Four great bands, all with their own take on hardcore!
Those of you who follow us closely might notice that I’ve been quite prolific this week. It’s mainly because I’ve been attempting seven gigs in seven days; either the bravest or stupidest (depending on your perspective) thing I’ve done in ages. It’s been fun so far, but also damn tiring. But no rest just yet – gig number six sees me back at the New Cross Inn for more quality hardcore.
State Sanctioned Violence seem to get tighter and more brilliantly evil every time we see them. As ever, the London quintet smash together the dirtiest and darkest of hardcore, crust, d-beat and suchlike to great effect, and deliver it with plenty of venom. Vocalist Owen clearly isn’t here to entertain us – in fact, he stares us down as if he’d like to eat us alive. The handful of new tracks played sound amazing, and we’re salivating at the thought of what the future holds for them.
Second Death have chosen speed as their weapon of choice, and they wield it well, blasting through their set in under 20 minutes. The drummer alone makes us feel exhausted just from watching him flail away at his kit; seemingly on a mission to make the rest of the bill sound like Electric Wizard (i.e. sloooooooow) in comparison. There’s the added bonus of the curious bystanders peering in through the Inn’s windows, probably thinking something along the Ines of “they’re all just trying play faster than the others, and the singer’s just shouting!”. Yes, and that’s makes it so great, you fools. Superb stuff.
Gimic are as hard to categorise as they are compelling. It’s hardcore, Jim, but not as we know it – there’s a more inventive, Fugazi-esque edge to the likes of ‘Defer To Hate’ and ‘Irrational Demographic’, with elements of noise rock, 90s emo and more twists and turns than a rollercoaster. They’re just as likely to make people dance as to mosh, and for that, we salute them. If there’s any justice, you’ll be hearing plenty more about the Bristol quartet in the near future, and not just from us.
Texan headliners Wiccans are hardcore at its most noisy and chaotic, and they deservedly whip up a storm in the pit. They’ve been described as “Poison Idea trying to make a record in the style of Fucked Up” and we’d drink to that, with songs like the stomp-tactic four-minute ‘Primordial Sorcery’ clearly the work of a band with plenty of great ideas and the hardcore nous to make every second count. New album ‘Phase IV‘ is the perfect combination of brawn and brains – do yourself a favour and check it out.
Overall, a success for all involved; cheers to Real Life Presents for putting it all together. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to drag my increasingly battered eardrums to bed, in preparation for gig number seven. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel…
All Photos: ALEX GOOSE
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I spend my days teaching English to foreign students, and my evenings attending as many gigs as possible. Raised mainly on a diet of 90s third-wave punk, my tastes have grown to include just about anything from trad ska to thrash metal. The Ramones are my musical gods.
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