Celebration of British rock at venue

Midland headbangers are in for a double treat this month as two of the bands on the bill at this weekend's Download festival make an appearance at the first ever dedicated British Rock & Metal Fest at JB's in Dudley.

Voodoo Six and Hostile, from Birmingham, are part of a packed bill topped by Tamworth's Blaze Bayley, the former Wolfsbane and Iron Maiden frontman.

Original Judas Priest singer Al Atkins also appears with his band Holy Rage.

The festival, on Saturday June 28 is the brainchild of Steve Slater from Dudley, lead guitarist with reformed 80s metallers Rekuiem, who are also on the bill.

Steve explained: "I've played in rock bands for 20 odd years and I reckoned it would be a great idea to have a dedicated British festival. A lot of the other festivals bring over bands from America.

"The event promises to be a day to remember and hopefully one that will develop into an annual day out for rockers from around the UK and no doubt some fans of British metal from across Europe."

The line-up is a celebration of British rock and metal in its many guises, with the full line up being Blaze Bayley, Voodoo Six, Rekuiem, Holy Rage, Spit Like This, Abigail's Mercy, Orius, Heresy and Broken Faith.

Blaze Bayley is currently on a world tour promoting his latest album The Man Who Would Not Die.

His new band line-up - Nico Bermudez and James Walsh on dual lead guitars, Dave Bermudez on bass and Lawrence Paterson on drums - will perform not only the older classics but also brand new material for the first time at the fest.

"That makes it a must for all fans of Blaze, Maiden and Wolfsbane alike," said Steve, who's band Rekuiem will play the slot before Bayley.

After having toured extensively in the 80s alongside other New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NMOBHM) bands like Samson, Saxon and Iron Maiden, and having released the Angel of Sin record, the band split as members went on to pursue careers in other bands such as Diamond Head and Predator.

Reforming in 2002, Rekuiem released the Black Death record to critical acclaim. In 2006 they released another album, Time Will Tell, which won rave reviews in Kerrang! and Classic Rock magazines among others.

Rekuiem will release a new album later this year called Raise The Dead, featuring Chity Somapala (ex Firewind) on lead vocals and will be giving fans at JB's a taste of the album. The new Rekuiem line up appearing at the fest is Steve Slater (guitar), Gordon Denny (bass), Chitral 'Chity' Somapala (vocals), Paul Rodgers (drums) and Neil Taylor (keyboards).

London band Voodoo Six will be at JB's after their second Download appearance. Their 2006 release Feed My Soul was described by Iron Maiden's Steve Harris as "the best debut album I've heard in years".

Having played support sots for the likes of Maiden and Metallica, they are on the road promoting their new album First Hit For Free.

Birmingham band Hostile are the other Donnington-bound band booked for the JB's festival.

Their debut album is currently being produced by Bridgnorth-based Judas Priest guitar legend KK Downing, who has also written a song called Avenger for the band.

The five-piece band describe themselves as having a "true old school heavy metal sound and soaring licks" and claim to be the new "torch bearers of metal, reigniting the scene from the sound of heavy metal was first born - the Black Country".

Other bands appearing at the fest are Holy Rage, as well as local rockers Abigail's Mercy, Orius, Broken Faith, Heresy, plus up-and-coming glam-horror rock band Spit Like This.

• The British Rock & Metal Fest is at JB's in Dudley on Saturday June 28, from 1pm-2.30am including a rock/metal disco for anyone with any energy left!

• Tickets are £10 in advance. For more details go to www.jbsdudley.co.uk and www.britishrockandmetalfestival.com.