By Jase Walker
Germany has been producing some absolutely fantastic bands over the past few years and Future Palace are amongst the ones that have really gotten my attention. Their aggressive style mixed with pop sensibilities is very much a part of why I have really gotten into them and it’s great to see them stomping around outside of Germany finally. Along for the ride are two bands I’ve definitely seen the names of but haven’t properly made the time to investigate, fellow Germans Our Promise and Seven Blood. Tonight is going to be a real buffet for upcoming acts from the large neighbouring country to the Netherlands. What better way to experience it with Melkweg’s OZ stage?
Seven Blood open their show with pulsing blue lights with an ambient melody accompanied by a monologue before they take the stage. The stage floor does look quite messy with a ton of equipment on there with little room for the band to navigate. The guitar isn’t quite as strong as I’d like it to be but given they’re the opening act I’m going to cut them a bit of slack. This is a good slice of alt metal though, similar to the likes of Saint Agnes, A and Artio, energetic choruses and bouncy songs. I feel the sound mix lets them down a bit though as it feels very thin and lacks the punch needed to drive this sort of style.
The band themselves are fun to watch on stage though and have a lot of movement that clearly shows they know what they’re doing for a live performance. It takes a lot of grit to go out on a tour across the ÜK and Europe so they’ve definitely put in the work to get to this point but I feel there’s a bit of work to be done on the overall sound because their material is solid because it deserves a meatier live sound. On the whole, I did enjoy it and I really like their sound but I get the feeling that they’re an unpolished gem. I do genuinely mean that as a compliment here, there’s some great potential here but some live elements need a bit of work and I hope they continue to improve.
Next up is Our Promise and right from the start the sound mix is really solid, rolling with a dual singer setup and two guitars, Our Promise have got a real fat sound. The six members of the band seem to be a bit tight on stage real estate but they make it work and all of them are clearly putting a ton of energy into the show. This sort of metalcore using mixed vocals and energetic riffs is absolutely my sort of thing, I’m already sold and they’ve barely started the set! Our Promise are going into this show all guns blazing and it really shows.
This sort of live performance is well honed and clearly shows off how much care and attention they’ve put into it. So much movement and really playing to the crowd and trying to draw them in, the crowd response from every song definitely displays that their attention is fully fixated on Our Promise. They managed to pull off a wall of death that I admittedly had my doubts about but the crowd is clearly down for this! I am really not overblowing this but I am stood here right now, mouth agape in a look of pure amazement at how much I am into this band. This really is blowing my mind how much I’ve had a band go from a complete unknown to a band that I want to make sure I never miss the chance to see again.
Our Promise embodies everything you want to see in a band that wants to give everything to their performance. Everyone in the band clearly knows the words to every song and believes what they’re doing is great and it translates so well to everyone here. They’re rolling with the raw energy of the likes of Landmvrks, Novelists, Polaris, all that good shit and I could not be happier to suddenly feel this overjoyed about a new discovery. This right here is why I tirelessly preach about seeing support bands, this sort of experience is truly a one off experience where you see a band that catches you off guard and remains a firm favourite for years to come. Absolutely fucking incredible performance!
It’s time for the main course tonight, Future Palace! There may only be three of them but they sound absolutely massive and their vocalist Maria cuts through the air like a knife. Leaning heavily on their material from Distortion which clearly marks a move to heavier riffs compared to their earlier stuff while still retaining their ear for a solid melodic chorus. Their production is fairly light but effective, using intense neon colours that reflect the art from the latest album.
The crowd sways and nods along but I feel they’re waiting for the material from their ‘Run’ album to really let rip with the moshing. Future Palace alongside bands such as As Everything Unfolds, Spiritbox, Electric Callboy and the like embody this fusion of the heavier elements of metal with the wonderful melodic side of pop and the outcome is a style that you can smash yourself in the pit with while also straining your voice singing to the chorus, love it.
What a joy it is to see so many people jumping around to Future Palace though, I don’t think I could have wished for a better first time seeing these! Maria’s uncleans live sound uncannily similar to Sam Carter of Architects with its raw, shouty sound, they’re bloody fantastic. One thing that really stands out for me with German metal bands right now is this consistent use of synths that sound similar to what you’d get at the Berlin love parade or Scooter, it’s almost as if they’re paying homage to the techno and rave scene that Germany has fostered for years. The fusion of this sort of music with contemporary metal vibes has resulted in a real unique identity of German metalcore bands, Electric Callboy, annisokay, We Butter The Bread With Butter all show similar inspiration and I fucking love it. As with a headline show, it’s up to them to dictate the flow of the show and they’ve made time for an acoustic moment to change the pace before hitting the end of the set.
The home run is set and we’re hit first with ‘Dead Inside’, one of the singles that saw them grow massively in popularity almost overnight. Rolling into ‘Heads Up’ and finalizing with ‘Paradise’ completes a set of some of their best from their Run album and ties up a absolutely fucking great show from Future Palace. I’ve waited ages to see these live and it was worth the wait and thankfully won’t be long before I get to see them smash RADAR festival next year in Manchester. I really hope the rest of the tour is fantastic and I can’t wait to see where they go from here.
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