Manchester on a Wednesday evening to catch up with Countless Skies (9) and Møl (9) at Rebellion. The weather is suitably damp but its not affecting my good mood as I’m looking forward to seeing Countless Skies tonight.
I get there as they are sound checking and from outside it sounds great. A short wait and the doors open, and we start to straggle in. They take to the stage at 8pm and immediately I see that the cellist is also here which is just fantastic as she really adds another dimension to what we are about to hear and I’m hoping that they play Glow from Resonance, even just a little bit.
And they start, with the drums just exploding in my chest as they kick our evening off. It’s just exceptional stuff and despite their still people coming in they are giving it full belt. On record, the sound is amazing, live it is huge and the combination of the cello and voice especially that of Phil Romeo on bass is nothing short of epic. The dynamic between this near operatic approach and the death metal from Ross King is amazing to hear live. Throw in Arianna on the Cello and it’s as near to perfection as you will get.
Daybreak is next and that cello just expands everything, its thunderous stuff and it’s so good that they then hit me with Glow. Now I’m going to tell you that this is one of the best things I’ve heard in ages and was hoping they would play some of it. Nope, Glow time starts at 8.18 ends at 8.38. That’s right and I’m telling you now that I looked at my watch twice to make sure. It was just perfect.
Wrapping things up with Tempest to bring what felt like an incredibly quick 45 minutes to an end. I feel blessed that I was here to see this, and I hope they will be back soon. It was just awesome to see this level of skill whilst still being heavy AF.
Following a quick change on stage, Møl take command at 9pm and for the next hour deliver a set that mixed power, melody and a sheer force of will in the guise of front man Kim Song Sternkopf who pulls out all the stops in an effort to make the crowd get involved. It is their first headline run through Europe and the UK and they are genuinely excited to be here. I hadn’t done any homework prior to attending tonight so was unprepared for the sonic assault that was to come my way.
Checking online (very quickly), they are described as post-metal with elements of shoegaze in their sound. This I don’t know, other than they ran themselves into the ground to give the crowd the best they could do, all the while commanding their instruments like the top-class band they are. It is a heady mix of melody and battery as the musical attack runs from blast beats to subtle arpeggio moments, the only constant is Kim who is continually moving on that stage and during their third song decides that he needs to be closer and jumps on to the floor to add that up close and personal moment. It’s truly an unforgettable moment as he is trying to whip up energy from those who came out on a Wednesday night. Its brilliant stuff and well received too.
The energy from them was almost tangible and upon the start of their final song, Kim brought that personal touch once more as he took to the floor, mic stand and all to try and connect with everyone there as he summoned the last vestiges of a voice that can be described as being pulled from somewhere in his soul and then done, and goodnight. No one present could have left feeling disappointed in the performance from Møl it was just absolute fire.
A note on the audience – I wrote the review the following day and wasn’t going to mention the audience and the apparent apathy on show. I slept on it and then decided to mention it. I appreciate it is a Wednesday, its work the following day but the levels of indifference being shown was criminal. What I know is that both these bands put on a show, and they deserved more than they got back. I hope that if they do come back round again Manchester will do better.
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