Deadly Circus Fire - Barfly, London - February 27 2014 (Live Review)
Monday, 03 March 2014
Written by Alec Chillingworth
Having witnessed Deadly Circus Fire support Aliases at a venue with only four paying customers – yes, really – a couple of years back, it perhaps isn’t too much to expect a better turnout this time around.
Thankfully, Camden's Barfly is filling up as Reverted make their way to the stage. Essentially, you've heard it all before - the band worships at the altars of Metallica and Pantera, yet their exuberance makes for a treat. And damn, some of these riffs are crushing. It's simple, it's meat-headed and it's bloody good fun.
Never A Hero offer a different musical platter, opting for a more varied, alternative take on metal’s basics. Frontman Phrixus carries the performance and his phatic banter remains the highlight of the set, including talk of selling his own sweat to an audience member.
Schemata Theory, being more closely related to the headliners’ sound, fare much better than the openers. Essentially what all the new 'djent' - forgive the use of a dirty word – bands could sound like if they stopped trying to be Meshuggah, Schemata Theory blend smatterings of prog, thrash and anthemic choruses. These guys can play.
While they're not causing widespread pandemonium just yet, Deadly Circus Fire are on their way to becoming more than just a local oddity. This is mostly due to vocalist Adam Grant raising his game as a frontman. Now a commanding force in the live arena, he demands crowd participation inbetween contorted screams and luscious clean vocals, even if muddy sound prevents his lyrics from hitting home.
That's not to say the rest of Deadly Circus Fire don't get their share of the limelight. Bass player Mike Enort is having a blast while guitarist Save Addario spends the majority of his time at the Barfly looking supremely grumpy. Even when pockets of the crowd are pulled up on stage, the man doesn't so much as crack a smile. Whether this is an act or not remains to be seen, but either way, he's fucking terrifying.
More than anything, they just have so many tunes. Leviathan, Her Epitaph and Threnody have the brains and the balls to stand toe-to-toe with bands like Mastodon, and new tracks Devil's Opera and Rise Again show immense promise for the future. They're not riding on any sort of media buzz at the moment, but Deadly Circus Fire are certainly ones to watch.
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