Hacride [Live] @ Purple Turtle, London

03/10/09

October 6, 2009, 06:14 PM

Views: 560   Comments: 3

Maiea take to the stage and before they’ve even played a note singer James Mckenzie states that they are a lot worse than the other bands on the bill and that we shouldn’t expect anything too great from them. If I was any of the other band members I would have given him a slap after the show for that one, diminishing the quality of their music without even playing a note. Lets just say that when they do start playing it’s not that bad, it would be even fair to say that they are quite good, sounding somewhere between Opeth and Tool. The main problem came when the vocals came in. Lets just say someone wants to be Maynard and isn’t even close. Also the use of synthesizer was pretty redundant and I think that the gentle oscillation should be strictly reserved for your hips, in the bedroom. Over all Maiea are a band with potential but with an over emphatic singer who feels the need to pull faces and go way overboard on the dramatisation whilst trying to sing above his station.

Next up were No Made Sense who have a completely different direction for their sound. It’s a bigger and more groovy with a punk hardcore influence. The thing that stood out about them was the fact that they looked like a band, all dressed in black with shirts and waistcoats and all fully in to everything they were doing. Great energy throughout and a fabulous vocalist, who’s every scream, seemed effortlessly powerful. Variations in direction from groovy low single string riffs to tapping and stripped down build-ups. No Made Sense are going to do very well. Stick them on the right tours with the right bands and they should create a buzz.

Now for the Main event, Hacride, they start with the mellowed ‘Phenomenon,’ which builds gently until it kicks in with such intensity. The track doesn’t have any vocals for a few minutes and vocalist Samuel Bourreau looks a bit awkward as he stands in the centre of the stage waiting for his part to come in. The track then segues in to ‘Lazurus,’ album opener "To Walk Among Them" which gets the energy levels pumped up. As Hacride carry on playing their brand of technical metal they seem to lose a bit of that opening energy. Is it the fact that they are playing to a backing track and it’s all a bit metronomic or maybe they are tired? The set plods on with odd riffs standing out here and there but my attention wavers until the colossal opening riff of ‘Act of God’ kicks in and my full attention is drawn back in. A big pit break out and blood sprays out as someone makes contact with the bridge of the nose of another. Hacride finish set on an absolute high and remind me of exactly why I was excited about seeing them.

#1 | Subscribe | Send to Friend | Print | Discipline | Report