{"id":10650,"date":"2015-04-23T13:34:39","date_gmt":"2015-04-23T13:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/live-review-obey-the-brave-malevolence-napoleon\/"},"modified":"2015-04-23T13:34:39","modified_gmt":"2015-04-23T13:34:39","slug":"live-review-obey-the-brave-malevolence-napoleon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/live-review-obey-the-brave-malevolence-napoleon\/","title":{"rendered":"Live Review: Obey The Brave, Malevolence, Napoleon &amp; Kublai Khan &#8211; The Underworld, London &#8211; 10\/04\/2015"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On an unseasonably warm sunny April evening the vest tops were already out in force as Already Heard headed underground into London&rsquo;s The Underworld to take in some serious pit action with the US&rsquo;s <b>Kublai Khan<\/b>, Brits <b>Napoleon<\/b> and <b>Malevolence<\/b> and Canadian headliners <b>Obey The Brave<\/b>.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/fcd6e634e4ca1d702a269ce413a143b0\/tumblr_nmpl45CuUC1r8no6so2_1280.jpg\" width=\"100%\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p><b>Kublai Khan<\/b> had a tough battle facing them thanks to both the early start time and their relatively unknown status here in the UK. Apart from a few hardcore fans who had come specifically to see the band on their first trip to our shores, the room was sparsely filled. Nevertheless, <b>Kublai Khan<\/b> encouraged those who were present to encroach upon the stage, which they did, and <b>Kublai Khan<\/b> gladly absorbed the enthusiasm of those young fans who had made their way down to the front.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately Nolan Ashley&rsquo;s very raspy vocals sounded muffled and his delivery difficult to understand at times, however it suited this band&rsquo;s sound very well with due to the fast paced, aggressive and heavy feel, and in part to the down tuned guitars and driving chords.<!-- more --><\/p>\n<p>Nolan\u2019s enthusiasm didn&rsquo;t wane and his crowd soon started to feed off it, as he sought through both the lyrics and his spoken interludes between the songs to get across his message. He was the first to admit that he talks a lot between songs, and although some could have seen as being at the expense of at least one extra song, for others it could be seen as a strong passion for what he believes in. Kublai Khan may have a lot of work to do on this side of the Atlantic, but they have the potential to earn a good reception amongst the UK metalcore scene. (3\/5)<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/db3d33d26a42884017719538d6bf9398\/tumblr_nmpll3Csh31r8no6so10_1280.jpg\" width=\"100%\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p>Its been two years since we last caught <b>Napoleon<\/b> live and in that time the band have been on a whirlwind of relentless touring. And this is something they have clearly learnt from, as on this night they put on an engaging performance. Now writing songs specifically for their live show, <b>Napoleon<\/b>&rsquo;s opener and new single <i>\u2018Stargazer\u2019<\/i> is proof that they seem to have got the balance right, the track&rsquo;s delicate opening bars eventually combusting into the <b>Napoleon<\/b> we know and like. New vocalist Wes Thompson (ex-Climates), is easier to understand than KK&rsquo;s Nolan which helps with the enjoyment levels of <b>Napoleon<\/b>&rsquo;s set. Undoubtedly the songs that garner the best reaction from the crowd were the more melodic classics such as <i>\u2018Brought Here to Suffer\u2019<\/i>, which sees fans screaming into Wes\u2019 proffered microphone. Like Kublai Khan<b>Napoleon<\/b> had too faced cotending with a despondent London crowd. But Thompson proved his worth with his relentless determination to get the crowd to the front and circling around the pillar in the centre of the floor by the end of their set. (3.5\/5)<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/fcc7e47962d193c587ca2bb7f6b79dfd\/tumblr_nmplp79qhE1r8no6so8_1280.jpg\" width=\"100%\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p>It was clear that most people had come to see <b>Malevolence<\/b>. It\u2019s not at many gigs that the clearing of the floor is a good sign, but the crowd knew that The Underworld was about to errupt. <b>Malevolence<\/b> put in the most energetic performance both on and off stage of the night, tirelessly cavorting around the stage. For those somewhat unfamiliar with their style of music and fan devotion, this could have been considered rather violent, but the minute it looked like there might be trouble brewing, vocalist Alex stepped in with a gentle reminder of <i>\u201cAre we okay? Remember it\u2019s just a mosh pit!\u201d<\/i>. Again the vocals were a tad tricky to understand, but the heavy beats, chords and live performance were entrancing. It is bands like <b>Malevolence<\/b> that make a concert more than just about the music, but about the overall experience.(3.5\/5)<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/8e453e70be975de3b1dce0c09595d765\/tumblr_nmpltrNpLl1r8no6so7_1280.jpg\" width=\"100%\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p>From the start one thing is hugely apparent, just how anthemic so many of <b>Obey The Brave<\/b> songs are. Particularly those from last year&rsquo;s release <i>&lsquo;Salvation&rsquo;<\/i> such a <i>\u2018Raise Your Voice\u2019<\/i>, during which singer Alex Erian breaks into clean vocals, providing a crowd chant moment, and one from which it is possible to envisage how well <b>Obey The Brave<\/b> would transfer to a much larger crowd environment. Audience involvement is key to <b>Obey The Brave<\/b>\u2019s live show, and see&rsquo;s them recieve a more noticeable response than that for <b>Malevolence<\/b>, with a greater contingent of fans down the front clambering to get at Erian\u2019s microphone. There is a mutual concern for fans&rsquo; safety, as, when one young fan stage dived head first into that aforementioned pillar, Erian kept an eye on him to make sure he was alright until a friend escorted him from the pit.<\/p>\n<p><b>Obey The Brave<\/b>&rsquo;s new additions since we last saw them fit in really well, they look and fulfill their part with gusto, engaging with the crowd and making good use of the stage space, providing good vocal support to Erian, as well as showing strong musicianship. <b>Obey The Brave<\/b>&rsquo;s first headline tour has been a successful one, with them offering a high energy, vibrant show that empowered and enthralled their audience. (4\/5)<\/p>\n<p>3.5\/5<\/p>\n<p>Words and Photos by Heather Fitsell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On an unseasonably warm sunny April evening the vest tops were already out in force as Already Heard headed underground into London&rsquo;s The Underworld to take in some serious pit action with the US&rsquo;s Kublai Khan, Brits Napoleon and Malevolence and Canadian headliners Obey The Brave. Kublai Khan had a tough battle facing them thanks [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13962,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8181],"tags":[831,5881,6,1711,466,1635,2901],"class_list":["post-10650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-post","tag-kublai-khan","tag-live-reviews","tag-london","tag-malevolence","tag-napoleon","tag-obey-the-brave","tag-the-underworld"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Live Review: Obey The Brave, Malevolence, Napoleon &amp; Kublai Khan - The Underworld, London - 10\/04\/2015 - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On an unseasonably warm sunny April evening the vest tops were already out in force as Already Heard headed underground into London&rsquo;s The Underworld\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Live Review: Obey The Brave, Malevolence, Napoleon &amp; Kublai Khan - The Underworld, London - 10\/04\/2015 - Already Heard Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On an unseasonably warm sunny April evening the vest tops were already out in force as Already Heard headed underground into London&rsquo;s The Underworld\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/live-review-obey-the-brave-malevolence-napoleon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Already Heard Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-23T13:34:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/tumblr_nmpl45CuUC1r8no6so2_1280.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@alreadyhearduk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@alreadyhearduk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Live Review: Obey The Brave, Malevolence, Napoleon &amp; Kublai Khan - The Underworld, London - 10\/04\/2015 - Already Heard Staging","description":"On an unseasonably warm sunny April evening the vest tops were already out in force as Already Heard headed underground into London&rsquo;s The Underworld","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Live Review: Obey The Brave, Malevolence, Napoleon &amp; Kublai Khan - The Underworld, London - 10\/04\/2015 - Already Heard Staging","og_description":"On an unseasonably warm sunny April evening the vest tops were already out in force as Already Heard headed underground into London&rsquo;s The Underworld","og_url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/live-review-obey-the-brave-malevolence-napoleon\/","og_site_name":"Already Heard Staging","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/","article_published_time":"2015-04-23T13:34:39+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/tumblr_nmpl45CuUC1r8no6so2_1280.jpg","width":1,"height":1,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@alreadyhearduk","twitter_site":"@alreadyhearduk","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/live-review-obey-the-brave-malevolence-napoleon\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/live-review-obey-the-brave-malevolence-napoleon\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/508ed29771f8c5b56fdcf4695f22a2a3"},"headline":"Live Review: Obey The Brave, Malevolence, Napoleon &amp; Kublai Khan &#8211; The Underworld, London &#8211; 10\/04\/2015","datePublished":"2015-04-23T13:34:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/live-review-obey-the-brave-malevolence-napoleon\/"},"wordCount":878,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/live-review-obey-the-brave-malevolence-napoleon\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/tumblr_nmpl45CuUC1r8no6so2_1280.jpg","keywords":["Kublai Khan","Live Reviews","London","Malevolence","Napoleon","Obey The Brave","The Underworld"],"articleSection":["Post"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/live-review-obey-the-brave-malevolence-napoleon\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/live-review-obey-the-brave-malevolence-napoleon\/","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/live-review-obey-the-brave-malevolence-napoleon\/","name":"Live Review: Obey The Brave, Malevolence, Napoleon &amp; Kublai Khan - The Underworld, London - 10\/04\/2015 - Already Heard Staging","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/live-review-obey-the-brave-malevolence-napoleon\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/live-review-obey-the-brave-malevolence-napoleon\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/tumblr_nmpl45CuUC1r8no6so2_1280.jpg","datePublished":"2015-04-23T13:34:39+00:00","description":"On an unseasonably warm sunny April evening the vest tops were already out in force as Already Heard headed underground into London&rsquo;s The Underworld","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/live-review-obey-the-brave-malevolence-napoleon\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/live-review-obey-the-brave-malevolence-napoleon\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/live-review-obey-the-brave-malevolence-napoleon\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/tumblr_nmpl45CuUC1r8no6so2_1280.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/tumblr_nmpl45CuUC1r8no6so2_1280.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/live-review-obey-the-brave-malevolence-napoleon\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Post","item":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/category\/post\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Live Review: Obey The Brave, Malevolence, Napoleon &amp; Kublai Khan &#8211; The Underworld, London &#8211; 10\/04\/2015"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#website","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/","name":"Already Heard Staging","description":"Covering the best in alternative music as best as we can","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization","name":"Already Heard","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/AH-relaunch-logo-white-bg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/AH-relaunch-logo-white-bg.jpg","width":500,"height":500,"caption":"Already Heard"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/","https:\/\/x.com\/alreadyhearduk","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/alreadyheard\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/already-heard\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/AlreadyHeardMusic","https:\/\/tiktok.com\/@alreadyhearduk","https:\/\/www.threads.net\/@alreadyheard"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/508ed29771f8c5b56fdcf4695f22a2a3","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcf4d491c971b5225a3e3c450225c0ae6ba0217be8f6ecb776a9506d4aa5595f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcf4d491c971b5225a3e3c450225c0ae6ba0217be8f6ecb776a9506d4aa5595f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcf4d491c971b5225a3e3c450225c0ae6ba0217be8f6ecb776a9506d4aa5595f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}