It’s Friday night in Sheffield, and everyone’s favourite rock club has decided to play host to one of the finest bands that British heavy music has birthed in the last decade. Through all of its grimy flooring, Corporation is about to get even messier after tonight’s brawling fiasco.
Inviting the audience to the stage is metallic hardcore quintet Brotherhood of the Lake from Plymouth who sound so fucking dark and evil, that their arsenal of pummelling drums and shredding guitars have the power to launch a train into your eardrums and make your brain become compacted and cave in on itself. Whilst on the one hand they may sound a tad samey, on the other they certainly prove to their audience that they’re part of a small minority of bands who truly capture what metallic hardcore should sound like in contrast to the huge wave of bloated generic metalcore bands. (3.5/5)
With a shearing yowl and a blistering medley of carnage inducing instruments, Feed the Rhino command the crowd to become a slave to their bone breaking antics. The slow buzz of the floor sees a constant friction which causes sweat and heat to rise whilst the band strut their stuff and accomplish the pumping and forging of iron. The crowd is now ready for battle. (4/5)
Silence and time are definitely some of the most drudging experiences to have at concerts but they help to give that extra special momentum of surprise as soon as the fun begins. This is no exception with Gallows who are greeted by chants and flailing compacted arms. In their new incarnation, Gallows arrive with a fresh fire and aura that scorches and lights up an absolute frenzy of sweat soaked bodies. Old songs such as ‘Misery’ and ‘In the Belly of a Shark’ whiplash smiles whilst the newer material including ‘Last June’ and ‘Outsider Art’ cause an impressive snapshot of interaction and unity between both band and fans alike reflected in huge choruses that are just too intriguing to shy away from. Wade MacNeil works brilliantly as a frontman, spewing absolute bile into the faces of the crowd and manages to whip the crowd into multiple raucous circle pits particularly during the speed inducing ‘Vapid Adolescent Blues’.
After an interval that barely lasts 10 seconds, the band spring back into action and seal the deal with ‘Victim Culture’, whose chorus definitely reaffirms the ‘trust’ that the fans have towards this mighty punk band who lead them through hell again and again. Finishing the night off with old favourites ‘Abandon Ship’ and ‘Orchestra of Wolves’ suddenly sees both crowd and band intimately collide, omitting bruises on sweat soaked skin and voices to get lost and torn in the foray. For what it’s worth, Gallows are still as relevant and angry fuelled as ever, this night is a definite hall mark of that, sealed and approved with a boot crush to the skull. (4/5)
4/5
Words by Aaron Lohan (@ooran_loohan)
