Oceans Ate Alaska Live Review

Oceans Ate Alaska

at The Academy 3, Birmingham

by James Salt - 16 February 2015

Well it's a cold Monday night in Birmingham and after trudging through Chinatown and a tramps urine-infused underpass bedroom, we reach the O2 Academy, feeling very out of place being about 10 years older than the average age of the youth queuing outside tonight.
It's a shame the gig has been downsized to the Academy 3 tonight after being advertised to take place in the Academy 2. Surely that's not because of the absence of poor Black Tongue? Who had to pull out the tour following a band member tumbling out the tour bus door...clever.

Once inside and set up comfortably in front of the barrier, Oceans Ate Alaska hit the stage to some sympathetic applause and a couple of high-pitched wails. They engage at full throttle into their energetic deathcore/metalcore cocktail of a set. And they've got the crowd in the palm of their hand from the get go. The pits open, the kids are jumping and heads are banging. They look like they're having a real blast on stage and the sound is perfect. Vocalist James Harrison wastes little time jumping on the barrier and interacting with the fans, at one point even joining the kids in the pit too. After signing to Fearless records at the end of 2014 these guys are tipped for great things in 2015 and judging by the way they performed tonight, they deserve it.

Unfortunately the same can't be said for Veil Of Maya. Their brand of technical deathcore fails to hit the mark this evening.

Each band member is very static on stage, and new singer Lukas Magyar's vocals sound considerably weak compared to the Oceans Ate Alaska set moments before. What makes their show worse is after the opening two tracks the crowd are completely dead, seemingly lethargic, all but a couple of diehard fans that appear adamant to salvage some form of enjoyment out of a lacklustre performance. Shame.

Luckily after another short wait Chelsea Grin turn up to give the kids something to be happy about.

They explode onto the stage and the crowd are fired up. Singing along to every word of an angsty "Playing With Fire". And that sets the tone for the rest of CGs set. Their slant on deathcore has a real depth and bounce that sets them apart from other acts on the scene, and the fans love it. The pits burst back open and the front row are squashed.

All six members of the band barely fit on the tiny stage, but they look like they're loving every second. Songs such as "Clockwork" and "Don't Ask Don't Tell" never sounded as good as they do tonight. And once they hit the final note of "Recreant" the fans are left hungry for more.

Based on tonight's chaos it's difficult to say where deathcore could end up in the next few years, with two bands really pushing towards the next level and one that fell a little bit flat. One thing is for certain, the teenagers love it, and as long as they stay interested these bands are gonna stick around for the foreseeable future.