VOLCANIC ROCK

Festival Laguna Rock 4, Instituto Viera y Clavijo, San Cristobal de La Laguna, Tenerife, Saturday May 15 2010

by JAMES TWEEDIE

Call it Guanche Metal, call it Volcanic Rock, the Canarian heavy metal scene continues to surprise and delight.

Hispanic metal is overlooked in the English-speaking world, so apparently they just do their own thing regardless.

The faithful have gathered on the tarmac football pitch of this motorway-side sports centre for what is at least the third multi-act gig so far this year. They're selling litre pots of the local brew from a kiosk in front of the Red Cross ambulances, so we can be sure of plenty of good clean fun.

First onto the inflatable stage are Gran Canaria's Semper. Their competent modern thrash is somewhat wasted on the small crowd in the last evening light, but the early birds seem to appreciate them.

Tenerife's Alea Jacta (pictured) impress with their more 'trad' thrash metal, stirring up the first mosh-pit of the night among the growing crowd.

I first saw Meridian Zero at last year's Tenerife Metal Fest in Los Realejos, where they were the first and best act on the bill.

Tonight they augment their classic metal catalogue (sung in English unlike the rest of the acts tonight) with covers of System Of A Down, Motorhead's Ace of Spades and Dio's Holy Diver.

Ronnie Dio passed away in Houston, Texas the next morning following a long struggle with cancer at the age of 67. I guess he would have been happy to know that these young rockers on the other side of the Atlantic were playing his music the night before.

Esclavitud are Tenerife's answer to Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. They get a long set tonight to show what they're made of, and the crowd are not disappointed.

Top of the bill are Koma from Pamplona in the mainland, where the locals let mad bulls chase them through the streets and gore them for fun. This four-piece come on in business suits – not an original gimmick but, like their music, something different tonight.

Koma's hardcore-tinged avant-garde metal is reminiscent of Anthrax from Stomp 442 onwards. Their high-octane delivery whips up the crowd through the small hours.

Members of the other bands are brought on for the last encore, and after six hours of fun we all wander home with our ears ringing. The next metal gig is just the following Friday in Santa Cruz. Bring it on.

On the web: http://www.myspace.com/lagunarockfest
http://www.koma-grupo.com
http://www.esclavitudmetal.com/
http://www.meridian-zero.com/
http://www.myspace.com/aleajacta
http://www.myspace.com/semperspace

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