Live Review: Tortured Demon / Red Method – Academy 3, Manchester
5th October 2023
Words: Matthew Williams
Photos: Bill Mawdsley
Tonight is one of two nights of a co-headline tour for Tortured Demon and Red Method, with Tortured Demon having a few other dates as they tour their recent release “Rise of the Lifeless” an album stacked with old school thrash songs, so I’m keen to hear those, but up first are Red Method.
It’s busier than I expected at the Academy 3 in Manchester for a Thursday night, home town support for Oldham’s Tortured Demon maybe, but the crowd seem eager for Red Method, as the six piece London outfit hit the stage, lead singer Jeremy Gomez, starts proceedings with a “Manchester, how the fuck are ya?” before launching a guttural scream, that signals the start of the mayhem.
I’m not familiar with the band, having only heard a few snippets beforehand, but liked what I heard, and with the synchronised headbanging and crowd pleasing anthemic songs, they certainly get the crowd going, and when the heavy 'Messiah' kicks in, the double bass pedal is getting a hammering, they have a whiff of early Slipknot about them.
With some decent songs like 'The Absent' which has a killer riff, and the slow heaviness of 'Slaves to the New World Disorder' the lead singer starts to remind me more and more of Dex Fafara in his stage presence, working the crowd up, and encouraging more circle pits and high energy. The music changes from heavy to melodic to crunchy to fast, but always full of enthusiasm, and the crowd are lapping it up. With the promise of a second record being worked on at present, they finish with 'Split', and the pit warriors are summoned for one final effort, clapping to the drum intro before the furious pace kicks up several notches and it finishes off a decent set for the Londoners.
The rush of excitement from the crowd for the arrival of Tortured Demon can be heard when singer Jacob Parkinson does a mic check about 10 minutes before the start time, and with a younger crowd in attendance, they go a bit crazy for him, so are we witnessing a new wave of British thrash with these northeners at the helm? This is the first night of their tour and with red lights adorning the stage, 'An Empire Condemned' comes through the PA and with his black flying V in hands, Parkinson blasts out 'Rise of the Lifeless' and the madness begins. The pit begins, woken up by the insane double bass work from Jacob’s older brother Joe, and the solo work from Billy “the beast” Hourigan on lead guitar. And to be fair, they don’t really let up from this moment.
With most of the set coming from their latest release, it’s a chance to showcase their new music, and it really does flow from start to finish. 'Virtual Death' and 'Conflict of Interest' see the band really hitting their stride, with intense fast riffs and Jacob taking control of the crowd with a great stage presence. Before the start of one of my favourite songs, 'Disfavour' he comments on this show "meaning the world to us" and the crowd go absolutely wild, albeit there seemed to be a few sound issues halfway through, but overall is was full of energy and passion.
They continue with two songs from their first album, 'The Invasion' and the excellent 'In Desperation’s Grip', which keeps the pace frenetic before they launch into an epic thrash song called 'Eyes in the Fire' with Parkinson and Hourigan, firing off riff after riff and combining so well together, and this was a definite crowd pleaser, before they dedicate the next song 'The Damage is Done' to Evile and Xentrix, with a healthy circle pit, the song fits seamlessly into the set.
After a few moments off stage, they come back to a rapturous applause, and launch into my favourite song of the night, 'Global Threat', which is just a shot of pure adrenaline filled with power, passion and thrash goodness, it’s an cracking song which gets everyone headbanging before they finish with 'A Knee to the Face of Corruption' and carnage ensues. It’s sheer mayhem and as the crowd stream out, they are left with the knowledge that thrash metal is save in the hands of these four young lads from Oldham. The rest of the country has better look out, as they are coming for you.
Photo credits: Bill Mawdsley
