This was part of the Earthtone9 / Cynical Smile gig, but as there’s a review of them elsewhere, I thought I’d just include the Chasm bit here.

Ooh, I'm kind of still celebrating that Welsh victory yesterday. It was awesome though wasn't it. Ooh yeah. The flag is resting on the sofa with pride now instead of the shamed face it had after the Ireland and Scotland matches.

And talking about pride, (don't you just love the way these things link together!), anyone who was at this gig could be filled with it about the quality of the three UK bands on offer tonight.

First are local band Chasm. It's the third time now that I've seen them play, and it seems like they're getting better each time. There's a meaty core to their sound, but they also have a grasp on breaking things up and adding a sense of melody and dynamics. Personally I think the one thing still missing is a bit of control on the screamed vocals, where there's a tendency for the voice to crack a bit. But that's only because it strikes me that when people look for something, it has to be perceived as "perfect". Which it doesn't. In a way it's simply a reflection of the effort and energy that's being exerted into songs such as 54, Cold or Almost There. Definitely a future here, and I know that Earthtone9 at the very least were well impressed.