Trauma Pit, Banbury’s new fortnightly music night located at Hobson’s Choice now brings the latest in cranium splitting hardcore pickings to the previously deprived folks of Banbury, and unsurprisingly it’s already prospering. So Sump introduce us to what we can expect in the future by opening with a cover of ‘Pretty Vacant’, followed by a set that fully deserves a speeding fine. A template is set which has old school metal slashed into its forearm with pride. Riffs aplenty and a blood-curdling scream of “Die motherfuckers” that sounds like Andy Cairns fronting Metallica just about describes Sump in a nutshell. Nothing new here, but something deep down and dirty and, peppered with the occasional heavy but tuneful touch, promise better to come.

One can’t help but be irritated when a band obviously gifted with a great talent choose to smother it with vocals that have more chance of summoning up Satan than meaning anything to the human senses. Near Life Experience are heavy; heavy as a very heavy thing with several more heavy things placed on top. Don’t get me wrong, these boys can play and more, they’ve got some great ideas; at best they’re like a slightly mellowed Napalm Death caught in a whirlwind with Raging Speedhorn on speed. And when Singer Painis does drop the inaudible vocal style (although he’s not the most gifted of singers), they’re definitely worth a listen with songs like ‘Headrush’ and `S.S’ capable of holding their heads up in any company. As such Near Life Experience are definitely a promising prospect, but it would do them a world of good if their singer could learn to do just that.

Gary Davidson