Author: Primož Novak
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Video: Primož Novak
Location: Ljubljana / Channel Zero / Slovenia
Concert date: 02.11.2014
Attendance: 50
Ticket price: €18.00 / €22.00
The fall gig season is in full swing. This time it was the turn of modern metalcore fans, with English band Bury Tomorrow, who get more popular with every album. The band last turned up with Scotland’s Bleed From Within and Japan’s Crossfaith at Orto Bar, but now they were the headliners themselves. Australian outfit Houses Like Hands joined them on tour.
If you hear metalcore and expect the support act to be something along the lines of Bury Tomorrow themselves, you can be badly wrong. Sextet Houses Like Hands were a weird mishmash of today’s alternative rock and post-hardcore bands. At times it even seemed like they were trying to borrow a few progressive rock elements, but pretty unsuccessfully. The music itself was listenable enough, if you ignore the cheesy keyboards and overly sugary vocals. The band hit peak saccharine when they played Torn, a cover of Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia’s hit. That pretty much confirmed they might be better off playing some high-school prom, because the songs themselves sounded like they’d been made for the soundtrack of some American romantic comedy starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston.
With Bury Tomorrow, of course, came the genre switch-up. The band has gained a lot of recognition in recent years. They’re undoubtedly respected on home turf in particular, but they seem to be doing fine elsewhere too, considering they rolled in with a more than decent tour bus.
Judging by the crowd’s reaction, Bury Tomorrow played their set more than convincingly. There was no shortage of heavy riffs, the breakdowns weren’t too long, and the sound itself was punchy. And the catchy choruses, courtesy of the guitarist, were there too. That’s where the whole thing snags, though: compared to many of today’s metalcore bands, Bury Tomorrow bring nothing new. They come across as average, their songs predictable and simple. Alongside the pretty choruses there were plenty of riffs that punk rock bands use too. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with that, but the band is more than obviously working on drawing a bigger crowd with simplicity and the occasional tenderness. Still, they definitely have loyal fans. This gig didn’t lack moshpits, jumping and circle pits either. The tightness was solid, and the lead guitarist, who contributed many of the melodies, was hard at work, but unfortunately you could barely hear it. With three albums, Bury Tomorrow have more than convinced us that the English metalcore scene can easily compete with the American one. But to stand out from the pack of generic bands, they’ll need a lot more miles under their belt.
Channel Zero got a good dose of today’s metalcore with Bury Tomorrow, one that stresses the melodic side. Only the support act was out of context, but these days odd genre combos on tours are standard practice.
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