Warming up a cold November evening, Japanese nu-metal crew NOISEMAKER get straight down to business with a sound that explodes and sends shards of razor sharp sonics shattering in every direction. They start as they mean to go on and it doesn’t take long for vocalist AG to dive straight into the crowd (during the first song, in fact) to get up close and personal with the baying mob. It’s one of those magical moments in music where a band and crowd are in perfect sync and feed off the other’s energy, and when Masato, vocalist from coldrain, makes a guest appearance on ‘Supernatural’ things go into hyperdrive. With the stage bathed in futuristic neon blues and pinks, Noisemaker create evocative soundscapes that are both heavy and melodic, and their short (but sweet) set signposts headline slots.

French metalcore maestros Revnoir are a quartet who shine a light into the dark recesses of the human psyche and excavate the feelings that lie within. Looking like a gang who’ve just stepped out from The Lost Boys, it’s a visceral sound that Revnoir deal in, with lyrics that are equally raw, skilfully blending English and French words to create an experience that is far from serene. They’ve a full-on, bombastic approach that operates with a “take-no-prisoners” attitude, and the crowd respond in kind and it doesn’t take long for a pit to erupt, a great swirling tempest that sucks all into its orbit. There’s also a wall of death and a few crowd surfers, but that’s hardly surprising; Revnoir don’t perform background music, rather it demands a reaction and always initiates some type of movement (usually the violent kind) and judging by the crowd’s response, that remit is more than fulfilled.

There’s been quite a buzz building around coldrain’s set tonight, so much so that a queue started to form outside the Electric Ballroom since early afternoon. It means that the clock ticks slowly and time crawls sloth-like as the final stage checks are made for tonight’s headliners. Since bursting out of Nagoya, Japan, in 2007 coldrain’s ascendency into the top tier of metal has been propelled by a kind of restless energy and that’s exactly what they bring to the stage this evening. Although this is only the second show in what looks to be an exhausting European tour, coldrain are bang on point from the very first note and opening track ‘FREE FALL’ finds them in fine fettle and operating with an aggressive edge, the valve of which threatens to blow at any moment. The twin guitar attack of Y.K.C. and Sugi immediately make their presence felt (they’re like Maiden’s Smith/Murray combination…only for the metalcore generation), their riffs and solos each making the perfect foil for the other. In drummer Katsuma and bassist RxYxO the band have a solid rhythm section, a fertile foundation who are versatile and elastic, mixing up beats effortlessly. With Masato leading the charge, the band have the quintessential frontman, a vocalist with an impressive range, and an equally powerful persona who seems intent on making contact with all present. Five individuals who pool their considerable talents to deliver songs such as ‘The Revelation’ and ‘Here With You’ with a passionate performance that attacks your ears and dazzles your eyes.

A cover of Alanis Morissette’s ‘Uninvited’ is handled as all covers should be handled, with the band wrestling ownership and shaping it in their own image and, subsequently, it doesn’t sound out of place sandwiched between original tunes ‘Boys And Girls’ and ‘Cut Me’. It’s ‘CHASING SHADOWS’ from latest EP, OPTIMIZE which brings their set to a crashing conclusion and leaves the crowd chanting for “one more song”. coldrain are happy to oblige rewarding a rabid crowd with not one, but three, beginning with the title-track from OPTIMIZE and concluding with ‘VENGEANCE’, ensuring that both band and crowd depart exhausted.

coldrain Set List:

1. FREE FALL
2. INCOMPLETE
3. PARADISE (Kill The Silence)
4. The Revelation
5. REVOLUTION
6. DIGITOLL
7. Bloody Power Fame
8. Here With You
9. Boys And Girls
10. Uninvited
11. Cut Me
12. Rabbit Hole
13. MAYDAY

Encores:

14. CHASING SHADOWS
15. OPTIMIZE
16. ENVY
17. VENGEANCE

Revnoir Set List:

1. Quiet
2. Bang Bang
3. Night Terror
4. Snake
5. Revenge
6. Crève
7. New World
8. In Limbo
9. 20mg

NOISEMAKER Set List:

1. Something New
2. MAJOR-MINOR
3. NAME
4. Supernatural
5. LAST FOREVER
6. Better Days