By Jase Walker
It’s warm as fuck! It’s absolutely bloody boiling but thank God for a venue with decent air conditioning that at least keeps me at a reasonable temperature until the inevitable slew of pits tonight warm the venue right back up again. It’s the return of Paledusk, one of Japan’s fiercest metal acts, back after their run supporting One Ok Rock and going right for the throat with their latest pop-infused riffery.
Along for the ride are experimental metalcore outfit Knosis, whom I got to chat to earlier in person and had a lovely interview digging into Ryo’s musical process. In addition is Greyhaven and Headwreck. It’s quite an interesting mix of oddball stuff tonight so it’s going to be a big bouncy ride…
Headwreck decide their opening track is the Wii Sports theme and a quick wave before getting things going with some delicious heavy riffs and record scratching noise.
They instantly remind me a lot of Ocean Grove in the way that this is unapologetically metalcore but with a very distinct tinge of nu-metal thrown into the mix. This is exactly what I want out of an opening band, no pretense, no messing about, getting straight in your face with their presence and straight into your ears with big riffs and catchy songs.
I’m standing here just constantly gurning in response to great songwriting and properly dirty riffs, Australia once again proving that they’re a hotbed of some of the best young talent in the world right now. A random Linkin Park cover of ‘Lying From You’ thrown into the mix catches me off guard but a welcome surprise nonetheless. They then follow up with a song that fully seals it for me with one of the tastiest grooves I’ve heard in a while.
Yeah I’m absolutely enamoured with these, what an incredible start and another one on the list of “banging shit from Australia”, what is in the water over there?
- Headwreck will play three ÜK headline shows next week:
Next up tonight is Greyhaven, another band that’s been on my “to see” list for quite a while and it’s time to get things going! Very mathcore stylistic stuff but the guitar and bass are super quiet compared to the rest of the band so off to a bit of a rough start but let’s see how things pan out, happens sometimes!
Thankfully it’s not long before this gets sorted out and the guitarist rings through much clearly and the balance feels a lot more on point. Almost as a direct result the energy of the crowd suddenly picks up massively and a fierce pit storms the centre of the crowd, now we’re talking.
Erring between mathcore and post-hardcore and showing flashes of Rolo Tomassi, Fall Of Troy, Norma Jean and Dillinger, Greyhaven are absolutely storming De Helling with their own particular brand of chaotic energy. What started a bit rocky has blossomed into an incredible maelstrom of frantic noise and a crowd that seems dead set on wrecking each other.
Greyhaven’s set marked a whiplash change in the style of music but kept the energy levels crazy high and doubtless have the crowd running at full speed now, the bar is steadily raised and I don’t doubt that Knosis are going to capitalize on this without any hesitation. We’re 2 for 2 in incredible sets now, what a ride so far!
Knosis gets things going and are taking absolutely no prisoners right from the start, genre bending changes with no shame. One moment it’s delicious hardcore riffs, the next it’s space rock, don’t forget a sprinkle of black metal here and there.
Knosis are a force to be reckoned with that have become properly comfortable with their own mosaic of noise now more than ever and it really shows. If there’s one definitive common thread with bands from Japan, it’s the sheer absolute audacious energy that every single one of them bring when playing live. You’ll never see other bands where every single member isn’t just playing and rocking out, they’re almost single-handedly doing a cardio routine while hammering out insanely complex stuff.
When Ryo demands a pit, that’s exactly what he gets, the crowd is fully warmed up and clearly put in their effort to get limbered up for pit shenanigans. Knosis absolutely slayed their set, a crowd that was fully down for going nuts all the way to the end and even with an injured Ryo still being brave enough to get into the crowd people went wild.
The incredible mix of musical styles, led by musicians who have no fear about jumping into different genres at a moment’s notice as well as the chops to make it work sees Knosis absolutely smash it out of the park once again.
And finally, it’s time for Paledusk to finish off the evening. Sporting Adidas tracksuits as they storm onto the stage and let rip with chaotic riffs and their signature energetic form, there’s no excuse for not losing your shit at this point.
Much like with Knosis, there’s something about the way bands from Japan conduct themselves on stage, they often operate on a feel of “if we aren’t acting insane, then the crowd won’t either” which for the sake of an intense live show, it feels like the right attitude to have. Paledusk, much like Knosis, have zero fear about crossing genre boundaries, they dip into the realms of swing, RnB, disgustingly heavy metal and bounce around them with no shame or worry.
Anything goes, and considering how much crowds respond back to the band with intense and raw energy it’s clearly connecting with people. At the rough halfway point we have a sudden sound cut that comes as a bit of a shock to the band, especially considering the moment it came at which prompts stage engineers to quickly jump on stage to figure out the issue.
Seemingly this was due to a stage diver causing issues where the sound had to be cut out to make sure that people were safe which is a bit of a first for me! Apparently enough to cause the band to go off stage for a bit to let things get fixed up which does indicate that something pretty serious was messed up but the band stomps back out and on with the show!
Apparently despite the momentary plans to get people off stage after they surf up hasn’t quite landed with several people getting on stage and looking puzzled for what to do next until the stage manager gives them some clear instructions to get off stage while they’re still a bit dazed. Evidently a set interruption isn’t quite enough to get it across to people that kicking the stage production tends to halt things.
Anyway, Paledusk soldiers on and keeps things going despite the onslaught. Anyway for what it’s worth the vibes for tonight’s show have been nothing short of incredible, a well paced setlist and a fantastic performance from Paledusk that showcases exactly why we need more Japanese bands in Europe. A country that is massively under-represented in the world stage despite its reputation and although I understand the challenges, I strongly believe they’ve got the chops to be easily on par with the likes of American and Australian bands.
Four bands in a row, each absolutely fantastic in their own right and a veritable oddball line-up of bands that has been a real treat to get my ears around. Incredible bands all round, some odd issues here and there but nothing that’s been a proper show stopper. This is why I live for this. What an incredible evening.