Live Review: Souls of Jack Ketch – Newcastle

Live Review: Souls of Jack Ketch - Trillians, Newcastle
26th May 2024
Support: Erebor, Catalysis, Magefa
Words: Drew McCarthy

Souls Of Jack Ketch turned Trillians into the metal party of the year as they played a gig to celebrate the release of their EP, 'Juggernaut', and they brought along three absolutely stellar bands as support, in the form of Magefa from Germany, Catalysis from Dundee & Erebor from Newcastle.

Magefa are the first band tonight, from the country that gave us bands like Caliban and Scorpions, they bring an uncompromising and brutal dose of death metal to the stage. Not only was this their first ever time performing in Newcastle, it was also their first ever time performing in the UK and they did not disappoint. I have never known an opening band get as good a reaction as these lads did, not only from a crowd at Trillians but from any venue in the UK that I have been at.

Catalysis were up next, a band that took me back to the early days of metalcore as it soon became apparent just how much of an influence bands like Killswitch Engage and Lamb Of God have had on their music. This is not a criticism on my part, rather just an observation, the lads played their hearts out and during their performance it was very difficult to work out who was more into it, the crowd or the band. Neither side stopped head banging during the entirety of their time on stage.

Erebor were the second to last band to take to the stage and the lads immediately flexed their death metal muscles by launching into a blisteringly and technically proficient half an hour of metal that gave me a vibe of Periphery and early Architects. Their stage presence was phenomenal to say the the least and they made their command of the crowd seem effortless.

Souls of Jack Ketch ,the self proclaimed Geordie death thrashers, are the main event of this evening. It was my third time seeing these lads and they just keep getting better and better, I don't think I have ever seen them put on a bad performance. A particular highlight tonight being 'I Cannot Die' taken from their latest EP, these lads are one of the best metal bands in the UK at this moment and if you enjoy the heaviness of Raging Speedhorn and the swagger of Motorhead, give these lads a listen.

In all the years that I have been going to gigs I cannot remember many that were like this one, where every band that performed had the crowd enthralled from the very first note to the very last. Souls of Jack Ketch, Erebor, Catalysis & Magefa all put on an absolute masterclass in Metal.