By Jase Walker
It’s steadily getting warmer and I’m back in my more comfortable threads of a light hoodie and ready to get stuck into gigs without having to worry about putting my bloody coat somewhere! After a brief interview with main support Veil Of Maya and getting to see them sound check, I’m back in at doors to get stuck into this meaty show.
Admittedly I’m not super keen on Mastiff but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think they sounded great and are doing pretty damn well for themselves getting on a run of shows like this. Given the tight cluster of people around the front of the stage though, it’s pretty clear that we’ve got some big fans in the crowd or at the very least people that are definitely into Mastiff’s unbelievably aggressive act. Their kind of slow, relentless riffs and the odd bounce into Slayer-esque frantic mania is definitely resonating with the early arrivals. Mastiff do sound bloody excellent though, the pressure of their gritty sound weighs heavily on you, as far as their style goes, they are truly an unstoppable force that bears down on the crowd and gives no quarter.
It’s Veil Of Maya time and here we go! It’s been way too long since I’ve seen these live last and the hands in the air shows a clear sign that others here are as buzzed about it as I am! An absolute banger from their ‘False Idols’ album, ‘Doublespeak’, with its incredible uplifting chorus and the band gets the crowd to clap along with ease. It’s great seeing everyone else get stuck into them as well. Seeing some lovely DJent-y goodness on a stage the size of Manchester’s Academy 1 is something I will honestly never get sick of. But wait, there’s more ‘False Idols’ bangers, with ‘Overthrow’. I’m such a massive sucker for the mix of uplifting choruses and just downright filthy verses and Veil Of Maya has this down to an art form.
Of course, they’d not be skipping out on the live debut of their latest single, ‘Godhead’ which is angry Veil Of Maya. I can see the pit that’s erupted in front of me also agrees that this is an absolute banger, just in case anyone thought for a minute that Veil Of Maya had softened up a bit. It’s looking like they might be having some issues with the guitar as we’ve got a bit of an extended break where Lucas is talking which is a bit of a shame, hopefully they don’t have to cut anything from the set. One of the older singles ‘Outrun’ with its synthwave cuts goes down a treat too, it’s still got all the usual Veil Of Maya cuts but that synthwave interlude is such a wonderful part and the waving arms of the crowd shows that people here love it too. Finishing with my absolute favourite song, ‘Mikasa’, this set has been everything I wanted it to be after so long, outstanding show lads.
After a brief break, the room goes dark and the crowd erupts into a chant of “A-va-tar! A-va-tar!” and it’s time for some twisted metal! And right from the start, pyrotechnics, flashing strobes, Avatar are most definitely not fucking about when it comes to this live performance, they’re going right for the throat! Drinking from a gas canister right from the get-go too? Yep. ‘The Eagle Has Landed’ gets everyone waving their arms completely unprompted, this is one of those bands that has a strong contingent of people who know exactly what to do at any given moment. We’re literally on day one and Avatar demands blood, the build up to an incredibly sized pit in the middle of the crowd and its subsequent mania is quite something to witness.
To put it into a nutshell, Avatar proves that nobody does metal in quite the way the Swedish do it. There’s always a subtle level of outright insanity to Swedish metal bands, they’ve got that bit of flair that toes the line between intensity and just outright insanity and Avatar is one particular example of just not caring where that line is. ‘The Dirt I’m Buried’ immediately strikes a chord with the crowd as a massive banger and I’m stood on the edge of the insanity of movement right in front of me! Every time I see Avatar live, I am in complete awe of how much of an incredible frontman Johannes is. He truly is an enigmatic personality to watch perform. No sooner do I type this, he’s appeared at the sound desk behind me to create a balloon animal; oh, and now he’s pulled out a trombone. I don’t even know where to begin with this.
Nothing quite satisfies for showmanship quite like a good old fashioned guitar battle either, especially when it comes to how Avatar’s guitarists do it with their bizarre percussive playing. Right after this in Avatar style, a guy with what appears to be a gimp mask walks on stage with a box and the crowd evidently understands this immediately by chanting, ‘What’s in the box?’ and then the singer climbs out of it, I am very confused right now, well at least I can say it’s the first time I’ve seen a magic trick at a gig now. As we draw towards the end of the set, ‘Let It Burn’ sees the whole of the front crowd go bloody nuts, I mean it’s a pretty catchy riff, why wouldn’t you?
In keeping with Avatar’s bizarre antics, the drummer now armed with a shotgun begins firing confetti into the audience (despite one misfire) and looks like it’s time for ‘Hail The King’! We’re in the home stretch and I feel it’s a bit odd that they’ve not played ‘Hail The Apocalypse’, yet but looks like we’re getting ‘Smells Like A Freakshow’, at least which it’s pretty damn good in its own right so I’ll take that! It’s not a complete loss though, as it turns out that’s the very last song in their extended encore, superb.
I loved Avatar to start with, their often goofy and carnival inspired sound has always been something I’ve loved but seeing them at their own show has something that the festival shows I’d seen prior that just didn’t deliver. Bizarre, weird, but incredible all the same. An outstanding show.
- The tour continues:
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