Having had such a great time at Hammerdown Festival earlier in the year, I decided to brave the wind and the rain to make my way to a stormwave-lashed Brighton for their shorter, winter cousin. This one day event was not on my social calendar until a rather desperate post was put out on social media asking for due to poor ticket sales. I was happy to oblige and so did quite a few similar-minded ers of the local scene and the ‘Hammerdown family’ here in Sussex. The event was only saved by the skin of its teeth and this serves as an important reminder that these kinds of events need ing if they are to continue at all. Financial aspects aside, they serve such an important function in grass roots music, allowing bands to cut their teeth live, try out new things and actually connect with an audience, gaining fans and followers and selling a bit of merch along the way as a bonus.
Apathy UK were first up, playing what they describe as ‘Modern Psychedelic Metal’. They play fairly standard but perfectly competent mid-paced, technical metal with elements of Trivium, Killswitch and Sikth popping up now and again. Their set was cut slightly short by technical issues but I think they pleased plenty of people here today. The release of their debut album (Phasing Through The Layers) is imminent and they have managed to snag a slot on the Sophie Lancaster stage at Bloodstock in August, so things should be looking up. I did a quick YouTube sweep of all the bands on the bill beforehand and one that really stood out for me was Brighton’s finest Kinzoku. These four melodic death metallers are all about the riffs. Riffs are layered upon riffs and yet more riffs to create an exciting wall of sound that is both intricate and interesting to the ear. With healthy dashes of metalcore and a progressive take on thrash (at times), the guitar-driven songs and rapid drum fills are topped off with impressive roared vocals. I really enjoyed Kinzoku’s full-on metal goodness and will be checking out their future releases / shows.
This Dying Hour were a more melodic prospect, with a generally smoother sound. Whilst the drummer’s Behemoth t-shirt was promising, this was a bit of a red herring with regards to their style, which is in more of a Linkin Park vein, if a fair bit heavier. And on that note (well… that handful of trademark notes at the start of a song which usually indicate a Linkin track – you know what I mean), their influence loomed large today, from the back-catalogue on loop on the venue’s changeover music to the tell-tale sections in a few of the songs played today. I get it – they were, and still are, popular – but it did start to grate by the end of the night. TDH had a different singer than I expected to see but he has a good set of pipes and dipped into a more emotional mode between breakdowns, which were ably provided by his fellow band . Black Coast didn’t hesitate in giving us a powerful and angry display of pumping groove-metal. Whilst they are simply described as ‘nu-metalcore’ online, I was impressed by songs like “Ache”, particularly the catchy hooks and choruses. Cool time changes make the brutal vocals and hardcore beatdowns even more interesting and impactful. Shout out to the powerhouse drummer (Matty) and intensely focussed singer (Charlie), in particular. The former provided a beefy backdrop to the riffs and melodies whilst Charlie veered from cleans to earth-shattering howls with ease.
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After a tactical burger break, I made my way back to the venue for Hertfordshire alt-metal five-piece Defences. They brought things down a notch, in of volume and brutality, focussing on the more melodic and electronic aspects of metalcore, which suited vocalist Cherry Duesbury’s accomplished style perfectly. Highlight tracks were ‘Shadowlight’ and ‘Curses’, although the latter’s intro involved a very Linkin Park-esque backing track, which didn’t involve any of the band touching their instruments, as far as I could tell (this always makes me wonder just how “live” a band actually is, can’t help it, sorry). Whilst their set plateaued in places, in my opinion, the band ‘heavily emphasise positivity, acceptance and self-improvement’ which I’m sure we can all get behind and they seemed to be doing well on the merch stall. Brighton/Lancing locals, Bleed Again lifted the roof off with their shouty metalcore, frontman James Dawson working the crowd, generating some moshing from those assembled. Bleed Again are a tight riff-fuelled unit, Jamie’s gruff vocals counterpointing Sam’s cleans to good effect, particularly on “Sign of Fire” and “Victim”. The meaty riffs and banging drums are underlain by the odd electronic flourish, providing a careful balance between light and dark. Bleed Again were the only band I knew on the bill before tonight and they did not disappoint.
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Confessions of a Traitor gave off up-beat vibes and constantly encouraged the crowd to get moshing along to their brutal Christian metalcore. They duly obliged. The Christian ‘thing’ only becomes obvious when you read the lyrics or study their song titles closely (e.g. “Hail Mary” or the excellent “Punishing Myself Before God Does”). Musically, they are positioned at the heavier end of the genre, with satisfying breakdowns interspersed throughout their fast but catchy hardcore metal tunes. Energetic frontman (and, it has to be said, hench), Stephen MacConville was ed on stage by Exist Immortal’s Meyrick de la Fuente for a rendition of “Doomsayer”. I felt for the drummer, Sebastian, though, who had to flee the scene mid-set for a short while due to a dodgy stomach. All things considered, this was an impressive showing. Now I have to be honest, Exist Immortal were much better live than I was expecting, having just checked out a couple of videos online beforehand. This 5-piece progressive metalcore band can obviously play and the lead guitarist (Kurt?) was particularly skilled when given the opportunity to shine with his solos throughout the set. Their songs typically build towards a crescendo but maintain a catchy pop element in their construction that holds the listener enthralled. I liked Meyrick’s vocals – the man can sing! There were a few times when my interest waned a little bit but the rest of the band didn’t take long to bring things back into focus and I enjoyed the set.
Whilst I felt that all of the bands playing today slotted into very similar genres, I still managed to pick out a few favourites to keep track of in the future. Well done to the irrepressible Harry White and all power to the Hammerdown family!
