Crowblind Events presents the London Metal Coalition Battle of the Brew: 25/07/2026 Kensei/Grifter/Aggro @ Signature Brew, Blackhorse Road

For the record, Them Bloody Kids were supposed to be the headliners tonight, but a power cut put an end to that. It was a shame as they had new material to promote with a new single 'Loot n Steal n Shoot em up' dropping that day.          

Things are already running a little behind as I arrive and find Aggro getting ready to set up for their opening set. The current heatwave means that everyone is already looking hot and knackered but, that doesn’t stop them from trying their absolute best to get the audience moving as people start filtering into the back of the room. Banging out fierce heavy numbers such as The Burden and Desperate Cries, vocalist Dan manages to orchestrate a small circle pit whilst a small group near the back jump around to Groove Metal five piece who switches between clean and growling vocals, which are shared by guitarist Phil (clean).

Grifter, who are usually languishing at the bottom of a bill could probably one day give Pantera a run for their money, mixing Thrash with Groove Metal. George’s growling vocals have an impressive way of finding a melody to compliment Josh’s talented guitar work. The groove hits via the rhythm section of Zey and Joe who keep the sound pulsating in your ears as once again the room jumps to their immediate high-octane performance. They play new tracks from a an upcoming release, as well as some older ones that have been available for streaming for a couple of years. They look young but by no means under experienced or skilled.     

This is where things started to get a little tricky. Not sure exactly what caused it but during the set up for Birmingham’s Kensei the power across the whole of the Signature Brew suddenly cuts out. With the band due on in the next ten minutes, they’re left wandering around and mingling with the rest of us who are starting to think the night could be over already.  The time it takes to bring everything back on including the PA means there is only time for them as they become the unofficial headliners. Given that they’ve travelled down from the Black Country and this is only their second London appearance, it makes sense. And they’re worth the wait battling against the heatwave to get the audience moving to their brutal yet melodic Metal with songs Lucid, No Remorse and With Death I Walk. Their stage presence is incredibly energetic and a fitting end to a sweaty night as vocalist Dave growls over riffs supplied by Matthew and Ian whilst two guys called Luke rumbling along with the rhythm section. Hope to see them down this way again hopefully to a less heat exhausted audience.

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