Heart of a Coward w/ Charm the Fury, Malevolence and From Sorrow to Serenity at Classic Grand 18/11/2013

I can’t remember the point when bands on stage started getting younger than me but it does always kind of depress me.   From Sorrow to Serenity are the latest example of that as they are handed the chance to open up the show Monday night at the Classic Grand.  They are very young, or at least look very young and like many bands that are that young are also kind of generic as they put on a set of heavy djent inspired metal.  They are also very reliant on their backing track, so much so that they suffer some technical problems when the drummer doesn’t have one of their songs on his Ipod.  Saying that there is certainly nothing horribly wrong with this performance and if these guys go in the right direction they’re worth keeping an eye on.

Up next is Malevolence who are summed up perfectly by someone I walked past on the way to the toilet, when he said they’ve obviously only listened to classic hardcore and Lamb of God.  Now he didn’t sound particularly impressed by that, but I like both of these things.  I was distracted by some other stuff that was going on while this was happening which I will be going into detail  on in a future blog/rant.  However, these guys are heavy and striking enough to make a real  impact tonight and it’s clear they have a lot of fans in attendance, quite a few of whom leave after they exit the stage.

All the way from Amsterdam, which they mention at least twice, are Charm the Fury, who are basically a female fronted Killswitch (again not something I have a major problem with).  However, you can’t help watching this band and thinking that you may well see them on quite a lot of support slots in the coming years, but they are never going to be the headliners. That’s not to say they’re bad but they just lack that something special that makes them stand out from the crowd.

A band who does have that little something is Heart of a Coward, who take the stage and show just why they are becoming one of the most popular young bands in the UK right now.  They have shit loads of riffs and shit loads of groove but also a tonne of melody that means they have what so many of their peers don’t.  Bloody brilliant songs.  Whether it be cuts from the first album like “We Stand as One” or Monday nights closer “Around a Girl (in 80 Days)” .  Or the new stuff, which suggests that the album (haven’t got a chance to check it out yet) is just as good as the first.

There is some problems tonight with Jamie’s vocals but he actually admits to the crowd that he ‘feels rough as shit’ because he’s come down with a fever and what might have been a problem suddenly becomes a feat of achievement, as he and the rest of the band still put on a punishing set of pure groove metal.

If you’re looking for a young up and coming metal band to get behind (and for some reason have a major problem with all the other young up and coming metal bands at the moment) Heart of a Coward are probably a safe bet.  They don’t only have a killer live show but they also have a barrel full of great songs which means that these guys are going to be around for quite a while.  Bang your head and get on board.