Rockfreaks.net

support Lifesick + Henret
author PP date 17/02/24 venue Forbrændingen, Copenhagen, DEN

It's my first time at Forbrændingen, the go-to venue in Albertlund, located within the Western suburbs of Copenhagen. It's right by the train station so it's easy access with just about a 20-minute ride from the city center, which, to be fair, is usually an insurmountable distance for people in Copenhagen to travel to a live show. Not so tonight. Having mentally prepared for the usual 60 or so that you'll get at hardcore shows outside the prime venues, I'm surprised by a long queue outside the venue. Inside, it's even better. To think that Rot Away, a straight-up hardcore band from Copenhagen, can muster an audience of 300+ (by rough estimation) out in the suburbs despite playing the city frequently is great news and suggests it's not just us media types sending high praise in their direction.

Henret

"We are Henret. We have twenty minutes to get mosh pits and stage dives going", vocalist Anders Iversen screams, instantly capturing the attention of the venue at large. Monstrously stompable breakdowns follow alongside plenty of synchronous headbanging, and the venue is sold right away. "17 minutes! Let me see that energy! CLOSER!", he shouts, egging on the venue while doing his best Scott Vogel (Terror) impression. We're talking Nasty-level crawling-speed beatdowns here coupled with circle-pit energy for variety, and sublime energy on stage at the same time. No wonder they draw a few stage divers right away for their mixture of hardcore, beatdown, and deathcore. These guys have a bright future ahead of them based on tonight's performance.

Lifesick

The venue feels packed and ready, having been electrified by Henret's show just before. In other words, we have perfect conditions for Lifesick to finally convince me of their might in a live setting. Previously, I've always felt that their brand of hardcore is a little too 'bølle' (of meathead variety) to matter in the grand scheme of things, lacking in diversity and masking that by just being heavy, metallic, and in-your-face. I'm going in with an open mind though, so let's see what they have to offer tonight,

"Closer... closer... closer", Simon Shoshan shouts in the beginning, trying to incite the audience to get back from the lengthy bar queues and into the middle of the action. Lifesick, as those of you who've seen them perform live, are all about the high-energy onslaught and aggressive, tearing riffs that often morph into beatdown territory (think Nasty and Code Orange to name but a few). That is also the case tonight, resulting in a strong pit with a few stage divers jumping into the crowd in the process. This prompts Shoshan to explain to us the "Sjælland way of stage dive", which is to come up on stage on request, rather than the right way which is that the stage divers come up because they trust the crowd will catch them, and because the crowd makes sure everyone has that trust in the first place. We also experience a wall-of-death on request by the band, which is kinda ironic considering the statement just before.

Still, the majority of their set remains as thick, anonymous hardcore featuring mostly songs that feel numb and lacking in conviction other than just being brutal and heavy. "Suicide Spell" is a bright spot with its two-step rhythms and its "No hesitation to kill myself" power phrase towards the end of the song, yet I'm still not quite convinced. Don't get me wrong: it's decent, but it blends way too much into one brutalized, generic set of metallic hardcore that you get at most similar shows.

Rot Away

This is it. Rot Away has made enough of a name for itself in Denmark to start touring internationally. Tonight feels like a big-ass show thanks to the great turnout, which translates into huge circle pit and mosh pit energy in the crowd throughout the night. "More... More... More circles!", vocalist Jonathan Albrechtsen barks in commanding fashion, and the result is predictable: the venue goes apeshit and the scene features stage divers galore throughout their set.

What has always impressed me about Rot Away is how tight they are. Their down-tuned heaviness is fast and aggressive, loaded with testosterone, and featuring plenty of fist-pump-inducing moments and two-step potential. That is also the case here, supplemented by karate-kick energy on stage and plenty of headbanging in the process.

Yet I feel like I've seen Rot Away shows with more intensity in the past. I'm not sure why, but they seem unable to ignite the Albertslund crowd into a frenzy despite a jam-packed venue. The vocals are a bit muddy in the mix, maybe that's why. The pit is going strong but around the pit people are merely nodding along - that is, until "Ghost City" explodes the venue into a wall-to-wall chant-along in what has in short order become the hardcore anthem of Copenhagen. The show is done at this point after only 30-40ish minutes, which felt a little short for a headlining concert, but perhaps short-but-sweet is the right approach to achieve a solid hardcore show.