LIVE REVIEW: Cages For Preachers @ Saltbox, Nottingham

This is one of those nights where you wished you’d packed armbands – earlier on , the nearby Premier League game between Leicester City and Everton had its second half delayed due to the thunderstorm that hit during the afternoon, however the two hours or so it took for the adverse weather to travel north to Nottingham had led to a false sense of security; as the evening wore on, the confines of Saltbox, one of the city’s newest venues was gratefully received as the rain teems down outside. Located right next to the arena, the atmosphere crackles with energy as music fans for CAGES FOR PREACHERS bumped shoulders with the city’s large ice hockey following, their beloved Panthers playing next door.

With the sports fans away to watch the action, the heaviness can take over in the guise of THE ART OF FREEFALL, a four piece from Birmingham making their debut in Nottingham tonight. Reminiscent of A DAY TO REMEMBER and other associated bands in that melodic, metalcore guise, they are in good spirits and definitely excited to be playing, however their wings are clipped by factors both within and out of their control. The drums are placed far too high in the mix, rendering their guitarist virtually silent, a real shame given he’s playing some quite dexterous passages at times that go unheard.

More down to the band themselves is their occasional sloppiness and wavering tempos that don’t help their cause, neither does their first cover song that isn’t exactly known by those in attendance, to the point that it receives little more than warm applause; their second one, a rendition of ENTER SHIKARI‘s Sorry You’re Not a Winner, however, is solid enough, dampened by the sparse participation in those famous claps. Outside of these, there’s a lot of well trodden metalcore tropes, but nothing that makes them truly stand out in a genre that remains very oversaturated. A tighter live show will leave them in better stead, but unfortunately there’s very little else to help them stand out.

Rating: 5/10

Album launch shows are always a bit of a party and, when it comes to the headliner’s performance, a bit of a free hit – sure, you can’t let it be a trainwreck, but if there are a few kinks here and there, they’re either unnoticed or laughed off given the occasion. CAGE FOR PREACHERS have a good sized crowd for the celebration of debut album The Sleep That Knows No Waking, an indication that they’re beginning to build a solid, hardcore following: many are in their band shirts and there is a lot of love given after every song. They’re also sensitive to the wants of their audience – they’ve given themselves over an hour to perform and have stuffed their set with new tracks, old favourites and a couple of surprises. “We know you’ve been asking us to cover this for a while,” vocalist Kai Doyle says before the band kick into PARAMORE‘s Decode – admittedly, it starts a bit mawkish, but Doyle‘s awareness in adapting certain sections because, well, he isn’t Hayley Williams, earns points for not attempting to match her; it also picks up when they get heavier in the middle and the vocals turn unclean.

Of their own material, the highlights are So Young, a sprawling and emotionally-charged track that sees the band go quite doomy, and Adrenaline, which appropriately is a groove-laden riff fests that will have heads bobbing in no time. However, overall CAGE FOR PREACHERS seem confused in their direction: at times they’re full on metal, at others they take a more grunge-orientated path and there are even occasions where they go full arena rock a la ALTER BRIDGE. They’ve definitely got potential, but right now they don’t seem to know what lane they should be in, as if they’ve been throwing musical styles at a wall and seeing what sticks. If they focus in on one main sound and branch off from that foundation, there’s an outfit here ready to fly high – tonight, however, they’re just having a bunch of fun with family, friends and fans, and that sees them triumph with ease.

Rating: 7/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Nottingham from Elliot Leaver here: 

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