Signs of the Swarm – Manchester Rebellion.

It’s a warm Thursday night in Manchester, and this crowd of metalheads are ready for an insane night of crowd surfing and mosh pits for tonight’s sold out show at Rebellion!

First up on the line up to get this crowd warmed up is London based hardcore band Harbinger. Their job is to warm up the crowd and they nailed it, the hard drops and intense base that would have blown your head off blew me away immensely!

This band is insane in every good way possible. The rough vocals from Dilan Alves are the definition of perfect and the pits were even filthier than the breakdowns! Every single song they performed was perfectly added together to make one incredible set list, every single member had a different vibe and energy but they all killed it together!

Bassist, Kris Aarre spent 90% of the time with his tongue out to the crowd as he stood tall about us all throwing it down like no tomorrow, the chemistry and bond between each member was there which created an insane atmosphere that brought the whole room together and to life. With crowd surfing Jesus and a man who dropped to the floor as he landed the crowd was well and truly awakened and ready for what was yet to come.

Setlist:

A Letter to Anguish
The Dance of Species
Prayer of Deliverance
The End of Time
Antagonist
Guile
Hate File

Mental Cruelty are up next, a death metal band from Karlsruhe, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. They’re here to cause filthier pits and shout SATAN from the top of your lungs! Crowd members barge forwards to get the perfect spot as the lights go down awaiting the arrival. As the band takes to the stage the crowd of metal fans erupt into cheers and deep growls, many members shout how they saw them on Tuesday so the expectations are high.

With a set full of deep vocals that seem almost effortless from the frontman Lukas Nicolai , the band is dominating this crowd. He looks upon the crowd like the vocals he’s producing are just everyday normal life, noises come from him that shouldn’t be human. The man with a face like thunder stands above this crowd with all the power in the world as he embraces the sea of death metal lovers. A set that seems to fly by comes to a close with a symphony with all the lights up in the air mixed in with the sea of devil horns, the breakdown hits and the pits open for a final time. Just in time for the main event.

Setlist:

Obsessis a Daemonio
King ov Fire
Nordlys
Ultima Hypocrita
Forgotten Kings
A Hill to Die Upon
Zwielicht
Symphony of a Dying Star

Finally the band of the night Signs Of The Swarm have arrived and taken to the stage, an insane circle pit opens up and no one is left unscathed. The band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania are ready for what has now been dubbed as “slamchester”.

With flashing strobe lights mixed in with hellish growls for most it’s like being entered through the gates of hell, or for everyone in this room the gates of heaven. The breakdowns mixed in with electronic backing tracks blend perfect to create the most satisfying performance. If you’re going to see this band on any future tours I recommend it but I would be prepared for the very sweaty and shirtless metalheads with long hair that’s strong enough to cause damage when it hits you in the face. I might have a few battle scars from being just next to the pit alone.

How this front man is wearing a hoodie in this place I’ll never know, but he owns the room as he stands before the crowd. The bass stabbing you deep with the depth bass player Michael Cassese goes in. Metal shows to those who have never been in one seem scary and violent, it can be but how can it be scary and violent when you have one of the crowd members in the pit wearing a Donald Duck hat?

This gig has been intense from start to finish but I’ve loved every second of my time here, all three bands were a first for me in terms of seeing live and even listening to their music. They give the best first impression and I couldn’t recommend them more! Seeing generations of metalheads form in this room to this band is the best thing to see, I met a mum and daughter who competed for drumsticks having the time of their life. Gigs like this prove the tightness of this community and how fucking badass and awesome it is.

Setlist: