Nightmare November Review, 14th November 2025

Frog and Fiddle, Cheltenham

Review and Photography by Brian Cherrison

On a typical dark November evening worsened by a day of torrential rain & local horse racing traffic clogging up the roads, a hardy group of rock fans gathered at the Frog & Fiddle in Cheltenham for the first night of Nightmare November, a 3-date mini tour by Fleisch and The Dhampyres supported for the first night by Eldermother.

The doors opened at 19:30 & the audience slowly filled up the venue; despite the weather, a good few turned up!

The opening act was Eldermother, a local band formed with two former members of Edenfall: firstly, Clare Webster on the harp & vocals with Rob George on the guitar.

They performed six tracks, two Edenfall originals with four covers.

The songs were a blend of the gentle tones of the harp and the powerful voice of Clare overlaid with the guitar, a great combination that helped warm up the audience for what was to come.

I look forward to what comes next with this band and recommend they are one to check out if in the area.

Video, Enjoy the Silence. Eldermother – Enjoy the Silence [Depeche Mode Cover] – Live at York Cemetery Chapel

Set list.

1. Street Spirit (Radiohead),

2. Escaping (Edenfall original),

3. Stolen Child (Loreena McKennitt),

4. She Brings the Winter (Edenfall original),

5. Hurt (Nine Inch Nails/Johnny Cash) &

6. Enjoy the Silence (Depeche Mode).

With the audience suitably warmed up and dried out, up next was Fleisch, a band who fit under the industrial/goth/melodic metal genre. The band was formed in 2012 in Northamptonshire and has vocal hints of Depeche Mode with the power of Rammstein.

The band is formed of Jonathon Blunsdon on guitar & vocals, Martin Davey on bass & backing vocals & Connal Bower on drums.

With a bold intro, they soon got into delivering a very slick, polished set list despite it only being their first night of the three-date tour.

As stated, there were heavy influences on show, including Rammstein, and I occasionally felt a bit of Prodigy. A couple of standout tracks for me were Psycho and Rock Rock, which had some of the audience dancing.

There was even a great cover of Trouble thrown in!

There was some interaction with the audience mid-show with a ‘Give me a hell yeh!’, and the audience duly responded.

The penultimate track was ‘Mutter Krieg’, which had a heavier tone but demonstrated the different styles this band can perform well; the set finished far too soon with ‘My Life’ I, amongst others, was really enjoying their music & am keen to see them again on the road somewhere.

If you are a fan of industrial goth rock, I strongly suggest checking out this band; they certainly gained a few more fans this night.

Video, Psycho. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIa59mtIfUs&list=RDIIa59mtIfUs&start_radio=1

Website link: https://fleischband.com/

Set List,

1. Fleisch

2. Kingdoms Crying

3. Fuel

4. Trouble

5. Rock Rock

6. Psycho

7. The Kite

8. Control

9. Run Child Run

10. Paradise

11. Mutter Krieg

12. My Life

Now it was time for the top of the bill & from just up the road, Tewkesbury, The Dhampyres; they were probably still recovering from their long journey to & from Hard Rock Hell at Great Yarmouth the previous weekend. Trust me, I made the same journey; it was a long way!

They went down well at Hard Rock Hell, performing at both the awards night & opening the first full day; this gig was a great opportunity to see them in a more intimate setting.

They certainly showed no effects in their performance from the previous weekend’s adventure for their set.

Sadly, Mark Woods fell ill leading up to the night, so he was unable to fulfil his bass duties for the tour, so the band performed as a four-piece, with Al Hale on vocals, Paul Daniel on drums, and Tom Marshall & Sam King on guitar duties.

There was a short intro of spooky, sinister-themed background music which nicely phased into the first song, Darkness Becomes Sun. Alan stalked in the background as the band started up, then jumped on stage to kick off the vocals.

The first thing that strikes you as they appear is their goth-inspired makeup, & very impressive it is, especially Al’s. I will let the pictures do the talking.

Their style is a theatrical, gothic-inspired rock & formed a great combination with the other two bands of the evening.

From my perspective the vocals again gave hints of Depeche Mode but with a slightly different feel from the drums & guitars of Fleisch – ever so slightly softer but still had great power, to be honest. Although missing the bass, the band still delivered, but I am looking forward to seeing the return of Mark on bass duties once recovered.

They cut through their set with ease like a well-oiled machine; there was some interaction mid-set to promote their forthcoming new album, due to be released on the 1st of December.

This led nicely into the next track, Revenant, which is from the new album and is going to be the first single; it was also dedicated to a friend.

After song 8, Al gave his thanks to both Eldermother & Fleisch for their earlier performances to a loud cheer from the audience.

As we entered the final songs, I noticed there were some of the hardcore followers singing along with the band, a testament to the following they have built up.

I am looking forward to the next album and seeing what is next for the band. They have certainly been added to my playlist and, I am sure, a few others. They are well worth checking out.

Sadly their set seemed to end far too soon, and it was time to negotiate the streets of Cheltenham and dodge drunk racegoers as I headed to my car, my ears still abuzz with a new selection of songs from the night’s bands. It was a very enjoyable evening with friends, and it was good to see small gigs can still get a good turnout even when the weather has other ideas.

Video, Darkness Becomes Sun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh863RPwKOQ&list=RDgh863RPwKOQ&start_radio=1

Website link: https://www.dhampyresofficial.com/

Set List,

1. Darkness Becomes Sun

2. Blood Lust

3. Hekemiah

4. Guiding Light

5. Empire of the Dhampyre

6. Shadow Walkers

7. Revenant

8. Body Parts

9. Misanthropy