FAINT YOUNG SUN - WICKFORD - POST HARDCORE / POWER POP

Wickford crew Faint Young Sun brought the armored sounds of Post-Hardcore / Soft Rock with the sauces of breakdown HP, funk-out Ketchup and Heinz 666. This is their first time they played their as of yet untitled song, with the fruitiest of breakdowns bearing a apple and cream of the crop, in tandem with a rotten pear in relation to a steamed out drummer. None the less they brought their 'A' game with them, whipping in a formidable ballistic missile of unprecedented audible sound-waves, echoing their name in their own sound of which is incomparable to other bands. Wild Wickford wizardry whips whirlwinds of wondrous wreckage around to calm the anti-carnage which seems to have stalled the crowd, but for Faint Young Sun, they may as well have won the hearts over on this one.

[8.5] RHYS STEVENSON

FREE A.M. - ASHINGDON - PUNK ROCK

Sounding like a estranged mix of acute pop / post-punk rock this band have a screechy vocalist, but with that sounds the sensational audio noise of punk being booted out from the speakers. This is the sort of band that ups the ante from recording to live performances, whilst the guitar strumming is synchronous and the solo was insanely mental, this band brought in a party / funk feel and raised the poker stakes in that heat of the Rayleigh Battle of the Bands, musically they are similar to that of Sum 41 and Madina Lake. Free A.M. are a band bringing back the old traditional foundations of Punk Rock found in The Who, Sex Pistols and The Clash. Free A.M. however made their own sound and something new, just old roots are used as a foundation for this.

[7] RHYS STEVENSON

IT KILLED HARPER - SOUTHEND - PUNK ROCK / METAL

This quartet unleash a torrential downpour of rock infused hardcore or so it would seem as their genre seems to be somewhat undetectable in it's easiest form, however the music itself is a semi-whitewash, coming from a progressive influence by embedding it on a watered down version of hardcore. Creating eccentric solo's, outrageous riffs and a hellbender humdinger of a matrix-cocktail from which involves mixing both rock and metal into the musical cookery pot and brewing something sensationally non-comprehensive in it's penultimate stage. It Killed Harper burdened a decent stage presence, but sadly they were the least promising of the night. There is a long way for these chaps to go before they can think of making something sound-breaking or record breaking. They brim with potential but lacked on the harnessing of the power and enthusiasm they tried giving.

[6] RHYS STEVENSON

ALL FOR YOU - WICKFORD - POP PUNK / HARDCORE

Armed with a female vocalist, bringing more than a Pop Rock sound to the stage All For You delivers a sound that sounds far better than Paramore meeting Rolo Tomassi and The Pretty Reckless in one hit. The vocalist's vocals are left unchallenged, being one of unique sound and different to modern female-fronted bands. All For You is one of those bands that should easily be on Kerrang Radio and in Kerrang Magazine under the 'soft rock' tag, however they caused a rapture of which unleashed a chasm of interlinking musical craftsmanship with the underbelly of a meshed collection of Pop Rock, Riot Grrl and utmost intellect. Whilst the dress style clearly reflects a Post-Punk image, the music does the talking, ripping up a parallel streak of notes to awaken any nearby graveyards, so whilst the dead lay waiting  to be awaken (no pun on the Swindon Metal band) by a band with enough explosive sound to challenge the British Army, the living are always awake, but in this case stand emotionally attached to this band's music. Definitely a band to watch out for, one of the more promising bands from the Essex music scene and definitely Kerrang material for sure, what with having the guts to do a cover of Jessie J's 'do it like a dude', this made JJ look like a poseur in music.

[8.5] RHYS STEVENSON

SOME WERE SATELLITES - ESSEX - ALTERNATIVE ROCK

Climaxing on the vibes of Post-Punk / Hardcore is The Satellites, a quintet with more stomach-churning power than the Saw 'goreology'. But that's a little bit of a non-intellectual statement, in mere sincerity this band have a sack of balls more than ball sacks (no rude pun intended, unless you think that way), sounding similar to Enter Shikari munus the trance music, this quintet finalises a night full of ups, downs and the wide array of genres that have been exerted this night - even if the crowd resembled a home match of a local non-league football match. Even if they had a bout of trouble with the drums and a pun-after-pun sexual-related verbatim, this is a band with MTV stamped on their backside and a record label deal possibly in sight, mixing the best of soft popcore with hard hardcore. The Satellites are a  promising upcoming band that could grab Kerrang's attention, all that's left to say is watch this band closely.

[8.5] RHYS STEVENSON

2ND HEAT

SUPER CHARGER - CHELMSFORD - THRASH METAL

This quartet hailing from the county town known as Chelmsford brought a string of insanity with them, a collaboration of the Thrash Metal genre and sleaze style complimented their stage presence, essentially in the style of the Brazilian Thrash metal posture, all in all this quartet bring a battering of a bruising in a fury of a fire-storm, whipping up a storm on stage in the form of a blasting of sonic audible, fury-laden, balls-scorched Thrash Metal. A band to watch out for, with a collection of riffs to rape any human senses, Super Charger are perhaps one of Essex's Metal hopefuls.

[7] RHYS STEVENSON

STORM OF ASHES - SOUTHEND - METAL

Hailing from Southend, Storm of Ashes is a metal quintet who infuse hardcore-style vocals with a metalcore basis, but the genre is hard to pin-point. Essentially guaranteed to snap spines and murder man kind, the quintet unleashed a ravenous display of futile brutality, raw riffs and a complete array of ear-shattering musical compositions. Not to mention a catastrophic explosion emanating from the speakers of which cascaded upwards and downwards to entrance the audience into a mind-boggling jaunt of songs which concluded as a promising signal that Storm of Ashes are ready to wage war.

[7] RHYS STEVENSON

SLEEPLESS PARIAH - SOUTH-EAST ESSEX - METAL

The heaviest and far more brutal act of the night, the South-East Essex quintet Sleepless Pariah detonate a collection of nuclear tracks to devalue any negativity possibly surrounding this Death Metal / Hardcore band. Blitzing an endless wave of eccentricity in it's most intricate form, this is due to be the next big act from Essex, sounding a little heavier than fellow county men Tides of Virtue, the break downs offer a unique sound in that the guitars do high-pitch squealing, whilst rivalling audio space with the extreme drumming. Sleepless Pariah are one of the top five new bands from Essex to watch out for.

[8.5] RHYS STEVENSON

ALL AT SEA - ESSEX - MELODIC HARDCORE / ROCK

Not one of the better performances that night but still could have been worse, none the less Essex quintet All At Sea gave a solid performance, best they could. Mixing a soft approach of melodic rock with emo-ish hardcore to sound similar to bands like Madina Lake. None the less, these boys are certainly BBC Radio material and are sure to become a big hit in the rock scene, strange as it may be even though their performance was acceptable, they won the 2nd heat of the BOTB. So there could be something I was missing, but I am sure these guys will prepare to wreck the place once again.

[6.5] RHYS STEVENSON

CHASE THE ENEMY - CHELMSFORD - POP / PUNK / ALT ROCK

Of all the bands that night, the most livelier rock band came out with a breathtaking performance, with vocals sounding similar to that of Hayley Williams, Amy Lee and Avril Lavigne put together, the soft but funky sound of Pop Punk eradicated all moshpits and enlivened a decent party feeling. Chase The Enemy hailing from Chelmsford gave a slap on the face to those exhausted and begged for more excitement. Playing as a quintet but sounding more like an army, Chase The Enemy may just yet get some attention from Kerrang! before long.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

RAYLEIGH BATTLE OF THE BANDS HEAT 2 WINNER: ALL AT SEA