"I've been coming to this venue for a decade, and this was the best set I've seen".
These were the words spoken by a true-blue, sweat-drenched, dilapidated fan shortly after the Boston hardcore quintet Vein finished their sold-out show at London's New Cross Inn. With their UK tour spearheaded by the promoting mega-giants Live Nation, the band travelled across the pond and made a splash with their set showcasing their highly-praised debut LP, Errorzone.
Vein's shortened discography certainly hasn't curtailed their ubiquitous reputation on the hardcore and metal scenes as an invaluable segway for post-hardcore, nu-metal, metalcore and dashes of drum n bass. As someone who once-upon-a-time devoured much of the late-90s/early 2000s nu-metal scene, from Slipknot to Korn to Converge, I couldn't turn down the opportunity to see in the flesh a modern interpretation of these influences. Launching themselves, sonically and physically, into their debut EP's 'Progenitor', tonight's proceedings commenced with a cacophony of screeching guitars and gurgling vocals. Vein incessantly kept the effervescent tone throughout, littered with such gruesome sonic breakdowns, ensuring the 'dancefloor' evolved into a graveyard for the hardcore fans of this hardcore genre.
'Old Date in a Dead Machine's vibrancy and well-rounded riff signified a cataclysmic shift to their latest set of tracks from Errorzone. Breaching the surface with such violently horrific lyrics, "Do you imagine their blood inside your head? As far as I know they're all already dead", Vein garnered an extreme set of visceral emotions. Effectively carried out by the oscillation between frontman DiDio's scratchier screaming and guitarist Jeremy Martin's bassier growls, the various vocalised sounds urged me to delve deeper into Vein's allusive lyricism.
From 'Demise Automation's "I'll be waiting for the pipe bomb dreams to burst", to 'Doomtech's "every time I close my eyes, I crash a thousand cars and all my loved ones die", the suffocating violence succumbing DiDio transcended into this prison of pandemonium in South London. As standalone quotes, these may not seem all that significant, however, within the context of the violent sonic landscape painted by Vein, it culminated into an explosive set - with some acting as peaceful witnesses, others as active participants. Ultimately, it was only through DiDio's image-inducing and turbulent lyricism, incorporated within their versatile discography, that the crowd were able fuel the fires of their chaotic ongoings forever festering within this intimate venue.
Many critics may point to their musical contemporaries of Code Orange as a superior band to that of Vein's visceral and unrefined sound in their respective genre, but this band undeniably laid down their marker for the UK's ongoing relationship with the hardcore scene. No better song exemplified this than the evening's finale, taken from their latest LP, 'Virus://Vibrance' - a true pinnacle for an event brimmed to the full with unashamed and unrestrained chaos. As a last ditch attempt to dilapidate any untouched crevice of the venue, Vein incepted the quick and jolting rhythm of the track's drum n bass beat - inevitably setting the high-octane tone one final time. Shortly followed by dissonant guitar screeches and flashing drum patterns, the room ultimately facilitated what seemed like the gymnastic rounds at the Olympic Games - from stage dives, to circle pits, to crowd-surfing, the track quite literally brought the house down.
"This is the vibrance, the virus of energy, you cannot save me, I'm already saved" screamed DiDio from the pulpit of carnage - a stark dichotomy with the previous set of tracks revelling in their near-suicidal tone, but one which resonated with my personal need to be saved this evening. Whilst the songs' trajectories lacked some refinement and variation, along with the questionable vocal mixing of DiDio, Vein undoubtedly brought a memorably incendiary set to the South end of London. There may be an overall lack of seminal metalcore and nu-metal bands currently burgeoning the UK, however, the likes of Code Orange and Vein are a testament of its continuously burning embers in its fight for survival. In the meantime for the latter band, all witnesses, participants, and dilapidated fans from this London show will wait with bated breath for their highly promising future. One thing's for sure - they'll tear down each and every venue along the way.
8/10
Vein's latest LP, Errorzone, is out now and can be found here. All photos are courtesy of Hayley Fearnley and When The Horn Blows.
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