Roper

Live Reviews from the final of the National Student Music Awards at Dublin's Temple Bar Music Centre
"Limerick quartet Roper at times excelled with their ferocious stampede of hard rock and black humour, particularly on Gallow's Hill."
Steve Cummins, hotpress.com
full story: www.hotpress.com
- Steve Cummins-Hotpress

"Limerick based Roper were up next, and to be honest they were a breath of fresh air. Metal was the order of the evening, and while I'm far from passionate where long hair and growling are concerned, there was no denying their musicianship or enthusiasm. There was no chance that a band as heavy as Roper were going to win, (half the crowd left as soon as the first scream was uttered) but they were incredibly tight, and as good a metal act as I've seen in this country. (And yes, despite my apathy, I've seen quite a few.) The singer impressed in particular, showing tremendous vocal control, one second bellowing in a rich System of a Down influenced baritone, the next screaming his bloody head off. (I was expecting an eye to pop out of a socket at any moment.)"
Dave Scanlon, drop-d.ie
full story: www.drop-d.ie/archive/article.asp?article=2
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- Dave Scanlon-drop-d.ie

"On the same bill, the MOST entertaining band of the 12 finalists, in my opinion, made it into the Final despite each judge that saw them stating categorically that "They won't win it. They can't". Why was that? Well, Roper are a heavy metal band in the true tradition of headbanging noise-makers worldwide and these band competition things are all about commercial viability, or pleasing the brainwashed masses, right? Actually, no. Heavy as they were, Roper are damn good. At this point, I should make my bias clear: I hate heavy rock. I mean, I really hate heavy rock, especially heavy rock that relies on the singer's ability to make as much noise as possible without the benefit of actual lyrics. So, I was ready to ignore Roper on the night. As MC, I had no choice but to introduce them but - already with a headache that day - I intended to leg it as soon as I had the intro over with. Outside, having a smoke, I changed my mind. Not about heavy metal per se, but about Roper. After their first song, I was back in, big grin spread on the chops, almost headbanging, myself. Roper are entertaining. They are good at their genre but I'm not interested in that. I don't even care if they can play (oh, but they definitely can). As a non-musician who goes to gigs to be entertained, as I tell anyone in a band who cares to listen, then enter - f&^p" - tain me. And Roper did. Pure energy, pure fun, pure enjoyment. At the final in TBMC, all of the judges commented in some way on the fact that Roper were most entertaining and I doubt any of the judges was a Metaller by any stretch. Sometimes, passion is enough. Sometimes, ability is enough. When you get hugely energetic passion coupled with obvious ability, you can't go wrong. So, Roper, stick at it: you can't go wrong. Most definitely my favourite moment of the entire NSMA heats and final was watching the transition on the faces of the punters on the balcony at the Final as they went from incredulity ("What the fD is that?") to pleasantly surprised ("F*&^$ing good, that's what it is"). Have a brief look at the video footage from my camera-phone and you'll get a 2minute idea of what I'm talking about, although the sound quality is, well, "less than would be appropriate" (I have to be careful with my chioce of words: coroporate considerations, y'know!)."
Ron Healy, irishunsigned.com
full story: www.irishunsigned.com/fullstory.ph
p?id=496 - Ron Healy- Irish Unsigned.com