DATE – 5th September 2026
Words + Pictures – Graeme Wright
In what has become an annual event for me, I was in Manchester watching Wailing Banshee, who just like last year were supported by Rattlesnakes. I predicted big things for Rattlesnakes as they blew me away last time out, and they’ve had a wonderful year so far in 2026. They signed to Listenable Records at the start of the year, they are due to release their debut album in October which will be supported with some headline dates, and they’ve played some big Festivals including Maid Of Stone in the Summer. They’ve already been announced for Call Of The Wild and Steel Over The Solvent in 2027, and you can expect many more big events going forward.
So, what’s all the fuss about? Well, the band play an eighties tinged traditional Heavy Metal with more than a dose of the speed and aggression of the classical Thrash era. Pace, power, incredibly tight twin guitars and a rock solid back line all mingle together to produce a massively addictive Metal sound, and if you add in the iron lungs of singer Rowena Neale you have what for me is pretty much the perfect package and the sky’s the limit for this outfit. The band are an incredibly photogenic crew to shoot, and the fact that this place was busy early doors speaks volumes for their burgeoning reputation. We are treated to six songs tonight, all of the highest quality and while the band were tight last year they have come such a long way in less than twelve months and they genuinely blew me away tonight. Every band member prowls the stage, covering an immense amount of ground, and the speaker next to me genuinely shakes when Neale hits those high notes.
Favourites such as ‘Firestarter’ and ‘For Even Gods Can Die’ fit in nicely with the title track from the forthcoming album ‘Shadows In The Night’, and it’s clear that the complexity of the new arrangements and the quality of this stage performance clearly indicates a band that are advancing to the next level. If you get the chance to see them this year make sure you do (I’ll be popping along to their headlining show in Liverpool in November). It’s just possible that they will outgrow the more intimate establishments next year, and if they do so it will come as no surprise to me. Highly recommended.
SET LIST
1. Spellbound
2. Firestarter
3. Shadows In The Night
4. Love Me Harder
5. Forever
6. For Even Gods Can Die
BAND
Vocals – Rowena Neale
Guitar – George Charleston
Guitars – Joshua Brown
Bass Guitar – Elliot Dryden
Drums – Nathan Gratton
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