WALES REPRESENTS AT KERRANG! AWARDS
The welsh dragon flew high Thursday night over The Brewery in London’s East End at the 12th annual Kerrang! awards, the mecca of British metal magazines. Among such nominees as Muse, Funeral for a Friend, and Fall out Boy it was welsh bands Bullet for my Valentine and Lostprophets that triumphed in three categories between them. The Best Single gong went to Bullet for My Valentine for ‘Tears Don’t Fall’ confirming their excellent year, one that saw the release of their second album to much acclaim and a headlining slot on the sold out Kerrang! tour. But the big winners of the evening were The Lostprophtes scooping not only the gong for Best Album but also Best British Band, beating the likes of such established acts as Muse and Placebo. The release of their third album Liberation Transmission has met with both critical acclaim and huge sales debuting at number 1 in the UK charts.
In celebrating 25 years since the magazine’s first ever issue, the legends award was given to AC/DC’s Angus Young who had adorned the first ever cover a quarter of a century ago. But the evening was a welsh affair with the appointment of Stuart Cable as host coinciding with the first-rate success of South Wales metal. The nineties saw the sound of the South Wales valleys dominated by the Manic Street Preachers as their titanic success swept all before them. Now it seems there is a changing of the guard down south with metal acts such as Lostprophets and BFMV leading the way. On being asked to comment about Wales The Prohpets said: “We're a smaller country but we're tough,” also defending themselves by saying “We may look like dandies but we can pack a punch.” Their can be no doubt that this evening was huge for The Lostprophets having been criticised in some corners for being too pop for metal.
This success for The Lostprophets comes after the departure of founding member Mike Chiplin in 2005 to pursue his own material. But his leaving does not seem to have bothered the band one bit. The release of their third album Liberation Transmission, with replacement Ian Rubin, has propelled the band to new heights. The album’s release in June coincided with a huge sold out tour of the UK and with further dates at the end of the year already selling out the future for Welsh metal seems positively luminous.