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Shai Hulud + The Rivalry, Cry Murder, Stronghold Enigma Bar, Thurs 25 Aug First up, apologies to Stronghold for missing what I'm assured was an excellent set. Since this was one of the first shows back for Cry Murder after a few months rest there was some genuine excitement for their performance: songs like War Within defined them as a metalcore band with a penchant for hardcore breaks. A few technical problems put a slight halt to their momentum but they quickly made up for lost time whipping out new tunes Save Yourself and Weapon Of Choice, while Cut Out and War Within were played with great intensity. However, The Rivalry's sound has never really appealed to me which made it hard for me to find anything enticing or engaging about their set. Their sound was a chaotic barrage of guitars and screaming, and their final last song was a lengthy track filled with some climactic moments and interesting guitar noises. Finally Shai Hulud arrived after years of waiting. It seemed the odds were against them after having their equipment stolen in New Zealand, but that didn't seem to phase them on the night. I couldn't help but feel they were a part of the crowd, as if this was a show amongst friends. There was a great deal of singing along by the crowd as lead singer Geert Van Der Velde handed out the microphone on numerous occasions. Their energy and passion on stage was infectious. They started with a rigorous version of Scornful Of The Motives And Virtue Of Others, Two And Twenty Misfortunes and Given Flight By Demon's Wings mixed with a selection of older tracks: This Wake I Myself Have Stirred, Beyond Man, Solely Concentrating On The Negative Aspects Of Life and For the World/If Born From This Soil: Treatments For The Infected Foetus, while my favourite singalong track was This Song: For The True And Passionate Lovers Of Music. The end of their set featured a well-deserved encore, including a Slayer cover and Profound Hatred Of Man. In years to come Shai Hulud will be revered as a ground roots hardcore band who re-defined the genre. This was easily one of the finest gigs I have witnessed and will be remembered for quite some time.  |
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