Live review from Underground Heavy #2:
Setlist:
1. Flame of Abyss
2. Love Departed
3. Bless Me…My Consecrated Gleams
4. Trapped at the Nowhere Places
5. 24
Despite this being their debut gig, Flame of Abyss were certainly a draw; there were even people in the audience with their stickers and other assorted crap present. They also evidently had a huge posse with them, flocked around the various band; this certainly piqued my interest. And they did not disappoint – FoA seems to have been steeped in hardcore/metal juices for quite a long time. They displayed a knack for building up songs’ intensities quite well, with some songs having a gradual accumulation of instruments, typically with a winding bassline. Other songs began at top speed straightaway, like 24, with the customary refrain at half-speed. Their songs also featured a number of changes of pace, with the nu-metal strategy of having simultaneous, interlinking melodies in one song.
The band’s body-language was a bit apprehensive to start with, which they left behind as the crowd seemed to get into their songs more. Singer Amber’s presence was confident and assured, as she took control of the crowd; however, her vocals were spread a bit thin across songs, betrayed by the heavy barrage of deep chords that they were set against. Her voice, though, is well-suited to songs composed more like 24, which may be worth exploring. Secondly, their tunes seemed somewhat lost between metal and hardcore tendencies, with either side a bit contrived. Let the song be what it will, I say, especially when there’s so much potential in them to be very good indeed. That said, this was only their first ever show, and these are flaws easily remedied with a bit of reworking. FoA not only provided an excellent kick-off, but also the prospect of developing into a formidable act.
Shashwati