Seeyouspacecowboy have spent the last few years rising up the metalcore underground through their wild, free spirited creativity and ferocious live show. First grabbing attention with their whole sasscore revival and then moving to a more classic metalcore sound. This year they’ve seen another evolution of their sound on album number 3 and now they’re bringing that to the UK and packing out the New Cross Inn.
First up were Boneflower (7) playing their first shows in the UK. The 3 piece from Madrid are quite hard to fully define slipping between screamo, post-metal with even moments of shoegaze. They’re a band who fit the proper definition of what post-hardcore should be, intricate and textured but so violent at the same time. It’s all linked by its emotional pull which the band sell more than anything putting everything into their performance, flailing around during the most violent moments. Its an impressive showcase from a band who’ve clearly been honing their craft and a nice warm up tonight.
Killing Me Softly (7) carry on the momentum and just batter the audience with 30 minutes of the most violent throwback metalcore. This is music tapping right into the 90s roots of the genre. Stabbing riffs filled with panic chords, violent beatdowns and the most unpleasently shrill vocals imaginable. And its exactly what this crowd needed to get them ready cos it doesn’t take long for the limbs to start flying. Thanks to labels like The Coming Strife, there’s a real swell of underground metalcore bands in the UK taking the genre as far away from the overproduced sound its become so known for now. Killing Me Softly seem to be really establishing themselves as favourites right now and its not hard to see why. If you’ve found yourself yearning for this sort of violent and intense sound, Killing Me Softly deliver it in spades. The slight melodic touches could benefit from a little more refinement to really stand out but based on sets like this I don’t think people mind too much there.
If Killing Me Softly are all about throwing back to the underground, then Seeyouspacecowboy (9) come across as the perfect middle point of the feral roots of metalcore and the glossy sound of the current bands. Particularly on their latest album Coup de Grace which gets a heavy showing tonight, Seeyouspacecowboy have pushed their sound to new melodic heights without sacrificing a single part of their identity. The band are immediately striking the moment they take to the stage, dressed to match the vaudeville and cabaret aspects of the new album with Connie Sgarbossa sporting her seemingly now iconic bloodstained heart shirt. The opening combo of Allow Us To Set The Scene and Subtle Whispers To Take Your Breath Away shows exactly what this new album has brought you their live show, how they can now easily slip between the most danceable material they’ve done, huge singalong chorus and still smack you round the face with the most volatile breakdowns. Connie leads it all brilliantly conducting and encouraging as much chaos as she does calls to have fun dancing and singing. And these moments still sit nicely alongside the older cuts like Misinterpreting Constellations which delivers that classic metalcore hit.
Lubricant Like Kerosene provides a real highlight among the newer material, the sleaze on that bassline is infectious and the chorus goes off in the biggest way. But for all the joyous fun and singalongs of the new material, there is just something special about when Connie says they’re pulling out the real old stuff and we go back to the pure insanity of the early EP’s and the entirety of the New Cross Inn decides to tear each other apart. To The Dance Floor for Shelter and Chewing the Scenery bring us home with as Connie brilliantly puts it “big gay singalongs” and that’s also what really gave tonight a special feeling. Alongside just brilliant music and a ferocious live show, its a wonderful celebration of queer identity particularly within hardcore and metalcore. A rallying cry to stand up for trans rights and just celebrate queer art. Seeyouspacecowboy feel like the are right on the cusp of shattering the ceiling of a metalcore underground that they have soared to the top of, and bring genuine excitment and creativity back to the forefront.
