Gig Report: Motionless In White, The Defiled, Glamour Of The Kill @ Kentish Town Forum - 21/09/13

"That guy has a Nirvana t-shirt, sure Nirvana are cool but against Motionless In White? No."

On a rather overcast night at in renowned Kentish Town Forum, three bands were sharpening up their weapons of choice to slay the armada of Goths, emo's and metalheads that lined the outside of this building of sheer grandeur. Some were queuing since midday! Now that is die hard, by the time the clock showed 6:00pm, the queue was resembling the snake from that game everyone had on their mobile phones, you know? You got it! Naturally pre-show banter ensued and one guy was so joyous he was giving everyone free hugs, let's just hope he didn't give the security any hugs...

So amongst the pre-show banter there were people saying what songs they want to hear, who they're hoping to meet and also why there was a guy walking around with a black skirt, tights and platform boots on, "thankfully he was skinny" one girl said, another girl remarked on a guy further up the queue by saying that he "has a Nirvana t-shirt, sure Nirvana are cool but against Motionless In White? No." This pretty much summed the mood up of the punters, no soft rock fans tonight, god no. This was going to be one of the most Gothic nights London probably has seen since the days of Bauhaus, Siousxie & The Banshees and similar bands, only jesting, this was poised to be a sensational night regardless.

Pre-show Global Metal Apocalypse managed to have a sit down and natter with The Defiled's athletic keyboardist The AvD who was slightly tired but was awake nonetheless. You can read and listen to the interview by clicking this link here:

http://globalmetalapocalypse.weebly.com/13/post/2013/09/gma-interview-interrogation-the-avd-the-defiled.html

^ Even at 8 rows back the crowd were somewhat perplexed...

First up on tonight's phantasmagorical evening was Yorkshire's lighter-than-usual mob Glamour Of The Kill of whose improvised set rarely set the crowd in motion, except for the odd wall of death occurrence, which in itself was questionable as the performance tonight was below par by their standards. Even though the absolute sheer size of the stage did not maximize their presence, in fact it was really down to the crowd to try and cheer the band on. But credit is given when it's due and with their performance tonight, well it wasn't 100% top notch but it certainly set the crowd up for the next two musical machines. As Glamour Of The Kill rallied out their songs like a Gatling gun on crack, the crowd ironically started warming to the band's set even though they were not on song tonight, this was not one of their best performances but it certainly was not a total shambles, perhaps the next band up The Defiled could rescue the crowd from tiring out rather than being bored out.

[7] RHYS STEVENSON

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^ The Defiled went straight to business and reactivated London's Industrial past

Next onto the stage armed with their new material from their debut Nuclear Blast album 'Daggers', was perhaps the finest Industrial / Goth / Experimental metal band London has seen since the days of Killing Miranda and Bauhaus combined, lacing together a visage of Steampunk, Goth and Cyber through Aaron Curse and his fellow members of The Defiled. This tight knit unit from North London brought their sound to the home crowd with such force that the chugging and turning of Victorian London could easily have been heard in the background, or perhaps that was The AvD making eerie sounds emerge from his keyboard as he launched it into the air, as if he was practicing juggling or ultimately enjoying himself so much that last night was merging into tonight. Whatever their secret formula was it worked, the crowd were engulfing each other through a plethora of mosh-pits happening sequentially through each song, even venturing into the old classic 'Call To Arms' towards the end. As The Defiled exploded out with their Industrialist and Horror style of metal, the atmosphere was darkening and the nearby graveyards were rocking away as the night set in on what has to be the Londoners best performance, now if only this was set in Whitechapel as the coffins on stage could have easily provided as the eerily setting for a stage production of 'Jack The Ripper'. As for The Defiled, well Vincent Hyde clearly wanted to show Glamour Of The Kill how you party by launching himself into crowd and having a crowd-surf with bass guitar in tow. It would have been much better if Dagoba was on the set, but that would be another story and in another time-frame. As soon as the London boys played the final note, the final beat, the final word and the final riff of their set, the atmosphere was as dark as the deepest depths of the Atlantic Ocean, speaking of the Atlantic Ocean the next band to embark on stage is probably the darkest Goth band of all time...

[9] RHYS STEVENSON

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^ Motionless In White redefined the term 'Horror Show' indisputably.

It was evident that much has changed since Motionless In White's debut album 'Creatures', mainly through the greater use of industrial sounds which can be noticed on 'Infamous'; although if you own both the American and British version there's a difference there too! The crowd, already psyched from the demolition delivered by The Defiled, were into full tyrannical overload as Motionless In White delivered their sonic blast of Industrial-tinged Metalcore and Gothic imagery in tow. Through the elegant usage of what could be perceived as Victorian London style street lights (is there a theme going on tonight?) and later on the featuring of a female fire-breather as well as two female dancers adding theatrics by jesting with Chris Motionless who, by this stage, had donned on PVC pants (true Goth). As Motionless In White emitted their danceable songs and also venturing back into the past by whipping out classics like 'Immaculate Misconception' and 'Abigail' from which the latter involved the fire-breather, it was evident that this was by far the best performance they have ever delivered on British soil, and boy did they know it. Flowing into full swing, the mosh-pits were getting so huge that some punters were predicting that the bartenders might start giving out free jager shots or absinthe (we wish) to the most insane mosher, one punter said "will it be WKD given all these kids here", so what if they were youth? Metal is for any age, well maybe not for toddlers as the question is would they have stood for this? Reverting back to the performance itself, Motionless did justice and paid their dues by slamming the f**k out of the endlessly non-tiring crowd, yet whilst the set was seemingly short, it in fact was not that short, a mere hour. An hour's worth of 'Gothcore' was more than welcomed by the crowd, even when the cheekily truthful 'A-M-E-R-I-C-A' bellowed around the sublime surroundings of The Kentish Forum, the encore was enough to assure the American Goths that they were looked forward to by the London show attendees. For Motionless In White, they can be assured of a warm welcome every-time they play in the UK, could we yet see them at Bloodstock? Some attending fans at the London show certainly hope so!

[9] RHYS STEVENSON


https://www.facebook.com/glamourofthekill
https://www.facebook.com/thedefiled
https://www.facebook.com/motionlessinwhite

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As soon as their set had finished the crowd spilled onto the streets, some staying behind and hanging by the stage door, hoping to meet their idols, instead of doing that Em Wagner spoke to Global Metal Apocalypse to get her post-show thoughts.

This was my first gig at the Forum and despite underground closures trying to scupper my plans I made it in time to see the first band.

The Forum is a great little venue, like the cleaner, more dignified version of the Brixton Academy. One of the first things I noticed was the crowd and how friendly everyone seemed. Always a good sign for a good gig!

I hadn’t seen or heard much of Glamour Of The Kill before but very much enjoyed the combination of heavy tunes and clean vocals. I found my foot tapping and hips swaying to most of their songs and decided I would get purchasing their music when I got home. They also produced a good wall of death which is never a bad thing!

Next on were The Defiled who I have been a fan of since about 2009 when I saw them support Static-X at the O2 Academy Islington. Their irresistible industrial Metal-esque music ticks all my boxes and visually they are a very entertaining and energetic band. You can’t help but get sucked into their antics. It’s been great to see them go from strength to strength over the last few years and maintain their high standard of performance. Again, the crowd were fantastic, it’s not often you see that many smiling faces when everyone is trying to keep on their feet and avoid the flailing legs of passing crowd surfers.

Finally came the headlining act, Motionless in White. I wanted to see them out of curiosity rather than being a huge fan of their music. Their look is darkly appealing and their synthy, screaming sound suggests I might like it more than I realize. With an eye watering set and some fantastically theatrical outfits I was smiling from the first note of the first song. It was clear to see that they have a solid following in the UK and did not disappoint their fans by delivering a relentless set of powerful tunes. I shall definitely be investing in their music and attending their next show.

All in all the night was fantastic and I woke up the next day with multiple injuries and the post-gig blues, always a reliable sign that you’ve had a great time.