Motionless In White / The Defiled / The Glamour Of The Kill – Bristol Fleece
Unfortunately The Glamour Of The Kill started their set when I and many others were still filing into the venue. As it happens though the queue for the Fleece passes right around the stage area, so we could all hear everything. By the time I got inside the band were about halfway through their second song. Their style of melodic post-hardcore was certainly a little different on this bill and I enjoyed their energetic if brief set. Their reliance on backing tracks for the "woah-oh" gang vocals however was a bit of a disappointment in this writers view; more on that later. 7/10
Next up The Defiled – a band who I personally was very much looking forward to, and they did not disappoint. Opening up with Sleeper from their very excellent and highly recommended sophomore album Daggers they didn't so much take the stage as grab it by the scruff of the neck and shake it violently. The Defiled's brand of industrial flavoured metalcore peppered with huge sing-along choruses went down a treat in the venue, with Keyboardist The AvD and vocalist/guitarist Stitch D's enthusiasm and energy being thoroughly infectious. The AvD revealed during their set that they were all hung-over from the after party of the previous night's London show and if this is what they are capable of when feeling somewhat under par then I can't wait to see what they're capable of when sober. Of the many highlights of their set, the most memorable was probably the bassist, Vincent Hyde, crowd-surfing to the soundboard at the back of the venue and back. The aftermath of their set saw The AvD leaving his keyboard in the stage area, hanging from the roof, which made for an excellent and memorable visual. 10/10
As the sounds of Rob Zombie (and only Rob Zombie, which was an interesting choice) filled the ensuing interval the anticipation for Motionless In White – on their very first headlining UK tour – was palpable. The Slipknot-esque Devil's Night heralded the start of their set, which following The Defiled's excellent performance, simply had to be very good indeed. Thankfully, it was. Blasting their way through all the fan favourites from their back catalogue (including a ferocious rendition of Abigail) as well as a generous helping of newer material from their latest Infamous long player the band put on an excellent show. Technically extremely proficient (as you would expect) my only gripe would be the unwelcome return of one of my personal bugbears – the backing track. There were two songs during which it was plain that vocalist Chris “Motionless” Cerulli was, shall we say, “assisted” in his duties. As it happens the two tracks in question (America and Infamous) are my two personal favourites from their new album, which did spoil it a little bit from my own perspective. Judging by the crowd reaction however it looked as though many others did not share my opinion. As the band are transitioning their sound from their pure metalcore origins to a more industrial, electronic driven sound it would appear from tonight's evidence that their fan-base is enthusiastically coming along for the ride. And what a ride it looks to be. 8/10
Overall this was a superb show. Every band on the bill have recently released their second (official in the case of Motionless) album which shows to this writer at least that their respective futures are very bright indeed.
No comments:
Post a Comment