“I’ll wait forever if you’ll just come to me.”
Pupil Slicer’s first headline tour, after a successful year in 2023 with Blossom, could only have been with a line-up of similarly nerdy bands. This London show was initially booked at Oslo, so swapping to The Grace was a capacity downgrade – we joked that the well adjusted metal nerds were all at Roadburn instead. But this switch was also a welcome move, as now the show was sold out, rammed full, and the buzzing crowd would be even more shaken up.
Words by Dobbin T, photography by Dory Valentine (Fish Outta Water Media).
God Alone
God Alone sloshed up to the microphones and were immediately apologetic about their hungover state. Then they played the best set of their lives. All eyes were on the front duo of Jake O’Driscoll and Cian Ó Maoláin, on bass and vocals respectively, as they stared one another down, goading more and more ridiculous stage antics out of each other as the set went on. The backline was absolutely in the pocket, with GameBoy synths from Dylan Kelly, drum precision from Jack O’Hanlon, and the most focused pedalboard I’ve ever seen in math rock from Seán Thompson. If I’m not mistaken, they were very focused on their material from ETC, save for one even newer song that was something to do with Tony Hawk. They leave their post metal days behind them, and fully dedicate themselves to medium gain grunt, lengthy math rock sagas, and unmissable live sets.
Coilguns
Swiss visitors Coilguns were ‘my’ new band on this line-up, though this was not their first time in the UK. Most notably, they’ve visited in support of Cult Leader in 2019, Ken Mode and Birds in Row in 2018, and Oathbreaker in 2017 – if that doesn’t convince you they’re the real deal, maybe you need to adjust your radar too. Best described as a mix of post hardcore, noise rock, and punk, they’re refreshing to have in the mix alongside the modern resurgence of hardcore. Jona Nido wielded wild 9 string guitars, but not the kind you’d see in a djent band – instead, the upper strings are doubled up and sent into unconventional dissonant tunings. Kevin Galland handled bass and synth-sourced noise, which became the centrepiece at times. Singer Louis Jucker was unhinged, both in vocal style and in stage behaviour. He amusingly nabbed peoples phones and performed into them for complete verses; a sort of exorcism in reverse, as his visage will now haunt the devices forever. A really memorable set from a band whose sound is so difficult to corner.
Pupil Slicer
Bringing two amazing live bands on the tour set Pupil Slicer on an even higher pedestal, but the mixed bill meant none of the bands competed sonically. And the sonic shift from Coilguns was significant, not least because this was a new incarnation of Pupil Slicer. It’s fair to say this new line-up is finding its feet, leaving Kate Davies as the sole vocalist, and there’s still some work to do to perfect the mix and replicate the crispness of the bass from the old line-up. But the choice to focus on Blossom paid off: moodier, gaze influenced tracks “The Song at Creations End” and “Dim Morning Light” showed a new side to the band not often seen in live settings, more emotive and dreamlike. Brady Deeprose popped on stage for a vocal feature on the latter to supplement the vocal layers with his harsh growls, and a cheeky “Pupil fucking Slicer”.
The mathcore remains stronger than ever as Blossom deep cuts “Creating the Devil in Our Image” and “Terminal Lucidity” demonstrated. Live stapes “No Temple” and “Blossom” continue to shine, and “Wounds Upon My Skin” was a blistering encore. This sealed a night of delightfully nerdy heavy music, with enthusiastic crowd responses all the while. Lastly, it would be wrong not to respect the nods that Pupil Slicer made to video game culture (or maybe it’s just “I understood that reference!” culture): a bit of “Gwyn, Lord of Cinder” (“plin plin plon”) during setup, the intro and interludes used some unmistakably ‘Outer Wilds’ drone synths, and if I didn’t waste my life writing live reviews I probably would have understood a few more. Stay nerdy.
Check out our album review of Blossom here, and some deep lore direct from Kate Davies at ArcTanGent here.