Live Review: Bloodywood – O2 Institute, Birmingham
31st March 2023
Support: lake Malice
Words: Matt Noble
Photos: Damian John
Amid a tense intro track, Lake Malice begin to take to the stage before launching into a bouncy opening number ‘Magic Square’. With a somewhat industrial take on alternative metal, with plenty of gnarly grooves and breakdowns, they’re a very fun opening band, and a good fit for the bill. Lake Malice have an excellent stage presence, and they show no signs of tiredness on the final night of their extensive EU/UK run that comes to an end tonight.
The singer has some serious pipes, and she is very capable with both screams and cleans, although is reliant on the backing track for the full sound - which does sound ace, in all fairness. The backing track does give the sound some beef, and the electronic music elements within as well as the drum patterns and low guitar tunings give Lake Malice a modern edge. They valiantly give it all they’ve got to engage the crowd, but tonight’s audience aren’t quite warmed up enough for them - the wall of death that Lake Malice ask for is fairly tame, and perhaps getting the crowd on their knees ‘Spit it Out’-style would have been better at the end of their set, rather than after two songs - but it doesn’t stop them putting on a hell of a performance and showing their appreciation for everyone present tonight.
The room is bursting to the brim and it’s only midway through the interval!
Bloodywood finally stride onstage to a huge roar from the audience. They don’t look like your typical metal band, with a dhol drum and some traditional Indian flutes brought onstage. Instead of the all-black uniform that you see hundreds of times, a lot of them wear brightly coloured clothing (I, personally, appreciate the bassist’s Arsenal shirt) - but it doesn’t prevent them from putting on a much more entertaining, engaging and downright heavy performance than many of those typical all-black wearing guitar/bass/drums acts. They get the audience clapping right from the word go, and vocalist Jayant is one of the most naturally capable frontmen to get a crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. His vocals are outstanding - brutal when necessary, but very melodically precise and very comfortable with the distinctive Indian scales that makes Bloodywood’s music unique. Raoul also does a fantastic job with powerful rap verses. Their spoken introductions to their songs really seem to strike a chord with everyone, whether dealing with inner hardship and self-positivity, or with social issues.
The nu-metal revival is inescapable in 2023, so it’s really refreshing to see someone be themselves unapologetically, and to bring their own culture and sense of what is important into the music. Still, Bloodywood know what works in metal - a slight look of concern flashes over a security guard’s eyes as they ask us, ‘is Birmingham expecting a riot?’ moments before launching into a storming rendition of ‘Machi Bhasad (Expect a Riot)’. Bloodywood boast massive hooks and powerful lyricism, but the drum performance is absolutely furious, and guitarist Karan doubles up as a very talented and technically gifted traditional flute player for a few solos and lead melodies. In return, the crowd jump up and down on the spot, the pits are rabid, and the crowd surfers do not take long at all to get going. At the end of their main set, there’s a sea of smiles as Jayant and dhol player Sarthak get into the moshpit and party along with the rest of the crowd over ‘Ari Ari’. With some dry wit from Jayant and sincere appreciation from Raoul, Bloodywood come back on stage for one final triumphant song of the night, and indeed their tour - the bassist of Lake Malice can even be seen crowd surfing - and they leave hailed as heroes. It is virtually impossible to see them playing in a room this small next time.
All photo credits: Damian John Photography
