Andrew Danso

If Admiral's Arms were all about keeping the screw turning (Admiral's Arms review), Dead and Divine were about the way it was being turned. Vocalist Matt Tobin did reasonably well at getting the crowd involved, disparagingly (and a little desperately) jumping off the stage and grabbing people around the bar, then shoving them to front of the pit, before things got going. In truth it wasn’t a bad move for them, as it forced a lot of sober heads to nod with whatever rhythm they decided to play.

Musically, there was a kind of nutsiness about them, the way they kept riffing to and fro vocally based choruses, and fast paced rhythm guitar. This felt much more metalcore, and machine like, than that of hardcore. They also had a cameo from one of The Chariot band members, to crank up anticipation for the night. However, their stage persona is hard to buy into, with Tobin doing all of the work, and the rest of them standing around like wooden statues. All in all, they demonstrate that pacing works well inside of metalcore, even when the four out of five band members look completely disinterested.

5/10 Powerplay issue #14