Murdermile kick-off this gig in the tiny Lark in the Park pub in Islington. Their high energy punk rock seeming somewhat smothered on the tiny stage at the end of the room, but after a couple of pints of cider and a few ‘anal finger-fuck’ jokes, the ice is well and truly broken as the crowed get into the spirit and even begin to skank along to the last couple of songs before the band descend on the bar once again, with the job of warming up the room well and truly achieved.

Next up, Mellomgass take to the stage - bare-chested, to the sound of a revving juggernaut and flanked by smoking exhaust pipes. And like a juggernaut they chug through a solid half an hour’s worth of tongue in cheek, Neanderthal-esque hardcore. The trio build up the momentum well as the small space between the stage and mixing desk was taken up by an even smaller mosh-pit. When they finally exhaust their set list, they thankfully put their shirts back on to the well earned applause of the tightly-packed audience.

The third band of the night is the disturbingly fashionable 12 Gauge Alliance. They make their way onto the stage to a generic trance track cum intro tape and churn out a set of even more generic metal-tinged emo. One can’t help but think that the band have cobbled together the most accessible elements from My Chemical Romance, Lost Prophets and Bring Me The Horizon in order to make sure they get signed. And with most songs featuring a dodgy trance intro courtesy of a tiny keyboard, the recent success of Enter Shikari has obviously rubbed off on them as well. Needless to say most of the clientele take this as opportunity to head into the beer garden to smoke. The fact that the only person dancing to their set is their own vocalist, shows that no amount of enthusiasm or competent musicianship necessarily guarantees a solid band.

Then the night’s headliners Shellshock make their way onto the stage and with no gimmickry, no dodgy intro tapes, and no crass jokes, unleashed a brutal set of Drum ‘n’ Bass edged metal. The tiny stage bore them no space restrictions as Vocalist Ayre, Bassist Jon, and Guitarist Hops, darted in and out of the crowed and throwing themselves at each other rabidly without dropping a single note. Their mesmerizing energy spills out of them and into the crowed, infecting one person to the point he careers head-first into the PA earning himself ejection and a kicking from security. Un-phased the band continued to get in the faces of everyone in the crowd, goading them out of their 12 Gauge Alliance induced malaise and recapturing the momentum of the first two bands and adding to it four fold. After a tight and fast paced set, the band finally leave the stage to the only ‘C’mon! One More!’ demands of the night.