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The five-piece crash straight into “Generic Hardcore Intro” and it becomes instantly obvious that they aren’t exactly the most po-faced of bands. Their Norma Jean-esque metalcore stylings are fairly derivative, although they mix it up well with more ambient sections. The sheer energy behind every ferocious beatdown is both visually and aurally evident, and the interplay between guitarists Bobby and Doeboy is mightily impressive. Vocalist Richard, however, spends large portions of the set sans microphone, as his 1940’s-style mic flies free of its cabling on 5 separate occasions. This doesn’t blight the band’s impact however, and despite their inspirations being blatantly obvious, they still pack a punch. Next up are Glasgow’s Mesa Verde, peddling melodic Refused and La Quiete-style hardcore complete with multiple instrument changes between members and raspy and cathartic vocals that give an extra edge to their sound. Unfortunately a few of their songs seem to drag on a little, but you can’t help that feel that they'll sort that out. Matt, frontman with mathy hardcore chaps Allergo, is a little “merry” this evening, and it shows. The Perth four-piece always offer an energetic show, but tonight it hits new heights, with Matt throwing himself around the Balcony’s sitting room-sized floor like a rag doll on steroids as the band crash through a set that occasionally suffers from simply being too loud to take in. Songs such as “Kelly Kapowski” and established favourite “The Great Amputation Craze” showcase just why this band have twice hit the stage at T in the Park, and despite Matt’s state the band hold it together, although the band pull out three false starts to the same song and Matt falls for them all, chuckling along the whole time. Priceless. Dave, vocalist in The Fall of Boss Koala (ex-Written Apology), resembles a 1930’s postman in his bonnet and checked shirt, but no outlandish garb can detract from TFOBK’s atmospheric post-hardcore. Recently back from a UK tour, the band are tighter than ever, although they suffer from a sound that offers far more bass than any land mammal would ever need to hear. Their haunting and epic Isis-esque new material has seen the band head to a new level, and songs such as “End of the World” transcend any one genre, bringing together ambience, screams, interwoven guitar parts and thundering drumming in a swirling aural mix. Dundee hardcore veterans Kaddish hit the floor to finish the evening, and while they bring a phenomenal air of intensity to the proceedings, their time-signature-hopping hardcore is simply too much at the end of a long evening. Also, vocalist Mark appears to be suffering from a throat complaint of some kind, as on several occasions he threatens to go ultrasonic. In the end it’s a slightly disappointing end to a cracking evening , that shows that it's not all The Proclaimers and Travis up here.
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