Birmingham is the home of metal, and tonight were in for a
foreign treat in the form off Canadian metalers Cancer Bats. The band are one
of the hardest working in the world, they never seem to stop touring, even when
they write/release an album, and they never seem to take a break. Last year
they played the UK numerous times with the most recent being in support of
Bring Me The Horizon and with the most famous being last April where they
played 6 venues around London on the same day! But before we get to them we
have to talk about the support band…
Brutality Will Prevail are a metal/hardcore band from South
Wales, and are already on stage as I enter the already heaving venue. As I fight my way to the front of the crowd,
I notice there is a huge circle left clear in the middle off the room, I can
hear singer Louis talking but I don’t really hear what he’s saying, I get into
the photo pit just as Louis jumps into the crowd, and surfs his way around the
venue and around the massive circle that has been left open, as the band play
loudly and jump around the stage. Eventually he gets back on stage and I can
see the band as they are, a 5 piece who sound great, and who can’t stay still,
everyone moves about the stage changing position as their music changes from
fast and frantic to slow and dirgey. The crowd are seeming to love them, and
this helps as Louis keeps jumping off the stage and into the front row
screaming down the mic at people. I’m surprised security aren’t having a fit,
as he spends more time in the crowd as he does on stage, but this seems to stop
people from crowd surfing, which I suppose makes their job easier. The band
have warmed this crowd up and as they end their set they leave to heavy cheers,
and then the room seems to calm down, its quiet its steady its building up to
something, and that something is…
Cancer Bats, who all set up their own equipment before going
on stage which seems to keep this crowd calmer than most gigs where bands just
run out after their roadies sound check and everyone goes mental. But it could
also be as this room is filled with mainly blokes, and so there are not too
many screaming girls getting excited at every site of the band; eventually the
band leave the stage after setting up, and a minute later they burst back on by
jumping straight into their last single ‘Bricks and Mortar’. The sound is
immense, it’s powerful and you can feel it in your bones as it rattles through
the venue, the simplicity of a four piece is something you don’t get all too
much anymore but with Cancer Bats it works well. The bass is constant and moves
fast and random, it’s not simple repetition all the way through, the guitar
riffs are powerful and lead into occasional solo’s and snaps, as the drums are
fast and constantly hitting the sweet spots. As for the vocals, singer Liam
Cornier rasps his gritty voice throughout the songs brining passion and bravado
as bassist/vocalist Jaye R. Schwarzer adds extra power in parts by screaming
his lungs down the mic.
The band are an awesome stage presence and Liam controls the
stage as he strolls up and down heading to the front and head banging before
collapsing in front of the drums and getting his breath back. The band play a
fast and furious set which Liam explains is due to them trying to play as many
songs as they can in the short time they’re onstage, as they were late going on
and it seems like the curfew was meant to be 11 but was cut back by half hour,
which means there’s no time for chit chat and no time for an encore. Other than
that, there’s the odd chant of Can-cer Bats and Birm-ing-ham which fills the
gap between songs as the rest of the band tunes up, Liam leads the crowd in
these chants and at one point is thrown a hat and decides to put it on his head
and chant my-new-hat! They play a great set list with about 4 songs from each
album including; Pneumonia Hawk, Sorceress, Lucifer’s Rocking Chair, Sleep This
Way, Scared to Death, Sabotage, Hail Destroyer and finally ending the set with
R.A.T.S. They go down great and the band end by slowly fading out with feedback
before all the members come down and meet the crowd to thank them for coming
out and supporting them.
Overall the gig was great, Brutality Will Prevail did a
great job of warming the crowd up and Cancer Bats finished them off, it’s a
shame they didn’t play Dead Wrong and Liam didn’t get into the crowd, but those
are just small things when compared to how well they performed overall. Cancer Bats will be back around soon, and
it’s worth going to see them, as you’ll see a great live band who play truly
rocking music!
Brutality Will Prevail – 3/5
Cancer Bats 4/5
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