By Jase Walker
This is legitimately the first time I’ve ever found myself with a reason to dip out of a festival to see another band, let alone a show on the other side of the country! I’ve departed Dynamo Metalfest in Eindhoven to hop on a train to Nijmegen because there was absolutely nothing going to stop me from seeing The Browning one way or another.
For this tour they’ve brought with the British metalcore outfit, Polar, who smashed a set at Jera On Air earlier this year. In addition to this the openers are The Defect who have a feature on The Browning’s latest album, ‘Omni’. It’s going to be a stellar show tonight filled with riffs, techno and plenty of screaming.
As I turn around to face the stage for The Defect, I spot this big bastard next to me who I recognized from Trivium earlier this week for making his presence felt in the pit. They kick things off and I’m already feeling pretty intense NIN vibes with the big bassy synth vibes but the moment that groove kicks in, I’m already sold. One of their vocalists reminds me strongly of Poppy with her high and sweet vocals but against the other vocalist with disgustingly heavy growls, holy shit I am so SO invested! Something between the mix of tasty riffs, heavy use of synths, juxtaposed vocals and some pretty funky grooves, ties all this together to create a band that manages to scratch the itch for symphonic elements and ferociously heavy shit.
The set feels like it’s over before it’s barely begun as I’ve been that locked in keeping my focus on the band I’ve completely forgotten about the passing of time. The Defect have absolutely taken me by surprise in the best way and I’ve found myself a band to obsess over for the coming weeks because god, fucking, damn I have enjoyed this!
Next up tonight is Polar and they’re waiting zero time getting the crowd to bounce around to their marching rhythm! The level of aggression these guys stomp around with is so much more intense in an enclosed room with everyone packed in. Polar sound fucking fantastic too, every breakdown and drop hits with immense force, they’re here to prove they go every bit as hard as The Browning and proving themselves right in the process.
Their singer decides at one point that people just aren’t doing enough so it’s time for a circle pit around him and things just start getting ever more insane! One lad somehow had cans with him next to me in the pit that sprung a leak and ended up with a beer sprinkler across the room and caught everyone around him, me included.
The circle pit next to me is an ever spinning carousel of faces that flash in and out of visibility as the strobes flash and periodically smash me out of my spot as several people fly into me from the side. This band is a real treat to watch every single time, it’s easy to write them off as just another band in the core scene but I see them as a truly earnest and humble band that puts out songs that are heavy with emotion and meaning and puts them into action with mean riffs and exceptional performances. Truly an underrated band in the scene that hits hard on so many levels and it’s been an absolute pleasure seeing them tear Doornroosje a new one.
The lead up to The Browning is unsurprisingly a bunch of hardstyle techno which sets the tone just right considering what’s about to come. Deathcore and Berlin techno, what’s not to love? Opening with a cut of Eiffel 65’s “Move Your Body” before hitting with their Omni opener of “Wake Up”, I’m already locked in and ready to bounce! I cannot overstate the sheer amount of chaos that has erupted around me, the entire venue has fully exploded into madness and I’m getting shoved around from all directions.
The Browning are already far beyond what I could have possibly anticipated for this show, I’m not sure what I feel beneath my feet more, the chugs or the stomping of the crowd. The way The Browning fuses euphoric trance and techno into a deathcore style is truly unique and seeing how it gets delivered live is incredible!
The drummer technically gets a drum solo midway through the set before leading into yet more madness. I’m fully aware that I’m saying this a lot but it’s overwhelming in the most extreme way. They reveal that the female vocalist from The Defect is the singer’s wife which I had no idea but she’s up for their latest album’s title track ‘Omni’, and what a banger it is!
One of the more bizarre things about The Browning though, is their cover of Eiffel 65’s ‘Blue (Da Bee Dee)’ which somehow elicits even more of an insane reaction from the crowd. If you’d ever told a 14 year old me that I’d be watching a deathcore cover of that song just over 20 years later I’d have never believed it but here we are!
They close out their set with ‘Standing On The Edge’ and finishes up probably one of the best shows I’ve seen this year without a doubt. Absolutely fucking incredible right from the start of the set and both the crowd and band kept the energy going at 120% for the whole hour and 10mins. This isn’t a show that I’ll forget in a hurry and I hope these end up at either RADAR or Jera next year because fuck me.
Well, we were about to walk out but it seems we’ve got a treat for a sold out show, let’s go one more time eh? One last bounce for good measure never goes amiss and I am left absolutely exhausted, time to get home and sleep.