On Friday night I headed to 229 The Venue in Great Portland Street for the Incendia Christmas Party, which featured four bands from the Incendia Music’s management roster. There was also an after party with Prog Magazine editor Jerry Ewing manning the decks “with his renowned DJ set featuring Toto amongst many other classic rock and metal hits”!
First to take to the stage were London-based eclectic progressive rock band Temples On Mars who really set the tone for the rest of the evening, playing a brilliant set featuring tracks from their self-titled debut album which was released in April of this year. Two of my favourite tracks from their set were “When Gods Collide”, and closing track “Black Mirror”. Special shout-out to their drummer Dean who was an absolute delight to watch as he looked like he was having the time of his life, with a grin on his face for the band’s entire set! I will definitely check out Temples of Mars again next time they play London.
Next up were “balls-to-the-wall metalcore” quintet The Five Hundred from Nottingham. These guys were full-throttle right from the very start and their ferociously energetic and brutal performance went down very well with the crowd. The band will played a selection of tracks taken from their new album Bleed Red (released earlier this year) and I really enjoyed their technical, melodic sound. There were some brilliant riffs and catchy hooks, as well as crushing breakdowns and some great vocal melodies from Johnathan Woods-Eley. A very strong performance indeed and I band I would certainly recommend.
Third on the bill were female-fronted post-hardcore/alternative six-piece As Everything Unfolds from High Wycombe. It was a bit of a squeeze to get all six of them onto the small stage, but they somehow managed to jump around without crashing into each other, and put on a great energetic performance. Charlie was a powerhouse and switched effortlessly from clean to scream vocals, whilst simultaneously bouncing around the stage. As Everything Unfolds played a solid set featuring a great selection of tracks from their 2017 EP Collide, as well as their 2018 EP Closure.
Headlining tonight were metal/prog band Brutai from London/Reading who I saw for the first time when they supported Sümer at Islington Academy back in 2016. The band’s unique mix of clean and growled vocals, together with catchy melodies and technical guitar always go down well with the crowd, and this evening was no exception. Brutai played a crushing set featuring tracks from their 2016 debut album Born as well as their latest single “Upside Down” which was released at the end of October. The Brutai lads always have great stage presence and put on a brilliant show. I would highly recommend going to see them if they come to a city near you!
Photos by Katie Frost Photography
Brutai: facebook | twitter | bandcamp | soundcloud
As Everything Unfolds: facebook | twitter | instagram | youtube
The Five Hundred: facebook | twitter | instagram | soundcloud | bandcamp
