aaamusic | On 25, Jul 2014

Monday 14th July, Cardiff

For The Fallen Dreams are a hardcore band hailing from America bringing harsh vocals and even heavier breakdowns. Formed in 2003, they have truly made their mark across the US in the hardcore scene. Tonight, they headline Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach.

Set To Break are up first and they show everyone that for the next 45 minutes they own the room, with strong aggressive vocals from George Ross supported by heavy riffs, ace guitar work and catchy beats played by drummer Rhys Morgan. It seems they have created a small following, with a few people gathered around lead vocalist George to shout and scream the words back at him, but it wasn’t until the breakdowns got really heavy that things got serious, allowing George to stamp on the switch for his strobe light, creating a dynamic to the set that many other bands just don’t have access to yet.

It was welsh boys When We Were Wolves that made the night though, with vocalist Mitch Bock’s ability to switch between harsh and clean vocals so easily and his willingness to let the crowd do the work for him, grabbing the mic to roar a few words. It didn’t seem to matter that it was a small room either, with everyone climbing over each other and even a few willing to throw themselves on top of the crowd. The lads have managed to create something perfect here with riffs being shredded left, right and centre, clean-cut and thunderous vocals, and some heavy drumming from Josh that hit the spots of all hardcore fans.

Next and last are For The Fallen Dreams and this is a set that won’t be forgotten quickly. Rather than surge forward like crowds usually do, they separate, creating space for each other, which might’ve be seen as weird were it for any other genre – it was like the crowd knew something heavy was coming and were preparing themselves for the onslaught. That is exactly what is delivered, with an immense demonic drum beat that could tear apart the venue and then everyone was thrown into riff heaven. No matter how much space was given, no one could prepare for it and when a breakdown was introduced the crowd was whipped into a frenzy. Amazing.

Review + Photos: Sean Shore