Battlecross
are the first band on tonight. A metal band from
the US, they open their set sounding somewhat
a bit like Slayer in the mid 90's, the vocals
are somewhat on the screamy side though maybe
taking after Tom Araya somewhat. They have some
good riffs and solid drumming but they do really
sound like a toned down version of Slayer, some
of the guitar tones are pretty similar, but some
of the solos range from really fucking good to
being a bit too noisy and trying to cram as much
as they can into the solo, sometimes chaps less
is definitely more.Overall, they are a solid band
with some
pretty decent material at their disposal and if
you are looking for a band to quench your Slayer
thirst these guys may just do it, if only for
a while.
Next band up are Miss May I, the last time I saw
them was March of last year, supporting BFMV,
and then they suffered from the drums overpowering
everything, this time not much has changed it's
a little better for the opening songs, "Relentless
Chaos" and "Masses of a Dying Breed"
I could barely hear the vocals and occasionally
got snippets of the lead guitar, but not much
else, for the remaining songs in their set the
sound somewhat
improved, "Gone" and "Day by Day"
are pretty decent songs, but still very bass heavy
but the guitars are clearer and they close out
their short set with the Superb "Hey Mister"
getting the crowd to join in with some clapping
to the drum beat, again it's a very heavy aggressive
song. Overall I think maybe trying to steer away
from the heaviness a bit and taking a slightly
less aggressive approach might make the songs
a bit more easy to listen to live or just a different
mix or just turn them guitars up a lot, they are
a really decent band but I don't think they should
try to crush their audience with the bass
Trivium
are the joint headliners on this tour, this must
be at least the 10th time I've seen this band,
probably my most watched band as it happens. I
thoroughly enjoy their music and have done since
the release of the first album.
They open their set with "Brave this Storm",
it's solid opener unfortunately for one fan on
the barrier she couldn't quite brave the crowd,
to the bands credit they stopped the song dead
to let security do their thing and get the girl
out of harms way. This happened again later in
the set to someone else in the mosh pit, again
the band stopped the song and then picked up where
they left off without losing focus or aggression.
This is swiftly followed by "Light to the
Flies", "Thai" is a song from the
second album and surprisingly it's holding up
quite well to the test of time.
I've seen this band grow and mature with me over
the years but they're still something quite juvenile
in some of their songs, this is not a bad thing
by any means, it crops up less in their later
songs, but it's there.
They
continue their set with the likes of "No
Way to Heal", "Strife", "Shattering
the Skies Above", it's a very aggressive
set as they have little time as it is and no time
for let up, this is a full on heavy set.
"A Gunshot to the head of Trepidation"
really get's the crowd bouncing on it's feet this
is easily the highlight of the set and will go
down as one of their classics. "In Waves"
and "Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr"
close out their set, these are easily their best
songs both super catchy and heavy and firm fan
favourites and I didn't headbutt my camera during
"In Waves", which is a bonus.
This band really still has it and hasn't lost
any of their youthful exuberance over the years,
they seem like old hands at it now while being
still young.
The last time I saw Killswitch Engage was in 2007,
it's been 7 years, I can't believe this to be
true. The last time I saw them, Howard was the
vocalist, but he had to leave the band to deal
with his health problems, (type two diabetes),
then Jesse Leach the band's original singer returned
to the vocals, it's weird hearing him sing songs
that the band wrote when Howard was on vocals,
but they sound pretty damn good.
They
opened their set with "A bid Farewell",
"This is Absolution", and "The
New Awakening", all decent and worthy of
opening the set, and they get the band off to
a solid start and the crowd are well pleased that
they have finally come on, it's a lively opening
for the band too bouncing around with energy to
spare, really giving it some umph, the years have
certainly taken their toll on one of Adam Dutkiewiczs
knees, it's heavily strapped up, but it doesn't
seem to slow him down at all.
They
really entertain the crowd with the likes of "Arms
of Sorrow", very odd hearing Jesse sing this
song, but it still sounds amazing, "This
Fire Burns" and "Beyond the Flames"
keep the set kicking along at a fast pace with
the odd bit of banter between the crowd and Adam.
"My Last Serenade" is one that really
gets the crowd singing along, it's certainly their
100% classic song and one that I imagine many
like me got me into the band, watching it on Kerrang!
when it used to be good, Jesse still does this
song justice. Strangely this song also seems to
lead to somewhat of an exodus of fans hearing
many as they leave that they only wanted to hear
last serenade, I guess it holds some nostalgia
for them.
MLS
leads into the final few songs of the set which
are "In Due Time" and "The End
of Heartache", the last being another classic,
one that everyone should really have stuck around
for, people just seem to trickle out past me as
the night draws to a close, it just seems a waste
of money to me to leave early.
They close out the night with "My Curse",
it will probably stand as their most well known
song of all time, it's such a belter of a song,
getting the remains of the crowd singing again,
me included. Overall this band is still on top
form, they don't seem to miss a beat and are just
as strong as they were the last time I saw them.
4.5/5
Battlecross 3/5
Miss May I 3.5/5
Trivium 4.5/5
Killswitch Engage 4.5/5
Review By Robert Lawrence
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