aaamusic | On 20, Oct 2014

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Friday 17th October, Birmingham

Road To Horizon are a Leeds based band formed in 2008. They have come on in leaps and bounds since releasing their previous EP, now they’re travelling the length of the UK to promote their latest EP Faultlines, which is released on the 20th October.

After having released their latest EP earlier in the year, EnterTheLexicon are the first on stage. Since forming in 2011 they have managed to get the music on point, they know exactly what sound they want to create, with addictive melodies created from laid-back riffs and driven by effective drumming. They started the night off well with a rock ‘n’ roll feel that mixes grunge and other angsty styles, with a slight Nirvana influence that can be heard rolling in and out, and they managed to overcome the poor sound system and play a tight set that will definitely have gained them some news fans.

Next up were Road To Horizon.These guys are unmistakably slotted into the metalcore genre, but with clear differences that help them rise above the rest, most notably with lead vocalist Ben Flockton’s ability to switch between clean vocals and hard-hitting scream; when the thunderous drums and hard-hitting riffs join with this, it creates an impressive sound in this venue.

Eight years together as a band means these guys have nailed their live performances down to the last detail. Despite gracing an extremely small stage, there was no knocking into each other or standing on cables and this level of professionalism continued throughout the whole set. Finishing off with their newly released single ‘Faultlines’, which is full of heavy riffs and some top-notch melodious vocals, it isn’t hard to see why Kerrang picked up this track as an exclusive.

The final band to grace the stage were Birmingham lads Silence The Weak, although their set did not start exactly as planned as they had left their intro music in Newcastle. This left it up to lead vocalist Scott McNair to sing the tune to Lord of The Rings and even then they mistimed it and had to start again. Yet none of this was seen as a bad thing as they took it in their stride, laughing it off, singing Lord of The Rings again and blew everyone away with some heavy riffs that made everyone want to throw themselves into the pit. It isn’t everyday that you meet a frontman who is as entertaining and witty as Scott is, with him having conversations with the crowd about such controversial things as Ebola being a lie, Jimmy Saville and… Miley Cyrus – yet this didn’t turn the attention away from the rest of the band, as the razor-sharp riffs and destructive drum beats even made people from a party upstairs come down and check them out.

These bands right here are the future and the epitome of British rock and metal – based on their performances today, I see them going nowhere but up. Go and see them as soon as possible.

Review + Photos: Sean Shore