Will Marshall
Billed as “screamo mosherz”, Closed Hands live up to the moniker. Frantic, scathing guitars screech and wail, they split acerbic vocals between three of the band while the kick and snare sound loose and echoey that just lends further to the chaos. Underneath it the emotional turmoil, there’s a current of melody that occasionally beaches the surface. It’s a rough, raw performance that exemplifies the turbulent skramz they draw from, the quartet contorted and flailing in catharsis as the final notes ring out.
It’s obvious the BN1 wrecking crew mean business from the first disgustingly low chug hits along with a snare so taut it reverberates around your skull every time. The hardcore moshers start to come out their shells, with two stepping and flailing limbs. They swap instruments partway in and continue to deliver just a vicious a beating, chugging low guitar and thunderous bass shaking the floor. It’s a blend of high octane beatdown and bouncing metallic hardcore with pinging snare that’s impossible not to mosh to; BN1 has gained a reputation as a hotbed of UK hardcore, and with bands like How Long You Been Driving, it’s obvious why.
Despite being just a two piece, Death Goals swiftly prove they make just as much noise as a band with twice the members. Their chaotic hardcore careens between panic chord riffs, skramzy breakdowns and snippets of melody soon subsumed. Within their first song there’s been mic grabs, vocalist and guitarist Harry Bailey has ended up in the crowd, one of them holding the mic. They follow it with the equally raucous ‘Gender Traitor’, and even behind a kit, drummer/vocalist George Milner is a barely restrained whirlwind of limbs and barked vocals. Squalls of feedback punctuate their songs, Bailey holding their guitar in front of the amps to create walls of noise before the duo rip into two-step anthems. Already renowned for their ferocious, but ultimately inclusive and welcoming live shows, Death Goals continue to live up to their well-earned reputation.
“We are Filth Is Eternal and we’re gonna make some noise,” frontperson Lis Di Angelo grins before they launch into a raucous ‘Crawl Space’. From there, the quintet proceed to lay waste to New Cross Inn; the stage is already full with four members so Di Angelo instead becomes a one person pit, hurtling round the room recklessly. At one point, they steal a photographer’s cap, finishes the song and hands it back. At others, they’re leaning on people while delivering the biting lines of their songs. There’s barely a pause for air, the longest barely a couple of minutes as they welcome and thank everyone for coming out on a rainy Sunday, with special thanks to their Church Road friends who’ve come to see them on their first ever overseas tour after releasing previous album Love Is A Lie, Filth Is Eternal. They draw liberally on it and stellar new record Find Out, a constant whirlwind of melodic hardcore with bile and bite aplenty.
Most importantly though, at no point does their set feel anything other than wholesome, genuine fun; the quintet are on brilliant form, but it’s the grins they wear throughout that are the true stars. Twelve songs and barely 25 minutes later, it’s all over, but it doesn’t feel too soon. Instead, the band then quickly leave stage and wait til they’ve greeted seemingly everyone personally and spending time with them. While some hardcore shows feel actively dangerous from the flying limbs and heaving pits, tonight was a far more intimate affair but no less energetic, with a truly fun atmosphere, and Filth Is Eternal made certain everyone left smiling ear to ear.