Birmingham
is the home of metal, and tonight were in for
a foreign treat in the form off Canadian metalers
Cancer Bats. The band are one of the hardest working
in the world, they never seem to stop touring,
even when they write/release an album, and they
never seem to take a break. Last year they played
the UK numerous times with the most recent being
in support of Bring Me The Horizon and with the
most famous being last April where they played
6 venues around London on the same day! But before
we get to them we have to talk about the support
band…
Brutality
Will Prevail are a metal/hardcore band from South
Wales, and are already on stage as I enter the
already heaving venue. As I fight my way to the
front of the crowd, I notice there is a huge circle
left clear in the middle off the room, I can hear
singer Louis talking but I don’t really
hear what he’s saying, I get into the photo
pit just as Louis jumps into the crowd, and surfs
his way around the venue and around the massive
circle that has been left open, as the band play
loudly and jump around the stage. Eventually he
gets back on stage and I can see the band as they
are, a 5 piece who sound great, and who
can’t stay still, everyone moves about the
stage changing position as their music changes
from fast and frantic to slow and dirgey. The
crowd are seeming to love them, and this helps
as Louis keeps jumping off the stage and into
the front row screaming down the mic at people.
I’m surprised security aren’t having
a fit, as he spends more time in the crowd as
he does on stage, but this seems to stop people
from crowd surfing, which I suppose makes their
job easier. The band have warmed this crowd up
and as they end their set they leave to heavy
cheers, and then the room seems to calm down,
its quiet its steady its building up to something,
and that something is…
Cancer
Bats, who all set up their own equipment before
going on stage which seems to keep this crowd
calmer than most gigs where bands just run out
after their roadies sound check and everyone goes
mental. But it could also be as this room is filled
with mainly blokes, and so there are not too many
screaming girls getting excited at every site
of the band; eventually the band leave the stage
after setting up, and a minute later they burst
back on by jumping straight into their last single
‘Bricks and Mortar’. The sound is
immense, it’s powerful and you can feel
it in your bones as it rattles through the venue,
the simplicity of a four piece is something
you don’t get all too much anymore but with
Cancer Bats it works well. The bass is constant
and moves fast and random, it’s not simple
repetition all the way through, the guitar riffs
are powerful and lead into occasional solo’s
and snaps, as the drums are fast and constantly
hitting the sweet spots. As for the vocals, singer
Liam Cornier rasps his gritty voice throughout
the songs brining passion and bravado as bassist/vocalist
Jaye R. Schwarzer adds extra power in parts by
screaming his lungs down the mic.
The
band are an awesome stage presence and Liam controls
the stage as he strolls up and down heading to
the front and head banging before collapsing in
front of the drums and getting his breath back.
The band play a fast and furious set which Liam
explains is due to them trying to play as many
songs as they can in the short time they’re
onstage, as they were late going on and it seems
like the curfew was meant to be 11 but was cut
back by half hour, which means there’s no
time for chit chat and no time for an encore.
Other than that, there’s the odd chant of
Can-cer Bats and Birm-ing-ham which fills the
gap between songs as the rest of the band tunes
up, Liam leads the crowd in these chants and at
one point is thrown a hat and decides to put it
on his head and chant my-new-hat! They play a
great set list with about 4 songs from each album
including; Pneumonia Hawk, Sorceress, Lucifer’s
Rocking Chair, Sleep This Way, Scared to Death,
Sabotage, Hail Destroyer and finally ending the
set with R.A.T.S. They go down great and the band
end by slowly fading out with feedback before
all the members come down and meet the crowd to
thank them for coming out and supporting them.
Overall the gig was great, Brutality Will Prevail
did a great job of warming the crowd up and Cancer
Bats finished them off, it’s a shame they
didn’t play Dead Wrong and Liam didn’t
get into the crowd, but those are just small things
when compared to how well they performed overall.
Cancer Bats will be back around soon, and it’s
worth going to see them, as you’ll see a
great live band who play truly rocking music!
Brutality Will Prevail 3/5
Cancer Bats 4/5
Review By James Daly
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