LIVE REVIEW: Employed To Serve @ Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff

Ahead of the release of their fifth album, Fallen Star, EMPLOYED TO SERVE have embarked on a small UK tour, and brought along some of the loudest names in underground metal today.

“You’re going to be hearing more from me tonight as Harry as been told he needs to be on vocal rest.” Tells guitarist Nathan Harlow before delivering a fiery set. Returning to the Welsh capital for the first time for almost a full year, BURNER have been on a hot streak since the release of their debut album It All Returns To Nothing. And with two newly released songs behind them, they take the stage as the band burst into The Night Does Not End. While Clwb Ifor Bach is a perfect sound for BURNER as they sound phenomenal, vocalist Harry Nott is on doctors’ orders to be on vocal rest, but you couldn’t tell as he’s up there thrashing around the stage with his barbed wire coated vocals cutting through the blaring drums of Jack Bryant. There’s almost zero crowd participation apart from a few heads nodding which is a shame for BURNER as they’re up there giving their all for the half empty room and people staggering in towards the end of their set. Still, it’s proven that even with a vocalist whose voice isn’t 100%, they make a statement about what they can do on stage.

Rating: 8/10

Going from the chaotic metal styling of BURNER, Celestial Sanctuary take the stage with their 90’s death metal edge. The slower pace on set opener Puddles Of You Reflect The Filth Within feels like the brakes are being slammed on in terms of song progression, as it’s a juxtaposition with the neck breaking pace of Glutted With Chunder, which wakes the crowd up a bit for a small circle pit, it does soon die down as they go back to their slower chugs, but the crowd seem uninterested for the most part, which is a shame as CELESTIAL SANCTUARY are up there shredding their souls out. 

CELESTIAL SANCTUARY are great on record, but tonight it seems to be against them. The mix is muddy, which is not a fault of the band, but it makes it hard to pinpoint where one song ends and another starts as the buzz sawed guitars take charge over everything else. Unless vocalist/guitarist Thomas Cronin took time to talk to the crowd between violently shredding his throat, then it would feel like one long song. Don’t let it dilute your opinion of the band as they have some killer songs. It just seems that both the sound and crowd tonight are uninterested in playing ball.

Rating: 6/10 

Since their debut album back in 2015, EMPLOYED TO SERVE have gained more and more traction in the metal landscape with each passing album leading to some high-profile support slots for the band. But for now, they’re enjoying their time in the smaller venues. And this tour was no different. 

Emerging onto the stage whilst DIO’s Heaven & Hell plays, the band burst into lead single from Fallen Star, Atonement. And immediately the room erupts into chaos. The only safe space is toward the back as bodies are flailing in the pit as vocalist Justine Jones commands the crowd with her cheeky grin. “There’s the rowdy Welsh!” She chuckles before the band burst into Force Fed. And at the three song point they’ve got the crowd in their palms. Drummer Nathan Pryor however, has his hands full keeping the band in time whilst delivering a stellar performance behind the kit, never letting up for even a second. Guitarists Sammy Urwin & David Porter stand at each side of the stage as they both shred betwixt the booming bass from Casey McHale, who due to a cramped stage, is pushed toward the back but whose presence isn’t forgotten.

As the band move forward in their set the get tighter and more vicious, feeding off the crowd and giving it back with more bite. The newer material, which isn’t even released at the time of the concert, as the record was released the following day goes down as though it was released alongside anything else they’ve done in the past ten years. As we get toward the climax of the set, Party’s Over has made one thing abundantly clear. EMPLOYED TO SERVE aren’t showing signs of slowing down. In fact, it may be the turbo charged boost they’ve been slowly gaining to launch them into bigger stages not just across the UK, but the world.

Rating: 9/10 

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Cardiff from Stu Rowles here: 

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