ARTIST REVIEW: RATTLESNAKES, Rebellion, Manchester

DATE – 24th October 2025

Words – Graeme Wright

I’ve been writing for Jace Media Music for a few years now, and those with long memories will remember me being blown away twice by support acts that were totally new to me. Well, you can now add Rattlesnakes to The Hot One Two and Call Me Amour (both of who moved on to bigger and better things at a breakneck pace.) They were the first band on stage at the Rebellion in Manchester, and despite an early start due to the Friday club night in the venue, this intimate, perfectly formed music establishment was pretty packed already, always a portent of good things to come.

Operating out of Nottingham, Rattlesnakes are a young and hungry, high-energy heavy metal band who blew the roof off this place with a blistering six-song set that showcased the fact that the future of metal is in safe hands when the musicians are this talented. Thrashing guitar, thunderous bass and drums, and a singer who could easily go toe to toe with Lzzy Hale in the power stakes but possesses a range far greater than that Halestorm icon. The fact that the band revealed Rowena Neale had performed while being a touch under the weather was astonishing to me, as this singer is the real deal and sounded incredibly accomplished from the very first note.

The band kicked off with ‘Selfish Soul’, a thunderous opener that immediately caught the audience’s attention with the band’s energy and playing prowess, and when the Bruce Dickinson-style chorus kicked in, the seasoned music journalist who was standing next to me looked across and said, “Oh my days, what have we got here then?” I couldn’t agree more, and before I could catch my breath, we were straight into ‘Love Me Harder’, which has a touch of W.A.S.P. about its chorus and is another showstopper with a huge guitar solo in the middle that shook this place to the rafters.

A fabulous cover version of the Dio classic ‘Rainbow In The Dark’ is up next, with the band not being afraid to put their own spin on the song, and this gives me a chance to study the crowd who are wholeheartedly enjoying this performance, singing, headbangingand dancing in perfect harmony like puppets on a string to the beckoning chanteuse. ‘Firestarter’ follows, and for me this is the biggest song of the night from the band. Aggressive yet melodic vocals, an insane pace from Nathan on the drums, and a chest-rattling bass guitar sound from Elliott, all wrapped up with a massively impressive extended solo stage front from Joshua that had people looking around at each other in shock.

‘For Even Gods Can Die’ is, I think, a new song for the band, and if this is the sign of things to come, I can’t wait for their debut album to hit the streets because it contains a level of complexity and maturity that bodes well for this band’s future. The all-too-short set closes with ‘Burn For You’, which contains another massive chorus and is a fitting end to the proceedings. Consider my mind blown by what I’ve seen: an exemplary performance in every department and a young band with a huge future. These guys look and sound the part, and speaking to them after the show, they are all incredibly humble and seem surprised by the reaction they’ve received tonight. I duly bought their music and got them to sign it, telling them it will be worth a fortune when they are playing Download! They laughed, but the last outfit I said this to in a small venue was Those Damn Crows, and three years later they did just that. Here’s hoping because these guys have a very bright future.

SET LIST

1. Selfish Soul

2. Love Me Harder

3. Rainbow In The Dark

4. Firestarter

5. For Even Gods Can Die

6. Burn For You

BAND

Vocals – Rowena Neale

Guitar – Joshua Brown

Bass Guitar – Elliott Dryden

Drums – Nathan Gratton