LIVE FROM THE PIT: Mallavora, Sixth Wonder and Breathing Below
Hyde Park Book Club was the home to MALLAVORA’s multimedia evening of pensive metalcore. With support from BREATHING BELOW and SIXTH WONDER, MALLAVORA’s mission to create spaces for those with disabilities manifested into a night of letting go with a strong community feel.
The walk down to Hyde Park Book Club’s basement was filled with the touches that foreground MALLAVORA’s commitment to accessibility for their live presence - earbud jars at the doors and the back of the room and QR codes on the walls with lyric sheets that felt touching to the hard of hearing among us. Hyde Park Book Club themselves added small trinkets at the merch stand, free of charge for those that cannot spring for merch but would appreciate the memento. Within these accessible boarders there was a warm atmosphere as gig-goers filtered in, milling around the middle until openers BREATHING BELOW were ready to go
BREATHING BELOW impressed from the jump, being the first of the frontwoman to blend ethereal vocals with a shattering scream. the quintet didn’t quite have the room for them all to boogie, but vocalist Em Marks commanded presence while the crowd flirted with the idea of the pit. Two of the crowd took the opening to make a two man circle pit which got so intense they needed to resolve it in a slap fight, by which point BREATHING BELOW had hit their stride. The midpoint of their set was Oxygen, a track that strikes the balance of alternative rock and metalcore through the blended vocal style and spacey yet powerful chord progressions that had the room head banging. The setlist itself was well paced as it started with the slower, emotional tracks before crechendoing into closer Salience. starting with a floor lead then gearing up into its finale where Marks squatted down and ended their set with a scream to remember.
The gravelly scream of SIXTH WONDER’s Rebekah Kirk let Hyde Park Book Club know they were in good hands, with their own brand of floaty metalcore accentuated by Kirk ease working the crowd. SIXTH WONDER kept the energy up though their half an hour set, with unrelenting power chords backing up Kirks effortless switches from powerful clean vocals to her commanding scream. The themes of SIXTH WONDER’s music include burnout, where Kirk asks Hyde Park Book Club if they resonate with the feeling of being sick and tired. for SIXTH WONDER there was mainly sways and headbangs as they worked through their set, while SIXTH WONDER’s collective passion was a current in the air for their whole runtime.
MALLAVORA began with setting up a white screen on the floor of Hyde Park Book Club, that first displayed a countdown timer set to SYSTEM OF A DOWN’s Lonely Day. as the count hit zero a visualiser from the PRS foundation played on the screen: a dissociative piece featuring the body on the album cover of What if Better Never Comes, traversing in circles through never ending steps and hallucinogenic spirals. the pensive space of the visualiser faded into the excited energy as set opener Host kicked off; a good warm up as Waste got the people moving. Vocalist Jessica Douek and guitarist Larry Sobieraj kept time with one another as they stomped and smiled across the stage, guiding Hyde Park Book Club in Douek’s request for the room to all let go together.
Douek and Sobieraj got their floor time each by the midpoint of the set, as Douek glided through the crowd during Lilith and Esther and Sobieraj positioned himself just behind where the pit for Birth of a Son would break. With a semi-circle back to the front to get on the stage to finish Birth of a Son, they both took a moment for Hopeless. Hopeless was a defeated track over the low acoustic chords, with the track plus the silence creating an intimacy for Douek and Sobieraj that got emotional by the end.
To close out the set SIXTH WONDER’s Rebecca joined them on stage to perform Empty where they screamed their back-and-forth lines to each other while Hyde Park Book Club started moving again. After Skin the finale Disorder closed the set, beforehand Douek highlighted how happy they are as two disabled people to create a space for their community to enjoy live music and a reminder that not all disabilities are visible. Though there was a false start from one overexcited members of the crowd, this did not stop Hyde Park Book Club from enjoying the last dance.
MALLAVORA’s first headline in Leeds was a joy and a testament to their mission for accessibility in rock and metal. The sense of community was strong and the space carved allowed for walking aids in the mosh pit; being accommodated creates space for everyone to unwind and connect with one another. There was a warmth in the cool air as the crowd joined the stragglers of the Otley run heading towards Leeds city centre - Saturday evening well spent.
Words: Julia Brunton Photos: Kierah Jaggers Hakin
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