As the doors open at 7:30, the legion of metal heads dive into the venue. With a bit of time to gander around the merch stand and converse about the evenings antics, the lights dim and onto the stage comes our opening act, Defects.
I’ve seen these lads three times now, supporting the likes of Bullet For My Valentine and In Flames, so that alone should give you an insight to the potential they have. Defects start their set with the heavy as hell “Scapegoat”, which gets the fans’ attention in a big way. Everyone is starting to feel it straight away as the London based metallers bring bundles of energy to the stage. Defects know exactly when to bring on full brutality into a song but also how to create a stunning, melodic hook that’s just made to be sung along to.
As their sets draws to an end, the vocalist and lead guitarist of the band exit the stage and head straight for the pit as they see out their final song right in the middle of it. I mean, this is one way to make an impact! Absolutely stellar stuff from Defects who put on a fantastic showing once again. Up next is Caskets!
After a bit of time recovering from the last band, once again the lights go out and we’re greeted to another one of the rising stars of the metal core genre, Caskets. Making quite a name for themselves around the world, and yet another chance to show people what they’re all about is offered tonight! Straight out of the gate the crowd let off a massive cheer as they start off with “Guiding Light” that flows into “Believe”. What a way to kick it off! The band are on top form tonight, the whole time keeping the crowd entranced.
With stunning cleans and brutal down-tuned riffage that is only complimented by vocalist Matt Flood’s incredible voice, Caskets put on a breathtaking musical experience whereever they go! After a great set from the boys from Leeds, they finally end on “Glass Heart” to cap off the another blinding show on the tour.
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It’s been something else so far, and we’re not quite done yet as Of Mice And Men take to the stage to kick the crowds’ butts one more time. As they take their respected positions on the stage, they start their set off with “Bones Exposed” off their 2014 release Restoring Force that goes into “Would You Still Be There”. The crowd are singing in absolute unison to every word.
In the pit, things are opening up as there’s not a single head that’s not banging as the atmosphere is absolutely electric and we’re only a couple of songs in. Vocalist Aaron Paulie admits he’s under the weather this evening, but you’d never have guessed by his vocal performance, never hitting a bad note and never missing a beat. Although he did opt out of playing the bass this evening though this may be something they are doing in a general moving forward. Despite this, it takes nothing away from a killer show from these Californian metal long stayers!
Of Mice And Men play a great assortment of new and classic songs from the band’s repertoire, the likes of “Obsolete”, “Depths” and “Castaway” to name a few. A fantastic outing from band that have gone through several lineup changes in the past, but with the appointment of Aaron taking the role of lead vocals, the sky is indeed the limit. Of Mice And Men play us out on their biggest hit to date, “Second and Sebring” to end an awesome night of metal.
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Photos by Lawrence Potter
