Live review from Heavy 11
1. 空洞
2. 小心提防
3. 殘念
去年勇奪香港青年樂隊節 2014－公開組冠軍、最佳鼓手的殘念Zennen，屬於本地非常年青的金屬樂隊，Underground Heavy #11當晚是第一隊的出場單位。第一首歌曲《空洞》，主題是關於破碎家庭，或許是metal本身就會散發出黑暗的感覺，又或是家庭破碎本身就是一個「殘念」，聽著是更有歇斯底里的感覺，而且主音的screaming很深遂，值得一提。第二首的《小心提防》，似乎和雨傘運動有關，一開頭又密又重的鼓十分能引起觀眾的注意，美中不足的是到中段music break時主音想帶動mosh pit，唯觀眾似乎不太受落，又或者是沒有心理準備而已吧⋯⋯？來到最後一首歌曲《殘念》，應該是代表著他們的歌曲，當中有獨白位讓人稍作喘息，也是整個編排和情感更有層次，十分不錯，觀眾也十分投入。總的來說，殘念每一位成員都十分的有實力，歌曲也相當有意境，而且以金屬樂隊來說是非常容易入耳的那種，相信不是聽慣metal的人也不會太抗拒。
– Sidick Lam
ZenNen were the second band to come on, and despite having some starting trouble, they got their technical issues fixed pretty quickly and their set began with a sombre arpeggio-style notes, which then quickly moved into a shreddy, headbangy mode. In contrast to the last band, their sound was more broody, slower, more droney and even sludgy, with a bit of The Melvins showing through every now and again. They also used guitars with more sustain than the last band, and their melodies were less colourful and more heavy and dark in general. The singer, again tries to sing like (almost literally) every other male metal singer in Hong Kong (seriously), but to his advantage, he has a younger-sounding voice and this makes him sound edgier than most singers do; this actually turns out to rather suit the band.
However, they definitely had the classic metal band problem of almost signposting when they change styles; 空洞 is a perfect example; from the broody to headbangey transition mentioned earlier, they added a bit a little like the opening to Immigrant Song, from which they moved an Iron Maiden-style shreddy solo-bit, and then another moody part. Now, these guys don’t actually have changes as drastic as I’ve seen before, but nonetheless they can sometimes be discomfiting. I would say that they might try to work on transition bits to add to their songs so that the rhythm/mood changes are smoother to listen to. 小心提防 was a mix of fast and dramatic metal, while 殘念 was a more grinding, churning and chugging song, with gunshot drums and an anthemic feel; a really satisfying listen, and perhaps not coincidentally a song in which the different portions were stitched together really well. In all, a very good (if short) set, and they’re definitely to be looked out for by metalheads looking for interesting new bands.
— Shashwati Kala
