Live Review: Attila w/The Browning & Eskimo Callboy @ O2 Academy Islington!

Tonight is the third stop of this fairly extensive run of European dates for a trio of Party Metal bands that you might otherwise expect to see as part of a bigger festival line-up. The O2 Academy Islington is a decent enough venue but as ever, there always seem to be delays in getting the fans into the venue and perhaps as a result, compared to other dates, Attila over run the venue’s curfew by some 20 minutes. Kansas City, Missouri natives The Browning [6/10] flatter to deceive with their set. The bands synthcore is decent enough but tonight the synths drown out the guitars and bass for the most part and even the vocals at times. While they create a dark and menacing atmosphere on the albums instead tonight the band are trapped inside a rave. Their new album is due out next Friday but it’s available from the bands merch table. Newly streamed album title track “Geist” is a set highlight as is “Pure Evil” but the rest of it doesn’t hold up to a poor mix. Jonny McBee’s vocals are quite strained during new single “Final Breath” while Brian Moore pays tribute to Wes Borland of Limp Bizkit fame with a full head of face paint and a star over his left eye.

Next up are German Metalcore crew Eskimo Callboy [4/10] and with their new album trashed by Metal Hammer we are keen to see what they are like live. The answer is that they seem to have changed their sound in order to try and make themselves regulars on the European circuit and with a set heavy in new material, it’s easy to see why Metal Hammer Magazine was so hard on them. Every one of the new songs has been taylor made to have a sing-a-long chorus and a Pop-Metal vibe, stealing bits and pieces from other more successful scene bands. Even though Tonight’s crowd lap it up, it is hard to see who they are trying to appeal to at this point as essentially they turned themselves into a gateway band. Fronzak doesn’t even appear for his cameo durning the bands performance of “The Scene”. Their full band eight step to the left, eight step to the right routine during the last song is like a cancan route!

Fortunately after a long delay and “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen in full, Atlanta Georgia Party Deathcore heavyweights Attila [9/10] take the stage and quite literally show the other two bands on tonight’s bill how it’s done in a 60 minute set. New material like “Blackout” and “Pizza” sits very well with the bands older songs and in a career spanning set the band even pull out “Rage” for a dust off. Their is even time for them to do a false start of “Down With The Sickness” by Disturbed. Their Guitarist Chris Linck and Bassist Kalan Blehm switch sides of the stage so often you could get dizzy just watching them while Chris Fronzak is in fine vocal form and “Bulletproof” gets a big sing-a-long. Towards the end of the night, Bra after Bra is thrown on the stage before being hung up on the Mic stands and a massive wall of death for the Pineapple breakdown of “Pizza” closes the set in style. For all the controversy, Attila are a fun band to watch and their live show is a slick production from a quartet of showmen who know how to put on a performance and effortlessly get crowd interaction and participation. Chris Linck’s guitar work is highly underrated, the play on silences with the Deathcore riffage and some incredible solos stand out, while is mid song full on conversations with Kalan Blehm while they play are an interesting sight! Bryan McClure replaced long time drummer Sean Heenan last year and his is a powerhouse performance. The first to receive a Bra from the audience, he twirls it around on a drum stick like a trophy for all to see between songs.

Setlist:
Three 6
About That Life
Callout
Middle Fingers Up
Shots for the Boys
Payback
Party With the Devil
Rage
Moshpit
Blackout
Proving Grounds

Encore:
Public Apology
Pizza