Metal Album reviews

Rock on Promo review of our sick ass e.p.

Aw hell yeah, hows it goin Sa-Da-Ko peoples?!
We are busy as hell this week, sortin more T.Shirts, makin sure the Cougar is roadworthy, fitting actual seats in the back with actual seatbelts, and ensuring the set is enough to flatten a few buildings!! And what's this all in aid of I hear you ask... well, I'm glad you enquired as to the nature of our industriousness... We are takin the "I see them" tour down south for a couple of dates, This Friday (26th) we are delivering a sucker punch to "the pig in Paradise" in Hastings, following it up with a roundhouse kick to the face on Sunday (28th) at "the Gaff" in Islington.



So as you can imagine, we are all lookin foreward to taking the Sa-Da-Ko slobber knocker down to a new audience, and also as very hard workers in the music world ourselves, its allways good to get a bit of recognition for your efforts, and this came in the form of a lovely little review of our album, Zer01, from the team at Rock on Promo, reviewed by Roz Edwards... So, how can you get to this website and read it??? Well we have put the review in its entirety just below, but, as ever click on this badboy link, and tell em Sa-Da-Ko sent ya, and check out their other offerings cos its dead good and what not!!! :)

When you think about the heavyweights of the local music scene, they don’t come much heavier than Sa-Da-Ko, and their debut album Zer01 is definitely a hard hitter. It doesn’t take long to notice a definite Slipknot influence, but as long as you draw the line between influence and imitation that’s no bad thing, and Sa-Da-Ko certainly have enough of their own style to pull it off. Not to mention some seriously talented musicians.

The album is well produced, successfully loading as much overdrive onto the guitars as possible without sacrificing all clarity of sound. Sadly the vocals haven’t fared quite so well: it’s not often you find a singer sounding better on stage than in the studio, and although the overall effect still works, the vocals might have been better left raw.

There’s definitely something satisfying about Sa-Da-Ko’s music, especially Red, a murderous anthem that never fails to get a pit going even in the smallest bar. With an opening lyric like “You never looked better than when you were lying in a gutter in a pool of blood,” you can either run screaming or go ahead and scream along, basking in the horror. At Rock On Promotions we think the latter is always the better option. Sticking with horror, Zer01 then descends into the twisted remnants of what might once have been a lullaby. Smother is a fitting follow-up to Red: if the aftermath of a brutal murder was ever expressed in sound, this is it.

Ju-On is another heavyweight with a catchy chorus, followed by Echo Relocation, which slows things down a touch to create a real sense of torment. Li features one of the most addictive riffs of the entire album, and Name Your God is a powerful closer. There really isn’t a bad song on the album, and if anything the biggest downside is that, at just over 30 minutes, it’s all over too soon.

- Roz Edwards

Anyhoooo, check the site out, and if any of you stinky buggers are about London way, pop in an come and see us Fri or Sun...

one love Sa-Da-Koers

2 Gigs in as many days

Another tour diary update malarkey

Wassup blog readers, not a lot I presume if ya readin this!!
Got another little entry for ya asses, reviewin our Thurs and Fri gigs in Manchester and Oldham, let the good times roll!!

Thursday found us travelling down to Manchester for a slot supporting the awesome Betraeus at premier live metal venue, Grand Central. After unloading the gear, we decided to go grab a quick bite to eat, making this the 2nd McDonald's of the day for at least 2 of us!! Our tour diet is as healthy as it comes!!



After stuffing our fat faces with greasy meat patty's, ( Congratulations to Simo for eating 2 massive burgers, even Rob was impressed!!) we got back just as Driven Apart were taking to the stage. Driven Apart describe themselves as Melodic Technical/Progressive Thrash with big sing-a-along sections, heads-down thrashy parts and fist-pumping rhythms. Not quite sure where the big sing a long choruses were, as there were no vocals, or maybe that's the point, you can sing whatever you want to it!! :) In my opinion, this let the band down slightly, as there was nothing to glue it all together. After a while, all the riffs started to merge into each other, creating a relatively unmemorable set, with guitars going quite noticeably out of tune by the end... respect to them for still playin despite vocalist issues!!



Next up were Liverpool band Eighth day army who are, apparently, a experi-metal band!! As these three lads were settin up, one of em produced a big flight case, which, when opened, revealed THE biggest collection of effect pedals I have ever seen. It looked like they had disassembled R2-D2 and glued him flat to a board, no wonder there was power cuts in Burscough that night!! Id not heard of these before, and they were good at what they did, more "experi" than "metal" however, but entertaining all the same. I did get the feelin I probably should have had some mind altering drugs before watchin em, beer didn't seem to cut it! Just havin a quick look over their fan club page, I found this quote, " Eighth Day Army have been described as "Biffy Clyro on top of a 100 ton juggernaut, bearing down on Terminator 2 protecting Matt Bellamy."" Boss. That amused me somewhat!



After us it was time for Betraeus, the winners of the "Metal 2 the masses- Battle for Bloodstock" and instantly you can see why. Blistering beats and dirty as shit riffs played with skill and a blatant love for their art!! Goin from insane ass death metal, to melodic treats, the variation keeps you hooked, and reels you right in! From what I can gather, they are due to record soon, so keep a look out for that, but for now you will have to make do with the myspace!!



So on the way home, we decided to talk about weird things Americans say or how they pronounce things, which was fun, and Ill take this moment to add an extra one, they call croissants French Doughnuts... and I think they probably spell doughnuts, donuts... Doh!

The next night we were in Oldham at the Abbey Inn, which had been refurbed since last time we were there, and very nice it looks too!!
As per Sa-Da-Ko style, we unloaded our gear, then went on a healthy grub hunt, by healthy I mean deep fried and made of meat!! Last time we were in Oldham, we went for pizza.. it was pure mingin, not even Jay could manage all of it!! This time however, we went for UK Fried Chicken, with 2 for 1 offers all over the place, the choice was obvious!!! mmmmmm crispy chicken with hash browns.... Epic Win!!!!

Best place to eat in Oldham!!

Back to business now, and with just 2 bands on the bill, the night was a rather laid back affair, with beers goin down far to easily at only £2 a pint, and a good selection of tunes pumpin, the mood was good by the time Incidium took to the stage.
This four piece death/ thrash outfit took to the stage, commanding heads to turn and look on, as these lads wind milled, fretted and screamed their way through a truly great set with great gusto and enthusiasm! Back to good old, no bullshit metal, which is becoming unfortunately rare these days. You can download some promo tracks and they are a defo Sa-Da-Ko recommendation, so check em the fuck out!!



Time for Sa-Da-Ko to make a dent in the Oldham soundscape for the evening... so... turns out we had a bit of a disasterous set, with problems ranging from gutar strings breaking, mics fucking up, songs ruined by feedback issues.... but when we played, we played well!! So with our collection of fucked equipment, we loaded back into the van, a.k.a. "the Cougar" and then had to push start it... great!!!



All in all, despite the issues, we had a good couple of days, and at the end of the day you gotta take the rough with the smooth, and we wouldn't stop gigging for the world... we love taking our own brand of metal on the road, and hey, you either get it or you dont... as long as we get beer and take away!!!! :)

until next time x

tour diary quickie...

Synthetic Ecstasy II Wigan Vanilla lounge

OK, so here we are again with another update on the "I see them tour", and this weekend, we found our selves in Wigan at the vanilla lounge. This was the 2nd time we have played at this venue, and it still has a slimy wall!! :(





Slimy wall aside, its a decent venue! You can buy buckets of beer and there's plenty of room to mosh ya little titties off on the dance floor! With a good amount of stage room, a good sound, and an experienced sound engineer, this made this venue less of a headache than certain other venues.




Synthetic ecstasy II, seems an ambitious beast to me, with 7 bands on the bill, Im amazed it went as smoothly as it did, mainly down to the actual bands themselves making changeovers as painless as possible! The only incident on the night was outside anyone's control, with our old friends Stormcorporation`s van breaking down on the way to the gig, causing them to have to pull out... gutted, hope you get it fixed and back on the road soon guys!!



All in all, it was quite a long night, with music styles ranging from rock to punk to metal and back again! check out the last blog entry, for a quick low-down on some of the bands we played with. I'm not going to review em all, because my mum taught me that if I cant say somethin nice about someone, don't say anything... with a mixture of out of tune instruments, off beat drummers, shades indoors and inferior equipment, (you gotta feel sorry for the sound engineer!!) it was a breath of fresh when Prototype Angel took to the stage, refreshingly competent in their style, with a nice bit of stage banter, these lads put on a good show, with songs taking you deep and thoughtfully down one road, only to kick the shit out of you with a sonic assault that you never saw coming, very enjoyable and a definite Sa-Da-Ko recommendation, we hope to share a stage with them again soon!

Look out for the next leg of the tour, Manchester on thursday, then Oldham on Friday, get yourselves down and come have a drink with us, it would be good to see ya!!



Just a quick note to end on, when we played, Jay fell on his arse. That was funny. Also, I deep fried a bacon sandwich today, my arteries hate me!!

Laters!

November Tour Dates & Up and Coming Bands

The tour continues in November with dates a plenty!!!

5th Nov – SYNTHETIC ECSTASY II | BONFIRE NIGHT! - VANILLA LOUNGE - £3
11th Nov – Grand Central Manchester
12th Nov - Abbey Inn (Oldham) - Oldham
26th Nov - The Pig In Paradise - Hastings
28th Nov - The Gaff - Islington

Novembers will never be the same again.

Joining us on our first November stop at the Vanilla lounge in Wigan will be our old chums

Stormcorporation along with these monstrous acts:

Prototype Angel

Prototype Angel is an alternative rock band hailing from the North West of England, specifically Wigan. Formed in 2006, the band formerly known as Echo Whisper Chaos has gone through some increasingly positive times including the name change to Prototype Angel in 2009 and a line-up reshuffle in 2008-2009. The band’s vast influences from the likes of AFI and Deftones to Tool and Mastodon can be heard strongly throughout their music and creates a catchy anthemic rock sound which will leave you wanting more.

In late 2009, Prototype Angel proudly won the Wigan Battle of the Bands and with their success came some big recognition as they beat some of the North West’s best bands to the crown. They have also had the honour of sharing the stage with other great bands such as: OD Saxon, The Hicks, Sludgepuppy, Metro Manilla Aide, Lights and Sounds, The Broadcast and featuring in Wigan’s first ever Epic Festival!

Social Icons

Tried to find info on these guys but had no luck :(

Skive

This band started when Miles and Josh realised they used to play football together and got to talking about music in AS English Language. Eventually, after lots of hint dropping from Josh, we got a band 'gether and slowly got going. After a while they recruited Mike to drum and that's it up to now.

We just love playing music and having a good time so come down to see us pretty soon.

Parthian

I couldnt find any info on this band anywhere. you'll just have to get down and check 'em out!!

Stone Motor

The band was born in 2010. Dom and Maff decided they wanted to play some music at Maff and France's upcoming 21st however they needed a drummer. Knowing that Bliss was a drummer they decided to ask him if he'd be up for it. Naturally he said yes. After a practise at the local rehersal rooms "The Fuzzbox" the three gents decided that they had somehting.

After another two practises both Maff and Dom asked Bliss wanted to do some gigs after the 21st and so the first point of what would become known as Stone Motor was created. Dom came up with the name of Stone Motor and France was drafted in to play the bass on a few songs as so to include him in both his and his brothers 21st and to give Dom's fingers a break. After a few more practises, France asked if the guys would mind being filmed for a univercity project he was doing, after some thought the guys said yes and decided to go with "I am Legion" a song from Maff and Doms previous band Genocide.

The video went down a treat. Although not the usual style Stone Motor would play, it sat well with fans of Genocide (after some explanation of WHY Stone Motor had coverd it) and fans of Stone Motor alike.

It was at this point that France asked if he could be a permenant member of the band and of course the other guys were ecstatic about this.

What comes next for Stone Motor? Well, we're as excited to find out as you are.

As for Sa-da-ko, were pretty exited for Friday, hoping to burn a guy to celebrate.

See ya there

\m/

The Fox N Goose - Zombie Apocalypse 2, Sa-da-ko tour diary

Picture by John Liot Photography

Flesh eating fun, and bone crunching

metal!!

Another Halloweens gone by, which means only one thing as far as Sa-Da-Ko is concerned, another night of face paint running into stinging eyes, fake blood getting all over guitar pedals, trashing shirts and rotting flesh, all in the name of the Zombie Apocalypse!

This is the second year running for this Southport based event, so its still very much in its infancy, but in age only!! This years event was bigger, better and definitely louder than last years, with more zombies, more blood more

chainsaws and even a smurf and Kick Ass thrown into the mix!!
The Fox and Goose was the venue this time around, dark, dingy and cobwe

bbed, with bloodied medical apparatus hanging from the ceiling and skulls and skeletons dotted about, it definately set the scene for the carnage ahead.

As the crowd slowly grew, it was Stormcorporation who had the task of kicking things off, and kick things off they did, with a set to knock the skin off any decaying corpse!! I must make mention of the Storcorp costumes at this point, with a pirate, zombie, american footballer, Russian communist zombie, and Jedi, which appealed to the geek in me, (I

need those robes dude!!) Once again, Sa-Da-Ko recomends the FREE download of their debut album!!

Stormcorporation piccy by John Liot Photography

Next up was a band relatively new to the scene, this being only their second gig, Skyline Ablaze!

I cannot enthuse about these heavy metal bruisers enough, they tick all the right boxes delivering filth by the bucketload straight into ya lug holes! The guitars are faultless, goin from breakneck runs up the fret board, to beatdown effortlessly, defo ones to watch!!

Skyline Ablaze Picture by Chloe Simpson

Big respect to all who came down and got involved you bunch of mental bastards, I think the Fox will need to invest in new crowd barriers, as the one in place was no match for a Sa-Da-Ko crowd!!!

The Halloween weekend was, unfortunately cut short at this point however, as our Guitarist, and driver of our trusty white van "The Cougar Hunter" dropped some of the P.A. on his foot whilst we were packing up... We were due to play the Manchester Metal Collective Weekender the next day, sunday, but unfortunately had to pull out as Jay had severely damaged his toes and was unable to drive the band and gear down :( We really hate having to miss gigs, and our apology's to everyone concerned, especially Eyton, the organiser, but with more metal bands than you could shake a stick at, Im sure it was an awesome day none the less!!

So anyway, next up is the Vanilla Lounge in Wigan this Friday, 05 November at 18:30, withSynthetic Ecstasy courtesy of Make More Noise, hope to see you there... lets hope we get our driver back soon!!!

Keep it dirty people, inabitch!!! x