Bat Sabbath + Battlesnake + Sun Messiah - Wednesday 8th July 2026

I’ve got to be honest, I don’t really know anything about Cancer Bats. I’ve heard of them (obviously!), and know that their music is categorised as hardcore punk - not really my scene given I’m usually geeking out over some classic prog or 70s rock. But I adore Black Sabbath, and these Aussies clearly do too, having toured intermittently as Bat Sabbath since 2011. So I’m here to see what they’ve got, and to enjoy some of the finest songs in metal, assuming they’re not too far removed from the originals! 

But first, Kent quartet Sun Messiah are here to warm up the room. Not that it needs a great deal of help, given the Booking Hall already feels much like the interior of an oven this evening! With their powerful, doomy riffs, and some-time dual vocals reminiscent of Alice in Chains, Sun Messiah successfully meld their influences into something unique. Occasional guttural growls give extra weight to metal that is intricate and intense, the twin guitar mastery enhanced by an impressive rhythm section who cleverly work in some off beats, throwing my head-banging attempts in the most pleasing way. 

And then there’s Battlesnake. A spectacle unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed, they are undeniably bonkers and utterly brilliant. From their matching stage robes which look like something the Pope might throw on when he’s in the mood for a bit of sparkle, to Priest-like bangers that speak of mysterious ‘Motorsteeples’ and ‘Pangea Breakers’, watching them is an absolute joy and has me smiling ridiculously throughout. Vocalist Sam Frank is particularly dynamic, fully embodying the role of some reptilian overlord as he sticks out his tongue, leaps off the drum kit and commands that we put our horns on our heads. It’s hard to know where to look given the energy of the six men on stage, though I feel it’s best to ignore the budgie smugglers that all of them seem to be harbouring beneath their costumes! Easier said than done when keytarist Billy O’Key and Frank strip down to theirs and are paraded around the room Angus Young style during a raucous ‘Let There Be Rock’. I suspect this venue doesn’t really know what’s hit it, but everyone seems to want more. The anarchic presentation, hard riffing guitars and outrageously catchy choruses (altogether now… ‘I Am the Vomit!’) make Battlesnake unforgettable. 

When Bat Sabbath tear into ‘Children of the Grave’, I’m initially a bit thrown by Liam Cormier’s vocals, which are pretty far from Ozzy’s melodic delivery, and more of a barked shout. But I can’t argue with his energy and enthusiasm as he asserts that we are here to “worship the Gods of metal known only as Black Sabbath”. And it’s impossible not to enjoy these songs. Remaining fairly close to the source material, though occasionally a little faster and more aggressive, I love Cormier’s prolonged growls of “YES!” into the microphone between tracks, an audible appreciation for the music he’s interpreting. There are nods to Ozzy, in guitarist Jackson Landry’s tasselled jacket and Cormier’s cape, but this is no cheap imitation, rather an unapologetic celebration that barely pauses for breath. All the essentials are in place, a frantic ‘Supernaut’, brutal ‘Electric Funeral’ and relentless ‘Symptom of the Universe’. I look around me in wonder that songs written some fifty years ago can still hold so much power - ‘Paranoid’ still sends everyone crazy and ‘Iron Man’ holds up as one of the most iconic riffs of all time. 

As ‘War Pigs’ blasts into the night, I head off to catch my lift home, possibly several pounds lighter than when I arrived (well… we live in hope!). My hair is soaked, my T-shirt needs wringing out and I ache from my head-banging excursions; indicators of a pretty good night I’d say! The Bat Sabbath UK tour continues, check out the remaining dates here: