The InnerCore

Live review from Underground Heavy #5

IMG_6237.JPGSetlist:

1. Intro

2. Walk Like You Rule the World

3. God’s Gift

4. The Last Words

5. I’m a Devil

6. Set to Kill

7. Political Game

The InnerCore were called on stage, with people demanding Slayer. The singer responded by saying that they were going to “blow this place up”. And, for all intents and purposes, that’s exactly what they did. They have a towering, thick metal sound, and definitely belong to the musical generation that grew up with thrash rather than ‘heavy metal’. This is seen not only in the music, but also in their stage manner – they go for an imposing yet detached demeanour, thoroughly involved in their own music, yet clever enough to engage the audience by challenging them. This resulted in the formation of the first durable circle pit I’ve seen here. This did not feature fleeting moments of pushing people around roughly, but a good number of people happily bouncing off each other. It was the best kind of pit – fun, energetic but not violent, and this was in large part due to the music. You could headbang to almost every line of every song, as there was plenty of groove in them. As a departure from this, the melodic range of their songs, even in many of the solos, tended to be in the lower register – a remainder from the Sabbath era. Singer Sansar did a really good job of interacting with the audience (as proved by his earlier success in inciting the pit), and kept them going in equal parts with his chatter, as with his singing, which he does in a way that sounds like screaming and singing at the same time, much like Chris Cornell (he even kinda looks like Cornel in the early Audioslave days).

They touched all the bases that metal bands typically like to – rapid solos, thudding rhythms, changes of pace, and vocals that seem to be doing more for rhythm than melody. This means that they have a fairly standard sound, but they are verygood at what they do; so much so, that the conformism wouldn’t bother you (and there’s a lot to be said for that). They have the short-menacing riffs, much like King Ly Chee’s, and nowhere was this more accentuated than in Set to Kill. Political Gamehad more of a thrash feel, with a looping, surprisingly alt. rock solo. They added a little variety to their sound with the highly textural The Last Words, which was caveman-like yet sophisticated – the hallmark of good metal. All in all, their set wasvery enjoyable, and memorable for the sheer power that it struck with.

(Plus the fact that they got a real pit going – a tough ask, made to look easy.)

– Shashwati

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Performances by The InnerCore: