Author: Primož Novak
Video: Primož Novak
Location: Kino Šiška / Ljubljana / Slovenia
Concert date: 11.04.2014
The announcement of a show in the small hall of Kino Šiška raised quite a few eyebrows. According to the promoter, Gala Hala was already booked, so they had to take a bit of a gamble and try a gig in Kino Šiška’s small hall for the first time, the space that’s known as one big backstage. at the larger shows. Comeback Kid have already played in Slovenia and the band’s popularity is at a pretty solid level. This time around, Comeback Kid were joined by Xibalba, The Greenery and Malevolence, which had hardcore fans in a proper frenzy before the show. Especially for the Americans Xibalba.
First on stage were England’s Malevolence, and after just the first few bars it was clear there’d be no mercy at this show. The sound was surprisingly good, too, and judging by all the wild moshing, the crowd had gone straight into delirium. Malevolence brought a pretty modern take on hardcore thanks to their death metal influences. The young band definitely showed its extreme side, working blast beats and aggressive breakdowns into the songs. The drummer deserves special praise, as his speed really made him stand out. You could have expected a bit more energy from the band itself, since the guitarists were too static. So they still need a bit more mileage, but the music itself was more than convincing.
Unlike their predecessors, The Greenery weren’t as extreme as Malevolence. The band reached for more tried-and-true recipes, basically those simple punk riffs that gave things an old-school flavor. Short but punchy songs were front and center, and they got the crowd going again with circle pits and other shenanigans. With their three-chord riffs The Greenery weren’t anything special, but the fairly energetic vocalist stood out. He talked a bit too much at times, but his antics down in front of the stage made more than a good impression.
For many, the ace of the night was California’s Xibalba, who have proven with two albums so far that hardcore isn’t so chewed-up after all. The band serves up a pretty authentic mix of hardcore, death metal and doom metal. With their slow doom-sludge sections, Xibalba built up tension that exploded in the faster parts, resulting in indescribable chaos in the crowd. True to their music, Xibalba came across as a pretty dark band on stage, which let the sludge-tinged guitar sound really come into its own. The brutal vocals matched it perfectly and meshed great with the heavy guitars. The band was well in sync on stage through all the slow and morbid parts. There was no flailing around the stage like with many hardcore bands, but despite the pretty cold attitude, the crowd responded with dance moves reminiscent of a cross between karate and ballet. Xibalba undoubtedly delivered, and with their style they’d honestly fit right in alongside some more metal-leaning bands, such as Crowbar. The band definitely has potential, but whether they’ll reach bigger crowds remains a mystery for now.
With Comeback Kid came a slight genre shift. The hall visibly filled up, which meant less room to maneuver for those who’d been pulling off their karate acrobatics earlier. But the crowd went nuts for Comeback Kid’s melodic hardcore too. There was no shortage of mosh pits or stage divers. The first thing you noticed about Comeback Kid was that they undoubtedly have more mileage than the previous three bands. The band was more than solidly tight, and the performance was energetic. The singer was admittedly the most on the move, but the other members knew their spots well too. Contact with the crowd was also quite professional, and stage divers weren’t forcibly removed, which is common practice with some inexperienced bands. In one hour, Comeback Kid once again wowed the Slovenian crowd with hits like Wake The Dead, Broadcasting…, G.M. Vincent & I and new material from the fresh album, Die Knowing. The Canadian quintet delighted just like the other bands, and there wasn’t a disappointed face in sight.
Despite some initial doubts, a full-blown hardcore spectacle went down in Kino Šiška’s small hall. Picking the favorites is honestly tough. Either way, plenty of people would love to see more shows like this.
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