Passion. It’s something that transforms good music into great music. When you can feel the hurt, the lust, the hatred oozing out of a song like it is being directed straight at you, you know you are listening to something very special. Being As An Ocean have that effect. Three albums of music that billows out passion in abundance under their belt and a heartbroken following building by the day, the band find themselves at the famous Tufnell Park Dome with a pretty impressive supporting cast in tow. Grab them tissues.
First up are Casey who just over a month since releasing their full length debut are starting to receive the level of respect they deserve. Harsh chords crash against heartbroken lyrics and give the room a chilling atmosphere as each attendee’s own repressed memories of love and loss come creeping back to the front of the mind. A skin crawling ‘Fade’ and deeply unsetting ‘Mourning’ are the highlights here and demonstrate the talent nestling within a band who are just getting warmed up. (4.5/5)
Capsize follow, who since their last trip on to our shores have undergone quite the shift in sound. Though their emotional hardcore offerings have faded into more nostalgic waters, that has had no effect on the intensity of their live performance. Stalking the stage with venomous intent and encouraging the crowd to “mosh like its 2002”, the band put in a hard hitting 30 minutes of distorted breakdowns, throat scrapping screams and heart squeezing emotion. From the pulverizing ‘Calming, Crippling’ all the way through to the absolutely massive ‘Tear Me Apart’, Capsize once again come into their own and climb another well deserved step up the scene ladder. (4/5)
Burning Down Alaska may have the sort of name where you think you know what they are all about, yet you have no idea. On stage they create an almost euphoric mix of beautifully picked chords, icy drums and fine-tuned dual vocals that have everyone in attendance completely mesmerized and utterly enamored. The band work together in gorgeous unison where you know every single second of music means the absolute world to them and every song feels as cathartic as it is painful to deliver. Ladies and gentlemen, your new favourite band. (4.5/5)
Being As An Ocean’s rise to melodic hardcore and internet royalty over the past few years has been down to nothing more than hard work, perseverance and dedication to their cause. All those hours of blood, sweet and definitely tears feel all worth it when you see the reaction they receive as they take to the stage tonight and begin to pour their soul out with a rousing ‘OK’. This is a band that has carved out a deep and at times dark connection with their audience. They have bled as their fans have bled. They have experienced the highs and lows that life can deal out with the same intensity and uncertainty. They share links deeper than just riffs and drums and that is apparent as people grab for vocalist Joel Quartuccio with everything they have. Things carry on at a similar rate of catharsis with a brutal 1-2 of ‘Dear G-D’ and ‘Death’s Great Black Wing Scrapes The Sky’ seeing the number of crowd surfers increase tenfold.
For many this feels like a show that they have been waiting to play, and the same feeling resonates from the band. This is a vessel for release from the terrors and anxieties of the outside world and a space where nobody is an outsider or a stranger. The way that hardcore should be, no matter what shape or style it chooses to take. With a triumphant ‘This Loneliness Won’t Be The Death Of Me’, Being As An Ocean earn themselves another well earned victory and demonstrate once more how powerful music can be in helping us through our darkest days. Let the light never fade. (4/5)
4.5/5
Words by Jack Rogers (@JackMRog)
