Report
Biohazard And Life Of Agony Bring Brooklyn To London's Kentish Town Forum
Photo of Biohazard
Band Photo: Biohazard (?)
It's quite amazing how far a reputation can travel. Through music, movies, sportsmen and more, the borough of Brooklyn, New York is known all across the world. From the Beastie Boys to Mike Tyson, so many people have helped give the area the fame, and to an extent notoriety that it maintains today. Of course, there's no shortage of heavy music in Brooklyn, and at long last, two of Brooklyn's most revered names teamed up to bring their punishing sounds to Europe, beginning in the British Isles. On March 4th, Biohazard and Life Of Agony arrived in London, enticing everyone in the British capital with Knicks and Jets merchandise out to the show to hear the concrete audio both groups are known for.
The Kentish Town Forum, a personal favourite when it comes to venues in The Smoke, opened at six in the evening but it would be nearly an hour before attendees would get to witness the opening band of the night, LYLVC (pronounced, "lilac") from North Carolina. I must admit to some hesitation because I can't stand it when bands spell their name in capitals or use Vs and Ys when it's not needed, but it's not fair to judge a band on this kind of thing. The venue was still a long way from being full and when greeted with TV screens, complete with sci-fi intro video, the crowd clearly didn't know what to make of it.
To be honest, this attitude barely changed throughout the set, which was a shame because LYLVC has a ton of energy and was clearly excited to be performing in London. Their mix of rock, rap and electronic music comes together to create an uplifting sound and vocalist Alyse Zavala was a particular highlight, though I did enjoy watching keyboardist Cam Gillette, because I was convinced that at any moment his gear was about to fall over. Ultimately, LYLVC far exceeded my expectations, but the lack of reaction from the audience led me to believe that this was the wrong tour for them. They'd fit in better with modern nu metal bands like Blind Channel or Project Renegade, or even supporting veterans of that sub-genre. An intriguing, if miscast opener.
Before long, the Kentish Town Forum filled up and it was time for the first of the co-headlining sets, as Life Of Agony took to the stage, immediately sending the crowd into a frenzy with opening number, "River Runs Red," which is an exciting song anyway but as an opener, it gets a chef's kiss for being the perfect choice. Fans, and those with a passing familiarity with the band know that this is the title track from their debut, and most acclaimed album, which they stuck with for the majority of the set, performing no less than eight songs from the record, including the following track, "This Time," another of their most beloved works.
Life Of Agony has always been a superb live act and a big reason for that is that you have four different personalities who work in tandem with each other, reminiscent of Skunk Anansie or Metallica in that regard, and vocalist Keith Caputo led the charge as a ball of energy, swaying around the stage and stepping up to the mic stand with purpose. The cuts from their debut continued with the likes of "Bad Seed" and "Respect," before a short run of songs outside of that album followed, beginning with the anthem of frustration, "Lost At 22," which went down a storm. This was followed up by "Weeds," the only selection from the "Soul Searching Sun" record, before they returned to "Ugly" with "I Regret." After this, they launched into an excellent rendition of the Cro-Mags classic, "We Gotta Know," before finishing up with "Through And Through" and "Underground," again from the "River Runs Red" release. It's been a fascinating, inspiring and at times tumultuous journey for Life Of Agony, with much being made of the off stage situations, but the important thing is that they're still going and as strong as ever, as evidenced tonight.
Finally it was time for Biohazard, perhaps the most commercially successful band to come from the famous New York hardcore scene, even if their music has always contained just as much metal. On a personal note, I'd been waiting to see them since becoming a fan in the mid 2000s and I'm happy to say, they did not disappoint. From the opening notes of "Urban Discipline," the audience went absolutely crazy. The classic lineup still works astonishingly well together and like Life Of Agony, kept it old school tonight, focusing on their first three albums. More fan favourites were soon brought out, including "Wrong Side Of The Tracks" and "Shades Of Grey," as well as a particularly great performance of "Five Blocks To The Subway."
Also like Life Of Agony, Biohazard has had their fair share off stage events, which has seen members come and go, but having the quartet of Seinfeld, Graziadei, Hambel and Schuler back together is truly a sight to see and they were on top form, demonstrating what made them so successful in the first place. They had a great rapport with the audience, partly because they demonstrated trust in them, with no clearer example of that coming than when Billy Graziadei came into the crowd and shoulder surfed in the circle pit while the band covered Bad Religion's, "We're Only Gonna Die." Of course, more cuts from their catalogue were on display, including "Tales From The Hard Side" and the classic, "Punishment," where they were joined on stage by Life Of Agony guitarist Joey Z, before calling it a night with "Hold My Own." All in all, this was a fantastic double barreled blast of New York heaviness, from two of the best to do it. It's fair to say that everyone left happy, eagerly awaiting the return of either co-headliner.
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Ollie Hynes has been a writer for Metal Underground.com since 2007 and a metal fan since 2001, going as far as to travel to other countries and continents for metal gigs.