LIVE FROM THE PIT: Kaonashi, Dormant and Reality Check

Fresh off of the release of their long-awaited and acclaimed third album in June, ‘I Want To Go Home’, Kaonashi hit the UK with the ‘Real Deal Tesco Meal Deal’ tour this week. The boundary breaking Philadelphia four piece closed their UK tour on 13th July 2025 and descended on The Cavern in Exeter, bringing raw and unbridled angst to the South West. After hitting internet virality with ‘I Hate the Sound of Car Keys’, the hype surrounding Kaonashi has been huge in the heavy music scene.

The task of opening the show was up to Exeter natives and UK hardcore beasts, Reality Check. With heavy vocals and chunky riffs, the influence of metallic hardcore bands like XweaponX and Harms Way were apparent in the best way. The energy of the band was infectious and seemed to carry through the whole venue. Reality Check managed to prime the crowd perfectly for what was to come for the rest of the evening.

Next up were the genre bending UK outfit, dormant. With insanely technical riffs and passionate vocals, dormant were the perfect combination of early 2000s metalcore and modern hardcore to rile up the crowd ready for a mosh fest. Their debut single ‘Essence’ that was released in 2024 translated particularly well on stage, both the clean and heavy vocals were performed outstandingly as well as the insane breakdown. Despite this tour being their live debut and this show only being their fifth, dormant absolutely tore up the stage and proved themselves the perfect support for this tour.

Kaonashi took to the stage opening with the immense ‘Our Troubled Selves’ followed by ‘The Depressive Spectrum’ which immediately set the tone for the show ahead. The unorthodox vocal delivery from frontman, Peter Rono, was absolutely outstanding and matched with the discordant riffs, created an electric live atmosphere. In between songs, echoes of the recurrent album characters ‘Taylor’, ‘Jackie’ and ‘Jamie’ were played as well as comical soundbites, including a quintessentially British rant about the inflated prices of meal deals, which only added to the live environment created by the band. 

Throughout the set, Kaonashi managed to amass crowds of two-steppers with their groovy drums and infectious energy. During ‘Fairmount Park After Dark’, the blast beat drums and panic chords engaged crowdkillers aplenty with a tornado of arms and legs swinging across the middle of the pit. During ‘Slower Forms of Suicide’, Rono’s angsty vocals absolutely blew the roof off of The Cavern. 

Following this, the band performed their viral hit ‘I Hate the Sound of Car Keys’ and completely tore the venue up. Once again, the crowdkillers, windmillers and two steppers exploded out of the crowd in full force creating a scene of chaos amongst the audience. 

After this epic display, with only Rono left on the stage, an acapella rendition of My Chemical Romance’s hit ‘I’m not Okay (I Promise)’ began and suddenly the entire crowd erupted into song, a huge testament to the monumental stage presence of this band. Following this short break in pace, the rest of the band returned for a one song encore, performing ‘Exit Pt.V (Shame on a N*)’, the final track of their 2024 EP ‘The 3 Faces Of Beauty: A Violent Misinterpretation of Morgan Montgomery’. What followed was what could only be described as a truly passionate display of admiration from the crowd for the absolute hit of a performance that had just taken place. 

The whole set was definitely one to remember, with the whole venue buzzing from start to finish. The energy displayed at The Cavern was contagious and Kaonashi have certainly cemented themselves as a truly fantastic live band.

Words: India Akca

Photos: Nicola Small