LIVE FROM THE PIT: Landmvrks, Underoath, Pain Of Truth and Split Chain

Embarking on their only UK stop of their headline tour for their newest album The Darkest Place I’ve Ever Been; metalcore giants LANDMVRKS take on Camden’s famous Roundhouse for a special and emotional show for the band and fans alike. 

Opening up the night were SPLIT CHAIN, with a lot of buzz around this band in such a short time, it is absolutely clear to see why. This band have masterfully taken the edgy skater culture of the early 2000s alongside the music of the likes of DEFTONES and LINKIN PARK and given it all a fresh coat of paint in the best way possible with the London crowd eating it up. The band attracted an amazing reaction from the crowd with their hits, bored. tired. torn. and I’m Not Dying To Be Here sending the crowd into a frenzy of walls of death and two stepping; SPLIT CHAIN made sure to represent their home country being the only UK natives on the line-up, their energy, the crowd made for a pretty killer set, that gave the following bands a standard to live up to.

Next up were Long Island Hardcore outfit PAIN OF TRUTH, who ripped the crowd to shreds with their massively intense riffs and impressive vocal work; they threw themselves in at the deep end for this set, making sure that this predominately metalcore crowd were given a taste at the harsh reality of a hardcore show. The pit filled with wind millers, two-steppers and even some crowd killers who did not let up for the thirty minutes that PAIN OF TRUTH graced the stage, growing only ever more intense by the song, they closed off their set with Actin’ Up creating an unstoppable whirlpool of moshers that probably sold a lot of the crowd on the wild intensity of a hardcore show, just a shame there was no stage diving to be the cherry on top.

After that came along emo veterans UNDEROATH, whose energy was simply something to be marvelled at, from the moment they walked on stage, they utilized every part of the lighting, stage and sound to blast the audience with their perfect blend of screamo, metalcore and even post-hardcore elements. Opening with Loss, UNDEROATH flashbanged their audience with a simply impressive light show, that empowered their already powerful and epic songs; every fan in that crowd gave it their all with the audience being the loudest during this set, maybe the infectiously catchy hooks of the songs had something to do with that. UNDEROATH proved themselves to be a class act and definitely worth their own headline of this venue; playing a wide range of songs across their previous albums to create a set that would sell any LANDMVRKS fan on their status and talent. 

Finally the headliner, LANDMVRKS, took to the stage, veiled behind a white curtain, revealing only singer FLORENT SALFATI’s shadow as he passionately sung the title track from the newest record. With a thunderous scream, alongside thunderous playing from the rest of the band, the veil dropped to reveal them all in all of their grandeur; the crowd erupted into a frenzy as the band gave them something to blow off their steam to.  

The first section of songs flew by as the band utilised an intense light show and some insane amounts of pyrotechnics that only elevated the feeling of grandiose the band were giving themselves; the band did not hold back from using confetti either as the crowd were bathed in blue as they jumped and moshed away. The band showcased all their might and power within only a few songs, creating an atmosphere like none other, the show felt like a new age of metalcore, with a performance for the ages. 

The talent this band has is astonishing with many comparing SALFATI to the late CHESTER BENNINGTON of LINKIN PARK, and it is honestly the perfect comparison, he has the same insane vocal range and the passionate screamo is so impressive to hear live. LANDMVRKS took this headline slot in a chokehold, pulling out all the stops for London, bringing out MATT WELSH of WHILE SHE SLEEPS fame to sing on his feature for A Line In The Dust, this duo owned that moment, arm in arm they put their hearts on their sleeve and shared a special moment with audience.  

As the band came closer to their finale, they pulled out some older tracks from their previous record Lost In The Waves to send it home, after some cool moments like SALFATI creating a piece of graffiti art on stage as a little interlude, an acoustic section and a killer drum solo from KÉVIN D’AGOSTINO; the band closed with Self-Made Black Hole, giving one last taste of this bands aggression and passion, ending with a massive bang for a brilliant evening of heavy music. 

Words and photos: Ben Blisset