First up a quick apology to the bands for this delayed review. The gig landed at the end of a hectic week of three other concerts, and right when I started marking exam papers which buried me for the following week! Finally, I have time to sit and do the four-set evening some justice…
Audio was very pleasantly busy for what was, essentially, a “small local” gig with headliners Tiberius the ones touring and the other bands collated from the local scene to pack out the bill.
Openers D-CNTR (pronounced Dissenter) were an interesting band to watch. One guitarist was chucking out powerful riffs, doing all the poses and acted much as a second vocalist and introduced a fair bit of the set. The other guitarist was far more stationary, and covered the more technical end of things on a seven-string instrument. Beats from the back were laid down more than capably, and the singer was definitely very much into the music being created.
Their music is “prog metalcore” as described on their Bandcamp page, and it’s quite multi-layered. I found it sometimes quite challenging to listen to, sometimes really enjoyable. The drops and the heavier sections really hit home, but the more prog elements weren’t for me. I also found the lead singer’s clean vocals to be a little flat at time, but his harsh stuff was spot on.
A short set, and I was interested enough to look them up when I got home. Not my kind of music, but they definitely had some fans in the crowd and I’ll be interested to see how they develop. There’s definitely something there.
Local lads Belgrove were up next with a set of two halves. Again a metalcore act, again a four-piece, but a different sound. Aiming to throw “09 metalcore bangers” our way they did a decent job of capturing the sound but again it was the vocals which let them down. Having said that, halfway through we were informed that we’d been listening to Belgrove v1.0 and we were now moving to v2.0 (if I recall the description correctly). Either way… the second half was much improved
I’m not sure if this is newer material, hence the way the set was split, but the songs were definitely harder, better put together, and suited the singer’s voice far more. The first half of the set was OK, the second half was pretty damn good. Also, full marks for crowd engagement and charisma. I really got the feeling that they were happy up there and that came across in their live show.
Again, I ended up on Bandcamp when I got home and while drafting the review to give them a listen. Good stuff.
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A change of tone as we entered the industrial (they call themselves “post-apocalyptic pop”) with Lo-Rays, and bloody hell they were good. As well as some great tunes, their stage show was incredible and I honestly seeing this bunch going far if they add to their already impressive performance. Musically a different genre, but I had thoughts of Sick N’ Beautiful going through my head mainly due to the charismatic and mysterious female singer, the choreography and a few of the little technical/special effects tricks that added to everything.
As well as the key guitar/drums there were multiple other instruments on the go with synths and so forth being used by both guitarists and the drummer, often while they were playing their main instrument also. I gather there are some backing tapes, too, but they’re minimal and the vast majority of the background sound and atmosphere is actually produced live. This is incredible showmanship and added so much depth.
The songs themselves are great. Catchy and ethereal as much as they rock, it was an eclectic set but it was about so much more than the music (which, again, you can check on Bandcamp). Honestly, give them a listen and absolutely catch them live if you get the chance – especially while they’re still playing smaller venues like this.
Our hosts for the evening were the mighty Tiberius who recently did a track-by-track of their latest release for us. Their music is progressive metal, so the songs are slightly longer than average while being “heavy metal” in style. So how do you engage fans when you’re base genre is a long-standing one, and the prog aspect lengthens the songs? Simple answer: make it fun!
What metal band wraps their mic stands in flowers? Tiberius. What metal band has their singer walking through the audience by the time the second song is being played? Tiberius. Which metal band has a guy in a big hairy costume on stage doing daft dances? Raised By Owls. And also Tiberius.
I seem to have done this for all the other bands, so go have a listen to them on Bandcamp, but I’ll tell you right now that seeing them live is where it’s at. They can definitely pump out the tunes on stage as well as they come across recorded, but with the added bonus of balloons n’ stuff.
What could have been an hour of simply listening to some decent prog metal was turned into a party. Tiberius: Making Metal Fun Again. They should get caps printed or something.
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Photos by Skull Lens Photography
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