Our first live show attended as The Metalist, we set out to Japanese rising metal sensations Girugamesh at the o2 Islington Academy, London.
Japanese metal bands don’t make it to these shores very often. The country appears to have it’s self-sustaining network economy of metal trade, with enough fans and enough cities to tour and sell records without ever really needing to look to the European or American markets. Girugamesh however have embraced the idea of having a cult following around the globe and embarked on a European mini-tour that now seems to occur every 2-3 years.
Tonight Girugamesh are back in London. Japanese culture enthusiasts have been queing since the dawn to ensure they are up front to witness the band who dropped their flamboyant ‘Visual Kei’ act in favour of a more mainstream look and direct performance. The queue for the show is remarkably deceptive – considering that Girugamesh have sold out their past two London shows without any marketing, the o2 Academy was half empty.
With no support act and the lights dimming, the crowd went wild and the half empty room was made whole again. Supporting their latest album ‘MONSTER’, the band took to the stage to the intro of their latest album and their standard opener ‘Break Down’. What should have been an explosive introduction was plauged by mixing problems where the guitar was almost inaudible, but the energy from the fans and the band was the main explosive element here.
The mix was fixed to perfection after about 3 songs in but didn’t do the ‘MONSTER’ album promotion any justice being so reliant on heavy guitars, and the first three songs being from that album. Girugamesh continued to play fan favourites such as ‘Crazy-Flag’, ‘Volcano’, and the speedy ‘DIRTY STORY’ with the energy exchange ever present, but opting more in the set for the fast and heavy tracks from the recent discography as opposed to some of their older more diverse numbers. It is evident that Girugamesh had built a soundtrack for a live and energetic set in which they had greatly succeeded, but it was a shame that they missed out on performing melodic classics such as ‘Owari to Mirai’ and ‘Destiny’.
Though setlist choice aside Girugamesh are fantastic performers, using their minimalist stage set up as an advantage to bring interpersonal energy to the show and it was very enjoyable. It is something different from the standard metal show given cultural paradigms are ever present, and it is a shame that we will probably have to wait another 2-3 years for them to come back.
