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The almighty Riff, one of the main reasons for the existence of this site. There's nothing quite like watching a band live or listening to them at home & they pull something out of the bag that has your head either banging like crazy or nodding in time with a big cheesy grin on your face. That riff can be the most elusive thing that a band will ever strive to find & not all of them are successful in their search. But what happens if a band can deliver riffs of consistent quality on every song they release? What happens if such a band comes from Derry?

Triggerman, for you not in the know, were formed in 2002 & featured Beano (drums), Niall (bass), Bap (guitar/vocals) & Dee Moore (guitar /vocals). The 4 guys between them had cut their teeth in local outfits Moracova, Skin Grip & Ekron Thamar among others. From the start the band decided to write & perform their own material & as a consequence released a 4 track e.p. called helpfully 'Demo 23.02.03'. Attitude & intent bled from this release & the band capitalised on this by building up a sizeable following locally & in Belfast with some blistering gigs.

Things took a tricky turn when Dee announced that he was heading for America with his new wife to pursue other musical avenues. Being the sound bloke he is, he gave the band plenty of warning which allowed them to find a new member before he went so Uggy came in on Bass & Niall moved over to guitar with Bap taking lone vocal duties.

The band then decided to stop gigging for a while & concentrate on writing & perfecting new material for a new e.p. which they released in early May. This new collection of songs is called 6th Extinction & if you'll allow me I'll take you through each song.

The first track is called 'Origin of man' which opens up with a moody intro reminiscent of "Blues for the Red Sun' era Kyuss. The band comes in one by one until the riff kicks in. When the riff does kick in you can't help yourself, your head starts bobbing up & down & side to side. Over the top of this Bap is giving us his take on the book of Genesis & Darwin. I could be wrong here but I don't think Bap believes everything he has been told. Maybe it's the chorus that gives it away "I hear what you say, I don't give a damn, I have my own opinion about the origins of man" I won't tell you what those opinions are; you will have to buy the CD to find out.

Up next is an instrumental called 'Catalyst'. Now, whenever I think of instrumentals I imagine some guy playing 200 notes a second on his guitar whilst pulling strange faces (gurning). Not my cup of tea at all. What we have here is something altogether different. Basically for 5 minutes the band hit a groove & drive along another cracking riff along at a fair pace with a little wah wah drenched soloing about 2/3 of the way in. Yet again you will find your head going in time with the music, you just can't help yourself.

Following this is 'Worms' which hits you like steam train. I think at this stage I should mention the production on this disc. Done at the local 'Blast Furnace' Studios by Mik O'Connell it really is outstanding. Every instrument can clearly be heard & too often in this type of music clarity is lost to distortion or the sheer heaviness of the music but not here. Every note is there to be heard & special praise goes to those involved. The whole band are really on fire with the bass sound deserving a mention, heavy but with enough treble in it to make it stand out from the guitars.

Finally we have live favourite 'The Preacher of Rock'. A simple yet powerful riff (aren't they all?) powers along in the background as Bap really does preach about the power of ROCK & who is gonna argue with him? He's in his element here "Bow down to the preacher, all of my disciples get down on their knees" he cries at the start, you'll almost find yourself doing just that. When you witness the band playing this live you could find yourself having a Heavy Metal Epiphany & end up confessing to any straying from the path of true Metal. Amen.

This band play some of the heaviest groove ridden metal music I've ever heard, they aren't heavy enough to alienate Rockers from the old school but are heavy enough to attract a younger audience who have grown up on more extreme forms of Metal. Each song on this disc contains enough excellence to satisfy anyone willing to give the band a chance & I urge you to buy this CD, you won't be disappointed.

Currently on sale at Trash, Cool Discs & Virgin (Foyleside) as well as all gigs

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE BAND AT www.triggerman.co.uk/