Live Review: Betraying The Martyrs; I, Valiance; Save The Clocktower; At Fate's Mercy; Sig-nals; Disaster Path

Anyone in Adelaide last Friday could quickly inform you it was several degrees colder than cold, but that didn't stop a few eager punters getting to Fowler's Live to witness an ambitious six-band line-up grace the stage in support of the French metalcore headliners.
Mosh-driven Disaster Path had the difficult task of opening the show at an awkwardly early 6.15pm with their down-tempo, breakdown-heavy brand of hardcore. Though it wasn't overly technical musically, it serviced the slam dancers adequately. Following them, a high-energy Signals gave a majorly solid performance that employed both heavy and ambient sections coupled with a significant use of live samples to intensify what was a decent overall set, fitting the bill perfectly. However, unfortunately, the latter could not be said for third act, At Fate's Mercy. Though a quality live performance was delivered bar a touch of awkwardness, the quintet seemed a little out of place for this type of show. This five-piece outfit performed melody-driven choruses with straight verses more suited to the heavier side of rock. While this act is worthy of recognition as artists, it might be worth the band's time reassessing their target audience. The real hero during the first three acts was a young boy (and by young, I seriously mean five or six years old) throwing down like a seasoned professional. Throughout the entirety of the first three acts the youthful buck could be seen out-staging most of the punters regularly undertaking these moves at shows: a true pit master in the making. However, he subsided when four-piece Save The Clocktower took to the stage, the Tasmanian quartet demonstrating how to successfully perform to a smaller interstate audience and still elicit a great crowd response. This brilliant set rivalled the headliners for vigour and professionalism, especially vocalist Luke Vaessen, making them one of the best acts of the night by far.
Subsequently, brutality was laden onto the audience as I, Valiance's vocalist Mark Poida issued one warning: “I am an angry dude and you want to please me.” This set was devastatingly crushing and straight-up scary; although Poida's pronunciation was, at times, inaudible throughout this demonic, hell-raising vocal performance, no one cared. Lighter, more technical passages drawing influences from an abundance of different genres contrasted the heavier parts greatly. A mentally unhinged-looking bassist and talented guitarist gave perfectly synchronised energy (even wearing matching Betraying The Martyrs hoodies), which complemented an overall aggressive and tough performance. This paved the way for Parisian six-piece, Betraying The Martyrs to round out the night, wanting to transform the small Fowler's Live audience into a full-scale party. What separates this band from others is versatile keyboardist, Victor Guillet, who occasionally doubled as a second lead vocalist. Guillet may as well have been playing a key-tar from the way he impressively wielded his instrument. Though not as vocally talented as lead vocalist, Aaron Matts, Guillet still completed a sound that could prove rather generic without him. However, Betraying The Martyrs were worthy of a much larger crowd than they achieved last Friday; perhaps the cold was to blame, but it will be interesting to witness their crowd sizes increase on their next visit Down Under – regardless, j'espère que vous aimez ici!