Do you know: Xero Posted: 14/06/2019 by Philip Morrissey
For those of you who know, Saturday marks the debut of Metal United Worldwide in Cork. For anyone unaware, this is an event which takes place around the globe on the very same day. Gigs are being hosted in various countries including Australia, Thailand, Brazil, USA, Indonesia, Poland, Albania, Mexico, China, Germany and many more.
The Irish of this event is due to take place in Cyprus Avenue on Saturday 15th from 1.PM on-wards. It is scheduled to be a huge show with many different bands performing at it. Some may be familiar to you. Some may not. Here is an introduction to the many bands due to lineup.
One band has to open up the show and this task is handed to Xero from Limerick. But it is a job that they are relishing. Combining aspects of thrash, groove and heavy metal, they are a band with a very bright future ahead of them.
Unlike a lot of bands, much of the ground work was in place before the lineup came into place. “We got together because rhythm guitarist, Dave Bourke, was recording his own material in a studio in Limerick, and enlisted Mike Carroll as a vocalist to sing on the material, When the two realised they worked so well together, they decided to find the members to fill out the project and make it a band. They were able to bring a fully recorded album to the potential members and show them exactly the direction they wanted it to move in. It also allowed the band to cut out a lot of the faffing in the early stages and hit the ground running.”
Befitting their varied styles of playing, the members can all point towards different influences. “Dave’s influences are very much based in old-school thrash and speed playing. Some of his favourites would be Annihilator, Megadeth, Testament, Anthrax, Paradox, but of course the biggest would have to be Metallica. Mike has a wide mix of influences, pulling in his heavy style from hardcore, and his melodic from bands such as Oasis, Faith No More, Soundgarden etc. Our bass player, Nick, is the most open-minded people you could meet, and is interested in absolutely every style of music. Our drummer, Andrew, is very much the same; listening to everything from Lamb of God, to musicians such as Brian Eno and Dave Brubeck. Our lead guitarist Conny is a grade 8 guitarist with a long history in music, appreciating many different styles. The thing he loves more than anything would be blues music, such as Stevie Ray Vaughan or Andy Timmons.”
Despite their relatively short time together, they can already point towards major highlights. “Some of the ones we really had fun at were headlining the Button Factory in October 2018, opening for Hed PE in December 2018 and playing at the Limerick Tattoo Convention in March just gone.”
An obvious dream for almost very band to play with is mentioned but one member would perhaps mention another. “The band that we would most like to support would have to be Metallica. They’re one of the bands that just lights us up more than others. Their live show is just incredible. Although Mike’s ideal band to support if I had to guess would have been Pantera or Down. He’s a huge Phil Anselmo fan. He would be beside himself in that situation.”
They have high praise for the state of metal in this country at the moment. “I believe metal is in a very good place at the moment. Our scene is always growing and as always the metal community is filled with the nicest people you could meet. As metallers, we all know we are into a very niche interest as opposed to pop music. A lot of us grew up feeling very much on the side-lines and not fitting in. That has taught us to be open-minded as people, as well as giving us a very accepting nature towards other people. I think that’s why our scene is so accepting and makes everyone who enjoys the music feel so welcome.”
This is further emphasised in their views on Metal United. “Metal United as a concept is a fantastic idea. Uniting stages all over the world on the same day under the same banner. It is a perfect statement which stands for the ethos of the metal community as a whole. We are very united as a group of people through a common interest which gives a lot of joy. Metal United shows that this love and bond stands on a global scale. As well as in our own individual tight-knit communities. Together we will ALWAYS stand.”
Yet again it comes back to sharing the stage with friends. “Black Shuck are an incredible band. So heavy, but with a serious bounce. Great grove and movement in their stuff. I love seeing them. Our good friends, Slung From a Tree, are also playing. Great sludgy, muffy, warm sound. Their set is gonna be excellent on Saturday. Of course, our friends in ZhOra will put on a brilliant show. They are just going from strength to strength. I can’t wait to hear all the bands!”
And they are set to be extremely busy away from the stage. Some of which is promised to be unveiled on Saturday. “We’re currently in the studio writing and recording our next batch of songs. We have some amazing collaborations working on them, including Allan Atkins of Judas Priest, and Steve Page of Rivethead. They’re very heavy songs, and we think they’re gonna down well. We’re actually playing one our new songs, ‘Quickfire’, on Saturday. I think its gonna be our second song. We’ll be releasing it once we shoot the video in the next few weeks! We’re also working on plans to release a live album recorded in our studio with our producer Joey Mulcahy of Open Door Studios. All in all, a busy time for us, but the new material is gonna be big!”
Xero kick off events from around 13:30. Come early.
https://www.facebook.com/XEROLimerick/
