aaamusic | On 18, Jul 2010

[cincopa 10675388]

Birmingham, 13th July

Kvelertak are a nice blend of stoner riffs and pure rock’n’roll mixed with a big metal sound, they are proud of being beer guzzling bearded men and the music really delivers a nice 30 minutes of melodys and power.
Gaza in comparison are moody and tortured and one of the best support bands I have seen all year, you can hear the influences from Converge and SunnO but they have made the music there own… their set makes me wonder why I haven’t heard about this band before, I have already bought all the E.P’s and their album but I am wondering what they will come up with next. If you like good experimental mood enhancing metal this is the band for you.
Kylesa have toured with the likes of Mastodon and conjure up a similar sound of dredge metal. This is not really my cup of tea but I can see they are good at what they do, they have moments that I quite like, one song sounding a bit like something My Ruin would come-up with and Kylesa female singer has quite a menacing presence which makes a nice contrast to the lade back guitarist male singer, if you like Stoner you will love these guys but they leave me just wanting Converge to come on.
Converge do finally come on and you see that the half empty room is now totally packed with a load of scene kids and hardcore metallers who seem to know every word and jump on every word Jacob Bannon the thugish skinhead looking frontman has to say, he really knows how to command a crowd and you can see he is one of the weirdest blue-prints for a rockstar. There new album ‘Axe to Fall’ might not be their most popular album to date with fans screaming for past hits but the way they deliver the songs tonight you wonder why it isn’t, the songs are a full force powered misery machine and shows you why they totally invented a genre of music, It is getting hot in this packed room but no one cares all they want to do is have a hardcore sing-a-long. Converge shows all the new hardcore bands how it is done, they are true legends
and this is their finest hour and they leave u wanting more with the abscene of mega hit Jane Doe, As Frank Sinatra said ‘Always leave the crowd wanting more’ and Converge certainly did that!

Converge Setlist
Concubine
Dark Horse
Heartache
Hellbound
————-
Lonewolves
Homewrecker
————-
Hanging Moon
No Heroes
————-
Reap what you Sow
Cutter
Distance and Meaning
————-
Locust Reign
Worms
————-
Axe
Wishing Well
Damages
(These songs were on the setlist I think they changed the order slightly and missed one song out)

Author & Photos: Incy Spider

Watch the interview with Jon from Gaza!