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Much like Birmingham, Marseille is a melting pot of cultures, both with their own very distinct music scenes. Marseille has a well renowned hip hop culture, with Birmingham being the birthplace of heavy metal. This Tuesday night gig, headlined by Marseille’s Landmvrks, perfectly exemplifies both of these scenes, and the mixing of what both of these cities are known for.
A volley of drums announced the entrance of Guilt Trip, like a starter’s pistol. A call to mosh was followed by a musical strike like a big spin kick to the chin. And the crowd replied in kind, a pit opened. A whirling, roiling mass of flailing limbs. The Mancunian metalcore maestros made the masses a maelstrom with fan favorite Severance, making the room hot and sweaty early into the evening.
Like Moths to Flame blended clean and harsh vocals from the off. This band of buckeyes
bombarded the room with bouncy, stompy songs. Like Moths to Flames informed the audience they have been a band for 15 years, and it clearly shows. They sounded just like peak 2009 Kerrang with belters like Preservation of Hate, Bury Your Pain, and Kintsugi
which is from their latest album ‘The Cycles of Trying to Cope’. Chris Roetter, the lead singer,
complained of his shirt smelling musty, but they were a refreshing aural assault through the
sweaty room.
An ominous voice over heralded the continuing Ohioan invasion with The Devil Wears Prada.
An eerie narration combined with The Devil Wears Prada’s melodic metalcore gave the gig a
sense of exciting unease, and had everyone singing along from song one. Being from the land that invented flight, it’s unsurprising that The Devil Wears Prada initiated the crowd surfing for the evening. With songs like Salt and Ritual, the British reputation for loving a sing along was well founded.
With Jonathan Gering on keyboard and synth, there was a different feel in the room, almost dystopian. Another well loved classic, Chemical, had the room jumping. Lead singer Jeremy DePoyster flailed his guitar around the stage, really embodying the angst of the song. The Devil Wears Prada is a band with a cult following, and like any good cult, they ended their set with Sacrifice. The room was ready for Landmvrks.
Landmvrks began their headline set with the tour’s eponymous track, ‘Creature’, a song
mashing together metal core and hip hop. The stage back drop looked like a 90s black light
poster of the ‘Creature’ artwork in the very best way. These Gallic behemoths had the room at their mercy while playing Visage, the drum machine being a quirky twist on the evening’s
musical stylings. Landmarks have a unique blend of metalcore, hip hop and pop punk which
they have really put their stamp on. The acoustic intro to Suffocate by lead singer Florent Salfati felt like an oasis in a desert of breakdowns, which were back in full force for the rest of the song.
We were even treated to Hollow from their debut album of the same name. The night ended
with the jab and cross of Lost in a Wave and Self-made Black, a perfect end to a night of
ferocity from the français heavy hitter. On the day of the gig, it was announced that Landmvrks would be supporting Beartooth on their UK and EU tour later this year, that’s one show worth going to if Landmvrks performance tonight is anything to go by.
Words: Brett Smith
Photos: Ellie Jones
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