The Cape Town metal scene is stagnating. There is an overflow of bands that all sound the same so coming across a metal band that is genuinely good in all the aspects that define what makes a band good, is extremely rare. Yet, it’s Friday night I find myself on my way to ROAR (situated in Observatory above Gandalf’s), hoping by some miracle that I would find a gem in this pile of rocks. Entry is free, booze is cheap, it is inevitable that Gandalf’s is filled to the capacity with its resident ‘scene’ kids who will party to everything from 80’s rock ‘n roll to Rihanna and will probably never make the journey up the stairs to check out the live acts.
I walk into ROAR to find that the first band had already finished their set and the next band was behind the curtains doing a line check while everyone made their way outside for some fresh air before they started. As soon as the curtain was drawn back they got into their set almost hesitantly, not quiet pushing the boundaries the way a metal band should. There was a lack of the energy needed to feed the crowd and slowly but surely people started losing interest. I was not impressed by their vocalist. Halfway through their set I found myself fearing that my ears might start bleeding from the horrific sound coming from him. I had this overwhelming urge to scream along from the pain of having to listen and was relieved when it was over.
The Impalement Theory or TIT as some like to call them was up next. Having missed them at Rock the River I was interested to see how far they’ve come since the last time I saw them at ROAR 2 years ago. The band has a solid fan base so naturally the room filled up as they stepped on stage. I made the mistake of standing up front and got caught in the middle of a moshpit. I just about dodged a blow to the gut before I got the hell out of there. The crowd was one big head banging monster gobbling up the energy that was radiating from the band. It was entertaining to watch them perform, they definitely have something going for them. One of their songs fuses the typical Cape Town township vibes with metal and you end up trying to jive and head bang at the same time. They ended the set with guitarist Jen’s choice, and also an old favourite “Torn Apart by Bears” which had me singing along to lyrics that I should have forgotten by now. After seeing what I came to see I could not risk my ears any longer to possible torture, so I decided to leave before the next band murdered the tiny little bit of hope for the metal scene that TIT managed to reinstill in me.
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Hmm nice 1 guys…but i just got to add here that i really miss the old Vocalist that you guys had..He had great low screams and his highs were cool as well..where is he?? what happened? anyway well done for the good review.
I have seen The Impalement Theory play many of times. I don’t find them as good as you say. A couple of talented musicians, but “bree bree wee wee” vocals? Ear-piercing pig squeals? Not really pleasent to listen to. Vocalist has energy which is always good to see. But I’ve seen and heard a lot of better acts hit ROAR’s stage. Just voicing an opinion.
so you only focus on vocals i take it?
A good vocalist is just more pleasing to the ear. Whether screaming or clean vocals.
@Don, no where in this review does it state that TIT is the best band on the scene. What the review is saying is that they’ve got the talent, they’ve got the following and with work they could actually make an impact on the scene. There ARE bands better than TIT but that night at ROAR TIT was the band that stood out and they deserve credit for that. I do believe the quality of the bands that play at ROAR is not too great but who else is going to give the start up bands a chance?
I agree with Don. All you guys ever do is squeal and it gets annoying, every band has done it before, its way over used, Iv also seen a lot better bands at Roar.
you guys may agree with it, although our older tracks had more pig squealing in it, we have drifted away from the pig squealing side and focusing more on gutterals and high and low exhales. if you do not believe me, come through to our next show and judge for yourself. every band grows in their own way, we enjoy the genre we have chosen and it is still liked amongst many. So thank you for your crit. bree bree:)
we are experimental deathcore/grindcore ,there will be pig squeals. but we just mainly want to improve the views on south african metal. we all enjoy complete different styles of music yet we enjoy playing our music. so all in all, support your home countries metal and thats what counts.
I’m interested to hear what bands you consider Grindcore… because there is absolutely none of that influence in the music. Nor is it experimental. It has all been done before.
Its not Grindcore and its not experimental, to me it is just generic deathcore