Ghostfest (Sunday) - Day 2 @ Leeds University Union, Leeds

Ghostfest

Day 2 - Sunday

27.06.2010

@

Leeds University Union, Leeds

It’s day two and on the Honour Over Glory stage The Torture Of Comacine incite sporadic crowd reactions with their dirty, death metal sound and rough, aggro vocals. Despite the massive noise and the guitarists soloing simultaneously, there was something slightly bland about this band’s performance.

Next The Ardent Dawn offer much of the same. Two guitarists, a five string bass, average vocals and an overkill of double bass pedal action unfortunately still result in boring and uninspired death metal.

As one set merges woefully into the next, the calibre of the bands today isn’t looking promising. And then comes Last Witness. Although elfin in stature, frontman Theo Kindynis makes the noise of ten men as he belts out each lyric with anger and passion, backed up by a very tight band. Last Witness’ performance drips with pure heart and infectious hardcore energy and really highlights what many of the bands here are lacking.

Following on from this outstanding performance, The Boy Will Drown also play an impressive set. With death metal vocals, sudden chaotic hardcore outbursts and long lulls of sludgey riffs they manage to sustain the crowd’s interest. The guitarist tries hard to show off some intricate guitar work, but with the below average sound quality it gets lost in translation amidst the noise.

As the young Bristol quintet Evita begin their set quite a crowd has formed. This is a band that is clearly full of positive metal attitude as they play their very own brand of melodic metalcore. They exude youthful energy as they rip through their set, with the bass player and guitarist offering some clean vocals to contrast against the singer low pitched screams. It is a shame that the singer’s voice isn’t quite strong enough to project itself over the music for the most part. For their final song their old touring partner Jack Delany from The Eyes Of A Traitor joins them onstage.

Headliners Dead Swans play some faced paced, aggro esque metal, with some thrash influences penetrating through. They succeed in rousing a brief hardcore pit and their songs feature the occasional evocative and impressive breakdown.

Over on the Monster Stage, true to usual form, Manchester based Ingested play their brand of powerful and brutal death metal with all the energy they have. It is unfortunate their time slot clashes with England’s World Cup performance, although at least Ingested manage to emerge victorious. The dwindling crowd seem appreciate the band’s ferocious vocals and furious sound as they push eachother around the small mosh pit they start to form midway through the set.

Minus their singer, More Than Life peform with some impressive stand-ins. They play a mixed set, which includes moments of catchy, punk rock riffs and some heavier, distorted and at times chaotic music with powerful basslines. Last Witness frontman Theo Kindynis puts in a noteable and vocally strong performance during his slot. His raw vocals penetrate the noise as the music suddenly morphs into dark and beautifully emotional hardcore punk. Kindynis bounces around, brimming with vigour and once he’s done sits at the side of the stage, cradling his head in his hands, having clearly given his all to the performance, the way hardcore should be.

In typical form The Eyes Of A Traitor took charge, with their modern, if slightly formulaic, metalcore sound. Singer Jack Delany strutted around onstage before throwing water on his fans and diving down to sing in the midst of the moshpit. Although adequate as musicians and Delany having the ability to project his metal vocals over the music, this is a band lacking any kind of stand out quality and for who the term generic was invented.

American melodic hardcore legends Evergreen Terrace are on top form during their set. They play a few tracks off their latest release ‘Almost Home’ as well as some of their classics. Their cover of ‘Mad World’ off the Donnie Darko soundtrack briefly gets the room moving and most of the crowd singing along. Singer Andrew Carey, whose voice is stunning, even stronger live than recorded, repeatedly attempts to incite some reaction, but the youngsters of which the crowd is comprised are largely unaware of the impressive credentials of the band before them. Nevertheless for anyone who is old enough to admire Evergreen Terrace for their status or appreciate their melodic take on a genre known mainly for its aggression, this is a fantastic performance.

Against a backdrop of a huge flag, emblazoned with a black and white union jack, Gallows step onstage 25 minutes late, basking in the anticipation that drips like sweat down the walls. They begin with an instrumental before singer Frank Carter saunters onto the stage and the room erupts. They launch into their own brand of sing-along chavcore, peppered with Carter’s uninsightful if slightly endearing cheeky between song banter. Renaming ‘London Is The Reason’ to ‘Yorkshire Is The Reason’ he sounds slightly humbled to be playing a headline slot at Ghostfest, given the way he has spoken of the event in past years.

As they peform a cover of The Clash classic ‘London Calling’ alongside some of their new material, Carter tries to showcase his snarling old school punk attitude. The mosh pit, populated by kids who are punching and kicking in every direction, half topless and half in white vests are malleable like dolls in Carter’s hands as he instructs them to form a human pyramid which he climbs and promptly falls off. Afterwards he climbs up to the balcony and sings balanced on the edge. Likewise, as he spots a blood covered fan he commands for the lights to be turned on and the music briefly stops as the situation is assessed. Tonight Carter is a man in complete control.

Overall it seems that despite the elements of British punk rock being there: a huge union jack flag, repetitive riffs, sing-along choruses, the tattooed frontman spitting onto the stage, the band unfortunately seem as if lacking in drive and energy tonight. It’s a fairly solid performance and the drama Carter invites acts as a satisfying climax to the weekend, however the band seem to have arrived without the sense of urgency and rage that punctuated their performances in days gone by.

It can only be a good thing that Ghostfest 2010 has been upgraded to a bigger and better venue and that this weekend’s impressive turn out shows that support for established as well as rising hardcore, deathcore and death metal bands still remains rooted at the heart of the UK scene.

Reviewed by Vicky Miller
Photography by Marianne Harris