for a few years now. Their live show is a ton heavier
than their recorded sound. With a new record on
the horizon, Arcane Roots are on superb form,
demonstrating immense technical capability and a
terrific three way vocal assault. Arcane Roots are the
perfect band to warm up the chilly festival goers on
day 2 of Groezrock.
Time for a solid afternoon of hardcore. Over to
the Watch Out stage for Bent Life. Absolute chaos
erupted from the moment the band took to the stage.
Bent Life’s brand of metallic hardcore provides the
audience with enough mosh tunes to beat the shite
out of each other solidly for 30 minutes. The end of
their set was beautifully book-ended by a burst of
sunshine from behind the clouds. All was calm.
But not for long. The sun now glaring down as
Incendiary take to the stage. Filled with hatred and
phlegm, Incendiary spat out another solid half hour
of metallic hardcore. Just like their namesake, they are
absolute fire. With the recent release of their new LP
Thousand Mile Stare, we’re sure we will see more of
them in the near future, and we can’t wait!
H2O are always a festival staple here at Groezrock. We
have never seen a moment their on stage which isn’t filled
with carnage, stage divers and some wonky dancing.
Another veteran band, H2O have honed their live show
in recent years and are hugely effective at spinning the
whole room. They are one of the few hardcore bands
who can fill a 45 minute set with sing along tunes, and
boy does this audience know every word.
Time for our final headliners Parkway Drive to close
out the festival. With recent reviews coming in of
their insane stage production on this touring cycle,
we were keen to see what they had to offer, and boy
did they impress. Playing fan favourite Carrion early
on in the set is a bold move, but nonetheless Parkway
Drive press on and reach into every album in their
back catalogue, accompanied by intermittent flames,
crazy lighting, and stage choreography. Going into
their encore, we notice the drummer being hooked
into some kind of rig, and as he rips into a drum solo,
the whole drum kit begins to rotate to the point where
he is upside down. And this was not just restricted to
the drum solo. For the entirety of their encore he must
have spun round full circle, maybe 10 times. Amazing
stuff from a worthy festival headliner. Parkway Drive
are the future of metal. They are the band who will be
headlining festivals for the rest of their time.
Photos by Joshua Clarke | Words by Kris Aarre
www.eliteonlinemag.com
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