Plymouth metal bands 2024: the rise of the city’s heavy rock scene
Article by Plymouth Community Reporter, Matt Fleming
Mosh pits, chugging guitars and screaming lyrics are on the rise in Plymouth in 2024. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the city’s metal scene has been growing fast in terms of bands and fans — and it’s hoped that the amount of venues putting on heavy rock nights featuring local acts will soon increase too.
It’s not the first time that Plymouth metal bands have enjoyed a high-octane scene. In the 1990s, heavy rock acts began to dominate nights at venues across the city, with outfits like Send No Flowers — who were signed and toured with metal legends Skid Row in 1995 — garnering huge fan bases.
And in the late 2000s, national eyes became fixed on Plymouth again as bands like Huron — who were signed in 2008 and played mammoth festivals like Download, Bloodstock and Hard Rock Hell — paved the way for a buzzing scene.
But there’s something different about the Plymouth metal landscape in 2024. Perhaps it’s down to organisations like Plymouth Culture who are working hard to improve the city’s arts offering via better funding and more co-ordination across the city. And perhaps it’s also down to how music is consumed post-lockdown, particularly with the resurgence of packed live shows and easier ways to access local acts.
Sean Palmer, former frontman of Huron — who played their last show at Donington Park’s Download Festival in Leicestershire in 2015 — tells Made in Plymouth that the foundations for today’s scene were actually laid in the 1990s when ‘there was an explosion of rock and metal bands in the city’, fuelled by the genre’s popularity worldwide during the decade and supported by ‘many excellent venues that ran regular metal nights’ like The Cooperage on the Barbican.
Palmer says: “Sadly most of those bands and venues no longer exist but from that scene, acts like Huron and Send No Flowers got record deals. Plymouth started to be seen as a rock and metal city and I think that has happened again today. Bands have it harder now, sure, than we did, thanks to the alternatives available to young fans who would otherwise catch a live act. But the rise of Plymouth’s metal scene is happening again — and that’s exciting.”
In 2024, a handful of pubs and clubs in Plymouth run regular metal nights, including The Junction and Underground on Mutley Plain, and the Devon and Cornwall heats for Bloodstock Festival’s ‘Metal 2 The Masses’ competition, which happen every year at the Livewire Youth Music Project venue in Saltash, also help shape the local scene (this year’s final takes place on Saturday 6 July 2024).
Homegrown bands like Carcinoma, War Shepherd, Death Assault and Lacerta are leading the charge right now, along with the four bands below, who each give their thoughts on why the scene is on the up — and what can be done to make it even better…
Mechanized: “Plymouth metal is on the rise”
When it comes to power, Mechanized have it in aces of spades. The five-piece modern thrash and death metal — or, amusingly, ‘bey-area thrash’ — band from Plymouth formed in 2019 and really took off in 2022 when they won the Devon and Cornwall heats of Bloodstock Festival’s ‘Metal 2 The Masses’ competition and played the major fest in Derbyshire a few months later.
Mechanized, who are Andy George on vox, Dom Forsyth and Andy Prowse on guitars, and former Huron members Rohan James on bass and Dave Parsons on drums, bring a ‘blend of old and new thrash metal alongside melodic and technical death metal elements’ to fans. The band, who are working on their debut album right now, have previously released four singles, including ‘Lethonomia’ in November 2023. They’ve played major fests including Manchester’s Thrashchester in 2023 and they gig a lot in Plymouth.
Prowse says: “Plymouth’s metal scene is on the rise right now because of a combination of several factors. There is always a large influx of students thanks to the University of Plymouth, which has a dedicated and active Rock & Metal Society that is always at local gigs.
“Also,” continues the guitarist, “there are plenty of the old guard in the scene alongside an entirely new generation of young talents who are passionate and dedicated when it comes to heavy music. The scene is small but tight-knit and growing fast. And, bizarrely, the enforced cessation of all live music thanks to Covid-19 made people stop and think about what they love. So many of us live for live music and I think the scene bounced back really quickly after the lockdowns of 2020-21 — and it’s just been growing ever since.”
Prowse concludes: “We can definitely see the Plymouth rock and metal scene growing in the next couple of years. We would love to see a mid-capacity venue open up in the city, maybe holding 700 to 1,000 people, though. I say this with complete respect to our amazing existing venues — they’re superb but we need more.”
Warcrab: “We need some bigger Plymouth venues”
If there was an award for the best band name in Plymouth, Warcrab would probably pinch it. The five-piece — Martyn Grant on vocals, Geoff Holmes and Leigh Jones on guitars, Dave Simmonds on bass and Rich Parker on drums — would also be in the running for the ‘most unique’ prize as this is a death/sludge metal outfit pulls in all sorts of powerful rock influences to create quite the full-on, mosh-heavy stage show.
Starting out as a six-piece in 2011, the band have already built up a storied history with UK tours, major festival appearances including Bloodstock 2014 and well-received albums including 2014’s “Ashes Of Carnage”, 2016’s “Scars Of Aeons”, 2019’s “Damned In Endless Night” and 2023’s “The Howling Silence”.
Parker says: “We first noticed an increase in popularity towards the metal scene in Plymouth following the Covid-19 lockdowns. We played the first gig at The Junction that wasn’t socially distanced and we were astounded by the turnout and enthusiasm. That hasn’t gone away since. In a sense, the scene is better now than it ever was.”
Parker, who says the band are promoting “The Howling Silence” and hosting ‘huge mosh pits and chaos’ at their gigs over the next two years, notes: “We have seen a huge surge in the amount of young metal bands that are emerging on the scene but, personally, Plymouth City Council needs to support the opening of new venues with good capacity.”
“The demand is here,” continues Parker, “and we need more places to play to those local metal fans. I do believe the scene will grow further over the next few years though as the city seems to be focusing more on culture, music and the arts.”
Parker adds: “You normally find that a metal gig carries a goodtime vibe and a level of respect for each other. Few of us worship Satan — we just like a good mosh pit and a fun time with extreme music. If you haven’t tried it before, come and watch us in Plymouth at our next gig!”
Six Sins Till Sunday: “We represent Plymouth nationally”
One Plymouth metal band that has been making waves for more than a decade doesn’t actually play much in the city. However, groove/stoner metal act Six Sins Till Sunday — Chris Newman on vox, Steve Tapper and Deano Johnston on guitars, Andy Fleming on bass and Neil Harwood on drums — is ‘proud to represent Plymouth on a national stage’ and ‘wants to gig here more’.
Harwood tells Made in Plymouth that the band, who have a debut album, 2019’s “Masks”, and two EPs, 2020’s “Unmasked” and 2022’s “Cardinal Sin” behind them, regularly tour the UK after forming in Plymouth in 2011.
He says: “There are so many good bands on the scene now made of such talented musicians and that’s finally getting recognised. More established bands are being brought into the city and that inspires local musicians to get out there and give it a go. Also, there’s a lack of bigger venues in Plymouth so mid-level and grassroots bands provide the metal fix rather than bigger touring bands, which is good.”
“Six Sins,” adds Harwood, “have long been one of the hardest working local metal bands in terms of constant gigging, getting around the country and representing the Plymouth metal scene. We don’t play locally much any more but we put so much mileage into spreading the word around the country to anyone who is willing to listen.”
Atom Smasher: “There’s a generational love of metal in Plymouth”
There’s a big bang when Atom Smasher rock up to a gig. The progressive thrash/death metal trio from Plymouth — Mike Cook on vocals and guitar, Jason England on vocals and bass, and Conor McCaffrey on drums — play our city regularly and always make a loud, proud noise. They’ve played places like Bristol and Essex before but they’ve become quite the regulars at local venues like Underground and The Junction over the past few years.
Impressively, Cook isn’t just the frontman on stage — he recorded and produced the outfit’s debut album, “Blindsided”, himself, which is due for release this summer. Founded only a few years ago, Atom Smasher also have two singles out there under their name.
McCaffrey tells Made in Plymouth: “Recently, the Plymouth metal scene has boomed! There wasn’t always a lot going on in previous years but now there’s a plethora of different acts around of all ages. There’s a new generation of metal musicians rising up but you’ve still got the veterans and everyone else in between.”
“There’s a generational love of metal in Plymouth,” continues McCaffrey, “which is different to some other UK cities. Instead of rivalries, there’s respect and co-operation between bands. When bands respect each other instead of competing, that naturally makes the scene stronger.”
McCaffrey notes that ‘with younger acts rising up like Apathy, Death Assault and Bloodhound, the omens are good in Plymouth’ although he too calls for more venues for metal bands to play in across the city — and for local open air festivals to ‘please consider metal bands too’ in their lineups. “Generally,” he says, “if you want to catch a major metal band you have to travel to Bristol or beyond but for exciting local acts, we’ve got it all in Plymouth — real DIY bands who give 100 percent every time they play. And the scene is only going to get better.”
Where next to catch the bands
Warcrab and Atom Smasher actually share a stage at their next Plymouth gig, which is on Friday 12 July 2024 at The Junction in Mutley Plain. Pantheist and Fenrir Sun support.
Mechanized’s next Plymouth gig is a week later, also at The Junction, on Friday 19 July 2024. They play alongside De Profundis from London.
Six Sins Till Sunday are penning a new album right now so no gigs until August — and no gigs planned for Plymouth (yet) in 2024. But if you’re in the Birmingham area on Friday 16 August then hit up Queen’s Hall in Nuneaton for their next show.