Day two of Southwest Heavyfest got underway at The Cobblestones in Bridgwater on Sunday 3rd May,
with the aim of raising money for The Beacon Centre cancer unit at Taunton's Musgrove Park
Hospital. On the running order were nine bands of greatly differing styles, making this day-long feast
into a veritable smorgasbord of musical talent. Congratulations must go to everyone involved
for laying on such a well-run and well-coordinated event, and the staff of The Cobblestones who
hosted it and provided the necessary technical support.

INHUMAN NATURE
Okay, this is one seriously intense and frighteningly good band! Nine years into their relentless
assault on the world’s eardrums, and with festival appearances at Bloodstock, Damnation and
2000trees already under their belt, London-based Inhuman Nature continue to pummel audiences
across the UK and Europe with their mix of thrash metal, hardcore, crust, and death.

Set against the frantic, pile-driving drums of Simon Grubb and rib-rattling bass of Daragh Markham,
the dual guitars of Ben Taylor and Mack Stray combine to deliver a totally glorious sound - like a
hornet’s nest being cut out of the speaker stack by two chainsaws. We all know that humans evolved
for one reason and one reason only - to play electric guitars, and Taylor and Stray seem to be showing
us the next step on that evolutionary path. Despite what the laws of physics may say, human fingers
actually can move faster than light! We all saw it, so I guess they’ll just have to re-write those
textbooks.

Chris Barling’s angry, snarling vocals are the icing on the cake, soaring above the mayhem raging
around him. He stands, one foot on the monitor, looking out across the crazy, rampaging pit action
unfolding in front of him, with the look of a man who knows... “Our work here is done!”
Inhuman Nature are currently part way through yet another UK and European hike, promoting their
latest album Greater Than Death. I already have it on repeat – you should too! 

FIGHT THE CHAMP
What can I possibly say about Fight the Champ that I didn’t already say after their gig at the King Arthur
in Glastonbury? Well, for a start, they never had dolphins or sharks at the King Arthur!
For the uninitiated, Fight the Champ are Alex Morgz (vocals), Kurt Bond (bass), Kai Mason (guitar) and
Sam Whittle (drums). On this occasion, with Kai missing in action, Matt Thompson of Lacerta stepped
in to provide guitar cover. Depending upon your point of view, this collection of reprobates could be
described as terrifying, intimidating, dangerously out of control, or (the one I personally subscribe to)
mind-buggeringly amazing!
Straight out of the gate, the band dived into their trademark raging, adrenaline-fuelled blitz on the
senses. With Alex flying around the stage like someone had just hooked him up to the nearest pylon,
and Kurt providing the sweating, flailing pit-goers with a bit of colourful verbal encouragement, it took
just milliseconds for the whole place to go completely off the hook!
Where FTC goes, the surreal is bound to follow, and sure enough, a few minutes into the set, several
inflatable dolphins (see, I told you!) came flying in from pit-left, hotly pursued by a couple of sharks.
These immediately became weapons of mass destruction as the head-cases in the pit tried to beat
each other senseless with them. Trust me, even an inflatable dolphin can hurt if it’s travelling at
100mph!
Anyway, in the absence of a handy school of mackerel, the crowd improvised by throwing beer over
each other, and then throwing themselves at each other once the beer ran out. Then, as if by magic,
rolls of toilet paper began raining down on the pit like some crazy tickertape parade. You’d think I
would no longer be surprised by anything that happens at a Fight the Champ gig, but honestly, I wasn’t
expecting to see a bunch of beer-soaked moshers with toilet paper stuck all over them!
Meanwhile, just off the beach, a large dorsal fin was breaking the surface!

VULTURE GOD
Probably the most conventional rock band on the bill, Bristol’s Vulture God have matured
considerably since we last saw them in the 2025 Metal 2 The Masses Grand Final. To look at them,
you could be forgiven for thinking that an early Deep Purple lineup had all grown facial hair and time
travelled fifty years into the future, just to play The Cobblestones tonight.
Identifying as a progressive death band, Vulture God’s vocals are delivered in an unusual semi
snarled, semi-spoken shout, somewhat akin to a theatrical style where the words are intended to be
intelligible to the audience, while still sounding as if the baddy in the black hat is spitting them out in a
fit of rage.
Rather than employing all the usual pyrotechnics and haze effects, Vulture God elected to go down
the eco-friendly route and use eyeballs instead! To this end, their go-to guy is founding member,
rhythm guitarist and frontman Milo Clack. At one point, his eyes were darting from side to side in time
with the music like the pendulum of a metronome. Don’t ask me why that particular moment had
such a profound effect on me, but now every time someone says, “Vulture God”, that’s what I see!
The drums of Tom Noakes and bass of Ben Reygate (stage name “Mummy”) provide the solid rhythmic
foundation for the band, while “Milo the Eyeball” chugs along on rhythm guitar and Ben Fisher’s lead
guitar work provides the soaring, melodic solos. Keyboards fall under the fingers of Ben Price so the
more astute amongst you will now be thinking “How can a five-piece band possibly have three Bens in
it?” When it’s Ben’s round, does everyone get three drinks? Hey, I need to know, I can’t sleep here!
Also… Fisher-Price… really?
Vulture God ended their set with two much heavier songs but still managed to incorporate some
nicely dark and mysterious guitar work, proving they do indeed belong at a heavy metal festival,
especially one with as great a degree of variety as this one.

MARTYRS SAINT
On into the evening we went with Martyrs Saint, and no, there is no apostrophe. Martyrs Saint are an
angry, punk-leaning, hard-hitting, thrash crossover band from Bristol. The dual guitars of Brandon
Goodair and Amaré Hurley are savage enough to shatter concrete, and the massive driving weight
behind them is provided by Louie Hawkes on drums and Harvey Lewis on bass.
The band worked their way through an uncompromising and vicious set, relentlessly assaulting the
crowd with a succession of fast, heavy, driving beats and scarily frantic guitar work. The pit
immediately exploded, with bodies flying from one side of the room to the other, and anyone showing
signs of language sensitivity or a preference for knitting, was immediately dragged outside with a bag
over their head before they had a chance to take in the lyrics.
In low gear, these guys are a headbanger’s and two-stepper’s delight, but when they shift into
overdrive, you’d better be ready for action! There were moments when they reminded me of bands
such as Discharge and Anti Cimex, banging out full-blooded, ball-busting, “rip your head off and
shove it down your throat” punk. If you need any more convincing, just fire up your favourite streaming
app and listen to their track “Epistaxis”.

AEL-FIERLEN
The day took a sharp left turn as Ael-Fierlen from southern England stepped on to the stage. Fronting
these purveyors of mysterious black / gothic metal, shoegaze and dark folk, is American-born
Stephanie MoAatt. “Striking” doesn’t even start to hint! With the eyes, expressions and movements of
Kate Bush, silky clean vocals and a full-power metal scream that can drop a lion at twenty paces, her
long dark hair is topped of by a crown of red roses and deer antlers. You’ve never seen a room full of
boisterous steaming metalheads go so silent so fast!
At times during the quieter parts of Ael-Fierlen’s set, Stephanie’s voice became almost operatic, and
with a range that doesn’t seem to have any upper limit, I was thinking “classical training” for sure. So,
once she came off-stage, I managed to steal her away from the throng of fans queuing up to talk to her
and ask her that very question. In a nutshell, the answer was “No”, which makes what we had just
witnessed even more amazing, it’s all just natural talent.
A number of Ael-Fierlen’s songs run close to ten minutes, and this obviously sits well with us old
proggies. Quite honestly though, there is so much going on during each song that time loses its
meaning. This is not your normal verse / chorus / bridge etc. Each song morphs into multiple different
shapes and forms, heading off in different and unexpected directions as it unfolds, and all the time,
everyone is transfixed by what is happening behind the vocal mic.

LACERTA
One of the more progressive metal bands on the scene, Lacerta comfortably straddle the line between
blowing your mind and breaking your bones. On any normal day, the gloriously heavy, drop-tuned,
djent-laden grooves, would be emanating from the combined guitars of Liam Emberson and Matt
Thompson. Unfortunately though, this was not a normal day, as Liam was still trying to escape from
intensive care in Plymouth while the band was going on stage in Bridgwater! This left Matt pulling
double duty, but luckily for us, nobody could have been more up to the job. Matt proceeded to pull a
thousand metal rabbits out of the hat, just as we all knew he would.
Murderous in their intensity, Charlie’s vocals will back you up against the wall and disembowel you
given half a chance. He could sing “Happy Birthday”, and people would still be dialling 999. A
snarling, growling man-mountain, Charlie prowls the stage like a hungry tiger, and once he fixes you
with that stare, you have about half a second to get in the ring or hide in the toilet. Either way, he’s still
coming for you!
Kick open the engine room door, and you’ll find the two people responsible for generating the
monumental horsepower that drives this metal colossus: Jay on drums and John on bass. Together,
they shift about a ton of air per second, easily enough to rearrange your ribs, shatter your contact
lenses and tear the pockets off your cargo pants. It’s a visceral experience, trust me!
Seeing as there was so much musical talent knocking around The Cobblestones, it would have been
mean not to have a couple of guest vocalists, so Alex from Fight the Champ joined Charlie for “Yellow
Brick Road”, and Charlie (yes, really) from Blunt Impact jumped on stage to help out with “Leeches”.