Metal Up Your Ass - October, 2008

October: the one month when resplendent devil horns carry added significance and a time to embrace your ironic appreciation for Satan and his vast collection of fallen rock and roll icons. Yet it also appears to be the one month when activity on the metal circuit slows down. Fortunately Hallowe'en isn't the only string to autumn's bow.

After a slow start, the 6th of October marks the Day of Bad Omens according to Roman tradition. Fittingly it is followed by comedy metal geniuses Disturbed, superbly pastiching the metal genre with their flat riffs and macho posturing (7 Oct). Some have suggested that Davey Draiman and co are in fact the real deal – as serious as cancer. To them I say tish and fipsy. It's cutting satire. Laugh knowingly at the Carling Academy.

The 10th brings the equally subtle Dragon Force to that same Carling stage. If you can tear yourself away from the Old Michaelmas Day celebrations, why not marvel at the frantic fingerings of this London power metal sextet? Though rumours persist that they have no songs, when guitarists are playing approximately 6 billion notes-per-minute, whilst drinking beer with the other hand, who's really going to notice? For those of us not fooled by rampant tapping, This is Our Battlefield collective delivers a gig of some substance that same night, as Gainesville's Young Livers play the 13th Note. Their gruff take on melodic-hardcore, not to mention support from the excellent Citizens, makes for a healthy alternative.

Orange Goblin, those infamous cockney booze-hounds, swagger onstage at Ivory Black's in Glasgow (12 Oct). It may be Aleister Crowley's birthday, but there's plenty of time for satanic meditation afterwards. Sleeves optional. Denim mandatory. Residents of Auld Reekie can enjoy the same sounds at Studio 24 (13 Oct).

Having flirted with obscurity, Corby heavyweights Raging Speedhorn return to kick the shit out of King Tut's (15 Oct) with support from the Mirimar Disaster and Glasgow's downright notorious Take A Worm For A Walk Week.
Things go quiet for a week or so, with only St Luke's Day and the consequent customary whipping of stray dogs to entertain you. Thankfully, the 25th serves up another rock monster when hard riffing bass-haters Lords destroy Nice 'N' Sleazy's.

There's a dilemma presented when The Bronx make a coke-fuelled trip to ABC2 (29 Oct) the same night as Doomriders (featuring Nate of Converge) play Ivory Blacks. Finally, having sat out most of October, Auld Reekie makes a last stand as Februus play Henry's Cellar Bar on Halloween. What better way to glorify the occult than gothic metal and a glass of red wine?