Author: Primož Novak
Location: Ljubljana/Gala Hala/Slovenia
Concert date: June 29, 2016
Ticket price: 22€/25€
Mosh Beach Party has become something of a tradition in recent years, a warm-up before the summer festivals. The organizers, Dirty Skunks, always manage to bring in some name that’s big in the waters of hardcore, metalcore, deathcore or emocore. With Thy Art Is Murder as the support act, the deathcore fans got their turn, while The Amity Affliction were there for those who swear by the softer subgenres of metalcore.
Sadly, the show didn’t take place on the outdoor stage like it used to. Interest in the two bands obviously wasn’t big enough to fill much more than the Gala Hala hall. First on stage were Australia’s Thy Art Is Murder, who already proved themselves pretty well as the support act for Suicide Silence in December 2014 at Kino Šiška (report HERE). Vocalist CJ McMahon left the band last year, and since then they’ve been touring with a rotating cast of vocalists. It became clear pretty fast that even the famous CJ McMahon is replaceable. In the end, it’s just a guy who has to growl deep, and he’s seen more as a rhythm instrument anyway. Thy Art Is Murder probably delighted their fans with this set. They played familiar tunes from the last two albums, which are more commercially minded, with the breakdowns standing out, of course. A few older songs got an airing too, more technical in nature and sounding more original. The newer songs, with a few exceptions, are pretty clichéd. Still, Thy Art Is Murder did a solid job, and above all the band is nicely tight, so it was easy to enjoy some brutalization, Aussie style.
After a half-hour break, things kicked off again with another Australian act, The Amity Affliction. Right from the first song the band made it clear what they’re all about. The songs were built around standout, singable choruses, belted out eagerly by the band’s bassist. All of his clean vocals were aimed squarely at the crowd, of course, so they could sing along. Musically the band is simple; the songs are made of a few chords, and the rhythms don’t exactly dive into complexity either. To make the cliché complete, the angry vocals were there too, naturally. The Amity Affliction served up their »unique« recipe, which blends elements of post-hardcore, emocore and metalcore. The crowd, mostly underage, dutifully jumped along to the songs, and you could hear teenage girls squealing, which was reminiscent of boy band concerts. The Amity Affliction definitely made a proper party for some. With their softness, they softened up the front rows even further. Sadly, there’s nothing special to hear in this band. It’s just another flashy teen act that would be perfect for playing at prom. The only thing separating The Amity Affliction from other pop bands is the distortion.
At the fifth edition of the Mosh Beach party, the crowd got a dose of tenderness from The Amity Affliction and a dose of brutality from Thy Art Is Murder. Here’s hoping that next time there won’t be such an overdose of sappiness.
photos and video: Klemen Udovč
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