HEAVY metal may be well past its peak of popularity in the North-East, but a group of teenagers from Prudhoe are determined to break the mould.

The big names in metal miss the region out on UK tours, so the chances of four mates from Prudhoe High School cracking it seem incredibly slim.

But Divine Crown, made up of vocalist and bassist Liam Carse, guitarist Marcus Graham, drummer Nathan Moore (all 16) and guitarist Cameron Smith (15), are not being deterred by the lack of appreciation for the genre in their local area.

Nathan said: “We find that it’s really hard to get gigs. We have mates in bands who just play indie and get loads of gigs, because that is what everybody’s in to.

“Even the big metal bands miss out Newcastle because the scene here is so dead.

“If we were starting out in Manchester or Leeds, I could almost guarantee we would get loads of bookings because metal is thriving there, but it just doesn’t exist in the North-East.”

Cameron added: “We just love what we’re doing and playing the music we like, so we‘ll keep plugging away and try to get out there.

“It would be nice if more people could hear us, and we’ll just keep working away trying to get gigs.”

Amidst the struggles the four piece face in showcasing their talents, a big opportunity arose just this month when they were chosen to support London metal heads Fallen To Flux at Newcastle’s The Cluny.

But they were to be frustrated again with a lack of stage time when pulled from the bill at short notice because they were under 18 years of age!

Yet the booking was a sure sign that their profile is rising, the band having played two events in the past month in a busier than usual spell.

They were asked to return to Prudhoe’s Highfield Fest, playing a storming 45-minute set, even if the gathered crowd wasn’t so well populated.

Their musical highlight followed a couple of weeks later as they did what most upcoming bands across the UK dream of doing – playing to a packed O2 Academy.

They were part of an exciting evening of live music organised by Newcastle community organisation City Youth Music, running through six songs during their half hour slot.

And the thrill of playing in front of so many people in a popular venue whetted the band‘s appetite to push on.

Marcus said: “To say we played the Newcastle academy gives us a bit of impetus.

“A lot of big bands have played that stage on smaller tours, and we were pretty chuffed to get the opportunity. It was fairly packed and we were surprised to see so many people watching.

“There were people from Newcastle there who liked our music, especially our originals, and it wasn’t just people we knew who we brought along, so it was really good to get that feedback from them.

“We didn’t get nervous because, once you get up there, you don’t notice how many people are there and it was really good to see people appreciating what you’re doing.”

Since forming in late 2013, Divine Crown have changed direction both musically and in line-up.

There is some dispute among members about how the band was originally created, but they can agree that there were initially five members of Divine Crown which included both Liam and Marcus.

When three of the line-up left, the band was wrapped up until Nathan and Cameron, who had played together in other bands, joined forces to make it what it is today.