Impressive opening slot
Trepalium have been entrusted with the opening slot on this Gojira UK tour, and it is fair to say that they are able to contribute an extremely heavy and impressive set to open the orgy of French metal. After hearing some impressive comments about their support slot on earlier dates on the tour it is clear that they have again brought along their absolute 'A' game to their performance at KOKO in London.
The crowds are still filing in as they hit the stage, but the level of interest and intrigue in this band caused them to head straight for the floor. It is not often you look back during a support band's set and see the bar in a relatively empty state. They are very similar in style to Gojira, with the heavy, intricate riffs ploughing their way through each song. The set-list mainly consisted of tracks from the band's latest release Heic Noenum Pax before moving into older material later in the set. Sick Boogie Murder is likely a song that you may have come across casually by this band, and live it is absolutely blistering. Bringing out the guy in the clown makeup to chant through the conclusion of the song is a nice touch, especially for those familiar with the track already or having seen the video before. It was also nice to watch a support act who are not plagued by sound troubles. For both Trepalium and Klone, the sound wasn't much different than for headliners Gojira. For a venue that usually houses 'trendy' indie acts, Trepalium's scorching support set to start the night was like a huge metal punch in the face to those traditions.