LIVE REVIEW: Impericon Never Say Die! Tour @ ULU, London

Once again, the Impericon Never Say Die! Tour rolls into London giving metalcore fans a massive line up of seven bands to enjoy. This year headliner, Japan’s CRYSTAL LAKE, makes them the first Asian band to ever headline the tour. Still before them though, there was plenty of breakdowns and mosh calls for fans to lose their minds to.

First up on this massive line up were GREAT AMERICAN GHOST who do a solid job warming up everyone who turned up for their early set time of 5:30. The bands particularly ferocious take on metalcore certainly helped them win over a few more fans tonight as it seemed like very few in the audience were familiar with GREAT AMERICAN GHOST coming. The early set time and short set length unfortunately limited the impact the band could make but they still did a good job setting the tone for what was to come.

Rating: 6/10

Given that they were only second on, it was quite surprising to see just how much the room had filled up for ALPHA WOLF. But once they band started ripping through their set it became why clear why so many people are already fans of the Aussie moshers. ALPHA WOLF just play the most obnoxiously aggressive metalcore imaginable. There is so much attitude in everything that they do and this is just amplified by vocalist Lochie Keogh‘s performance and his presence on the stage. It also helps that the band just look so cool, it just adds to their whole live show. They also see the first of many mosh pits with so many in the crowd so eager to batter each other about. This is a hugely impressive set from a band who are likely going to keep growing at a rapid pace.

Rating: 8/10

For a while it seems like this just might not be OUR HOLLOW, OUR HOME‘s night. The band are delayed coming on due to technical problems and these persist throughout the early parts of their set. But this just seems to fire the band up and they put everything into their performance. They might just play a fairly straightforward take on metalcore that we’ve all heard countless times now, but they are still very good at it. And it’s also just exactly what the crowd want to hear. The choruses get big sing-a-longs and the breakdowns get everyone moshing. Sometimes just straight forward metalcore is all that’s needed.

Rating: 7/10

POLAR come erupting on stage with all the ferocity and passion fans have come to expect from them. Over years of just grinding away on tours, POLAR have just built up a real dedicated fan base and they were out in force tonight. Screaming every word and matching vocalist Adam Woodford‘s passion at every moment. The connection between him and the fans is undeniable as he spends almost as much time on top of and in the crowd as he does on stage. Their set is mostly made up of songs from their latest album, Nova, which seems to be the one that has won more people over. There’s a real sincerity to POLAR as well, it never feels like tough guy posturing which is often a problem with metalcore bands. This was just another really strong set from one of the most reliable and hardworking metalcore bands in the UK.

Rating: 8/10

Following this was KING 810 who certainly stuck out on this year’s Impericon Never Say Die! lineup. Ignore for a second how this band were once being touted as the next big thing in metal and now find themselves third from the top on a metalcore package tour, KING 810 just have very little in common with any of the bands on this lineup. Their performance is initially very striking, with several members of the band wearing huge skull masks and vocalist David Gunn prowling around the stage. Sadly it doesn’t take long for things to sour, with the biggest problem being that the vocals were barely audible for most of the set, resulting in a lot of the songs starting to sound the same and it just doesn’t take very long for things to get boring. The audience seemed fairly split with the die hard fans really having a good time but everyone else seemingly losing interest as the set went on.

Rating: 5/10

IN HEARTS WAKE just seemed to suffer from the over abundance of metalcore at this gig. Musically they were arguably the most generic on the lineup and after all the earlier bands their set just feels so repetitive and uninspiring. It’s a huge shame as the band’s message is an important one but when the songs are just so dull it just feels like that’s all they have going for them. There’s a few bright moments such as Divine and Earthwalker but really IN HEARTS WAKE just offer nothing that hadn’t already been done better earlier in the night.

Rating: 5/10

Finally it was time for CRYSTAL LAKE to bring the Impericon Never Say Die! Tour to a close and they do a brilliant job. There is nothing generic about their take on metalcore as they seem to pull from just about every aspect of the genre along with some more extreme elements and smash it all together in an electrifying mix. Vocalist Ryo is so fired up from the very first moment and his energy is just infectious. Even after such a long evening, the crowd are still just as fired up and want to mosh at every possible moment. Their set draws heavily from their latest album and the likes of Hail To The Fire and Lost In Forever just sound so huge live. And technically the band are flawless with every member being so tight and the sound being so crushingly heavy. Even as the band run past curfew the energy in the room never seems to drop and it’s clear that CRYSTAL LAKE‘s stock in the UK continues to rise, 2019 has been a very good year for them.

Rating: 8/10

Check out our photo gallery of the action of the Impericon Never Say Die Tour! in London from Rhys Haberfield Media here: