It speaketh volumes for a venue and the people behind said venue when a band about to perform at one of the solar system's (thanks Luke) biggest music festivals play their official warm-up show said venue; the said venue being the Ebbw Vale Institute, the festival being Knebworth Park's Sonisphere Festival and the rock 'n' roll outfit in question, the mighty Anterior. But tonight we have four acts on offer all for the outrageously miniscule priceage of five golden coins.

Kicking it off big time are Epic Fail, the intro tape bounds headfirst into 'Rock 'n' Rolla', 'Back On The Scene' and 'Free My Soul'. Newly signed to Brutal Elite Records the five-piece up and coming Welsh metalcore act continue with 'Fallen Walls', mixing some full-on metal and screamadelic vocals from frontman Karl "Reggie" Harris with some surprisingly melodic vocals from guitarist Richard "Overdrive" Smith - a decent stage presence all 'round bringing things to a brutal closure with 'Night Of The Living', 'Messiah' and 'Drag Me Down'.

Chaos Trigger deliver their own brand of death metal to the Evi masses with singer/growler Richie Evans making full use of the stage and, for the first few tunes, the floor area/moshpit, stomping around like a lost jew on charmers like 'Robustus', 'Horripication' and 'Full Metal Jacket' and, in response to some random clapping, comes the statement of the evening from the band's guitarist, commenting "What's wrong Ebbw Vale, ain't we heavy enough for you?" 'Faceless' and 'The Suffering' follow and it's over in a flash.

The previous occasion this evening's special guest slot occupants played the Evi, there was an incident involving a fire extinguisher, but that's one for their future biography. Anyways here comes local thrashers, and yet another Brutal Elite signing, Fell On Black Days opening with 'Ends With Me', 'Mea Culpa' and 'Some More Than Others', frontman Gavin Robinson again using the floor area, up close and personal - that's the way these guys operate. Lots of driven visible intensity, the splendidly titled 'Get To The Chopper', 'Promises Promises' and a recently acquired new bassist to boot, 'Talion' and closing the set with 'Bone Of Contention' to loud applause all round.

With their backs turned to the awaiting masses, the intro tape rolls and onto the stage bounds vocalist Luke Davies like a colossus of metal; please welcome Metal Blade recording artists Anterior. 'Silent Divide', 'Blood In The Throne Room', 'Human Hive', 'Seraph' - some top notch, grade A dual guitar work from Leon Kemp and Steve Nixon, and Nixon is playing through the pain barrier with a broken ankle (a trampoline incident in Scotland, hats off to that fella), with a couple of new tunes on offer from the forthcoming second album 'Echoes Of The Fallen', such as 'To Live Not Remain'. "Ebbw Vale, how the fuck you doing?" retorts the frontman and encourages the audience to move that little bit closer to the stage. 'By Horror Haunted' and yet more melodic speed joint guitar breaks that are sweet on the ears but also ready to nail you to the ground at the same time. "We are Anterior, all the way from Tredegar" - yet another Luke Davies line, and with some solid rhythm work from the James Gang, bassist James Britton and drummer James Cook, it's just set closer 'Dead Divine' and the boys are away ready to head to Sonisphere and cause their own form of carnage to the metal masses.