geriatric before my time. (7.5/10)

Now we move on to the first of the two headliners, Arch Enemy who are still touring for their Rise of the Tyrant album. After this tour it will be likely that guitarist and founding member, Michael Amott will be focusing more of his previous band, the highly influential Carcass, who will be playing summer festivals, including Waken. Angela Gossow (vocals) is on top form tonight, delivering some disgustingly amazing screams that put most masculine vocals to a great deal of shame. Most of the songs in Arch Enemy’s set tend to be hit or miss due to the sound quality, which was though no fault of the band. But something that can be blamed on the band is the extent to which they were milking instrumental solos. There is no denying that Arch Enemy are a talented band in a number of ways, but one can only take so many solos in an hour (or so) long set. Stand out songs of the night: Dead Eyes See No Future and Snow Bound. (7/10)
After the foreplay of three pretty good bands came the expected progressive death metal orgasm of Opeth. But once again the sound quality ruined the night.

The atmosphere for Opeth was without a doubt the most apparent out of all the bands playing. Opening with forever played (but ever welcome) Demon of the Fall, then moving swiftly into the surprise song of the night, Master’s Apprentices. After a brief hello from Mikael Akerfeldt (vocalist) the band went into acoustic mode and played In My Time of Need. In all honesty there was little point in Akerfeldt singing this song, (and not because of dire sound quality) the crowd were the true vocalists for this number. The band then treated the Brixton Academy to a song that they had only ever played three times prior to this show, Wreath from 2002’s Deliverance album. One of the key reasons for Opeth being on this tour was to promote their forthcoming album Watershed, which is frequently being described as ‘evil’ in an amusing Swedish accent by Akerfeldt in many interviews. The only song they play from the album is called Heir Apparent, an immensely sinister track, assuring the band that a good number of albums will be sold on June the second. The final song of the evening has to be something from the bands breakthrough album, Blackwater Park. The Drapery Falls is an all too perfect song to finish the evening. An astounding band, with a no doubt amazing album coming out soon, plagued by well below average sound quality. (8.5/10)