Metal fans from around the triangle converged on The Maywood in Raleigh, NC for a night of spectacular guitar shredding and powerful vocal abilities. The small venue filled to capacity as Unleash The Archers rode into town, selling out the venue, something that has only happened one other time in The Maywood’s history.
The first band to hit the stage of the touring acts was Helion Prime. The band delivered a very energetic performance to help set the bar for the night extremely high. Their mix of power metal and old school heavy metal won the crowd over instantly. For a band that I had never really heard of, they delivered a pretty good show.
The next band to hit the stage was the tour’s co-headliners, Striker. Now I honestly didn’t know jack shit about these guys before this night and I feel like I have been missing out since I have been listening to them nonstop for the past week. This band’s stage energy is nothing short of amazing, from their interactions with the crowd to their interactions with each other, the band is out to have fun and make sure that you do the same. With their mix of 80s hair metal, power metal, and heavy metal, they instantly won me over. The thing I enjoyed the most about this band is how much they got the crowd involved, posing for pictures any time that a camera was pointed in any one of their directions.
The headliner for the night was a band that I completely fell in love with when they released their newest record, ‘Apex’, Unleash The Archers. When this tour was announced I was more than willing to drive the full 4 hours to South Carolina on a work night just to see them, but luckily this date was added to help bring the band to North Carolina. This band is just simply amazing on stage, their chemistry and sheer musical abilities with their instruments not only makes the show appealing to the eyes but also the ear. With so much shredding it could make the best guitarists shake in their boots to some of the most powerful vocals I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. This band is simply spectacular live and sound just like they do in the studio.
I know I say this a lot and probably more often than I should but this show definitely ranks in my top 3 for the year with a strong run for number one. This show hit on every single level and I walked away with a smile on my face. The tour still has a few more dates left before the bands wrap up the tour in Canada, so I highly recommend that you go and get tickets before you miss your chance to check all of them out.
Photos © James Geiser
Unleash The Archers
Striker
Helion Prime
