Live Review: Impericon Never Say Die! Tour at Camden’s Electric Ballroom 05/11/2017!

Impericon “Never Say Die!” Tour at Camden’s Electric Ballroom… Emmure, Deez Nuts, Chelsea Grin, Kublai Khan, Sworn In, Polaris & Lorna Shore… a massive festival style line-up at a larger than life venue. The Impericon brand has come a long way and this run of dates from the company goes to prove that. Lorna Shore [3] kick off tonight’s proceedings and are a brutal start to the show. Mosh pits and head banging start early, Shrek and the Mustard Bottle race around in an attempt at forming a two man circle pit but sadly the lead guitar and keyboards are lost in the mix and there is no atmospheric light show. “Flesh Coffin” goes down well and than band are clearly happy to be sharing the stage with the others in tonight’s line-up.

Bringing bounce and energy to their set, Polaris [5] clearly love playing live and with their debut full-length “The Mortal Coil” out just two days before are loving playing the new songs. Their Tech-Metal elements lift their Metalcore material to a new level and “Consume” is an absolute classic. Much more is expected from yet another gem unearthed in Australia. Bassist Jake Steinhauser’s clean vocals are a stark contrast to frontman Jamie Hails uncleans but Hails brings so much energy to the live show it’s unreal.

Kublai Khan [5] are up next and their brand of pummelling hardcore is well placed on tonight’s bill. Playing songs from their recently released album “Nomad” via Rise Records, they continue to keep the energy going after Polaris in fine fashion. “Antpile”, “The Hammer” and “B.C.” are all greeted with cheers and circle-pits and the band smash through them in effortless style. The band close out with “Ghost Pains” which frontman Matt Honeycutt tributes to his mother.

Probably the odd one out of the line-up tonight are Sworn In [3]. Their mix of Nu-Metal-tinged-Metalcore is heavier in the mix tonight but they lack what the earlier bands brought to the stage in terms of energy. It’s not for the lack of trying but their material and frontman Tyler Dennen’s lack a spark tonight, which is a shame because their recent album “All Smiles” has some nice points of interest to it. Problem is the earlier bands have set high standard and with Sworn In the energy drops.

The most brutal band in tonight’s line-up, Chelsea Grin [4] are an absolute monster live. Brutal Deathcore rap screams from vocalist Alex Koehler and breakdown piled upon crushing breakdown from guitarist Dan Jones bring back the energy to the show while drummer Pablo Viveros and bassist David Flinn beat the shit out of their instruments during tonight’s surprisingly short 30 minute set. Alex Koehler is loving every minute and even sells merch before and after their set at the table.

Australian/American hardcore crew Deez Nuts [5] seemed out of place alongside much heavier bands tonight, as they did when playing alongside Suicide Silence and Venom Prison earlier in the year, however they are Impericon veterans. Hitting the stage after Chelsea Grin was always going the be challenge but JJ Peters band are inspired by the challenge and up their game, playing an incredibly tight set of songs back to back with no let up in energy or enthusiasm. “Band of Brothers” is a huge sing-a-long anthem, while “Hustle” gets the full call and response treatment in the chorus.

Josh Travis and Frankie Palmeri are both hanging around Emmure‘s [5] merch table, selling t-shirts, talking and posing for photos with fans from the moment we enter the venue tonight. It’s really good to see and sets a warm welcome to the show. Indeed they are both there until 10 minutes before the bands set tonight, keeping it real and getting their hustle on. When they take the stage as tonight’s headliner, they demonstrate what an excellent band they are and the new line-up is on fire. “4 Poisons 3 Words”, “Solar Flare Homicide” and “Children of Cybertron” sit really well against a set that has a lot of newer material from current album “Look At Yourself” in it. Indeed “Shinjuku Masterlord”, “Smokey”, “Flag of the Beast” and “Torch” all go down a storm with moshing and circle pits kicking off throughout. Emmure were a decent band before, but Frankie Palmeri’s masterstroke has been to bring in Josh Travis, Phil Lockett and Josh Miller because they have given the music a whole new dimension.