One of the greatest discoveries during the pandemic was Spiritbox with their debut album, Eternal Blue. And judging by the queue to get into the Institute tonight in Digbeth, it seems plenty of others in the area also did the same with the entire tour sold out months in advance in some pretty sizeable rooms. Thankfully the weather isn’t atrocious, so it makes the delayed entry into the venue bearable.
Allegedly, the doors haven’t opened at the traditional 7pm and it’s close to 8pm before I’m within spitting distance of the venue and by the time I’ve handed my name in at the box office and into the main room, it’s not long before the tour’s main , Loathe, are hitting the stage (sorry, Brand of Sacrifice). Blending a whole heap of sub-genres together with metalcore, shoegaze, nu metal, post-metal and hardcore to come together into an alternative package make them a great fit for tonight.
Bathed in red light for an ominous and borderline intimidating performance, it’s a shame the vocals are completely buried and it’s a fight to pick them out from the music itself. While they seem like a well-oiled machine, by the halfway point, it feels a little samey but the crowd lap it up and receive a hearty response. And even once they leave, no-one seems to move, implying their addition was the cherry on top for tonight for a lot of people.
Finally, it’s time for Spiritbox. Taking advantage of some excellent production you generally don’t see from bands of this level, the use of an LED wall with their alternative metal stylings makes for a more atmospheric and cinematic night. Indeed, it helps enhance their own performance which would otherwise be seen as aloof. However, the quartet let the music do the talking most of the time, drawing heavily from the debut as well more recent singles and pull “The Mara Effect, Pt. 3” from the self-titled vault. Given the circumstances, they manage to work a solid hour and change out of what they have to work with and there’s no call for them to bulk the set out with a couple of covers.
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For a quartet which has been going for quite some time now, it’s unsurprising they’re a technically polished act, and that’s when you include the new (ish) blood of bassist Josh Gilbert. Sludgy riffs clean themselves up at points whilst the opposite is also true, mingling with the pummelling drums and snarling bass lines. Vocalist Courtney LaPlante sounds exactly like she does on record, running from dreamy pop tones which could easily feature on any pop chart hit of the last decade to her harsh tones sounding feral to the point where you’d be mistaken for thinking it’s coming from two people, such is the beefiness of them. She might have a way to go in of becoming an actual frontwoman to sit with the greats but her voice itself is enough to keep the crowd riveted. It’s perfectly highlighted in the early appearance of “Circle With Me” along with the follow-up of the more recent “Rotoscope”.
This is a band that have already become a force to be reckoned with, already establishing a die-hard following and on their next visit to the UK will likely be playing to much larger crowds than they have on this run. Likewise, their prolific nature has kept them in people’s memories and it’s easy to identify what a Spiritbox song is. As metalcore, post-hardcore, post-metal, nu metal and alternative all mingle, it’s a thoroughly modern sound and there’s not a band out there which currently sounds like them. They’ve managed to balance each element perfectly so it never seems like they’re trying to do too much, instead, taking the best of each to make something truly alternative to even alternative metal.
Again, the vocals are too low in the mix for most of the night and whilst you can hear LaPlante’s vocals, you have to concentrate hard to pick out the lyrics and it’s a challenge to figure out what she says in her few remarks between songs. Likewise, if it hadn’t been for the screen adding an extra element to the show, it would have felt more like a recital than a performance. But when the music is that good, you likely wouldn’t mind, even at the cost of a dynamic show. However, that will likely come in time as they create more new material and have a chance to road test it rather than relying largely on an album that was created, essentially, in a bubble during a pandemic. And what also gives them extra kudos is they follow the trend of modern bands eschewing an encore.
Despite a few niggles in the evening, Spiritbox are easily able to show why they’ve earned the right to a sellout UK tour. Dynamic in their music but not so much their performance, this is very much a band at the beginning of what should be a very interesting and rewarding career.
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Photos by Beyond Punk Photography
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