Archive for the Special Features Category

Ash – Song of Your Desire (Single Review)

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, Single Review with tags , , , , , , , , on February 28, 2010 by Tickets There

It’s kind of sad to know we’re almost half way through this release. With the release of single K, there’s only two more singles left (out of respect for the privacy the band have shrouded around future releases, we won’t tell you which letters are next. Good luck figuring that out!) before we reach the official half way point. You know what that means? It means we have fifteen more singles to go before we start getting all sentimental.

Today’s single, Song of Your Desire, sees the band return to a much softer, more A-Z style of grand harmonies, slow melodies and the occasional input from the guitars. As songs go it’s nice but as the series goes, it wouldn’t be top of my list. Ash do melodic well when you think of songs like Walking Barefoot, Shinning Light and Sometimes but TT ain’t liking this particular drawn out style as much. If you liked Candy, you should check it out.

Out of eleven singles, this and The Dead Disciples would be our least favorites. Not bad when you consider the other 9 are all pretty savage. If you want to be in with a chance of seeing some of this material Live in Dublin on March 20th, hop over to our Competition Post and answer an unbelievably, unfairly difficult question.

Or, if you want to write back and tell us we suck and ASH rule, then by all means check out the track at Ash-Official.com, come back and slate us. In the mean time, we’re listening to Command!

Humanzi: Kingdom of Ghosts OUT TODAY!!!

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, News with tags , , , , , , , on February 26, 2010 by Tickets There


Ladies and gentlemen, the wait is over. After three long years, today finally sees the release of Humanzi’s second album, Kingdom of Ghosts.

The album is available from ITunes NOW and CD’s will be available soon from the usual outlets (we’re presuming that means Road Records, Tower Records & other independent stores around Dublin).

Check out the bands latest word on the album release by Clicking Here

Tickets There has been fortunate enough to have been listening since yesterday and all we can say is…..Read Our Review by Clicking Here

Humanzi – Kingdom of Ghosts (Album Review)

Posted in Album Review, IRISH NOISE!, Music with tags , , , , , , , on February 25, 2010 by Tickets There

 
The time is finally upon us folks. The countdown is nearly over and an exhaustive three year wait is almost at an end. Tomorrow, Humanzi release their second album, Kingdom of Ghosts and Tickets There is delighted to say, it was more than worth the wait. Hell we’ll go further, they could have held out for another three years and it still would have been more than worth the wait. Quite simply, it’s the Humazi album we all dreamt it would be.

Opening with the ferocious Hammer, the band waste little time waging war on every one of your senses they can find. It’s a slow bruising thumper of a track that sucks you in on the first spin. The power, energy and sher heaviness of the band’s sound are all still there but the direction and bite in the music has grown so much stronger. An improvement that only grows as the record progresses. Just Like Bukowski has a similar feel. Heavy, pounding bass lines, bluntly distorted guitars against a wall of industrial synth power and Shaun’s gritty cutting vocals shred through the track. “Jesus, Jesus I’m joking”, heck no I ain’t!

Bass Balls may have been released as a single in August 2009 but that hasn’t stopped it from sounding fresh as ever on this record. That irresistible Cathy guitar riff, the pounding war drum and the vocals just make this song fly by at a million miles a minute. Black Sunrise see’s everything slow down but the tone of the song is no less intimidating than their other material. On the contrary, Black Sunrise is one of the most powerful compositions on Kingdom of Ghosts and marks a massive step up for the bands song writing and style. A bellowing bass riff drives the track along its path while the rest of the band create a desolate, unforgiving atmosphere of darkness that only break’s occasionally before the end when the pace increases and the everything comes crashing together to create a solid fusion of colossal harmonies and ascending guitars.

Like Bass Balls, Humanzi fans have been listening to Neu Tune for some time and it’s still pretty sweet here. Wouldn’t be one of the stand outs but on this album, but it ain’t filler either. Neu Tune’s prolonged; dance floor style is a long way from the stripped back, acoustic Amsterdamaged which follows. Padded with noisy muffled drum crashes, a light acoustic guitars and Shaun’s vocals standing up well without layers of music over them. The song has some of the best changes and an upbeat, catchy chorus (Almost all Manzi songs have a catchy chorus, stop saying it every time – Ed).

Straight Lines fires us straight back into what Humanzi do best, balls out rock!. It has one of the best riffs, one of the heaviest and catchiest choruses (What did I say! – Ed) and Tickets There just can’t get enough of this track. We managed to find a download of it months ago and still haven’t been able to stop listening. I’ll Repute is one of the bands defining stomper moments. Dirty war like anthem for all industrial punk dance floors. More accessible than Straight Lines, the song has a great flow, plenty of guitars, a funky bass and plenty of Humanzi’s dark tones. Love it!

Step Into The Shadows brings us towards the end of the album but never fear, they’ve saved some of the best till last. It starts off slowly and the band tease you for the first half as they give of the impression it’s about to explode before going quiet again. Eventually the stomping, beating vocals and guitars smash through, tearing the song apart. All finishes up with monster, galloping guitars.

Baby I’m Burning which is one of Tickets There’s favorites. Imagine Gary Numan covering Joy Division and you get close.  We keep associating it with the scene of the child on fire in Silent Hill and that adds to the creepiness. The chorus is much lighter and heartfelt than the majority of this record but it still sits perfectly on Kingdom of Ghosts. As the song develops they keep adding so many harmonies and changes that you’ll be memorized. How anyone could listen to this once and not click repeat is beyond us!

A few words in German introduce the albums last track, Shorter. Crunchy bass, military styled drums and a pretty direct guitars give early signs that this song means business. A change in the guitars and some added synths keep the suspense going before a restrained verse and chorus finish off one of the best albums Tickets There’s heard in many a moon. Shorter is similar to Neu Tune but the chorus is livelier and it’s a nice way to close of an album that’s almost non-stop chaos from the word go.

It’s punk, its rock; it’s a death disco bonanza of horrors. With Kingdom of Ghosts, Humanzi have proven that they’re only going from strength to strength. The song writing styles have grown far more diverse and been improved so much since the band’s debut album, Tremors. Yet they’ve retained the overwhelming power and raw energy they made their name on. The futures bright, the future is now HUMANZI!

Humanzi: Kingdom of Ghosts Release (1 Day and Counting)

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, News with tags , , , , , , on February 25, 2010 by Tickets There

Only twenty four short hours left until Humanzi release their long awaited second album, Kingdom of Ghosts. At last Tickets There can say we’ve heard…some of it and so far, it’s f**king amazing. The tracks have all the passion, energy and power of Tremors but the direction is far more focused and hard hitting. We don’t want to say too much yet but the tracks we’ve heard have more then justified the long three year wait. Oh god, we just can’t stop playing them!

Won’t be starting the review until we’ve given it a good few spins but hopefully it’ll be up by tomorrow. Honestly though, from the way this beast’s shaping up, you don’t need a review, you need an ITunes account so you can buy it the second it’s available!

Humanzi: Kingdom of Ghosts Release (2 Days and Counting)

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, News with tags , , , , , , , , on February 24, 2010 by Tickets There


Just Two Days left until the Mighty Humanzi release their second opus upon the unsuspecting people of the world. Kingdom of Ghosts, the bands sophomore album is arriving to ITunes and possibly (hopefully :)) Dublin record stores on CD this Friday, February 26th and Tickets There can now confirm the full track-listing.

  1. Hammer
  2. Just Like Bukowski
  3. Bass Balls
  4. Black Sunrise
  5. Neu Tune
  6. Amsterdamaged
  7. Straight Lines
  8. Ill Repute
  9. Step Into The Shadows
  10. Baby I’m Burning
  11. Shorter

To promote the release, Humanzi are in the process of uploading one video a day to www.krankmusicvideos.com. Each video was filmed live in Berlin.

Reports about a launch party are still to be confirmed by the band but fear not, Tickets There will continue scavenging the Internet for updates. In the mean time, you can busy yourself with the bands Official MySpace Page that has three of the new tracks on the player.

Humanzi: Kingdom of Ghosts Release (3 Days and Counting)

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, News with tags , , , , , , on February 23, 2010 by Tickets There

Just three days until the release of Humanzi’s second album, Kingdom of Ghosts. It’s going to be available this Friday on ITunes and possibly in Dublin on CD.

Some of the tracks set to feature on the record include Straight Lines, Shorter, Black Sunrise, Amsterdamaged and the albums first single, Bass Balls

According to the Album Release Event Page on Facebook, details about a launch party will be released shortly.

Here’s a link to The Firstborn Is Dead Recordings Facebook Event Page for the albums release. Annnd, here’s a link to their Official Facebook Page

Finally, The Official HUMANZI Facebook Page

To celebrate, here’s a video that’ll come free with the download about the band making the album in Berlin.


IRISH NOISE! The Redneck Manifesto – Black Apple (Single Review)

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, Single Review with tags , , , , on February 22, 2010 by Tickets There

With instrumental music becoming the new phenomenon in this country, it’s about time the band that do it best come back and show the young un’s what it’s all about. After a four year wait, that’s exactly what The Redneck Manifesto have done.

Last week saw the release of the first TRM material since 2006’s Seven Stabs E.P. and the boys have lost none of their magic. Black Apple is full of cosmic changes, electronica laden beats, quirky guitars, funky bass lines and a rapturous speed that makes the headphones shake for the last couple of minutes. The five minutes fly by in seconds and you’ll only be left wanting more. The year may be young, but what we have here is one of the freshest Irish recordings we’ve seen in a while.

Their new album, Friendship is coming to shop near you on March 26th and you can bet it’ll be snapped up quickly. Pop over to Nialler9’s Site to hear Black Apple and see the albums track list by Clicking Here.

Humanzi: Kingdom of Ghosts Release (4 Days and Counting)

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, News with tags , , , , on February 22, 2010 by Tickets There

It may have just been a few hours since the last update, but Tickets There is just too excited to keep things quiet. The lads have added a new picture to the MySpace and if that doesn’t call for a celebration then we don’t know what does!

Remember, their second album, Kingdom of Ghosts will be available on ITunes (and hopefully Road Records) this Friday!! Keep your eyes pealed on Tickets There for updates as we have em.

Here’s a wee blast from the Humanzi past. The classic, Fix The Cracks!

Visit their MySpace now if you want to hear some of da new shit!


Humanzi: Kingdom of Ghosts Release (5 Days and Counting)

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, News with tags , , , , , , , on February 21, 2010 by Tickets There


That’s right, Irish legends Humanzi release their second album, Kingdom of Ghosts is out in six short days (Feb 26th) and Tickets There’s decided if the band don’t want to promote, we will.

By the sounds of tracks like Straight Lines, Bass Balls, Neu Tune and others they’ve played live, this album is going to be one of the best we’ll hear this year. If you were a fan of Humanzi back in 2005/6 during their Tremors era, you’ll notice quite a change…for the best.

Here’s a taste of things to come. These are the videos for the first single of Kingdom of Ghosts, Bass Balls and it’s B-Side, Neu Tune.

MySpace Review – Wounds

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, MySpace Review with tags , , , on February 21, 2010 by Tickets There

Want some dancy, downbeat Hardcore noise? Then Tickets There has just the thing. Dublin four piece Wounds were formed in late 2008 and they’re about the release their first EP, Dead Dead Fucking Dead, tomorrow (or March 29th depending on your source)! High time we gave the boys a review.

As usual, we haven’t seen them live or heard their record….and by all accounts, we’ve missed out big time.

Opening track, Choke is full on. Composed of dark, bleak imagery, a bouncy drum beat and a solid, steel current riff, the song is a depressing, dark room dance floor anthem. Perfect mood music if you’re entertaining thoughts of carrying out your very own murderous rampage. Hey, TT ain’t judging, everyone wants their own Wikipedia page. All seriousness, it’s a massive brain storming attack, best reserved for a dark, industrial styled club on a Friday night.

Second tune Tress, opens with an apocalypse styled riff before exploding into an attack of punk styled vocals, guitars and thundering drums. Things just keep getting heavier and heavier as the track goes on and the screaming vocals and belting bass just make it unavoidably likable. Not as bleak as Choke but just as extreme.

Ugly Mouth is possibly the heaviest of the lot! A solid, grinding riff ploughs you through the track with few delays. It trails off towards the end but after the intensity of the first couple of minutes, a break’s needed. Vectors closes things and surprisingly it’s not an acoustic ballad.  There’s not a whole pile more we can say. It’s written in the same form as the others except the chorus is much grander and intimidating. Very dark themes once again and a real doomsday feel to the song.

Brilliant. If you’re looking for an armed assault on all your senses then look no further. At The Drive In Meets Slayer, Joy Division meets a thirty ton war machine, hardcore meets aggression. Pop over to their MySpace now and give them a spin….or wait till you’re suitably depressed. Angry, bitter and frustrated with the universe around you by Clicking Here.

Lluther – Rise of the Reptile King (Single Review)

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, Single Review with tags , , , on February 21, 2010 by Tickets There

Nothing better than sexy Rock and Lluther’s third single, Rise of the Reptile King is pretty sexy. Taken from the bands second album, ROTRK mixes some of the bands old industrial trait’s with their new rockier sound.

Unlike the hard riffed, rocky style of King of Nothing, Rise of the Reptile King is a slow, stripped back number with some fiery moments and an explosive chorus. Like In The Dollhouse, it may not grab you immediately but after a few goes it sticks and only gets better from there. The slow, heavy chorus just sells this track. It may not be a cover of a Vanilla Ice track, but it’s Another winner!

Lluther are releasing tracks from their second album, Rise of the Reptile King on the 10th and 20th of every month until September. Be sure to check back on March 10th for our review of the next single, Femme Fatale.

MySpace Review – Moutpiece

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, MySpace Review with tags , , , , on February 19, 2010 by Tickets There


Tickets There is bursting with excitement. We’ve a full night of drinking, debauchery, cheap pints and great tunes planned and we’ve decided to hell with it, a review must be written because we have a band that’s perfectly captured how crazily enthusiastic we actually are.

As usual, we’ve never seen them live or heard their album..although we did give their MySpace ago a few weeks ago when they were recommended to us. Didn’t like them then, but we do now.

We were looking for (Irish) Motorhead when these guys were pointed out to us…..ended up being nothing like Motorhead (added to word dictionary, Office shouldn’t have to ask) so they were dismissed. Now that Tickets There is restless, excited and filled with anticipation to get the night under way, Moutpiece all of a sudden make perfect sense. They’re fast, disorganized, punky, rocky, poppy and noisy. Dublin band, four of them in it yada yada yada.

24 Stella kicks things off. Without going into too much details, it’s pretty much a respectable sounding Libertines meets The Jam. TT strongly dislikes the Libertines but we frickin; love The Jam. It’s a great upbeat, energetic, chaotic tune They don’t sound pretty and they make alot of please noise. Good tune, guitar solos purposely messed up but ya gotta love the riff, very catchy.

Out of Our Heads Again is twice as chaotic, twice as disorganized and very, very dirty. Doesn’t make any sense at all and you’ll love it. Would really only be listenable if you’re heads in the same state as the bands playing but if you’re in that mood, it’s perfect. The Frog’s third and alot more structured than the previous tunes. Some oddly but welcome placed classic rock sounding riffs. Insane guitars solo that’s either amazing or terribly…terribly enjoyable. TT ain’t gonna dislike anything today!!  Love it.

Blister on the Moon’s next (there’s alot still to go), More of a rock track than the others and again the song writing structure has improved. Rather than going full on for the whole duration, the guitars and vocals show some restraint. Not a bad wee number with a hell of alot of solos scattered about. You get to hear the bass properly here aswell and it’s nifty. Hell, nice long solo at the end and this one’s played properly. If they’d gone with the messy style of the others it wouldn’t have suited this number but thankfully it’s balls on accurate.

God, still lovin’ the last track. Ok, Tony Delaroni’s next and it sounds like a Clash song. Backing vocals make a great addition. Shambolic, dirty fast punk rock again. Very short and fun. Battle Hymn of the Alcoholic’s next. Sounds like almost every other song but who cares, fun! Really liking the guitar player. You can tell they could churn out perfect renditions of any solo they want but instead they easily replicate the energy, life and grittiness of a live performance.

Runt of the Litter see’s a slight change. Rather than go for classic Brit-punk, the lads blare out some hardcore and they don’t do too bad a job. All the different styles is keeping this long playlist pretty interesting.  Last track, Rebecca Loose is grass roots punk again. What can we say that we haven’t already mentioned? Fast, scattery punk that once again, is good fun.

Recommended. If you’re as anxious to cast of the shackles of the last oppressive weekday, go out and party your asses off, then head straight over and give em many spins.  

Check out their MySpace by Clicking Here!

Fastest review we’ve written in ages (breakneck speed, will re-read tomorrow)…and it shows. Have a great Friday night y’all

ASH Headline Free Paddy’s Day Dublin Gig (On March 20th)

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, News with tags , , , , , , on February 18, 2010 by Tickets There


Just read on Hotpress that ASH are set to headline a free, 7up sponsored, (supposed) Paddy’s Gig gig in Dublin on March 20th.

To be in with a chance of getting tickets, visit www.ru7up4it.ie and cast your vote in the ‘Bring Them Back For The Craic’ Comp.

The Northern Irish Trio are currently in the middle of their A – Z Singles Series releases which Tickets There has been exhaustingly covering.

MySpace Review – Low Sea

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, MySpace Review with tags , , , , , , on February 18, 2010 by Tickets There


After two or three weeks of almost exclusively reviewing thrash/heavy metal and hard rock, it’s time for a change. There’s a few styles out there that TT are big fans off, yet we’ve written nothing about them. One of those styles is dark, down trodden dance alt rock. I’m sure there’s a much cooler name for it but that’s pour description. So, to remedy this, a certain Galway band by the name of Low Sea have been brought to our attention and really, you don’t get much bleaker and atmospheric than this. Forget trying to write New Order versions of Abba, these guys are in it for real. As accessory sounds go, they’re pretty good.

As usual, we’ve never seen them live or heard their album.

Never Yours is dark, haunting and strangely unavoidable. After a two listens you’ll be compelled to keep listening. If you’ve ever seen Requiem for a Dream you’ll know what we’re talking about. It’s horribly shocking, bleak and more depressing than Holyhead yet, you have to watch it occasionally because underneath there’s something very good about the film. Never Yours may be dark but it’s got a good solid repetitive beat that’s worked for bands like Joy Division, Kraftwork, My Bloody Valentine and The Velvet Underground. Although, to say Low Sea can be compared to any of these acts is a stretch. They write desolate trance rock and they ain’t too bad at it. Not to be listened to if you’re trying to start the weekend buzz or smoking but definitely worth checking out.

Skipping the Velvet Underground cover (as TT doesn’t review covers), we pop on I Know and it opens up a slightly more diverse style. The vocals are delivered in an echoey, haunting style that sits well on top of the noise censored backdrop of music. They basically taken a slow R&B/Soul/alt rock style and layered it with electronica. Again, if you’re in the right mood it’s quite enchanting. If you’re not, wait till you are and then listen.

The Crash is much more a ground beating dance headf**k. Taking the simple beats of Never Yours but upping the intensity with pounding bass drum beats that explode out unexpectedly. Lyrically, the song isn’t grabbing Tickets There. We aren’t that depressed and we don’t wish we were dead but some people like depressing lyrics so, there’s something for everyone. Seriously though, quite a deadly wee number. For TT, the love of dance music comes from the percussion and there’s plenty to like on this one. The vocals and bass combo’s towards the end just sell it. But I think they stole the looped keyboard music from The Who’s Baba O’Riley intro, never a bad thing to sound like the Who though.

Overall, we like it. It’s dark, it’s chilling and it’s convincing. The guys play an awkward, often mediocre and simplified sound but they do it well. The recordings are tight and the changes in the sound keep’s things pretty interesting. You can bank that TT will be finding gout more about this mysterious two-some, Billy and Bobby D.  

Check out their MySpace by Clicking Here

Their debut album, Las Olas  is available now in a super-cool, PiL styled metal box and can be purchased from the bands MySpace page.

Oliver Cole ‘We Albatri’ Album Launch Announced

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, News with tags , , , , on February 18, 2010 by Tickets There


Oliver Cole has announced that his debut solo album, We Albatri, will be officially launched in the Sugar Club, Dublin on March 27th.

Posting on his personal FaceBook Page, Ollie also confirmed the launch will be followed by a nationwide tour. Last week, Ollie announced the albums official released date is March 26th.

Track-list and cover art haven’t been released yet but Tickets There will off course follow up as soon as we have more details.

Tickets There Likes: Whitesnake – Good to be Bad

Posted in Album Review, Music, Tickets There Likes: with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on February 16, 2010 by Tickets There


In 2008, Tickets There had the most horrible test of endurance we’d ever faced. Because of our combined love for Def Leppard and KISS, we put ourselves in a position that involved watching eighties hair metal love gods, Whitesnake, five times within the space of two weeks. Does it get any worse?

The first encounter came in Holland. Whitesnake took the stage and we moved within range to get a peak of what was to come over the next few days. Honestly, wasn’t that bad. Is This Love and Here I Go Again put a smile on our faces and hell, some of the unfamiliar songs were even catchy. Alright, could have been worse but four more times?

A week later TT was in Birmingham and so were the Snake. The Holland experience was a festival so there were escapes available but this was an indoor show, so there was no avoiding them. They came on stage, all white shirts, leather, big hair, full of energy and, well, kind of rocked the place. We recognized alot of the set from Holland and tracks like Still of Night, Bad Boys and Ain’t No Love were beginning to drill their way into TT’s mind.

After two more shows in Manchester and Sheffield we were hooked and by the time the last gig in Newcastle came round, we were firm fans. Whitesnake had not only pacified us, they’d turned us into fully fledged devotees and we’ve loved them ever since. When last year’s Def Leppard Dublin show was announced, we nearly wet ourselves with excitement, but when we realized Whitesnake were playing aswell, there was no nearly about it.

Good to be Bad had just been released a few months before the 2008 tour and the band didn’t shy away from playing almost half of it in their shows. Why would they,  it’s a bloody classic! Live highlights such as Best years, Can You Hear The Wind Blow, Good to be Bad and Lay Down Your Love sound as strong on record as they did when Mr. Coverdale, and co were  in the same room blasting them out. Hard, blues arena rock at its best. Best Years was the show opener for most of the gigs so hearing it again is a welcoming dose of nostalgia and happy memories for TT. Can You Hear the Wind Blow’s unmistakable opening riff and Still of the Night-esqu chorus will grab you by the balls but fear not, Whitesnake wouldn’t want to castrate you….. before the albums finished at least.

Lay Down Your Love is one of the best live songs you’ll hear in an arena. The bands classic Ain’t No Love In The Heart of the City will have to make room for this little slice of power rock. The bluesy guitars, the riffs, the infectious, unforgiving chorus will all thrust themselves upon you with force.

As for the tracks they didn’t put in the set list, there’s no shortage of material to love. Call On Me (Not that one) and Got What You Need are swaggering, balls out rock classics. All For Love is a guitar driven anthem and it’s just laced with Whitesnake’s classic pop perfection. All I Want All I Need is a hark back to the Is This Love Sound while Summer Rain and Till the End of Time are soft, melodic acoustic numbers. Till The End of Time in particular is a stand out.  Last but not least, A Fool In Love is bluegrass hard arena rock. Built on a tasty blues riff, this one should be played at every show the band do in the future. Coverdale’s voice and Doug Aldrich’s guitars are just so captivating, you’re willing to believe anything they want to sell ya and you won’t be disappointed.

Maybe Leppard owned the world of arena rock in 2008 but honestly, Good to be Bad is the real winner. Leppard’s Songs From The Sparkle Lounge was a massive improvement after the Lepp’s let poppy, no joy song writing destroy several of their previous albums but GTBB just skyrocketed Whitesnake back into the hearts of their fans and, as Tickets There can attest to, brought them in some new ones aswell. If you haven’t heard it, we can only say you won’t be disappointed if you pop over to ITunes now and grab it.

MySpace Review – Forbidden Son

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, MySpace Review with tags , , , on February 16, 2010 by Tickets There


The metal \m/ buzz continues and Cork has become our favorite county for new Irish rock and Metal. In the last few weeks, we’ve found bands like Stone Throwing Youths, Sirocco, Cellar Door, Fingersmith and Beastmen and they’re all pretty full on, original and solid. Today we’re looking at a band that were recommended to us by our good old Twitter pal, http://www.duanedoogan.com/. They’re called Forbidden Son and after a few days on and off listening, we’re happy to say they’re pretty kick ass.

As usual, we’ve never seen them live or heard their album.

Sweetest Symphony kicks off the play list with a good, bruising, overdriven riff and some nice pounding on the drums. The song mixes slow, heavy riffage with speed metal guitar leads and the occasional melodic moment. The vocals are the only thing that sound out of place but after a few goes they grow on you. Tickets There is old fashioned and we like our metal bands to growl (as we’ve mentioned far too many times before) but the style here isn’t too bad, they just need to be louder. Fortunately, rather than focusing on the vocals volume, this mix allows you to hear the true power of the music and that is certainly not a bad thing here.

Second track, Arise is jaw dropping. Starting of slow, the song develops into an eight minute attack of guitars, drums and noise. There ‘s no vocals and no formulated structure. The lead guitars spiral off into their own worlds, spewing out monster metal solo’s at every given opportunity. The intensity of the song only grows as you get deeper in and suddenly eight minutes fly by in seconds. Half way through, the track goes into death metal overdrive and loses all its former before galloping back in the form of a Thin Lizzy styled assault. We generally go into far too much detail about each track we review but words (your words TT, other writers could manage it – Ed) just can’t describe how engrossing this song is. Just as you get used to one part, they flip it about and throw something unexpected your way. There’s folk, thrash metal, death metal, melodies, floating feedback jammin’, dueling guitars and wall to wall double bass drums. The bass isn’t standing out but we think that’s our headphones (made in Cambodia in 1992 Don’t ya know).

Reflect the night’s next up and the band return to the onslaught thrash style TT loves. If we write the word riff one more time this month we’ll be shot but God damn it, you can’t not fall in line with each pounding riff this band deliver. There’s lyrics on this track again but this time they’re stronger and sound much better in the background. Rather than trying to blank them out, they add well to the unbreakable wall of guitars that dominate this song from end to end. Just as you think the band are about to return to drawn out melodic moments, they belt you in the head with the best solo of the bunch. Nice!

Symphony In the Sky begins with the softest and possibly weakest opening of the four tracks. There’s little sign of the guitars, no almighty riffage or pounding….until about a min in when the faint sounds of the double bass and riffs reappear, but not to the extent we’re looking for. The retrained tone continues until about half way through when the music starts to pick up. The solo is pretty full on and the drums play classic military styled metal. Overall though, too wishy washy for TT’s tastes. The vocals hamper the song again rather than aid it and the music is more like trance metal rather than thrash. Synth’s do not help this at all.

Well, despite leaving on a not so high note, it’s a firm thumbs up from Tickets There. They’re playing and ability to write hard hittin’ metal is solid and the guitars, agh the guitars just own everything they touch. Go check out the bands MySpace by Clicking Here and enjoy!

Reborn – Blood & Hell (EP Review)

Posted in EP Review, IRISH NOISE!, Music with tags , , , , , on February 15, 2010 by Tickets There


Tickets There has been on a total metal buzz recently. We’re not sure what kick started it again but tt could be the fact that Megadeth are coming to Ireland again this year, or the fact that Judas Priest are just too damn good you don’t even want to listen to anything else Or maybe it’s just this simple, heavy metal kicks ass. What ever the reasons, Metal rules and Tickets There is finally discovering the Ireland has a lot of bands that do it well.

One band that does it particularly well is Mayo’s own, Reborn. We only heard these guys for the first time today but man we’re hooked. Their EP, Blood & Hell is pretty much a non-stop, thrashing, heaving monster of a record that delivers riffage up the ass. Opening song Patriot has the gust of a thrash metal classic. The band tightly explode into a frenzied, chaotic, yet structured mesh of riffs, solo’s and some extra crunchy bass for good measure. Play this song once or twice and you’ll be thrashing along within no time.

See the End continues the breakneck thrash speed with some suspended moments that only highlight the bands tightness when then push things into overdrive. Aside from the adrenaline fueled shredding, there’s some incredible soling and changes scattered throughout the track ensuring you don’t confuse this with the watered down verse, chorus, verse, chorus metal songs that are currently favored. The only improvement would be more growls from the singer. Musically the song is perfect and isn’t dragged out but the vocals need more of a sneering, aggressive tone.

Calm of the Storm kicks off with the best opening yet. Things are slowed back before twin lead guitars add some Lizzy-esqe nostalgia to their thrash foundations. The vocals here really need a push but as you can hear on Patriot, the singers still young but he’s getting there. The lead melodies in this song are perfect and remind you of Iron Maidens style. Then there’s the solo and as thrash solo’s go in this country, this is one of the best we’ve heard in awhile! Ah metal, don’t we love it.

The EP closes with Forever Known and it’s possibly the heaviest of the lot. The singers voice shows more signs of cutting loose as the band blister through some tasty riffs, delivered with more talent than you hear in a lot of younger bands. It’s no secret, we love the guitars in this band and given a few years of touring, we expect to hear a lot more from Reborn in the future.

Check out their MySpace now to hear the Blood & Hell EP in full by Clicking Here.

The Murder Clues – Things That By Myself I Just Can’t Find (Single Review)

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, Single Review with tags , , , , , on February 15, 2010 by Tickets There


Tickets There is experiencing some nostalgia today.  It may only be two and a half years since we first got drunk, watched Eyebrowy and decided to set up myspace.com/ticketsthere for a goof, but it seems like a hell of a lot longer. One of our earliest memories of the MySpace was befriending a young talented band from North Dublin called Bravado. We’d see the lads compete in the Murphy’s Live 2008 competition against another local Dublin act, Superjimenez. Tickets There was only at the show to see the special guest headliners, The Future Kings of Spain but as soon as the barley legal youngsters took the stage, we were taken aback. They were incredibly young but they played Superjimenez of the stage. We couldn’t believe how good they were, especially since their competitors were a well seasoned band that were still pale in comparison to these school children.

In the end, Branado went on to win that round and the following round but got knocked out in the final by…well, who remembers? Two years on, we decided to revisit the lads and see how they’re getting on and it turns out, there’s been some changes. Firstly, they’ve changed their name to The Murder Clues and they sound a little older but that same upbeat sound is still there. They officially released their first single back in September and we’ve had it on repeat now for about thirty minutes and we’re liking it.

Things That By Myself I Can’t Find is filled with guitar leads, catchy choruses and excellent musicianship. It’s not the cleanest recording in the world but the dirtiness suits the style as the band blare out four minutes of guitar driven indie rock. The lead singer’s (Brian) voice gets stronger and more distinctive with every year that passes and if you’ve seen the man live, you’ll know he casts an imposing front man stance on stage. He controls the crowd well and delivers the songs with as much force as he can muster. The word shy has never been uttered near this guy. As for the band, these guys are tight. There’s no let up or staleness in the track despite its length and style and you could easily see this number topping the charts if it was released by a more established act.

Basically, these guys are on the right track to make a real name for themselves on the music scene. They’re younger than most of the bands out there but they’ve already notched up an impressive amount of experience and it won’t be long before they unleash their full potential.

Check back for a review of the bands new single, Ladies & Headbangers as soon as Tickets There picks up a copy and don’t forget to check out their MySpace to hear Things That By Myself I Can’t Find by Clicking Here!

Annnddd, the single will be launched this Thursday at Andrews Lane Theatre.

Gig Guide Is Back!!

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, News with tags , , , , , , on February 14, 2010 by Tickets There

That’s right folks, the old Tickets There Gig Wall’s have returned (many month after I promised they would).

Every month we’ll e updating out new Gig Guide Page with the best shows we can find in Dublin. Currently we have Feb, March and April 2010 in there but e sure to check for regular updates to all these months and to see future months added on.

We find gigs by trawling though MySpaces, Facebooks, Venue websites, radio websites and other blogs, music sites..etc, etc and it takes time to gather all the details. If you know any good bands playing that you think we’d like, please drop us a message at ticketsthere@hotmail.com and we’ll consider it for inclusion.