Uprising Festival
Uprising Festival
O2 Academy, Leicester
29/04/2023
Live Review by Rory Bentley
On a sunny April afternoon I made my way through the bonny streets of Leicester to the O2 Academy for a day of glorious Heavy Metal fun. Now in its 6th year, Uprising has gained a reputation for being one of the best all-dayers in the UK Metal scene, particularly since it set up residence in The O2. As always it was meticulously organised with a lovely communal atmosphere and it was great to see so many familiar faces in attendance whether event staff or drunken punters.
Before I kick in with the main reviews I’d like to congratulate Voidwalker on winning the Leicester Metal to the Masses, sadly work commitments meant that I missed the majority of the final but what I did hear from everyone was very strong and it was fantastic to see that so many people had made it down early to support the bands involved. Likewise I couldn’t catch enough of the Green Room stage bands to justify a full review but again I heard great things from people about what went down over there, unfortunately I’m just one bloke and I tried to catch as much as I could.
After a pit stop at The Motley Brew for a much needed coffee it was time to kick things off on the main stage.
Internal Conflict
Local Metalcore bruisers and all round lovely lads Internal Conflict did a fantastic job of getting the party started with a commanding performance that proves they are more than capable of filling big stages. Frontman Adam Kyle is a blur of motion and Chris Bentley remains one of the finest drummers I’ve had the pleasure of seeing. Add some scything duelling guitars, nasty beatdowns and soaring choruses and you’ve got the recipe for the perfect starter!
https://www.facebook.com/internalconflict
Blood Oath
Next up it was time for more top local talent with Death Metal squad Blood Oath who got a rapturous reception when they tore up The Academy 2 stage with their deadly combo of thick, nasty grooves and old school extremity. If there’s one thing I’m always bang up for at a festival it’s big burly blokes playing swinging Death Metal, and the crusty guitar tone and stomping caveman riffing cut through the venue beautifully. ‘Monuments To a Ruin’ was a particular highlight as head banging gave way to mass ass-shaking like some perverse Viking boogie. Vocalist Mark Johnson sounded particularly fierce today as he channelled his inner Johan Hegg over some top-tier Bolt Thrower worship. Fucking brilliant!
https://www.facebook.com/BloodOathUK
HAWXX
Coming from a different but no less intense angle are London-based Alt-Metal quartet Hawxx, who bring an impressive amount of swagger to the main stage. One of my favourite surprises of the day, the band flit between chunky metallic riffs, manic Punk energy and skyscraper choruses. Lead singer Anna is pure charisma and perfectly traverses the balance between gritty aggression and soaring soprano vocals while beating the shit out of her guitar. The band are equally ferocious and when they unleash their pitch perfect four part vocal harmonies it makes for one of the day’s highlights. It was also really cool to see them give the women and LGBTQ members of the audience the chance to take centre stage, paying tribute to Sarah Everard and so many women like her who deserve so much better from our fucked up misogynistic society. Plus ‘The Worst Thing’ is an absolute belter of a song and it’s been spinning round my noggin ever since!
https://www.facebook.com/hawxxmusic
Lowen
The London Middle-Eastern Doom Metal powerhouse begin their set with the lilting melismatic vocals of Nina Saeidi sung entirely acapella, stunning the room into silence before the band launches into a mesmerising cocktail of crushing molten riffage and hypnotic rhythms. Despite barely speaking a word to the crowd, the band has the room in the palm of their hand right until the final note. Whether it be Saeidi’s transcendent voice painting pictures with sound or the devastating blastbeat section towards the end of the set, all jaws remained rooted to the floor of the O2 as we all took a little journey from a sweaty East Midlands venue to the sprawling desert plains. You’d be an absolute mug to miss these guys when they come through town again.
https://www.facebook.com/Lowenband
Skarlett Riot
Things changed course over on the main stage again with some rousing Hard Rock from Skarlett Riot, who waltz onto the stage like they own the place, and for 30 minutes of high energy bangers they do. Despite it being their first show of 2023, they hit the ground running with huge vocal hooks, slick melodic guitar lines and some impressive harsh vocals. After the majestic but incredibly intense set Lowen had just bodied the place with, this was the perfect contrast and a testament to the diverse bill Uprising has put together this year.
https://www.facebook.com/skarlettriotuk
Damim
To further underline my point on variety, London Extreme Metal mob Damim decided it was time to beat the living shit out of everyone with a face-peeling barrage of riffs and warp speed drums. Combining technicality with anthemic catchiness, their songs are the highest quality of filth. They have a classiness about them that I normally associate with Royalty like Death and Emperor. Plus it’s nice to see a lead singer playing disgusting music while wearing a nice smart shirt, proving you can don some decent clobber as well as encouraging a room full of people to consensually murder each other.
https://www.facebook.com/dam.nation.uk
Palm Reader
If there was one band that was going to bring my chubby, aging body out of mosh retirement it was gonna be Nottingham progressive Hardcore legends Palm Reader. In fact my neck still is still absolutely fucking killing me, but man was it worth it! The band are a perpetual blur of wiry flailing limbs, dealing out angular screeching chords, stabbing riffs and lush Post-rock textures, corralled together by the impassioned barking and crooning of Josh McKeown. As the band have evolved from the abrasive Hardcore upstarts on debut “Bad Weather” to genre bending pioneers on “Slepless”, they have slowly gathered fans and adoring critics alike, and it’s easy to see why with performances as stunning as this. “Willow” in particular sounds absolutely massive blasting around a packed Academy 1. They remain one of the finest heavy bands the UK has produced in the last decade and in all fairness stages this big should be the norm for them going forward.
https://www.facebook.com/wearepalmreader
Boss Keloid
Having dazzled Uprising in the past, Prog/Math/Stoner/Fuck knows mentalists Boss Keloid are greeted like returning heroes. Benefitting from a crystal clear mix the band tear through a set heavily weighted towards cuts from their acclaimed 2021 album “Family the Smiling Thrush”. Sounding in places like Tom Waites at his weirdest or Captain Beefheart at his most accessible, the band peel out wonky rhythms that are catchy enough for us all to want to dance to but head-spinning complex enough to fuck our backs up in the process. Musically and vocally they are flawless but it is the songcraft that keeps punters coming back for more, a prime example that technical wizardry and big hooks don’t need to be mutually exclusive.
https://www.facebook.com/bosskeloidband
Saor
Caledonian Black Metal project Saor are the first act to get an extended feature set and certainly make the most of it. Majestic Celtic melodies punctuated by caustic Black Metal are the order of the day, with the welcome addition from pipes, flute and stirring female vocals dripping with melancholy. It’s lovely to hear such expansive euphoric music thriving in a large room rather than getting swallowed up and the people are really digging it. These kind of bands can often be more chin-strokey than rousing in a live setting, appealing to pretentious shits like me, but the way the O2 sings along to every wistful melody like an Iron Maiden song is testament to the universal appeal of these timeless themes and the vigour and showmanship the band inject into their performance.
https://www.facebook.com/saorofficial
Combichrist
Anyone up for a fat slab of grimy Industrial Metal? Oh apparently literally EVERYONE! After Saor have taken us to the Scottish Highlands, drinks swaying to heroic tales of old, Combichrist are here to flip the script. For 50 explosive minutes the aggrotech mavericks turn the second stage into a sweaty Goth sex party with an old school Electronic set. Resembling a rave in a vampire movie, the room is absolutely rammed with people throwing shapes and being whipped into a delirious frenzy by cantankerous frontman Andy LaPlegua. It’s obnoxious, it’s kinky and Uprising fucking loves it! Normally you wouldn’t catch me within half a mile of black eyeliner but I had to tip my hat to the magnificent carnage on display here.
https://www.facebook.com/combichrist
Paradise Lost
To bring this triumphant day to a close it now falls to some dour Yorkshiremen to send everyone home with a smile on their faces, I know right? Yet the Halifax legends did just that with a career spanning set of exquisite gloom. We get melancholic floor-fillers like ‘Hallowed Land’ and ‘Say Just Words’ thrown out with casual abandon as well as deeper cuts like “Icon” favourite ‘True Belief’. Nick Holmes is on fine form, bringing a laconic, deadpan charisma that only works if you’re British and giving Walkers crisps a shoutout which goes down a storm in these parts. As usual he and his bandmates are immaculate throughout, remaining one of the most pristine bands I’ve seen live as Holme’s baritone croon and demonic growls meld perfectly with Greg Mackintosh’s weeping lead guitar.
Even more encouragingly the band are able to cement their late career glow-up by closing things out with two latter day classics in “No Hope In Sight” and 2020 single “Ghosts”, both of which are received with as much jubilation as their 90s material. For just over an hour one of the UK’s most legendary Metal outfits has brought the hit factory to little old Leicester and it’s a thing of beauty.
https://m.facebook.com/paradiselostofficial/?locale=en_GB
It’s been a rough few years for independent festivals and all-dayers, with many falling by the wayside as recently as the last two weeks, but Uprising has weathered that storm and come back stronger than ever. Early bird tickets are already sold out for next year without so much as a hint of a lineup, and if Simon and Matt are able to top this year’s magnificent bill again then I’d implore you to snap your ticket up as soon as you can to avoid missing out. I hear a lot of bollocks from bands and promoters trying to guilt people into supporting scenes and events that quite frankly don’t even warrant me getting off my sofa. Uprising does things the old fashioned way- by booking a show that’s unmissable.
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Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Rory Bentley and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.