With As I Lay Dying behind them, Wovenwar are embarking on creating a legacy of their own. Whilst currently touring Europe with Sylosis, the band have made a pit-stop of sorts in the UK for their first ever headline dates. A bold step. Yet would Wovenwar be able to step up to headliner material?
Despite it only being their third ever performance, As Lions, stunned the crowd with a performance that oozed musical quality and energy. Austin Dickinson commanded the stage emulating the persona of his father (Bruce Dickinson), taking every minute to thank the crowd and displaying an incredible set of vocal talent. With the band’s EP due for release later this year, it was surprising how well the songs were taken by the crowd. With big riff work from Connor O’Keefe and Will Homer, consistent drumming from Dave Fee and a solid bass tone from Stefan Whiting, the band’s tight live sound was an absolute pleasure to witness. (8)
With Wovenwar however it was very much a musical performance of two sides. For the large majority of their performance Wovenwar displayed a performance that demonstrated sheer musical quality. With the band, excluding frontman Shane Blay, originating from As I Lay Dying Wovenwar’s musical style very much reflected that of As I Lay Dying; big riffs, huge choruses and solid drumming. That was consistently present throughout Wovenwar’s performance. For example the lead work from Nick Hipa on Dead To Rights was mesmerising, the opening blasts of Jordan Mancino’s drumming on Matter of Time was crushingly heavy and the choruses on closing song All Rise were absolutely massive.
With Shane Blay, the frontman was energetic as ever, taking every moment to interact with the crowd before unleashing his fantastic vocal range. Yet the downfall of Wovenwar’s performance was largely due to a mixture of sound technical issues and a poor turnout to the venue. With issues of vocal mixing present throughout the band’s performance it slightly dampened the punch of Wovenwar. But this wasn’t the final blow, despite these niggling issues, Wovenwar proved testament that they are more than capable of making a name for their own and making it to the big leagues of modern metal. (9)
Please check out our exclusive photo gallery from the night’s action in Manchester below: