As I approached the bright lights of London’s Leicester Square, I met up with Panic State drummer Daniel Tweddle. We made our way inside and got informed that one of the bands had pulled out due to it ‘not being a proper venue’ whatever that means! What this meant, however, is that Panic State would get a slightly longer set.
As with any female fronted band, there will always be comparisons with the likes of Evanescence, Paramore & Halestorm. I’m deliberately going to stay away from that!
As they took to the stage they opened with System Kings followed up with Your Own Heaven which were both really catchy tracks and if they’re the backbone of the new album Armageddon (due for 2016 release) then they should have no problems whatsoever doing pretty well for themselves! Lead guitarist Scott Dunleavy pulls out a cracking solo for Your Own Heaven.
They then delve into the archives to their first album with Anarchy and Made of Fire which was the first song they ever wrote together as a band, both taken from their first album Pandemic.
![IMG_3031[1]](https://rebnoise.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/IMG_30311.jpg)
The next track was probably my favourite track of the night, the new, and very heavy Armageddon Begins, which is due for release on 11th December on XRP Radio. The song has a great mix with everyone on point. Some really cool bass licks from Tom Horton who ironically was sporting a rather apt T-Shirt commemorating all the people who have lost their lives.
![IMG_3034[1]](https://rebnoise.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/IMG_30341.jpg)
Eight Days from the album Pandemic is the next song up and it’s a slower song which gives Daniel a bit of a break from his hard hitting thrashing drumming. It also gives us the chance to properly hear lead singer Dylan Epega’s voice, and it’s actually pretty damn good! Some really nice tones backed up by Tom, giving it a great mix. I would love to hear this song really stripped back with just singing and an acoustic guitar.
The final song of their set is Shellshock the last song from their first album. Which starts off with a really slow and melodic build up and then just kicks in to a mental frenzy! The catchy guitar riff has everyone moving in unison. The crowd has definitely warmed to this band the more the night has gone on. The band certainly grew in stature.
All in all it was good 40 minutes of music and the song was a fitting one to end their set.
The crowd then asked for an encore, the band obliged and blasted through Ignition to end the show.
I can definitely see this band selling out bigger venues in the. It too distant future and one who should most definitely be on your ‘bands to hear’ list.
Putting all the technical hitches aside (which were no fault of the band) they sounded great and have a great future.
Well played Panic State, can’t wait for to be released next year!