Metal Moth formed in the North East of England in 2012 and as usually happens with new bands, they form before deciding what to be called. The name came about following an incident involving the death of a moth during one of the band's early rehearsals. I have to be honest here – I’m sure it was really funny if you were there but it doesn't augur well and I wondered whether or not they were a serious band or were they going to be a bit "Spinal Tap".

Rise is their first EP and is intended to be the first part of a three EP set - so let's have a listen and find out what it's like.......

Opener "Moth To The Flame" positively thunders along with a riff that wouldn't be out of place on one of the early Iron Maiden albums. Bass player David Collinson shows his dexterity with a thundering break before a shredding solo highlights some great guitar playing from Mark Gibbons and Chris Fisher. This is definitely not a "joke" band – when the music is this good, should the name be an issue?

Second song "One More Time" is in a similar vein and features some really slick double bass drum work from Natalie Gaines. I can hear some slightly more American influences (touches of Creed, Metallica and even some Velvet Revolver) and it's another decent song.

Third song "Meltdown" is the slowest on offer here but doesn't suffer from that - it seems to have a bit of a grinding Black Sabbath feel. It’s a good song. It’s during this song that I worked out my main issue with this EP – singer Kurt Hudson's vocals are on the better side of competent but are possibly slightly too low in the overall mix.  

Closer "Metal Maniac" opens with some solid bass and drums before some nifty twin guitar kicks in. After the opening instrumental section the main riff arrives and it's a corker. Another up-tempo songs that fairly stomps along, I can imagine the devil horns and head banging that must accompany this one when the band play live.

It's clear by now that this band are heavy but melodic and they're influenced by a fair few classic rock/metal bands - all blended together with the addition of their own twist, to give us something very promising indeed. Unfortunately from my little bit of research it seems that Collinson has now left the band and they're currently searching for a replacement. They need to choose carefully as he did a great job on this EP, which gets a big thumbs up from me - here's hoping the new guy/gal hits the ground running and we get the second EP shortly. Seriously though guys - consider a name change.......(so to answer my earlier question, “yes the name is an issue” - sorry).

Review by Adrian Grainger