This is the first in a series of posts about the Exeter Cavern and we start with 1994 to 1999

Let’s get this out of the way early. I’m getting old. Very old. Part of writing this is for my own memories rather than the fact that other people might be interested.

When I finished university and returned to Exeter in 1993, I found that a small independent music venue had opened a couple of years earlier (1991 to be exact), nestled away underneath Queen Street. With a capacity of around 200 it was perfect to get up close to bands you didn’t know at a reasonable price.

Having discovered a passion for live music and alcohol at university, this was a very good thing. Even better was my friend from school still lived in the city and his interest in live music and alcohol matched mine. For over 30 years now, Marc has been my regular partner in crime for misadventures in the Cavern.

Of course, back in the nineties I made no attempt to keep track of who I saw or when I saw them. The idea of taking photos or keeping tickets just didn’t occur to my beer addled brain so details are sketchy but there are things I remember from those years:

1. The floor was sticky
2. It was dark
3. The toilets were grim
4. There was definitely a pinball machine there at some point

I was coming out of an ill-advised hair metal phase (leather waistcoat, cowboy boots and Jack Daniels) and reconnecting heavily with my goth roots so finding out that a local Devon band called All Living Fear played there almost weekly was amazing. A proper old school goth band with a drum machine and at least one song about vampires meant we saw them a lot. In 1994 they support Nosferatu and that at the time was the biggest goth gig I had ever been to.  

Back then gigs seemed to finish any time between 11 and midnight which always meant deciding whether to risk missing the last bus, pooling together enough cash for a taxi or a long walk. Having become friendly with Matt, the guitarist from All Living Fear, I remember on more than one occasion the band giving us a lift home afterwards.   

Musical highlights from those early years include John Otway forgetting how tall he was and how low the ceiling was before nearly smashing his head open on the lights whilst jumping in the air.

XC-NN rolled up a couple of times with Tim Bricheno after he departed All About Eve. I enjoyed it but the fact he was playing the Cavern suggested the general public weren’t as enamored.

I also saw the Australian Pink Floyd in 1995. This was probably one of the first tribute bands on the live music circuit and a curiosity at the time. Without a big light show or inflatable kangaroos, it really was four average blokes on stage trying to replicate the sound of Pink Floyd in a small space.

There were also China Crisis gigs including one with a string quartet of young ladies (ahead of their time), and another where we sat chatting to the band at the bar while they bickered over whether they had played the venue before.

Before we reach the highlight of those early years, I thought I’d digress on to question of tickets. As the internet was some way off being invented, you had to go to the local record store to buy a ticket or just turn up on the night and hope it wasn’t sold out. Solo Records used to sell tickets upstairs in their classical section which was always amusing to watch those buying Beethoven mingling with the scruffy youths looking for their next gig.

In 1998 the New Model Army played the Cavern, and I was lucky enough to be there. Packed in tight, they opened up with the gentle (for them at least) Fate. – “I’m crying out in fury to the gods of fate, come on and get me if you can”. By three songs in the shirts were off and the front of the stage was a sweating mass of bodies.  Everyone was singing and it was the first time I felt a gig to be that communal, that intimate, to have that shared feeling of belonging.

I’ve seen the New Model Army many time since, but nothing beats that moment

Another short review of one of those bizarre ideas that musicians sometimes have.

Lammoth are an American one-man band who make (by their own admission) Tolkien influenced metal...

Onward is a concept album based around Bill the Pony from Lord of the Rings and it only gets stranger from there.

It’s pummeling black metal mixed with what appears to be music from a vintage Gameboy all presented with some cutesy artwork which wouldn’t look out of place on an album of children’s nursery rhymes.

My favourite track is A Gardner where the brutality is dialed back a bit allowing a bit more melody to shine through with the aid of some wonderfully out of place keyboards.

There is one track, A Fox Passing Through the Woods on Business of Their Own, in the middle of the album that offers some respite. With a title longer than it’s run time (51 seconds) it’s an odd bit of electronica

Depending on your tolerance level for tortured screams masquerading as vocals, I’d recommend you have a listen as proof that there are still some brilliantly imaginative minds our there making music.

 It’s taken a decade but there is a new album from Blueneck called Moonlighting. It appears some serious medical issues led to the delay but thankfully they are back.

The album takes it cue from the more electronic The Outpost rather than their earlier post rock sound. At times it's almost like listening to a very depressed Pet Shop Boys.

Blueneck have a recent trend of opening the album with a stunner of a track and this is no different. Mouth Of The Snake starts with insistent synths and electronic drums before a thrilling change in pace and the introduction of the guitars.  

Unfortunately, the next track Fragments is just that. Some fragments looking for a frame of a song to hang from.

The one-two punch of the next two tracks are some of the best Blueneck songs since King Nine. Return To Cadiz bristle with energetic guitar, while some unadulterated non electronic drumming propels Goliath powerfully forwards, a welcome change of pace.

It all sort of fritters away after that with Did You See The Sunrise? slipping far too close to modern Coldplay territory for my liking. 

You also feel that occasionally the singing need to change it up. The haunting, sorrowful vocals are very much a trademark of the Blueneck sound but occasionally an emotional variation would be good – Maybe a flash of anger or something more uplifting like Alcest manage.

Whilst it is good to see them having returned, we are not at the peak of King Nine or The Fallen Host yet

 The new album, Solstice, from the amazing A.A. Williams is with us.

The first blindingly obvious difference is the album cover – Previous covers have been deliberately blurred or just glimpses of a face hiding beneath a Claudia Winkleman style fringe but here we have a full-frontal face shot. A sign of confidence or an attempt to be more open?   

If it’s confidence, then it’s well founded. Another glorious album of languid melancholy showing absolute mastery of the quiet-loud song style. Musically it doesn’t diverge too far from the previous As The Moon Rests album with a polished post rock feel. 

Poison is a powerful and melodic opener setting the tone while later on The Veil is an achingly beautiful piano only ballad.

My favourite track is the 6-minute Hold It Together. For half the song it’s a gentle tale of piano led despondency which suddenly erupts into a febrile wall of tremulous guitars and choirs. The comedown at the end is stunning.

Lyrically it’s still dense and at times difficult to hear but that voice is so fabulous….

Another A.A. Williams album destined to make the album of the year list.

 Don’t normally do singles reviews but I chose these from opposite ends of my musical taste.

First up are Black Metal legends, Enslaved, who have decided to sing some sea shanties with the Storm Weather Shanty Choir. An odd choice but fisherman also tend to be hulking men in beards so maybe not that different.

The A side is Fire Marengo which appears to be a very popular shanty (Longest Johns and Bellowhead are just two examples of other versions I’ve seen).

Vocally it’s very standard apart from one section about 2 mins 30 in where they let the vocalist from Enslaved indulge in some very metal growling. Apart from that there’s a short fun guitar solo and an anvil being hammered just to confirm the involvement of the rest of the Viking horde.

The B side is a beautiful Norwegian shanty Anna Lovinda and a lot more traditional. Apart some huge doomy guitar chords this could easily be played in a folk club without offending those in attendance.

There is a stunning black and white splatter 7” which I couldn’t resist.

For something completely different, Vanessa Funke makes gorgeous post punk/New Order inspired rock under the name of The Occasion. However, she also has a side project called Movement for some very retro synth pop.

So Far Away is very 80’s with waves of synths over some amazing drum machine programming. It pulses along topped off by Vanessa singing where she absolutely nails the almost uninterested, jaded vocals that the Human League did so perfectly.   

The B side is an instrumental called Game of Chance. A slightly faster track making more use of stabs of keyboard – You can almost see someone stood next to a vintage synthesizer, tapping out the notes one handed. 

So far, I’ve loved everything I’ve heard from her, so I need to investigate more 

 So, we have a new album from JJ Lovegrove called History Is The Struggle of Becoming and is a loose concept on the life and works of D.H. Lawrence.

Confession time – I’m know nothing about D.H. Lawrence, so I’ll not comment about how that and the concept (I also have no idea who the apparently renowned producer Ed Harcourt is. That could just be my age or my musical preferences but I apologise for my ignorance.

 The last album from Judi, (Unravelled: The Elegies) was brilliant but so raw and personal, it was hard to listen to at times. This time it’s still lyrically vulnerable and intimate but with more than just voice and piano it feels more of a comfortable share.

Lament is an opening instrumental full of brass before we hit the single Celandine which is one of the album highlights. A slow burn, opening up with piano but with a menacing guitar lurking at the back. Slowly drums are added to the mix and then Judi’s vocals go stratospheric with a succession of astonishing high notes.

The Rainbow is more downbeat, featuring snippets of a home recording while detailing a difficult home life.

Lyrically Lost Girl is gut wrenching in its depiction of a sexual assault before depressingly listing ‘rules’ for young women – “Don’t smile too much, or wear the wrong dress. Cover your glass with your hand, don’t walk home alone.” 

The title track features big booming piano chords while the guitar weaves some glorious noise around them.

Hunger Codes is about sex and throbs with sensuous desire, the vocals a lusty purr. The low deliberate piano notes reminiscent of Talk Talk’s seminal Life’s What You Make It. Another album highlight.

Throughout, the song writing is exceptional, and Judi’s voice is stunning, full of emotion, yet never forced.

Yet another artist who should be applauded from the rafters, rather than being cherished by those of us lucky enough to have discovered her.

 Looks like end of May / start of June is going to be an amazing month for new releases.

First up is the debut album from Abrasive Trees called Light Remaining. This is a band I’ve been following since hearing the debut single in 2020. From those early days only Matthew Rochford on guitar and vocals remains and I have been really looking forward to this.

No Solace opens with a solemn spoken word section before exploding around 90 seconds in a wall of drums and guitar.

There is a slow, glacial tempo to a lot of the tracks with a dense almost claustrophobic atmosphere which the spoken vocals accentuate.

However, the first of two instrumentals, Star Sapphire, positively bounces along on a pulsing bass line before slowing down for some monolithic riffing and then picking up the tempo again.

The first single, Carved Skull, welcomes back former band member Ben Roberts and his electric cello to stunning effect. “Are we divided?” asks the band as the music fades out before the voices. The backing vocals of Yunala Songweaver are a great addition to both this track and Flickering Flame.

The final album track I Didn’t Mean to Hurt You is an 11-minute instrumental epic in three parts. It starts at a stately pace with mournful cello to the fore. A staggering change of pace takes the track into an absolute post-rock maelstrom sweeping you up in a clattering crescendo with thunderous drumming. Pausing to take breath, the final third  tempo allows Matthew to weave some extraordinary guitar virtuosity. 

There is a bonus track, Megadrone, but I’m not sure there is a need for another largely spoken word track, and I would have left I Didn’t Mean to Hurt You to end the album.

Just to say the artwork for the album and the two singles from Grebo Gray is also perfect, giving the band a strong visual identity. 

A brilliant album to start a run of new releases this month.

 I found it strangely difficult to get into Eurovision this year. Maybe it was the boycotts, Israel’s continued attempts to gerrymander the voting or just not having the whole family around to watch it with. However, there was still plenty to enjoy, and I even predicted two of the top three!

Let start with the UK entry – Not our worst effort and the staging was fun. I thought his call and response audience participation was very good. Deserved a lot more than a single point which suggests we are still not that loved on the continent.

Part of the problem is that not once did I hear the song played on the radio or TV before the contest and if the UK media don’t think it’s worth playing then that has to influence other countries. Some songs are huge hits in their own countries beforehand and so popularity breeds popularity. We tend to think only in terms of whether our song is ‘good enough for Eurovision’ rather than thinking bigger and choosing something the average Brit would like to hear on the radio.

Anyway, some observations on a few of the other entries:

Serbia went the furthest into metal territory with swords, black leather and a rather guttural scream. 

Weirdest act of the night was Greece. A man partially dressed as a cat, riding a scooter to a song made up of computer games noises was very Eurovision (even though the song was awful). He then danced with a statue and slid down a fireman’s pole.

In terms of vocals, the 28 second note held by the Ukrainian singer was very impressive and the best of the ballads.

Malta hadn’t appeared to notice that it was no longer the 1950’s but maybe it was a deliberate nod to the competition being 70 years old.

Bulgaria won and I rather enjoyed it. The premise appeared to be a zombie version of AA – “Hi, it’s been three weeks since my last brains”. A twitchy dance tune full of tempo changes as it slowed and sped up at various points. A deserved winner.

I was absolutely knackered watching Moldova. They just bounced incessantly for three minutes shouting “Viva Moldova”.

Finally, Romania went big guitar riffs, a singer who clearly enjoys Wednesday Addams fashion sense and a controversy courting title of ‘Choke Me’. A nice blend of Evanescence and Lady Gaga meant it did very well.  

Highlight of the night though? Had to be Lordi covering Brotherhood of Man’s Save All Your Kisses For Me in the interval!

 This is a piece I’ve wanted to write about for a long time and its about the great lost Hair Metal album. If you enjoyed the late 80’s of Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Poison, Motley Crue etc. then this should be essential listening.

The self-titled (and only) album from No Sweat is a true Hair Metal classic and a victim of purely being in the wrong band, at the wrong time. Even now you will struggle to find the album on streaming services. 

I saw them play live once in Sheffield in possibly 1990, supporting Roadhouse which was a band put together by ex Def Leppard guitarist Pete Willis. Little did I know that was probably the career highpoint as Seattle was about to wipe out the whole genre 

No Sweat did have some chart success in their native Ireland, but nothing cracked the top 40 in the UK which is surprising.

The first single Heart And Soul was produced by Joe Elliott (Def Leppard) should have been a hit with its massive AOR radio friendly chorus and strong melodic/bluesy vocals from Paul Quinn.

However, it’s when you get to the credits of that debut album that its staggering they didn’t succeed.

Firstly, they didn’t have a full-time drummer at the time of recording, so James Kottak (Kingdom Come) helps out behind the kit. The producer is Keith Olsen (Whitesnake, Night Ranger, Pat Benetar), Michael Sadler and Jim Crichton of Saga help out with backing vocals and keyboards.

Bizarrely even Pol Brennan (Clannad) produces vocals on one of the tracks.

With that sort of backing, you wonder why no one has heard of them.

Musically the songs are catchy hard rock with the occasional twists – There is some stunning slide guitar on the intro to Mover and Stay is a high-level blues ballad.

Lyrically they may not have been the best. The line “Rock is rock and I’m rocking you” from Tear Down The Walls is unintentionally one of my favourite silly lyrics ever.

Over the last few years, I’ve been able to pick up both a vinyl copy of the album and a few of singles, while single handedly boring anyone that will listen as to what a great band this was.

If you can have a listen and enjoy. 

 All been a bit quiet recently for the blog and I was beginning to worry this year would be a write off for new music but in the last few weeks things are looking much, much brighter

Albums expected from all these great people

JJ Lovegrove – May 29

Abrasive Trees – May

A.A. Williams – June 6

Blueneck – Summer

Marillion – Autumn?

 Whilst not being overly familiar with Wolverine I had heard a track or two from them before including one (Liar On The Mount)  that sampled George Bush speeches! 

It’s taken them a decade to finish the new album, Anomalies, so these Swedes are not the quickest workers. They are however clearly talented musicians and there is a lot to like about their take on prog/metal but somewhere it’s just missing that extra something. 

You won’t see a single review that doesn’t mention the word ‘Katatonia’ and there is a very, very good reason for that. There are times when you could wonder if they were the same band. 

I have the same issue with the vocals of Jonas Renske from Katatonia as I do here in that there is only so much yearning melancholy you can take before it gets a little monotonous. 

Some tracks break away from the formula; Circuits adds some brass to the mix and Automaton is a lovely piano ballad. Nightfall is probably my favourite of the prog/metal tracks with a bit more drive behind the drums and a catchy chorus. 

So, there you have it, if you enjoy the music of latter day Katatonia then you will undoubtably enjoy Wolverine.

 It’s been a really quiet start to the year in terms of new music so I’m actually going to start 2026 with a part review.

The original Smoke & Mirrors from The Eden House was released in 2009. A beguiling confection of lush, sensual, string laden goth with a cast list to die for – Tony Pettitt, Nod and Peter Wright, Peter Yates (all Fields of the Nephilim), Simon Rippin (The Nefilim), Julianne Regan (All About Eve), Evi Vine, Monica Richards (Faith and the Muse) …

Now we get Smoke & Mirrors + Other Ghosts which extends the original album with six bonus tracks which is what I will be looking at.

Freakshow features the vocal talents of Candia McKormack (Inkubus Sukkubus) who didn’t appear on the album. A song very similar in style to To Believe in Something which is probably why it didn’t make the cut

Burn is a slower, swirling track with Amandine Ferrari doing a very good Kate Bush impression on the earlier part of the song. 

Maelstrom is a jaunty little instrumental lasting all of two minutes again with that instantly recognisable bass guitar.  

Half-Light with Evi Vine is the track that most easily could have slotted onto the album but feels unfinished and the abrupt fade out at the end sort of confirms that.

Killer is the most upbeat of the bonus tracks with another great vocal from Amandine Ferrari but it was correctly not included in the final track listing

To Believe in Something was the only track on the album to feature Monica Richards and here we get the Redshifted version which was released as a digital only single. It sounds like a demo of what was finally included on the album. A bit heavier, a bit less refined and with that throbbing Nephilim style bass of Tony Pettitt pushed more to the fore. 

Compared to some expanded albums where they are padded out with poorly recorded demos or superfluous live tracks, I think this is a worthwhile addition to the collection