Live review from Heavy 18
1.Lost in somewhere
2.Crawling
3.光影
4.過
5.Armour
6.From now on
From the beginning of their show, Instinct of Sight captured everyone’s attention by standing with their backs to the crowds. Jacey, who had warmed up with Parallel Horizons moments earlier, was dogged by the same vocal problems for at least the first few songs. However, after she shed her nerves and the sound guy had sorted out the levels, the tattooist’s vocal performance became much more consistent and powerful.
She and bassist Elvis shared the spotlight with a sound that drew from post-hardcore and screamo, and pitted his anguished growls against her vocal melodies. Kicking off their headline slot, Jacey gave a pained, wraith-like scream, while the veins in Wai’s neck contorted as he squeezed out hoarse words.
Jacey’s high register and vehement performance recalled Coheed and Cambria’s Claudio Sanchez. As the band went into a hard rock breakdown, the singers’ calls for a circle pit were not ignored. The band’s slightly tame, more melodic hardcore sound may not have warranted the constant fighting and walls of death that formed on the dancefloor, but these punters were going to get their metal money’s worth, dammit!
Guitarist Chung made light work of Crawling‘s angular, ring-modulated nu-metal riff, while Jacey and Wai’s lines bounced off each other in Alexisonfire-style call-and-response, before joining for a chant or “look into my eyes when your dreams all fall.” On 光影, Sorrowful arpeggios met vocal wails and Kin’s atmospheric, cymbal-driven drums. It was one of the heavier songs, hinting at the doomy guitar gallop of Amon Amarth and Killswitch Engage amid compressed riffing and revving bass.
An assault of shredding and screaming hit the ears on 過, which gave flight to atmospheric guitarwork, before things came crunching back down to heavy, low bass, visceral guitar distortion, coming to a close with soft, twinkling harmonies. Armour employed sweeping post-hardcore guitar styles from Chung, and once again combined Jacey’s soaring style with Wai’s ripped snarls.
While their show could have done with a bit more polish in terms of vocal consistency, Instinct of Sight certainly have the showmanship, passion and fan base to warrant a headline slot, and they delivered a crowd-pleasing set that left ears ringing.
– El Jay
