Live Review: Coldbones at 229, The Venue, London (12/04/18)

The last date of their album release tour, the UK’s own Coldbones have arrived in London for a late-night show at 229, The Venue. A place that has all the feeling of an intimate club but is happily tailored to bands too, sound wise.

It’s not exactly heaving inside but the crowd is decent and game for making enough noise. It helps that Crossbones, once they take the stage are loud, very loud when they need to be.

So going into this show I knew nothing of Coldbones. Other then a quick listen to their latest album, Where it All Began on my trip to the venue. I liked what I heard but it’s music that needs time and repeated listens to really appreciate. An incredible album none the less.

Live though, what a beast they are. Simply put, Coldbones are phenomenal. They’re on stage for just short of 45 minutes but what a 45 minutes it is. Making an impression almost immediately with a set of tracks from the new album, the wondrous melody and metal heaviness sounds absolutely immense.

Making every minute count, the short stage time feels like 5 minutes as it’s so easy to get lost in their atmospheric/post-rock sound. Beers are forgotten, phones are put away and all heads are focused on the stage.

A band of few words aside from the occasional thank you, song introduction and merch plug. Coldbones fire off track after track of enlightening, emotional and soulful rock and metal. There isn’t a lull, it’s a sublime offering of live music. One that showcases a band with immense talent for combining different elements of the genre to show off a complete sound.

When we here at Games, Brrraaains and A Head-Banging Life talk about how good the underground scene is nowadays and it’s the likes of Coldbones that prove us right. For that we can all be so grateful as it’s them who deliver such compelling music.

If you weren’t at 229, The Venue tonight, you missed out. Make sure it never happens again.