Bradford always has a knack of lacing a night with a hint of jeopardy and when we finally reach the Underground it’s with no small amount of relief!
Headstone Wish kick off proceedings tonight with a brace of grungy hard rock numbers with a good line in spirited guitar playing. Next, it’s Leeds rabble rousers,
Godeth who waste no time bringing their stomping brand of hardcore laced, blackened metal to the Bradford faithful with a supercharged ‘Leeches’ being a notable highlight performed with an infectious youthful exuberance and setting the night off into full gear. Watch out for Godeth’s new EP, ‘The Path Of Destruction’ which is released at the end of February, it’ll definitely be worth checking out. The band close their set with that EP’s title track and make plenty of new friends at The Underground tonight.
7eventh Sea followed up with an impassioned grittier take on metalcore. With a twin vocal attack reminiscent of Bury Tomorrow at times and an ability to switch from tight and aggressive to epic, wide sound with ease and dexterity. This band are no strangers to a breeze block heavy breakdown either as is displayed to great effect a couple of times. Cartographer lead singer, Jay Roberts jumps up for a quick guest spot in a display of camaraderie that I’m sure will be reciprocated later, and both bands seem to be enjoying themselves on this tour. Great rapid-fire drum and guitar drills give their songs precision and a great death metal influenced edge that really makes this band stand out.
The Cartographer are here to stamp their identity all over the night in style, if their epic performance at last year’s Tech Fest was anything to go by. Once again as they explode onto the stage, straight from the get-go It’s a blistering razor-sharp performance of select choice tracks from last year’s ‘The Cold Black EP’, deep cuts and new tunes, the inclusion of the baritone guitar in this band is genius, and it really locks into the airtight rhythm section, rumbling the foundations of The Underground to its core.
Indeed, tonight The Cartographer benefit hugely from a brilliantly balanced dirty mix with perfect emphasis on The Cartographer’s low-end theory so big respect to the hard-working sound engineer here at The Underground. Our full force assault even includes an exclusive run through of an awesome brand-new single, which guitarist James has informed me, is ready for release very soon! Other notable highlights are killer run outs of the heavy as nails ‘Misery System’, ‘Fiend’ and a bludgeoning ‘Death Bed’. Everything on display here tonight seems to be signaling great things ahead for this rock-solid prospect for UK metal glory.
It’s certainly a sharp reminder of the amount of raw talent available at underground UK metal shows. Do yourself a big favour and make sure you catch The Cartographer when they roll through your town.
Review & Images By George Miller – https://linktr.ee/601music
Headstone Wish
Godeth
7eventh Sea
The Cartographer
