WISDOM IN CHAINS / TANTRUM / BACKDOWN / LIFE BETRAYS US | LIVE REVIEW
Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, Mon 18 July
Monday night shows with an often fickle crowd are a risk for any hardcore promoter in Cardiff and the low turnout tonight suggests that it might be a night to forget. Appearances can be deceptive, however, and what tonight’s crowd lack in number they make up for in energy, amply reflected back by powerful headliners Wisdom in Chains.
Before the main event, however, promoters Imperial Music have lined up some appropriately ferocious support. First band of the evening, Life Betrays Us are a straight-up punch to the gut of double kick-driven, metal-infused, beatdown hardcore in the vein of 50 Caliber or All Out War. As blunt and in your face as the huge LBU tattoo on singer Ammo’s calf, these London heavyweights are an excellent opener. Bristol sportswear enthusiasts Backdown play offer more of the same, but with nothing like the Londoners’ level of intensity. A formidable drummer aside, theirs is a frustrated and uninspiring set.
London’s Tantrum offer no let-up in the ear pounding, deliver a relentless low frequency pummelling. Showcasing the most metal influence of anyone tonight, Tantrum’s low-tuned guitars and carpet-bomb drumming offer an almost Meshuggah-level of heaviness.
In these turbulent and uncertain times, the world needs Wisdom In Chains. Their love for what they do, and hardcore more broadly, is sincere and you can bet your house on them throwing all they have into every show. “I’ve had a long, shitty day, so I just focused on this show and it got me through,” states singer ‘Mad’ Joe Black, catching his breath after WIC have roared out of the blocks with the Oi!-infused We’re Not Helping. After an excruciatingly long and fraught drive from France, the Pennsylvania veterans made the show by the skin of their teeth, though you wouldn’t have guessed it from the tight, passionate show they put on.
Despite their tough-guy image, they are enormously good fun, throwing in frequent gags and a cover of the Ramones’ classic The KKK Took My Baby Away. After 15 years in the game, they have a wealth of excellent material to draw on and they get an equally energetic reaction to all of it, whether it’s old numbers like Dragging Me Down or songs from new LP, The God Rhythm. Energy, sincerity and charisma: you couldn’t ask for more from a hardcore band and Wisdom in Chains deliver all three in spades.
words and photos HUGH RUSSELL