Chillbeat

IMG_9812.jpg Live Review from Girls with Guitars #9

1. Push and bounce
2 . 愛回家
3 . The End Is The Beginning Is The End
4 . Feed me
5. 小那星大文青
6 . Kowloon Hong Kong

Chillbeat. A misnomer for a band that deals in caustic nu-metal.  With a sound fitting loosely into the post-hardcore genre, the guitar-heavy quartet delivered a blisteringly fast set that allowed no space for breathers. Frontman Jimmy had all the derisory snarls of Daryl Palumbo, while the band’s range spanned Glassjaw’s tight punk towards more metal influences like Drowning Pool and Faith No More.

Opener Push and Bounce was almost industrial in its thumping metallic opening, echoing Nine Inch Nails with its jagged riff blasts and rasping vocals. An unexpected cover of Smashing Pumpkins’ The End Is The Beginning Is The End draped the stage in a spine-tingling theatrical melancholy. Rather than copy the original, Chillbeat went in hard to give a punchier version of the original, which worked fantastically thanks to KC’s relentless drumming. At one point, he and bassist Norelle held the spotlight for a ruthless rhythmic duet session.

Songs like 愛回家 and 小那星大文青 dabbled in a Coal Chamber-inspired lyrical psychosis with guitarist Siam’s distorted, staccato riffing making for mass head-banging throughout the room. After creatively using a megaphone to give his voice an eerie Mike Patton drawl, Jimmy the dragged his vocal cords through the mud for Feed Me, a song with all the freakiness of early Korn.

With its unimaginative lyrics, the utterly creepy closer Kowloon Hong Kong focused on building an unsettling Deftones atmosphere of whispers and gloomy, drop-tuned chords. Rather than a celebration of the HK mainland, the delightfully evil-sounding song sounded like more of a threat: “Kowloon Hong Kong…” Chillbeat is coming for you!

– El Jay

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Performances by Chillbeat: