Time And Trauma
As we noted in the album review for Time And Trauma, 36 Crazyfists are riding a wave of new found form at the moment with tracks that sit right alongside some of the fan favourites and cementing them as a band whose career is far from heading towards a wall. With the kind of low level exposure the band have received in recent years it’s actually quite sad to say that a headline show at the Electric Ballroom in Camden actually came as a bit of a surprise. The venue wasn’t sold out, but it was busy enough to make a clear statement of intent. What many tend to gloss over is the kind of impact 36 Crazyfists had, amongst others, to influence what became an influx of Metalcore bands - and it was refreshing to see so many across the venue sporting t-shirts of bands who fall under this.
Of course with a band whose biggest records were released in the early 2000s, the set is filled predominantly with the ‘crowd favourites’. Despite releasing a new record, the band know exactly what they’re doing here and keep the new stuff to a minimum - that’s not to say that any of these new tracks would have been out of place on the set tonight. This though is a band reaffirming their status in an overcrowded scene - tracks like At The End Of August and The Heart And The Shape trigger scenes of chaos across the Ballroom and some pretty hearty sing-alongs. The biggest of which though was saved for Bloodwork in which the crowd reaction was almost deafening. Another key component of the live set tonight was the fact that, unlike in recent years, 36 Crazyfists were not losing their minds trying to thrash through each song at an over the top pace - instead they sounded tighter, more methodical and better for it.
Overall then, much like their new album, tonight’s show at The Electric Ballroom was all about 36 Crazyfists smashing themselves back into the consciousness of Metal fans, and they made more than a dent let’s put it that way.