LIVE REVIEW: Skarlett Riot @ O2 Academy 2 Islington, London

After two years away from the mesmerising lights of the stage, alternative metal quartet SKARLETT RIOT finally got the chance to debut their latest record to a room full of devoted fans from the inside of London’s O2 Academy 2 Islington. Invicta saw the UK quartet introduce a heavier and more sinister side to their music, mixing vocalist Chloe Drinkwater’s melodic melodies with a sprinkling of death growls and speed metal to spice things up. This venture has opened up another door for the band as the sticky venue room held elders from the New Wave of Classic Rock scene as well as teens more familiar with the emo and metalcore sphere.

Taking emo and scene sub-cultures one step too far though, were openers SINNERS IN THE CITY. The quartet married the unintentional cringe of SPINAL TAP and the discomforting musicality of BLOOD ON THE DANCE FLOOR, including technical issues for the rhythm guitarist who had to leave the stage mid-song on two occasions and a vocalist who was both terrified of the microphone whilst simultaneously holding onto it for dear life. To rub salt into the wound, a tortured cover of P!NK’s U + Ur Hand had every possible vocal note irreversibly butchered, made worse by the vocalists demand of crowd movement whilst he himself exhibited a severe lack of stage presence, instead coming across as rude and entitled.

Rating: 4/10

The glint of Ibanez guitars, hooded-black cloaks and pale ashen faces hinted at an extreme U-turn in musical tastes as Suffolk dwelling GHOSTS OF ATLANTIS took to the stage amid hymns and gospel. Like many black metal outfits, the occult and mythological topics have helped to thread together this band’s identity with death metal verses and clean, operatic choruses to emphasise the epic tales of Greek heroes and heroines. When Tridents Fail, Gardens of Athena, and the spoken word monologue of The Third Pillar, all had remnants of the Nazgûl from The Lord of the Rings, the hooded figures clearly comfortable and confident in their choice of musical direction and image.

Rating: 6/10

Fresh off the back of their New Wave of Classic Rock festival appearances this previous summer, Black Country quartet LIBERTY LIES took to the stage with their seasoned and well-oiled stage presence thanks to UK and European stints opening up for SHINEDOWN and HALESTORM, roping in even the hardest and meanest looking punters. Putting INGLORIOUS’ Nathan James to shame, Shaun Richards’ voice penetrated every nook and cranny available, even the spaces between booze bottles perched upon barroom shelves cowered from the banshee wails. The neglected double kick drums finally got their work out as the politically charged United Nothing and Are You Listening lunged towards the sets finish line. 

Rating: 7/10

Purple rained down on stage and the scarlet shade seeped through every possible light source. The shadow of the band’s frontwoman entered the crowd and grazed past bare skin that elicited preteen-fan-girl wails from 50-something-year-old blokes as SKARLETT RIOT kickstarted their set with Invicta’s opener Breaking The Habit, latest single Gravity, and an animated performance fit for the West End with Break. Gothic black mesh attire painted Skarlett in an ethereal light like a dark elf from World of Warcraft, accentuated by the band’s blend of metalcore, modern metal, and the amalgamation of Danny Oglesby’s wailing pinch harmonics and Luke Oglesby’s machine-gun drumming. 

Black Cloud and Underwater united the perfect balance of the physical act of headbanging whilst also exercising the activity of singing along, a feat adored in the metalcore community, tipped off with bassist Tim Chambers’ death metal growls. Tracks like Affliction, Stand Alone, and To The Flames, each blended into one long tall-tale epic, not leaving much space for musical diversity. Whilst the band got familiar with new single Stronger, the half-full venue did much to confirm that those with their voices raised to the heavens were die-hard and loyal fans who weren’t at their first rodeo. 

Whilst there were those who would certainly be returning time and time again, some onlookers visibly confirmed that SKARLETT RIOT fell just short of winning over the prospect of any new listeners this time around. Turnouts may have been compact and small, however the overwhelming sense of pride and dedication to the band could not be missed, the warmth of the community doing their bit and SKARLETT RIOT delivering in return. 

Rating: 7/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in London from Karolina Janikunaite here: