CRYPTIC SUNDAYS – GODETH, GUN DEVIL CULT AND SPILL OUT – GRAND CENTRAL, MANCHESTER; 26TH JANUARY 2025.

CRYPTIC SUNDAYS – GODETH, GUN DEVIL CULT AND SPILL OUT – GRAND CENTRAL, MANCHESTER; 26TH JANUARY 2025.

27th January 2025 0 By Laura Jane

Before getting into this review I’d like to take a moment to comment on how fucking good Manchester has it for live music and venues, as a city it sure does have a thriving music scene which I’m sure most people are proud to say they have access too. Tonight Manchester seemed to be packed with choice for with gigs and concerts throughout the town centre from Metal 2 The Masses being hosted at Rebellion, Satans Sessions being hosted at Satans Hollow alongside all the other venues throughout the centre that played host to artists and bands, but for this review and my particular pick for the evening Cryptic Sunday at Grand Central.

For those unfamiliar with Grand Central, Grand Central is an alternative bar and live music venue situated at 80 Oxford street, Manchester. The venue is known for it’s busy environment and has been host to many bands throughout it’s time from indie rock to death metal, it’s a venue that for sure has a show for everyone who finds themselves infatuated with the vast genres of rock and alternative music.

Tonight – Grand Central played host to it’s regular Cryptic Sunday showcase of everything and anything heavy alongside the Godeth ‘Fleshmonger‘ single release show. Cryptic Sundays are a weekly free entry showcase which hosts the raw and upcoming talent of grassroot bands from all around the UK. The line up for the evening consisted of Spill Out, Gun Devil Cult and highlighted band of the evening Godeth.

Opening up the evening were Manchester hardcore band Spill Out. The band brought charisma and a subtle punk aggression to the stage bringing along tracks with deep messages including standing up for yourself if you were ever belittled for not being ‘normal’. I felt the music of this band although self-titled ‘hardcore’ may not be the standard definition of what ‘hardcore’ is stereotypical categorized as however found their performance engaging.

photo courtesy of Laura Jane Photography ©  & Photography for All About The Rock

In general, I found the set to be a great opener for the evening and in terms of genres being showcased tonight it was a great contrast for the event. I didn’t really feel the same energy as you would at a conventional hardcore show but felt that they performed great and if they carry on in the way that they did tonight they will definitely find their target audience in future shows, not saying the audience were not receptive of the band – they were just that there is a bigger audience out there that awaits these guys and will adore what they bring musically to the table.


photo courtesy of Laura Jane Photography ©  & Photography for All About The Rock

 

Following on from Spill Out were deathcore band Gun Devil Cult. Now, I’ll be honest… I’m 50/50 on this band. Now, before I start any negativity hear me out the overall performance of this band I would rate ‘good’ but my one gripe with this is the fact the band use backing tracks and ‘drum machines’ – does this make it an overall travesty? No, It does not. Does it appeal for me personally? No as well. I understand technology these days is advancing and the use within music has always been something to be admired and something that is to be embraced however I felt that this band fell hard on relying on backing tracks and lacked a lot of technicalities that could have made the performance ‘better’. The backing track from what could be heard was the thing that felt like it was driving a lot of music itself. The songs seemed in what can only be described as ‘choppy’ with a lot of the tracks feeling more karaoke-esque.


photo courtesy of Laura Jane Photography ©  & Photography for All About The Rock

I felt the only person giving energy during the set was their vocalist who hats off to the guy was giving it some welly, both guitarists seemed to be lacking enthusiasm untill the last few songs where the red bulls seemed to kick in and a smile was cracked at least once. At one point it genuinely seemed like both of them didn’t want to be there and just looked like they were wishing for it to end. In fairness, I will mention that there were technical difficulties at the start which may have impacted over all output and mood of the performance so I won’t go as far to say as this could be a regular occurrence for the band nor could I make that judgement as this was my first time seeing these guys play live. With factors considered I would give them the benefit of the doubt this evening and would see them again if they were on a line up however I don’t feel I would go out of my way to actively go and see them again, unfortunately.


photo courtesy of Laura Jane Photography ©  & Photography for All About The Rock

 

Closing the evening were Godeth and jeez, what can I say? Energetic – Check. Enthusiastic – Check. Engagement – Check. Their performance was genuinely amazing to bare witness too. For anyone who reads my reviews you’ll know by now anything heavy, metal and dirty – I’m a fan. These guys brought the full package. I have never seen such an enthusiastic member of a band actively getting people to participate in the show, although I’d say in a good way.


photo courtesy of Laura Jane Photography ©  & Photography for All About The Rock

Musically I enjoyed the set and found it to be the highlight for the evening in terms of the bands that played tonight. There’s something about seeing shows where the bands have four plus members when they are all crammed on a smaller stage that just makes me laugh and this was no exception for the evening, I think to be fair that would be my only negative is the fact that if they had a larger area to play with that it would have been visually a lot more pleasing but this is not the bands fault, nor venue to be honest – you work with what you’re given and they did it extremely well.


photo courtesy of Laura Jane Photography ©  & Photography for All About The Rock

It’s to be noted during Godeth’s set the energy from the crowd was top tier – maybe a bit too top tier. During the set in the crowd someone fell over and couldn’t get back up and had to be assisted and in what can only be described as “looked like a turtle” and one poor lass got a bonking and KO’d. I want to fully credit both the staff and the band for stopping immediately and assisting the lass who received a somersault kick to the ground. The one thing I love about the metal community is that although it’s high energy and aggressive no-one ever wants to see anyone hurt and people genuinely look out for each other and this spirit was 100% shown this evening. I feel there is something that could probably be soap box lectured here about gig etiquette and environmental awareness but we’ll save that for another day… I did manage to catch in with Godeth the following morning just to give them some credit on their performance and check if the poor lass had been okay. It was great to know that the guys had kept an update on what had happened and informed me they had “gave her a free t shirt as a gratitude gesture” and the only thing that I’ve had on my mind since is the good ol “I went to a Godeth show and got knocked out and all I got was this shitty t-shirt“. Please, if you read this. Make this legit merch. It would be great. Jokes aside, the lass was alright and will live to tell the story another day, thankfully.


photo courtesy of Laura Jane Photography ©  & Photography for All About The Rock

Overall, the evening brought some talent to the stage and was a highly enjoyable evening. Would I go again? Heck yes I would. Would I see the bands that played tonight again? For the most part, yes. I’m looking forward to attending some more events at Grand Central as I feel that the organizer Harley has something really strong going and it was clear from the turn out of the evening that the general public are enjoying these evenings. For more information on Cryptic Sunday showcases from Cryptic Promotions visit >> HERE <<

 

FOR EVERYTHING SPILL OUT VISIT >> HERE <<

FOR EVERYTHING GUN DEVIL CULT VISIT >> HERE <<

FOR EVERYTHING GODETH VISIT >> HERE <<

 

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