Uneven Structure, Blood Command, Long Distance Calling and Protest The Hero 03/03/2012

Uneven Structure are a progressive metal band, with a slight Djent sound, from France. Their lead singer, Matthieu Romarin, has a strong voice, which filled up the O2 Academy well. Due to the variation of singing and screaming the band were able to appeal to most of the audience, including those who like the heavier side of metal.

The next band that appeared on stage defied the crowd’s expectations; a petite blonde girl who came on stage and started screaming. However, she had truly unique vocals; despite screaming, she managed to maintain her high-pitched vocals, which contrasted nicely with the low backing vocals from the males in the band. Blood Command had a distinct hardcore punk-rock sound, which was extremely refreshing to listen to in an age of ‘wannabe Paramore’ female-fronted bands.

After hearing that the next band on were instrumental I was slightly dubious about what they would sound like live and how the crowd would react. However, I should not have worried as Long Distance Calling were extremely talent and the crowd were fixated with them. All of the members were extremely talented musicians and every song sounded unique and the breakdowns were incredible. After watching them perform they have completely changed my view on instrumental music and many others’ in the room too.

Anyone who knows of Protest The Hero understand that they are extremely inimitable and quirky, with last night being no exception as they came onstage to a song from ‘The Lion King’. They opened with ‘Sex Tapes’ and the moshpits started instantly; the atmosphere was incredible. After playing ‘Termites’ Rody Walker said “That song has the word ‘rattletrap’ in it, want to know where I heard that for the first time? Hannah Montana. There’s a long and complicated reason as to why I was watching that show…” Rody proved he was a carefree born-entertainer with a great sense of humour, and throughout the night he was incredible at engaging with the audience. The bands’ energy was contagious and all of the crowd were moving and singing all of the words back at Rody. The riffs sounded perfect and the drumbeat was strong, matching with Rody’s exceptional vocal range. ‘Hair-Trigger’ seemed to be the most popular song and it was incredible to see such an exciting band live.