The Next Step
It's a freezing cold night when Season's End take to the stage at The Joiners Arms in Southampton. Despite this, the band warm the venue up a treat with their blend of heavy, crunching guitars and a delicate, feminine voice that floats above the crowd. Showing off a sleek new set of songs, Season's End have little time for old favourites and this makes for a refreshing change.
The new material brings with it the dawn of a new era for the band. There's less of the drawn out atmospheric lulls and instead they create tension in an altogether louder way - one that pleases the modest audience gathered. Where their music hinted at power, there is now a raging melting pot of primal noise. Season's End have stepped up the pace, turned up the noise and they've never sounded better.
The new direction, seen fully for the first time tonight brings the band to an altogether more marketable sound. If Season's End are going to break through into the realm of big-name metal acts, it will be with this new-found sound... it holds the elegance of their previous works, with Becki Clarke's unmistakeable voice, setting them apart from other bands of a similar nature.
However, in the cutthroat world of music, talent is not always everything. Hard work and a vibrant tour schedule are both equally important - but Season's End have this aspect of being in a band covered too, with their autumn tour this year taking them off into Europe as well as the usual UK haunts.
Despite the small crowd in attendance tonight, the band put their all into the show, resulting in a highly charged set, filled with promise. Season's End have expanded their music in all directions and the result is a set that indicates that their next full length release will be something truly special.