Crystal Lake, Miss May I, Great American Ghost, Diesect - The Brook Southampton

Southampton is the location of choice tonight for a packed evening of back to back metalcore mayhem! Japanese Metalcore legends Crystal Lake unite with US heavyweights Miss May I for a co-headline tour, joined by hardcore band Great American Ghost and Brisbane based nu-metalcore band Diesect. The venue is pleasingly packed despite it being a Monday evening, and the atmosphere is electric before the music even starts.

Opening the evening are Australians Diesect, who have travelled for twenty eight hours to play for us and “don’t know how we are going to get home” thanks to the current situation in the Middle East. Despite this, they explode onto the stage and put on an energetic and enthusiastic performance; a perfect opener for the evening. The breakdowns are monumental; an absolute onslaught of sound that ignited the evening immediately.

Diesect brought the riffs in huge quantities, perfectly interspersed with slow crushing breakdowns and tasty tempo changes to get the crowd hyped. The crowd is keen to show their appreciation; moshing and head banging until floor shakes. The sound is brutal and punishing; raw with an overriding sense of desperation and futility. Diesect absolutely pummel us with sound from the outset and leave everyone in the crowd wondering how they will have the energy to endure the rest of the evening, yet still somehow wishing for a longer set.

Next up are Great American Ghost who open their set to an increasingly distorting intro of Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso, before promptly proceeding to rip Southampton a new one. The crowd are absolutely here for it and the venue is a sea of banging heads. They claim the stage with a brutal and engaging presence and a beautiful light show that mirrors the theming of their songs. At times it looks as though the stage is ablaze. Their sound is viciously heavy with beautiful melodies that bring the atmosphere but offer no reprieve.

Frontman Ethan Harrison is enigmatic and charismatic in equal measure and really commands stage with no holds barred. Sticking with their politically charged overtones, he tears into “Kingmaker” and tells us, “it’s about Andrew” which sends the crowd wild. Their set is as energetic as it punishing and they make use of the whole stage, their bass player spin-kicking as he plays, and it doesn’t take long for the pit to open and the crowd to respond with spin-kicks in kind.

Miss May I are first up of the two headliners and despite some sound gremlins at the start of the set where the drums seemed to override everything else, they put on a fantastic performance and transformed the entire room to into a single screaming, undulating entity. It was easy to see just how long the crowd had been waiting for their comeback and how eager they were for their return. Launching into “Into Oblivion” – “this song is about wanting fucking more!” – they certainly deliver it. They put on a fantastically tight and engaging performance, with huge sound; perfectly blending screams and clean vocals with melodic elements that made them captivating to watch and really united the room.

Despite the pillars throughout the venue, several circle-pits were still achieved throughout the duration of the set and the room was a sea of punching fists to Masses of a Dying Breed. Notwithstanding the dark theming and more cynical overtones of much of the music, it is obvious that everyone here is enjoying themselves. The atmosphere in the room is fraught with raw energy. Frontman Levi Benton, when taking a short but well-earned break from leaping across the stage, even laments taking so long to come back to the UK; such is the enthusiasm of the crowd.

Finally, Crystal Lake arrive to close out the evening in a savagely brutal flurry of Japanese death/metalcore. Since the departure of previous vocalist Ryo Kinoshita, many questioned whether new vocalist John Robert Centorrino would be able to live up to his legacy. Upon seeing them; one has to admit that he has more than stepped up to the plate, even when performing the older material. They have obviously taken the time to perfect their live performance, giving us emotion, epicness and energy in equal parts.

The sound is absolutely ferocious, with blistering bursts of blast beats from drummer Gaku Taura and perfectly layered clean and unclean vocals. There are light and dark elements, beautifully balanced, with aching melodies and pure unadulterated power. The guitars and bass are aggressive and punishing, yet as a band they still manage to interweave heavy emotion into all of their songs, and this connects magnificently with the crowd. Centorrino says: “We are Crystal Lake. You are the blood”, before proceeding to mimic a machine gun motion into the crowd as they powered into BlüdGod. There is not a single still being in this room.

As the night draws to a close, we can reflect on what really has been an unforgettable evening of live music. Every single band on this tour perfectly complements each other and succeeded in building the momentum for the evening up and up and up. They really gave their all and so did the crowd. The head banging and various different mosh pits endured for the duration of the evening, which is no small ask when four bands are playing. People are visibly exhausted as they exit the venue and this is a guaranteed indication that all the bands have successfully done their jobs.