LIVE FROM THE PIT: Beyond Extinction, Mastiff and Tribe Of Ghosts

The Black Heart as a venue is the mark of a band on the way up, as this gig had BEYOND EXTINCTION playing their debut album in full for the first and last time ever!

Opening the night wais Brighton based post hardcore band TRIBE OF GHOSTS. Their sound is very modern and post hardcore does not truly capture the energy they bring live. The main highlight of their sound was the contrasting vocals that go from the extreme to the beautiful. The band managed to get the already sizable crowd for the venue going. When they took the stage, the crowd began moshing. As the floor was full of many people familiar with the current metal scene it felt as if it was a chance for everyone to catch up under one roof. 

TRIBE OF GHOSTS put themselves out on the stage to give to the metal community. The lighting often made the gig have this strange sense of disorientation which was highlighted when the guitarist ran through the crowd with his guitar out of seemingly nowhere. Although a short set, it worked well to showcase who the band are to some people who may have not seen them before. 

Next was the Hull based MASTIFF, a truly unusual city for metal bands to come from. Like the dog, the band may come across as intimidating but really, they have a heart of gold. A truly intense set of blistering songs that hit. The crowd reacted by getting more instigated with each track played. The band took time to stand up for everything right in their set which gave the crowd a collective political catharsis. Their sound was somewhere between death metal, metal core and sludge but forming one complete package. The only issue with their set was the sound at the start was not the greatest and the vocals became slightly lost in the mix. As the set progressed, the band casually brought on the vocalist of BURNER for a track. Despite that they produced a truly tremendous set that created some new fans.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD1wJ4tBrTM

BEYOND EXTINCTION took the stage with their self-described brand of Essex death metal. Playing their debut album, Where They Gather, in full for the first and last time. This gig was a celebration of how far the band has come. The crowd was full of love for the band and as soon as they hit the first notes of the title track the crowd was into everything they created on that stage. Oddly enough, the pit felt more like a hardcore pit with some occasional two stepping and a fair amount of spin kicks.

Every track the band played was a celebration of the process of releasing it. The album is the effort of years of hard work which are paying off seeing how the fans take every track live. Each track being brought out played in a live set allowed the time to reach its full potential. The unrelenting energy they brought to the stage kept going through the entire set, the pacing of the track listing worked perfectly in a live setting. As The Black Heart is such a small venue, every band is vulnerable on stage and only has their music to fall back on, luckily the music they brought helped fuel a truly great night.

BEYOND EXTINCTION are on the way up as they have gained a significant amount of praise for this album, and now they have proof that it hits equally as well live. It was unfortunate that the band currently does not have an extensive back-catalogue to fall back on, to fill the set as its duration was about fifty minutes. But the short time the band was on stage was full of energy and love for the scene, that put them where they are. This is only the start of the band’s career and by the time their next album comes out everyone in attendance will brag that they were there. 

Words: Will Freeman

Photos: Reece Coleman