Live performance review from Metal Valentine:
1. Warriors
2. Equilibrium
3. My Fallen Eden
4. Yesterday Blossom
5. In the Name of Slander
6. Never Regret
Intense mosh pits right from the off defined CMDZ’s (“Command-Z”) opening set at Metal Valentine. They played Shazza a year ago and impressed Chris B enough to land the opening slot at one of her cult heavy shows. “You’re 30 years old and still playing metal,” taunted frontman Qler, as if his mother was telling him off. Their sound harks back to the ’00s metalcore of bands like Enter Shikari and Bring Me The Horizon while blending in a more American hardcore/emo sound that evoked Taking Back Sunday. In testament to the buzz around this outfit, the venue was rammed from the start and there was a wall of death enacted within the first five minutes. While not hugely original sounding, CMDZ are a welcome addition to Hong Kong’s heavy scene, bringing energy and a sense of rebellion, and a willingness to work to ascend to bigger and better shows.
“I wanna see the biggest pit tonight!” yelled Qler ambitiously at the start of Yesterday Blossom. The band’s key strength is its relentless rhythm section – drummer Yiu and bassist Rex – laying down a solid foundation for their comrades. Suddenly, a female singer from the pit (apparently Qler’s music student) took to the mic for a verse – a cool move that kept the crowd guessing. Suddenly, Qler was back with some reptilian screaming over horror film synths, creating a dark, deranged atmosphere.
Closer Never Regret launched with militaristic drumming from Yiu. Hair whipped and fur flew, then the tempo dropped for some shrieking fretwork from Ken. A spoken word section rung out over rolling drums and the dual guitars raged in heroically. Rex was exciting to watch throughout the set with his extremely animated antics. Guitarist Eric’s rhythms brought the group to the finish line while Yiu’s splattering toms saw them out, a superb first act in the evening’s high-calibre triptych.
-El Jay
