Will Marshall
Opening the evening are Heriot, fresh off demolishing The Crofters Rights in Bristol in celebration of their debut EP, Profound Morality. In typical fashion, there’s little to no chatter between songs, instead offering a near unrelenting assault of tectonic riffs and industrialised, nightmarish atmosphere. There’s a sizeable crowd by the time they start, with pits opening almost immediately and the breakdown midway into ‘Near Vision’ sending limbs flying. The sludge-laden ‘Profound Morality’ hits like a freight train while closer ‘Cleansed Existence’ whips the crowd into one last frenzy. With every show, Heriot continue to prove the future of British metal is in great hands.
Mathcore mob Pupil Slicer take the stage next with the unenviable task of following such a visceral battering. Regardless, their chaotic mathcore is as incendiary as ever, a feat even more impressive given vocalist/guitarist Kate Davies’ pre-show admission they’re currently suffering a nasty bout of food poisoning. New single ‘Thermal Runaway’ sounds colossal through its every twist and turn, the band’s sonic evolution making for compelling listening. Pits swirl with reckless abandon during ‘Mirrors Are More Fun Than Television’ while the searing post rock conclusion to ‘Collective Unconscious’ is amplified a hundredfold, with Davies’ desolate howls tearing through the air.
If the two prior bands were rowdy, END are downright dangerous. Pits open, bodies fly – both onstage and off – and the band are unsparing in their vicious tirade of noise. The bastard children of unfettered nihilism and hardcore, their songs aren’t so much bruising as terminal. Opening their set with a call for movement that’s immediately and emphatically answered by the at-capacity crowd, END are on incendiary form, with vocalist Brendan Murphy’s imperious bark backed up by some of the nastiest hardcore you’ll hear.
The floor itself seems to move during the particularly nasty breakdowns – of which there are many – and the band revel in it. Despite the tiny stage there’s still plenty of crowdsurfing that Murphy encourages throughout, with stacks of amps wobbling precariously. The band announce they’ll be releasing a split later in the year before debuting a song from it that threatens to claim the throne for heaviest breakdown of the year without even being out yet. With cuts like opener ‘Fear For Me Now’, ‘Covet Not’ and the deliriously heavy closer ‘Necessary Death’, END aren’t just dangerously heavy; their live show is borderline lethal and the intimate setting only enhances that and the deeply cathartic experience.