LIVE REVIEW: Escape The Fate @ Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

2015 would mark a ten-year musical tenure for Las Vegas rockers ESCAPE THE FATE, and see them embark on a pivotal headlining tour to coincide with the release of fifth full-length Hate Me. With latest album I Am Human set to drop in March, the self-described “rejuvenated and reincarnated” four-piece are back at Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms tonight for the final European date of the Rage on the Stage tour – and they’ve brought SET TO STUN along for the ride.

Thundering straight out of the Tragic Hero Records stable and boasting a post-hardcore concept album chronicling the adventures of a time-travelling vigilante – yes, you read that correctly – SET TO STUN are a curious prospect. As it happens, material from debut full-length SET TO STUN and The Desperado Undead translates successfully live in all its bipolar glory and appears to hook the onlookers gathered in this swelling venue. Frontman/guitarist Damien Wong veers manically between searing cleans and harsh vocals throughout the thirty-something minute set as influences are worn proudly on sleeves. Sludgy riffs akin to EVERY TIME I DIE give way to death metal blastbeats on songs like Mirror, Mirror whilst the vitriol-laced barks of call-to-arms Dreamcatchers // Bodysnatchers evokes Suicide Season-era BRING ME THE HORIZON. Their efforts to completely stun this crowd may have fallen short, but the SoCal trio certainly satisfy performance wise.

Rating: 7/10

The pre-show pop medleys are finally halted with the appearance of ESCAPE THE FATE, whose arrival is heralded by a raging cacophony of noise like cannon fire. Fevered singalongs ensure voices are immediately lost and fists are thrown as Rescue Rooms is fired back to 2008; the four-piece tear through an explosive opening salvo of This War Is Ours, You Are So Beautiful and 10 Miles Wide – all of which showcase their penchant for hard-hitting licks, anthemic choruses and rousing hooks capable of lodging themselves deep within your cranium. The Vegas rockers may be evolving and eschewing their earlier screamo sensibilities, but with its balance of melody and unashamed aggression Ungrateful remains the epitome of classic metalcore. Animated frontman Craig Mabbitt feeds off the crowd’s insatiable hunger as his throat-ripping shouts and crunching riffs courtesy of guitarist Kevin Gruft bring the heavy; at points sounding like Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr-era TRIVIUM. There’s an unmistakable stylistic shift when it comes to the new material – both Broken Heart and Do You Love Me contain the huge choruses and radio-friendly polish that will ultimately enable ESCAPE THE FATE to make the inevitable transition towards the rock mainstream. The biggest cheers of tonight however, are probably reserved for the thumping cover of MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE romp-stomper Dead! – the passionate reaction to which practically tears the roof off. Inimitable set closer and voracious earworm One For The Money is the cue for the band to blast the rabid throng with silly string as support act SET TO STUN join them on stage and instruments are held aloft for one last hurrah.

Rating: 8/10