South Wales has long been known to supply some of the best rock and metal acts with the likes of Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, The Blackout, Kids in Glass Houses, Funeral For A Friend and Bullet For My Valentine being the major exports. While Wales celebrates the success of these bands, they would not exist had it not been for the underground music scene providing platforms and exposure. So what does South Wales have to offer? Let’s have a little look;
Popular Venues
The aforementioned acts wouldn’t have got anywhere had it not been for the selection of rock bars and venues around the area. Wales’ capital city Cardiff has Womanby Street, with back-to-back music venues and South Wales’ premier rock bar Fuel Rock Club. In the space of the small street (which also has a Wetherspoons for those pre-gig drinks), you have the aforementioned Fuel, Clwb Ifor Bach, The Moon Club and Dempsey’s Irish Bar. St Mary’s Street also has Bunker, the sports bar with a penchant for live rock and metal. There is also The Globe and recently the Tramshed for the slightly larger capacity shows. Heading west along the M4 you can find Hobos in Bridgend and The Scene in Swansea or if you head east to Newport there’s Le Pub, all small club venues with an intimate atmosphere and a guarantee for a great time.
Artists
There are countless bands around South Wales in all genres, all aiming to achieve the success or emulate that of their forefathers mentioned at the beginning of the article. We’d be going on forever if we named them all, so here’s a few that we think have a bright future.
Dethias – atmospheric/concept metal. Founded in February 2014 in the Rhondda valleys and Pontypridd, are a concept metal band. They have recently supported bands including The Dead XIII and Butcher Babies and are currently in the South Wales final of Metal to the Masses, with the winners set for a chance to play Bloodstock festival. Check out their awesome track Battleborn
Never Found – Metal/punk/rock (also known to be labelled under the New Grave banner). The Welsh/Oxfordshire quartet first formed in 2012 as a trio and have since earned spots alongside the likes of FVK, Aiden, William Control, Ashestoangels with their energetic live shows filled to the brim with aggressive vocals and intricate guitars. They’re also about to embark on a UK headline run at the end of May. Check out Just Like Hollywood’s lyric video
Clear The Auditorium – Electronicore- the Pontypridd group formed in 2011 and mix post-hardcore and punk with electronic-tinges from drum & bass, trance and dubstep in a genre bending wonder. Their energetic performances have seen them play alongside FVK, The Blackout, The Qemists, Blitz Kids and Yashin. Check out Dead Behind The Eyes
The Cradles – Rock – The exciting Cardiff quintet have received major support from the likes of BBC Wales and BBC Horizons and received airplay on BBC Radio 6 and Nation Radio with their brand of indie rock, with essences of The Smiths, The Kinks and an edginess of Arctic Monkeys. They have shared the stage with the likes of Pretty Vicious, The Bohicas and The Ordinary Boys and have sold out several of their headline shows. Check out new track You Can’t Stop Thinking About Me
https://soundcloud.com/the-cradles/you-cant-stop-thinking-about-me
Death By Disco – Hard rock. The Cardiff quintet formed in 2014 and have received rave reviews on their debut EP The Story Of Pain and Glory. Their live shows have you head-banging throughout with big riffs and tight vocals, effortlessly switching between smooth cleans and guttural growls. The band have shared the stage with Australian prog-rock giants Closure in Moscow and Welsh acts such as Glass Giants, Reaper in Sicily, Clear The Auditorium, The Guns, Kids Keep Dancing and more. Check out the lyric video for The Story of Pain and Glory