Gigs

Gig Review: Sylosis + Cinders Fall + Many Things Untold + Taken From Everyday + A Fear Most Fatal

Venue: Barfly, Cambridge
Date: 20 April 2008

The number of decent, young British metal bands is on the up and up and this has coincided nicely with the second (or is it fourth or fifth?) coming of all things heavy. Suddenly massive record labels are sitting up, taking notice and attending events just like this one, keen to snap up the small fry before they grow any bigger. Tonight’s headliners, Reading’s Sylosis, have been just one of the success stories, recently signing to the almighty Nuclear Blast label. There will surely be more following in their footsteps and they could even come from tonight’s all-Brit line-up.

As we arrive we spy the lead singer of Suffolk’s A Fear Most Fatal, Josh Hurrell, pacing in front of the stage – back and forth, forth and back – yelling bloody murder into his mic whilst his four band-mates, all floppy barnets and check-shirts rattle out a combination of metalcore and thrash, all rapid, low-end riffing and battering double-kick. Hurrell has a huge grin on his face as he eyes up the crowd, enticing some of the fans at the front to join in on the vocals. The semi-seriousness of it all combined with the long pauses between songs proves they need to tighten it all up, but they were enjoyable in patches.

Huntingdon’s Taken From Everyday are quite literally the most nervous looking band I’ve ever seen. The vocalist spends half the set playing with his hair whilst one of the guitarists is just plain lost, or possibly bewildered, or concentrating on a hole opening up in front of him, or possibly all three. Joel Mason, our other guitarist, is a human windmill. He is feeling some kind of death metal magic (that I can’t) and spinning his head in ever-increasing circles. Eventually the inevitable happens and it snags Luke Ratcliff’s bass pegs. In the crowd, we have an equally enthusiastic fan (and after checking their MySpace I conclude a former band-member too) who is desperate to grab a hold of the mic and yell all the lyrics, he so clearly knows, down it. If it wasn’t for these two people and the odd spot of straight-edge dancing in the crowd I would never have remembered this performance.

Cambridge’s Many Things Untold, now signed to Rising Records and with a debut album out soon, should be a band to watch. Tonight, though, their screamo and metalcore menace suffers from continual problems with feedback and an over-exuberant frontman, Toby Underhill. The crowd have retreated to a safe distance as Underhill rampages on and off-stage like a Tasmanian Devil. To be honest, he may feel it’s the best thing to do considering how static his band are behind him, but it certainly doesn’t allow any of us the room to connect with them or their music any better. The urge is more to run away. It’s a double-vocal attack of the most enormous roar, followed by a quieter, immensely subtle vocal from Gary Hellman. It’s reminiscent to many of the screamo acts coming out of America at present so no wonder they’re doing well on it. The most impressive part of their set is his last note – Underhill simply leans back, opens that huge gob of his and bellows out a dirty, great all-consuming cry of pain and anguish and it’s stunning.

Essex sextet Cinders Fall blow everything that has gone before out of the water. They converse competently and passionately with the crowd asking questions and demanding answers. They play good, hard honest metal and play it with energy, guile and verve. ‘Beyond Existence’ and ‘Army Of One’ shine out brightest with many mesmeric shreds coming from the fretwork of James Bartram. They all appear to have mastered the metal stance and chicken-neck head thrust – too long spent looking at metal videos, methinks. In between songs, lead singer, Anthony Masters, expounds on the virtues of metal and, in particular, British metal, whilst staring almost intrusively into the eyeballs of each and every audience member - you almost feel he’s looking deep into your soul. To top it all off there is our keyboardist/backing vocalist, Colin Eatherton, who is one hell of a showman and a fine foil for Masters’ menace, leaning into the keys before moshing with the beat. We fear he may impale himself upon his mic stand such is the ferocity of his headbanging. His instrument itself appears a little lost in the mix until the guitars drop out and you catch hold of its sweeping intros. Keep an eye on this lot – big things, oh yes.

Sylosis are already a big thing. They have flexed their metal muscle of battering old school thrash, combined it with precise technical melodies and been rightly noticed. With each release they’ve improved and it is with baited breath that we await their forthcoming album. Tonight, they offer us a taster of it as they give us ‘The Blackest Skyline’ and ‘Into The Fire’. Both show off a more accessible Sylosis, comfortable in repeating lyrical hooks to ram their point home. The crowd are urged to join in and we all know we’ll be humming these little beauties the day after.

Frontman Jamie Graham (ex-Raise The Dead) has stopped using his beloved guitar and is concentrating on leading this lot using only his vocal chords. Now that is one fine instrument he’s got there. Big pitch shifts, take him from hoarse, skittering screams to deep ear-busting roars. His performance on ‘Dark Revelations’, from their first EP, shows just how brutal it has become - and he can grin while singing it! He’s loving the crowd tonight. The empty spaces I choose to see he does not. “We’re so pleased you came out tonight”. He smiles before going on to explain how it means so much that we’re not just here when a big American metal act rolls into town but for the British bands too. “We fucking invented metal in this country, so thanks”, he yells to a huge roar of approval. A circle pit forms that’s probably well meant, but certainly lacking in participation. It’s mostly just the young hardcore kids who were there for the first few bands and are all just having a laugh now – slapping the arses of those in front of them before looking to their mates for approval.

Jamie can only see moving bodies and is thrilled. “We’ve all got this bug and you guys are really helping us through” he says, thanking the crowd, before they launch into ‘Blind Desperation’ from their latest offering, ‘The Supreme Oppressor’. All the way through it guitarist Gurneet is jigging his head back and forth, lost in the mighty groove he’s laying down. Across the stage the sour face of Josh Middleton is off-putting, yet he can’t be ignored as he has one foot on his monitor and is shredding his guitar for all he’s worth. Somewhere in the background we hear a huge concoction of double-kick drums before they cut and the breakdown takes us into a bruising Jamie G roar. He shifts gear into the last number, ‘Oath Of Silence’, and the metalheads at the front lap it up giving them the big send-off with a chorus line of headbanging. Barnstorming stuff!

For fans of: The Black Dahlia Murder, Romeo Must Die, Panic Cell
Band links = Sylosis | Cinders Fall | Many Things Untold | Taken From Everyday | A Fear Most Fatal

Tags: live, gig, sylosis, cinders fall, review, romeo must die, panic cell, many things untold, cambridge

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