Since this evening started really early and we always have trouble with the early hours we only saw the last few songs of Shaped By Fate, which I couldn’t really regret. The chaotic metalcore with a mathcore touch wasn’t original nor convincing enough to keep me interested and their crazy activity couldn’t satisfy me either; been there, done that.  

 

Becoming The Archetype didn’t really fit in with the other bands playing tonight. They brought a mix of metalcore with a broad collection of influences; they could play a thrash riff and all of a sudden switch to something what could be called a seventies rock part. There was a major role for melodic tunes, just like on their only record; melodic guitar lines were often accompanied or varied with a keyboard, which the second guitar player took care of. I found the mixture of harshness and soft, gentle melodies quite enjoyable but unfortunately the guitar players couldn’t play their solos tight enough to really convince me. What surprised me positively was that the singer mainly used low grunts instead of meaningless monotone screams of which I was afraid a little after hearing their debut. We also got to hear a couple of songs of the upcoming album, where there was a remarkable role for the vocals of the lead guitar player, which were pure heavy metal and brought me a good laugh. Their mix of styles isn’t always successful and not everybody will appreciate it, but all in all it’s a band worth checking out, I just hope and expect that with more experience the tightness of the guitar players will grow. (review by Sledgehammer Messiah)     

 

The band to close this evening was The Chariot. At first glance they seem like just another mathcore band, but it takes about two or three songs to realize that they’re not. They entwine a lot of noise in their music, almost completely erasing the metalcore, which gives them their own sound I think. They really make you feel uncomfortable, and if you’re not into this music it’ll take you about thirty seconds to decide that you want to say ‘screw you guys, I’m going home’. But the thing that really made me like the show was their stage performance/destruction. Especially the bassist seemed to have an irrepressible urge to use his instrument as a weapon. The vocalist seemed to have the same problem, he even once got his microphone stuck on one of the bars near the ceiling, and the only band I’ve seen doing that was The Dillinger Escape Plan. So it was a highly entertaining performance that was quite challenging to follow. Definitely the best band of the evening, for me. (review by Demondust)