Rockfreaks.net

support The Gloom In The Corner + Profiler
author AP date 28/04/24 venue Pumpehuset, Copenhagen, DEN

It can be difficult for kids to escape the shadow of successful parents, which is something that Vended, too, seem to be struggling with. The band nonetheless delivered a convincing enough concert at the 2023 edition of Copenhell that I felt compelled to watch them in a headlining capacity when the band returned to Copenhagen last weekend. Arriving at the venue, I was somewhat surprised to find that the quintet would be playing on the venue’s smaller stage — albeit in a positive way, as this would allow the vitriolic style of their music to hit people right in the face instead of having a barrier to protect us from the onslaught. Let us thus wind the clock back to the early ‘00s when nu metal was all the rage and see how the sons of Slipknot, as well as their support bands fared…

Profiler

“Ah, the sound of my teenage years,” I think to myself, as this Bristolian trident, wearing baggy jeans and DC shoes, launch their opening track “Identify”, complete with deck scratches from a backing track. Profiler is shamelessly riding the wave of nu metal revivalism, with the heavy riffs that erupt from frontman Mike Evans’ seven guitar strings and bassist Joe Johnson’s six bass strings instantly transporting me back to the early ‘00s, when Deftones were all the rage and no one could get enough of Incubus vocalist Brandon Boyd’s dreamy singing — and it’s tickling me in all the right places. As the band ploughs through their setlist, rocking out and swinging their instruments with a relentless, hellbent energy, their palette of influences grows wider still, encompassing the crushing groove of Korn in the standout “All in Forever” from their recent début album “A Digital Nowhere”, the lamenting melancholy of Staind in “Ninety Three”, and even some “Nookie” vibes in the shouted refrains that comprise the chorus in their closing track “Zero”, which would not sound out of place on one of Limp Bizkit’s early records. It is an excellent choice for a finale, with lyrics that are easy to pick up and shout back at the trio, and a smashing bass riff that begs for movement.

It would be a stretch to call Profiler’s music particularly original as it stands today, but while the three musicians have not carved out their own niche within the nu metal sphere yet, they have honed their showmanship to the tee. Although his calls for a stronger reaction from the crowd are only truly heeded by a single person caught in a mad, jumping dance upfront, Johnson is a constant menace on the left, lurching, stomping and thrashing around as though in a trance. And when he is not screaming or singing into the mic with his eyes closed, Evans is similarly disposed, coming across like the lost twin of Kurt Cobain with his nihilistic and unruly antics. It seems like the audience is hindered by their still familiarising themselves with Profiler’s music, but mark my words: once Profiler’s sophomore eventually album drops (and hopefully sees the group unfurling their own identity), things are going to look very different at their future shows.

The Gloom In The Corner

This Australian quintet refer to their own music as cinemacore, and when their opening track, “New Order” from 2022’s “Trinity”, gets underway, it is easy to understand why. The initial part of this song is delivered in a style resembling gospel, with the entire band (sans drummer Nic Harberle) chipping in with harmonised vocals, and all kinds of theatrical samples sounding from the backing track and contributing drama to the music when it deteriorates into extremely brutal riffage shortly thereafter. I don’t think there’s anyone in the crowd who does not join in on the catchy refrains of “What goes around, comes around” in the chorus, delivering a warm welcome for an outfit people here have obviously been looking forward to seeing live for the first time. The five musicians seem eager make an impression, too, with the furious torrent of rapid fire screams by vocalist Mikey Arthur in the second song “Ronin” equally matched by the intense antics of bassist Paul Musolino, whose violent kicks and maniacal lurking on stage left give him the appearance of a man possessed. Not surprisingly, the evening’s first moshpit soon erupts, a swirling chaos of bodies mirroring the tumult on stage. “There’s a disco out there,” Arthur points out in reference to the DJs spinning decks in the venue’s urban garden in parallel with tonight’s concert, “but we’re gonna have our own dance in here!”. And it is no idle boast: in the following “Behemoth”, Musolino slings his bass so low it scrapes against the floor, while Arthur himself drops rabid rapping vocals onto riffs so heavy by guitarists Matt Stevens and Martin Wood that my skin is quivering from the vibrations. On paper, there should be nothing particularly extraordinary about The Gloom in the Corner’s synthesis of metalcore and nu metal, yet the sheer, crushing weight of the music alone suffices to render the likes of “Misanthropic” from the band’s 2019 outing “Flesh & Bones” something quite different.

In the live setting, the group also has an invaluable asset in their vocalist, whose charisma helps bring the conceptual universe around which their music is built to life. In tracks like “Bleed You Out”, it feels like watching a conductor at the helm of a deranged orchestra, directing a band of misfits toward the hair-raising breakdown in the end. His presence is unapologetically dramatic, a reflection of songs such as the brand new single “The Jericho Protocol” and the excellent “From Heaven to Hell”, both of which are prime examples of The Gloom in the Corner’s unique penchant for marrying the chaotic with the anthemic. After “Gravity” has wound the proceedings to a conclusion, it is hard to believe that anyone is left unmoved by this utterly compelling performance, which plays not just as a set of songs, but a narrative arc that flirts with the extremes of religion and fantasy. The group’s unrivalled (and unhinged) showmanship is the perfect visual accompaniment to their stories as well, and as a result, they seem destined to become mainstays of the modern metalcore movement.

Vended

As the lights dim for the last time, Soft Cell’s 1981 interpretation of “Tainted Love” erupts from the speakers and is progressively distorted into a cacophony as Vended emerge. “What the fuck is up!? I wanna see this place in absolute chaos!”, vocalist Griffin Taylor roars after the intro to their brand new single and tonight’s opening track “Nihilism” has rung, and the audience obeys with an immediate moshpit. Compared to last summer’s much bigger concert in daylight, the quintet comes across as even more intense here, no doubt fuelled by the close proximity of their fans. But while the rest of the band have certainly upped the ante, there is no question that Taylor is responsible for most of the showmanship, writhing and clutching at his head like a nu metal Gollum, and nearly falling over into the audience during the following “Bloodline” off their 2021 début EP “What Is It // Kill It”. His presence is magnetic, even when flanked by musicians who have also done their homework in crazed antics, a mirror image of his father Corey Taylor’s younger years. The unhinged persona he assumes on stage, his borderline thespian interactions with the audience in between the songs, and the maniacal glee emanating from his face after he successfully beckons a circle pit for “Burn My Misery”, are certain to awaken memories of past Slipknot shows among the attendees — and herein also lies the main problem that Vended are still grappling with: unchaining themselves from their heritage and establishing their own identity.

Indeed, those that have experienced Slipknot live are treated to countless déjà vu moments, to the extent that one half-expects all but one of the guitars to cut out in “Overall”, and Taylor to ask everyone to sit down and jump the fuck up. Even the band’s latest single, “The Far Side”, brings very few fresh ideas to the table, so it is probably safe to assume that Vended’s eventual début album will deliver homage rather than originality. Looking past this glaring elephant in the room though, it is hard to deny that the band puts on an electrifying performance tonight. Just like the frontman, drummer Simon Crahan, the masked, Jim Root-looking bassist Jeremiah Pugh, and guitarists Cole Epseland and Connor Grodzicki are all bristling with energy, feeding off the frenzy on the floor to put in ferocious, engaging performances. It is obvious that Vended have managed to form a genuine connection with the audience, and Taylor offers a heartfelt thank you for this in the encore. It is here that the first glimpses of material not completely ripped out of Slipknot’s playbook are seen, with “Ded to Me” and “Asylum” both showcasing Vended at their very best. That there is a wealth of talent in this outfit is undeniable — it just needs to be channeled into music that sounds like Vended and no one else. In the meanwhile, at the very least one can continue to enjoy their wildly confrontational live performances.

Setlist:

• 1. Nihilism
• 2. Am I the Only One
• 3. Bloodline
• 4. Burn My Misery
• 5. Overall
• 6. Serenity
• 7. Where the Honesty Lies
• 8. The Far Side

— Encore —

• 9. Ded to Me
• 10. Asylum