Chapters have been given the task of opening
up this night of chaotic brutality. Things have
been very hectic for all the bands today with
people being late and copious amounts of sound
problems to fix; unfortunately for Chapters when
they hit the stage these problems aren’t
quite ironed out. I was ridiculously surprised
with how much I enjoyed their set, to sum it up
it was a tremendous display of talent from some
extremely gifted musicians. The band didn’t
really help themselves with the sound problems
to be honest; the bassist kept knocking his lead
out, the guitarist knocked the drum mic over and
they had wires overlapping everywhere causing
more problems. Maybe next time they’ll have
a bit more luck in Birmingham.
Anterior have succeeded in finally separating
my head from my shoulders. These Welsh bandits
have come in and injected a dose of comedy alongside
their brand of tech metal destruction. Vocalist
Luke Davis always uses the word “cunt”
to add dramatic emphasis to his jokes and statements
which I think that’s amazing and it is apparent
that the rest of the audience agree. Their set
for the most part is composed mostly of songs
from their new studio album “Echo’s
of the Fallen” with only 2 coming from their
debut effort “This Age of Silence”
the band give it their all to try and provoke
some kind of reaction from this surprisingly dull
crowd with a small degree of success, this band
will show the world how to use harmonies to their
fullest and the world is going to be a much better
place.
Malefice lay waste to the once motionless mass
of zombies put before them, from the very second
that intro track rolls off and those thunderous
drum blasts ring throughout the venue, an explosion
of energy sprays all over the room. I haven’t
took a beating like that for a long time, those
pits were energetic and due to spilt beverages
quite lethal. Lead vocalist Dale Butler has absolutely
no hesitation on telling it the way it is “Birmingham,
this city has always been good to us, you don’t
want to be the worst crowd on this tour do you?”
amongst other provocative comments. They play
a solid set closing with the title track from
their new album “Awaken The Tides”
leaving on a high note having picked up the pace
and lit a fire under the crowds act for the headliner’s
to play with.
Sylosis; new tour, new facial hair, new songs,
same old shit. Whilst this time around Josh may
have somehow managed to be a little less depressing,
he’s still the same dull front man that
the band seem completely oblivious to. Their set
list contains a few differences from their quite
frankly identical previous tours but there’s
literally only 2 tracks changed so it’s
not a rebirth. The thing that’s kept me
interested in Sylosis is the music, it’s
a thing of beauty because they are some of the
most talented musicians in Britain; tonight even
that parts been ruined by ridiculous amounts of
feedback and various other problems. The lighting
should get a mention it definitely encompassed
the mood of the music, it’s a shame that
nothing else really goes right tonight. All the
bands have had problems today so I’ve been
a bit lenient with my comments but when all 3
support bands entertain me more than the headline
act then something’s gone horribly wrong.
Chapters - 4/5
Anterior - 4.5/5
Malefice - 4.5/5
Sylosis - 3/5
Review By James Webb |
