LIVE REVIEW: Emmure @ Key Club, Leeds

It’s a rare occurrence that you get such an array of ridiculously talented bands who are currently at the top of their game all crammed into one rocket fuelled lineup in such an intimate venue. EMMURE are in town and what better way to kick off a string of UK dates than a Saturday night at Leeds’ Key Club! The beers were flowing and the crowd were amped to get their ears battered for a few hours.

Considering ALPHA WOLF were hitting the stage at 6:15 they were welcomed by an almost full venue with open arms. The Australian outfit came flying out of the gates with an intense round of bludgeoning tracks including their most recent single Sub-Zero that sounded nothing short of crushing. Making every second of their short set time count they were the ideal warm up for the proceeding onslaught.

Rating: 8/10

After receiving such a rapturous response from their recent effort Dark Skies Texan’s FIT FOR A KING were champing at the bit to unleash this material in a live setting. They wasted little time in whipping the crowd into a frenzy with the rhythmic pummelling of set opener Shattered Glass. As soon as they slammed that pedal to the floor they didn’t let up. There was just about enough room to swing a cat on the Key Club stage but that didn’t stop bassist Ryan O’Leary spinning his instrument around like a lethal weapon. The standard is already at a ridiculous level and most in attendance would’ve been quite happy to see them play all night long.

Rating: 9/10

Sadly someone had to follow that incendiary set and OBEY THE BRAVE didn’t quite manage to reach the same elevated euphoria as their predecessors. Frontman Alex Erian didn’t let this phase him as he had a grin from ear to ear throughout the entirety of their performance. Their melodies provided a brief respite from the unrelenting ferocity whilst still maintaining the hard hitting riffs in the form of latest single No Apologies. On any other night they would’ve been the stars of the show but in amongst a field of sharks who smelled blood in the water they fell slightly short of the mark this time round.

Rating: 7/10

It’s been far too long since the French crossover masters had been an appearance on UK soil and the atmosphere in the room was rife with anticipation. RISE OF THE NORTHSTAR did not disappoint as the crowd lost their collective shit when they unleashed the raw intensity of Here Comes The Boom. Despite their set being relatively short for a main support act those six tracks were enough to satiate the hungry fans. Hopefully the gap between UK appearances will not be nearly as painstaking.

Rating: 9/10

By the time the ominous presence of New York’s finest lurked in the shadows it was quite a surprise that the Key Club was still standing. EMMURE showed no hesitation in taking the structural integrity of the building to it’s limits opening with the seismic riffs of You Asked For It. From that point onward the crowd resembled a sea of bodies, wildly flailing in each and every direction as photographers clambered up speaker stacks to avoid their equipment becoming a casualty of the chaos. The four piece were in unstoppable form and sliced through 15 tracks with clinical precision ending the set with the formidable combo of Solar Flare Homicide and crowd favourite When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong to end the night in scintillating fashion.

Rating: 9/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Leeds from Connor Morris Photography here: