ItEM vs Knockturn Alley
With just 4 days to go here’s a summary of what the gig is going to be like. The ItEM vs Knockturn Alley gig is in no way a competition or anything of the sort. Last Saturday a few of us from both bands met up at Liquid to set up the stage and discuss things in more detail. The stage is set up in a different way and is even bigger, probably one of the biggest we have ever played on… the reason being that on stage there will be 2 set ups not one, 2 bass amps, 4 guitar amps and even 2 drum kits. There will be no opening band and no headlining band but 2 alternating bands! The bands will be playing a song each. This was possible thanks to Ray at Liquid and Antoine and Shaun from Prostage sound.

Last week, both bands gathered at ItEM’s practice room to decide the bands’ playlists and the order of the tracks for both bands. To add more to this special gig both bands will have guest members from the other band. Cedric will be our 3rd guitarist on the track Medusa, Max will be the guest vocalist on Bringing Back the Terror, Clint will be performing vocals on one of ItEM’s newest tracks God for the Godless and James will be a second guitarist on Give up the Ghost, ItEM’s recently uploaded track on myspace. If you haven’t checked out ItEM’s redesigned myspace profile, make sure you do now and listen to Give up the Ghost! Below are some photos from last week’s practice session.

Beast from Loathe will be our guest dj for the night and we’re sure that he will keep it loud while the bands are not hitting the stage. Apart from all the above mentioned, more surprises will follow; some will be announced later on this week on this same blog and some will only be revealed on the night of the show.

Knockturn Alley news
Last week we were also busy taking a new photoshoot, and 2 new band photos have been uploaded on our facebook and myspace profiles. The photos will be uploaded on this blog very soon. While all this was going on, preparation for the gig, band photoshoot etc. our album Medusa received another positive review on Metalreview.com. The album was rated an average 4.3 out of 6 and the ratings were as follows: 5/6 for production, 3.5/6 for songwriting and 4.5/6 for musicianship. To read the full review click here. Extract below:

“…a respectably energetic, well-structured and admirably produced self-released effort, that shows off a desire to appeal to wide audiences. The songwriting is good, with the few expected moments of legitimately kick ass riffing… “Deadly Twist Of Fate” has a cool groove going on that I’m sure will win over the live crowd with a vengeance, and the eight-minute title track manages to end the album on a progressively sprawling, highly promising note that I wish the rest of the disc contained.” -Metal Review