Unholy
With a decent crowd on yet another hot afternoon many of the assembled audience aren't sure what what to expect from Martin Grech. What they get is something a bit different, this band take you on a journey through all manner of soundscapes, at times intense and dark and at others it's quiet and haunting. They are a powerful band, exceedingly tight and well rehearsed they seemingly don't put a foot wrong, the drumming in particular is excellent.
Grech himself is an unusual character, ever the showman he drapes his lithe figure over the mic stand in between bouts of frenzied drumming on an additional floor tom. His vocals are passionate but at times they don't always suit the music. The one accusation that he is bound to get levelled at him is that he comes across as extremely pretentious (just read his press!). He certainly exudes a level of pretentiousness but you also get the impression that he doesn't really care what you think. Rather than individual songs as such, much of the set seems like one elongated piece of music, it's a case of 'this is what we've made, you listen to it, like it or loathe it'.
Grech certainly creates interest and by the time they finish the tent is pretty full. The structure of the songs means they are not catchy in a commercial sense and by the end I'm struggling to decide whether I liked it or not. If Grech has his way though it won't be long before you get chance to make up your own mind and it will be interesting to see where his album (released back in June) takes him next.