SNM #29: Parkway Drive + Despised Icon + Winds Of Plague + The Warriors + 50 Lions

We were just collecting teeth from under the stage after the H2O concert, and already the Show No Mercy collective is providing us with another attraction. This time, the event was more in the metalcore vibe, but no less exciting.

As soon as I arrived in the capital, I met up with my buddy Voyciech, and together we briskly set off in search of Proxima, where this edition of Show No Mercy was supposed to take place. We quickly found ourselves outside the club, where a large crowd of fans was already waiting at the entrance. Despite this, we made it into Proxima smoothly and painlessly. We started by browsing through the merchandise stands, although none of the designs caught my eye, and I wasn’t keen on spending money on fancy hats, shirts, or even tracksuits. Unless it had the Nasum logo, hehehe. I also skipped the beers that reportedly tasted like urine, so I decided not to risk it. Then I stumbled upon Spook’s stand, where we had a chat, I left my backpack with him (thanks a lot!), and then we went to check out 50 Lions.

Some may not know that the brother of Parkway Drive’s growler is the vocalist for 50 Lions, so it’s no surprise they were chosen as support. I had seen this band a year earlier in Warsaw, alongside Bane, and they didn’t quite impress me then. This time, however, was much better. Much of it had to do with the improved sound quality. I liked it – lots of movement on stage, guitar jumps, harmonies, color changes – it sounded and looked incredibly dynamic. It wasn’t groundbreaking music, but you couldn’t deny the energy and effort put into getting the Warsaw crowd pumped. Regarding the vocals, Voyciech and I noticed that one of the guitarists had a much better and more powerful voice than the main vocalist, Oscar McCall. An interesting observation, hehe.

Next on stage were The Warriors, who after a short break, began with some familiar sounds. It was a cover of Rage Against The Machine’s „Bulls On Parade,” I think. A cool way to get the crowd hyped. I’m not very familiar with this band’s albums, I checked out their MySpace and that was it. The concert was pretty cool until a certain point – moderately heavy, rhythmic hardcore with plenty of groove and a touch of melody. Lots of fun headbanging. I particularly liked the rough scream of the vocalist. It was enjoyable to watch, but it got a bit boring towards the end.

The next band turned out to be Winds Of Plague, a symphonic deathcore outfit, hehe. Honestly, I was expecting a big mess, but to my surprise, it was actually quite decent. I must admit, I was drawn towards the keyboardist, who was of interesting appearance and had fantastic tight pants :). The music didn’t sweep me off my feet, although some breakdowns were truly powerful, and the vocalist, switching between shouting and growling, handled the higher notes well. I think this music can be likable – there are melodies, atmosphere, and brutal parts. The band performed very energetically on stage, and the audience reacted enthusiastically, engaging in kung-fu moshing or jumping around.

One of the bands I was eagerly waiting for was the Canadian Despised Icon, who undoubtedly belong to the global elite of technical deathcore bands. And they proved it with their performance. Crushing, incredibly brutal parts fueled by the two vocalists who were constantly roaming the stage immediately captured the audience. A real hell broke loose in Proxima, with people going crazy on the dancefloor to songs like „In The Arms Of Perdition,” „Furtive Monologue,” „All For Nothing,” and the single „Day Of Mourning” from their latest album. At the beginning of the first mentioned track, there was even a wall of death. The vocalists had excellent interaction with the audience, encouraging singalongs and staying within reach of their hands most of the time. Everything was great except for the guy responsible for the pig squeals, they seemed a bit too quiet in my opinion. But the drummer was like a cyborg. I and the other spectators watched in disbelief at what he was doing behind his kit. Insane shit. It’s a shame these guys are calling it quits after this tour. I urge you to visit Brutal Assault this year to experience this tornado again.

Barely had I wiped my face after Despised Icon and spent some time in the second room of Proxima when it was time to move closer to the stage, as the intro to „Horizons” called out. Parkway Drive kicked off in full force with „Boneyards,” for which they had a music video. Apparently, just before the Australians took the stage, members of The Warriors and 50 Lions came out naked to announce the evening’s star concert. It’s a shame I missed that, it probably would have reminded me of the Obscene atmosphere, hehe. I managed to squeeze to the front of the stage, where people were going wild. Stagedivers, crowdsurfers, and other crazies were everywhere, someone was falling on someone’s head every second, someone elbowed me in the face (in this case, me), and other funny incidents. The band seemed surprised by the turn of events, looking at each other with some disbelief. The vocalist had great interaction with the crowd, chatting here and there. When he saw a guy in a banana costume jumping around, he reacted with „Oh! A banana!” or asked a guy who just climbed onstage during a break between songs what he was looking for, hehe. The sound was awesome, all the melodic details and solos were perfectly audible. It was clear that the guys from Parkway Drive were having a blast, sometimes bumping into people who jumped on stage. A big surprise for me was the significant number of girls who weren’t afraid to dive into the crowd. Two lovely blonde girls caught my special attention, hehe. The songs that stuck in my memory were „Dead Man’s Chest,” „Carrion,” „Horizons,” „Idols And Anchors,” and „Romance Is Dead” towards the end. I regretted the absence of „Feed Them To The Pigs,” but maybe I’ll get to hear it in Krakow in October :).

The concert was epic, quite chaotic as some noses and jaws were broken, but with such an intense atmosphere, it seemed justified. As a fun fact, we saw Patrycja Kazadi at the gig, but we had no idea what she was doing there, hehe. Once again, a big shoutout to the Show No Mercy crew for another fantastic concert, and I wish that future editions will end with such collective orgasms! 🙂