Slimelight, London
28th
September 2013
Static Distortion Records have slowly been amassing an impressive array of artists on
their diverse roster, and what better way to show off the potential
of home grown talent than to put on a show at one of the worlds most
famous gothic/industrial clubs. After the sad loss of Sheffield's
titans Uberbyte, tonight’s new headliners XP8 stepped up, and with
the band now based in London, it's safe to say we'll quite happily
support them as one of our own.
It's a strange night at
Slimelight with a wedding reception closing off a big chunk of the
club, the festivities are relegated to the downstairs room. But even
thought it is small, it's comfortable and intimate giving the night
more of a party-like atmosphere.
The kick off was a
little early with opening act Digital Deformation hitting the stage
at 7:20pm. Unfortunately this meant your reviewer happened to miss
their performance, but trusted colleagues within the audience who did
make the opening doors assured that they put on a strong performance.
Luckily though, by the
time yours truly had arrived, industrial one-man-band The .Invalid
had hit the stage. The lone figure of Seamus Bradd maniacally filled
the stage. Unrestrained he repeatedly leapt into the audience and
threw himself around like a Scots Iggy Pop as the hard dance beats
and grinding synthesizers of his début album, 'The Aesthetics Of
Failure', throbbed through the speakers. Despite some shakiness to
his voice in places, Bradd carried off his performance on the back of
a serious adrenaline rush. While all those present ate it up as he
reeled off tracks like 'Cry Wolf' and 'Breaksequence' which inspired
some mass sing-a-long moments.
The .Invalid were
exhausting to watch, so who knows how then within seconds of his solo
set finishing did Bradd have the energy left to launch straight into
Cease2xist's equally frantic set. The band continued to build the
energy in the room with their searingly hot take on aggrotech.
Vicious guitars complimented the hard beats, harsh synths and
distorted vocals throughout huge songs like 'Teenage America',
'Living By The Bullet' and 'Occupy Everything' eliciting big
reactions from the crowd. The band easily put on a headline-quality
performance. It is pretty safe to say, that with albums like 'You
Are Expendable' under their belt and high quality live performances
such as this in their wake, there is little doubt that Cease2xist are
going to be major players in the UK and abroad.
The night's headliners
XP8 started off with a little microphone trouble, but ever the
consummate professionals they weren't phased in the least. The duo
of Marko and Marco have so far this year released one of their
strongest albums yet in 'Adrenochrome' and are arguably stronger as a
band than ever before, which is evident in their performance. The duo
unleash a strong dance-orientated set that gets the audiences feet
moving and bodies grooving. New songs sit comfortably the band's vast
array of proven live crowd pleaser’s with particularly strong
renditions of 'Information' from the latest album, as well as an
excellent version of 'Burning Down' taking pride of place in the
band's set. The pre-encore gap is cut short due to an impromptu show
of appreciation from the crowd as they give birthday boy Marko a
round of 'Happy Birthday'. It leaves little doubt that London is very
willing to adopt the Italians as their own as they bring the night to
a close.
The evening proved to
be a strong show of support for not only the up-and-coming talent
being championed by the Static Distortion record label. But also the
people out there who enjoy electro/industrial music. More shows like
this would only serve to strengthen the UK's identity and galvanise
support for our bands.
All photography © Imago Mortis Photography - Remember to check out our gallery to see more pictures from the night.
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