Conjurer + Supports

DAO
Beginning the night were local juggernauts DAO, who opened to a half-full room at The Key Club in Leeds. Considering this Sunday gig had doors opening at 7, and DAO took the stage around 7.30ish, it was a credit to the local punters and the bands alike to see how many were already filling the room for the first support. And the early bird caught the morning worm with DAO, who commanded the stage with a visceral and primal anger.
Brandishing an extremely aggressive variant of mathcore reminiscent of somewhere between the odd technicality of Dillinger with the unbridled hostility of Trash Talk, the crowd were barely given a chance to breathe. DAO’s stage presence was so huge that vocalist Lewis needed to give his performance from halfway into the pit, which worked well to get the crowd closer to him moving and warmed up. The excitement in the crowd was palpable as by the end of DAO’s set the venue reached capacity. Punters knew the music was great and wanted to headbang, but the deliberately odd time structures and polyrhythms in the music allowed no such indulgence. DAO certainly aren’t for the casual fan, but would reward the listener on regular spins and regular gigs.

Armed for Apocalypse
In contrast to the fast punk vibe given off by DAO, Armed for Apocalypse took the stage not much later with a definitive slow sludge sound. You’d be forgiven for thinking that main vocalist Nate had surgically removed Phil Anslemo’s vocal chords and transplanted them into his own throat, the resemblance is uncanny. But more on top of that, Armed for Apocalypse are perennial gluts for slow, marching riffs truncated with even slower, chuggier breakdowns. They broke up several slower heavier songs with a fast one towards the end of their set, which saw several front row headbangers start up a circle pit. By now the crowd was well and truly warmed up, and Apocalypse managed to start a fist pump that nearly the entire room adopted to the slow march of their final song.

Earth Moves
If it weren’t for the headlining band being called anything from progressive sludge to doom to post-metal, you could say Earth Moves were somewhat of an eclectic addition to the bill. However, with such a smorgasbord of varying sounds coming from the bands throughout the night, Earth Moves only proved that they were in the right place at the right time. Described as an ‘underground supergroup’, the mixture of styles was immediately apparent to most in the room, who spent the majority of Earth Moves’ set trying to understand and digest the music.
Sounding like a blend of Architects, Deafheaven, post-black metal, with the slow builds reminiscent of post-rock and shoegaze, Earth Moves certainly kept the crowd guessing. The music was less conducive to headbanging, but that in no way detracted from anyone’s enjoyment of their set. In a power move that really drove home the raw emotion of the music, vocalist Jordan took to the side of the stage to project his harsh vocals to the crowd, who were transfixed by the display. The height of their set so far, this seemed to underline exactly what Earth Moves are about; music from the heart. To great delight of many in the crowd, this was about to be outdone as Dan from Conjurer came out to join in on vocals before Earth Moves’ set ended. Truly a special performance.

Conjurer
If you didn’t know anything about Conjurer, you’d almost feel sorry for them having to close out the night after following such an impressive and varied trio of supporting bands. Fans up the front, however, knew the best was yet to come. Blasting into their most recent single, Thankless, saw necks snap and hair whipping within seconds of them taking the stage. The crowd could not contain their excitement as they saw one of the UK’s most exciting up-and-coming bands play a tight and intimate local venue.
Conjurer never failed to match the energy of the crowd, if anything continually spurring them on to a bigger and better night.
The first few rows were absolute carnage, a mess of tangled hair and chiropractor appointments waiting to happen. If the pit closed, it didn’t stay closed for long, with each chunky breakdown offered by Conjurer somehow better than the last. Voices in the crowd ran hoarse by the end of their set, with vocalist Dan showing off by matching Earth Moves’ previous display of power in screaming lyrics without microphone, somehow able to cut through the noise. Bassist Connor, who was headbanging all night as if he’s trying to grow a neck to rival Corpsegrinder’s, decided he was bored with the stage and decided to end their set from the crowd. One final heavy section of their song saw Connor holding his basslines while moshing in the middle of the pit, no easy thing to do. The crowd could not believe what they were seeing, handing out endearing pats on the back to Connor as he made his way back on stage.
Looking like they were going to pack it in, screams from the crowd begged for one more. The tech at the desk reluctantly obliged, and Conjurer flew into one last hurrah before making their way off stage, sent off with a sea of horns, and a cacophony of cheering and whistling. They couldn’t have gone off on a higher note.