I was looking forward to seeing Slaves To Gravity as their debut album “Scatter The Crow” is a pretty impressive affair and there has been a fair bit of hype for the band, with some reviewer thinking the band excellent and others writing them off even though they have barely started. In saying that there is a fair bit of experience in the line up with both The Ga Ga's and Ariel X throwing in ex members. The turnout in Aberdeen wasn't too bad either, especially considering there were four other rock/metal gigs on that night, and the crowd was varied in it's makeup, a fair few older metalheads dotted around mixed in with younger alt rock type punters that may have been expected. First up however were Manchester three piece Grand Volume who raised my eyebrows somewhat. Their sound and style were hard to pin down but came across as a punked up version of Muse if you can imagine that. Their set was pretty entertaining and they're definitely a band worth checking out though I think at first many will stand scratching their heads trying to figure out if they like them or not. Bear with them though as once their unusual semi prog/punk/rock sound filters into your head it is enjoyable.

The headliners kicked off with “Heaven Is A Lie”, the lead track from “Scatter The Crow” and what followed was pretty much a set covering the whole of the album give or take a couple of tracks and of decent length for a one album band, a usual bugbear of mine. The Aberdeen crowd certainly got into them pretty quickly and there seemed to be a few who were already familiar with the songs and, as the gig progressed, a somewhat energetic pit sprung up with a few hardy souls crowd surfing and diving. The band seemed a little bemused by this as they followed on with “Meantime”, “Too Late”, “She Says” and “Gutterfly” all to much applause with the tracks coming across very well in the live environment, capturing the sound of the studio versions very well and was nicely heavied up a little. I am not sure though if the lead singer Tom is completely at home with the banter side of things yet though but it was a game attempt and that will improve with experience. Elsewhere the mellower “LG Halo”, a darker more introspective song, proves better live than on the album and  “My Poor Hand” hinted slightly at Nickelback in it's delivery. The meaty riffs in “Big Red” proved to be a hit with the Aberdeen crowd and the set finished with “Pluto” with the crowd serving up one last bit of pit action during the chunky parts of the track. All in all this was a very solid  performance from a band that undoubtedly has a lot of talent and more than enough ability to succeed in a crowded marketplace. Slaves To Gravity may not be the finished article yet and their stage presence could be improved but from this performance I will definitely be coming back for more.

Mike Clark