Live Review: We Came As Romans w/Headwreck and Within Reach at 1865 in Southampton!

One of the beautiful things about festival season is that there are always bands who are looking to squeeze in a few club shows around their appearances, so if for whatever reason you can’t spend the weekend getting pissed and burned, you can usually find someone to rage with of an evening. That’s why tonight with Downloaded Festival reaching it’s inevitable conclusion at Donington Park, we’re on the South Coast with American Metalcore heroes We Came As Romans and Australian upstarts Headwreck. We’re not the only ones either as the 1865 in Southampton is packed to the rafters because even on a Sunday people need their fix.

Tonight’s opening band are London Metalcore merchants Within Reach [7/10] a five piece who look so fresh faced it doesn’t seem possible that they have just come back from a European tour. But never judge a book by it’s cover as they say because the group have a polished collection of tunes to help you breathe more easily in classic 2017 era Metalcore style. Perhaps inspired by the likes of Wage War or “Ark” era In Hearts Wake, they’ve got the vocal balance between the harsh and clean parts down to a fine art with there is no slow down in the flow of the songs to make room for the sung parts. Their drum sound is huge and they hit all the right notes at the right time with plenty of gut punch moments, the only issue being that there are a few moments that border on cliche. Those will no doubt be ironed out in the fullness of time as the band mature and improve their stage presence. “Liar and the Host“,  “Eye Level” and heavy set closer “Drip Fed” are all mighty fine cuts so we can’t wait to hear what they do next.

Brisbane Australian Nu-Metalcore crew Headwreck [9/10] are a long away from home but on the home stretch with just a handful of European shows left before they head back down under. The genre blending monsters pull from Nu-Metal at one end of the spectrum and Deathcore at the other with every one of their songs having more twists and turns than a dime store horror novel in paperback. From big chugs to three piece vocal harmonies and atmospheric programming they’ve got it all. Tonight their bass sound is huge, as they rhythmically pummel the crowd into submission whilst dropping glitch and groove in the riffs, you just can’t help admire the creative freedom they give themselves. Opening cut “Filet-O-Fish” is a monster and conjoined to “BINGO!” it makes you feel like you’ve been hit by a double whammy. Needing a little something extra to increase their set time they pull out a hard as nails cover of Linkin Park staple “Lying From You“, which absolutely slaps. Then they do something crazy and all switch instruments for one song, vocalist to guitar, guitar to drums, drums to bass and bassist to vocalist which is absolutely nuts. Its something this writer has seen just once before in thousands of shows but is still seriously impressive. New single “Raindrops” shows just how far the band have come with their oldest song “Freefall” also in the set, the introspective lyrical narratives still present but with their attitude adjustment meaning they’re not afraid to mix it up and get freaky with it.

The last time we were in the company of tonight’s headliners We Came As Romans [9/10] it was at Camden Underworld in London during the tour cycle for 2017’s “Cold Like War” album and it has to be said its wonderful to see the band continue after the tragic passing of co-vocalist and programmer Kyle Pavone. The mid-set the band dedicate “Lost In the Moment” to him having earlier dropped a savage rendition of “Cold Like War” that hits just as hard as it did at that Underworld show. Since then the band have dropped two impressive albums in “Darkbloom” and last summer’s “All Is Beautiful… Because We’re Doomed” which provide the backbone of the set, “One by One” and “Black Hole” both being particularly special. Six or seven years ago fans may have doubted Dave Stephens abilities with clean vocals but tonight he nails them all, bassist Andy Glass providing additional harsh backing vocals as and when necessary. The low end enforcer has a constant smile on his face, loving every moment as does drummer David Puckett, especially when most of the songs are sung back to the band by the fans who aren’t in the mosh pit. Stephens dedicates “No Rest For The Dreamer” to those who remain persistent in chasing their dreams and when the PA cuts during the last 20 seconds of encore “Daggers” the four piece start it over from scratch, allowing Glass to play the final minute or so sat on top of a stack. As a band their energy is electrifying and they certainly haven’t mellowed in twenty one years.