Things are brewing in the Manchester Metal Scene and it is going to make its mark in the UK metal scene very soon. Team TINAS was sent on a mission to document the “Towards The Sun” EP Launch Party of Manchester metal colossus Betraeus. The quartet are making tremendous waves with their blend of technical/progressive thrash metal since they arrived on the Manchester Metal Scene in 2009 and gaining a very dedicated fanbase.
To begin the EP Launch Party night was quintet Deceiver. Now, TINAS was not to sure what to make of the band. Usually, when it comes to the Manchester Metal Scene, there are bands who would take themselves seriously if they want to make their mark and to be appreciated. In this case, Deceiver did not take into consideration how the crowd would regard them once they walk on stage and walk off to mark the end of their performance. The vocals were incoherent and their playing was careless. It was as though Deceiver had no structure or organisation in their musicianship. The only memorable aspect of the “performance” was their cover of Bullet For My Valentine‘s ‘Your Betrayal’. We even witnessed a wall of death, though it was a valiant effort, but once again, it did not live up to standards. As a matter of fact, we had to walk out of the room to cleanse the eyes, ears and head as their set was terrible, cringe-worthy, in fact!
Osiris were next up on the stage to entertain the Manchester audience and fortunately, their musicianship was miles better than the previous “act”. The crowd got to witness lead vocalist/guitarist Lee Sullivan bellow throat ripping lyrics along with Keith Turner‘s impressive guitar work, Nick Harney on bass/backing vocals & blasting strikes provided by Alan Lawler. Tracks included the thunderous ‘Redemption’ and the pounding ‘Fallen Angel,’ which both blended two metal extremes. This was the death metal roots with heavy breakdowns that coincided alongside the melodic choruses, both instrumentally and vocally. This worked beautifully as we and the audience witnessed. Sadly, their set had to be cut short as Sullivan was not feeling too well and it could be seen first hand. Manchester was disappointed to see that happen, but major respect had to go out to Sullivan, who braved it and performed for Manchester.
The last support of the night was another young group, in the name of Hydrosis. Despite of the quartet being a little slow to pick up the pace of their set, they were quite professional and demonstrated their skills well. They included a quite good cover of Gary Numan‘s classic “Cars” and we were impressed but dishearteningly it was met by a lukewarm reception. “The Beer Room” marked the end of their set, which finished things on a more positive note.
Now, Betraeus, they’ve come a long way. After winning the grand prize spot in 2010′s Battle For Bloodstock in Manchester, their sound noticeably started to mature into the metal sound that Betraeus are becoming recognised for. After performing at this year’s Hammerfest & Download festivals, along with the “Towards The Sun” EP receiving acclaimed reviews, and a music video due out soon, one can only hope that they live up to the hype.
They begin their long-awaited set with an old school thrash influenced track ‘Frustrate Recluse,’ that got the venue into a feeding frenzy which then lapped up the equally heavy, yet technically influenced, ‘Locust’, that demonstrated Betraeus‘ versatility. With so much aggression in a short space of time, it was a time for a bit of a breather and what way to demonstrate Chris Sykes‘ personality through the Opeth-esque ‘Blossom Into The Void’. Sykes croons into a swansong that definitely captures the band’s musical diversity. This gave Manchester the opportunity to sing to their hearts out and grab some much needed air to recharge for another onslaught.
Another explosion crashes down with ‘Rises’ and a new song, to which aggressive and brutal pits erupted. The new song was a treat not to be forgotten and the name of it will remain a mystery. ‘Obsolete’ was a pummelling assault that with every lick had the crowd demolishing what is put in the room. As the final track, ‘Towards The Sun,’ grabbed the ears of the crowd, there was a final battle in the pit and unified cries to close Betraeus‘ EP Launch Party.
Bodies aching, struggling to walk, sweat dripping from every inch of everyone’s skin and plenty of laughter and hugs to go round, the acts made the night worthwhile, more noticeable Osiris and the chief annihilators Betraeus. The lads Chris Sykes [vocals/guitars], Eddie Johnson [guitars], Benjamin Edwards [bass] and Paddy Monaghan [drums] shined on their night and it was very well deserved! Once again, the Manchester Metal Scene should be proud.
Our Rating: 
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- Decapitated, Aborted & Betraeus @ Moho Live, Manchester
- Spires, Incassum & Sworn To Oath At Manchester Alter Ego
- Opeth & Pain Of Salvation At Manchester Academy 11/11/11
Um excuse me but deceiver are personal friends of mine, and they have worked extremely hard on their set, they were considerably more professional than osiris who felt compelled to critisise them due to their age. give the deceiver a break, this was only their 3rd live performance. they will get better, there is no need to be bitchy or nasty tbh.
this is actually very very nasty, they’re only 16 for crying out loud. this has annoyed me so much.
Meh, it’s all emo crap anyway, no point arguing about an overall terrible genre.
Critisism is all well and good, but some of those comments towards Deciever are just plain bitchy. They’re a group of of 16/17 year old lads so expecting professionalism and perfect music- especially for a live performance is unrealistic.
Fair enough they’re not great, but they will get better whether you think them “cringe-worthy” or not. I’ve already noticed a vast improvement from the first time I saw them to the videos of their first Academy gig.
to be fair i am the guitarist from deceiver and i must admit it wasnt the best performance we have given – it was abit messy and yes the vocals arent our strong point
but that is a bit over the top considering we have only done [at the time] 2 gigs
i wouldnt exactly say the music was ‘careless’ seeing as we didnt cock up and have put alot of effort into that
i think the sound people should have a mention in that we were told to go on and twice we had to restart as the mics were not set up for us which severely knocked my confidence as im sure it did the rest of us
but any critisism is useful and we shall take your review on board for our next gig
To be fair I’ve seen Deceiver before, the boys are friends of mine and personally I don’t think they are too bad, considering it was their third gig and they haven’t been a band for long they’re decent, maybe a few things need tightening up but I wouldn’t say ‘cringe worthy’ or ‘careless’ they are dedicated and it shows, although the criticism might be what they need to pull everything together.