Live Review: Party Cannon - Waterfront, Norwich
13th March 2025
Support: Cage Fight and Eyes Of A Nihilist
Words & Photos: Tom Atkin
Home turf again for the second time this week, this time we are hitting the smallest of the “main” venues in Norwich, the Waterfront Studio.
Starting heavy we have Essex born death metallers, Eyes Of A Nihilist. Now, I don’t profess to be a massive death metal fan, however I am always open to new bands, so much of this review is going to be based on crowd reaction, performance, and general feeling of the night.
The studio fills out pretty quickly, which for a weeknight is always a good sign. The scope of attendees is already pretty varied with people both young and old getting in here early. From listening to some of their pre recorded tracks, their live sound is absolutely spot on. The performance hits hard as well, the only lighting being provided was two red and occasionally white strobes sitting behind the band, terrible for photographing but great for atmosphere.
It didn’t take long for the crowd to get moving with a pit nicely opening up after the second song. Their live performance energy matches that which they put into their recorded tracks, but with a bit extra oomph. For a relatively fresh band, they have a great chemistry on stage together, a tight performance of very heavy riffs and seriously aggressive vocals.
Next up is the band that I am already aware of hardcore metallers Cage Fight, a French/English collaboration that are just insane. From vocalist Rachel Aspe’s absolutely stunning roar, to James Monteith’s incredible riffs, the whole package of Cage Fight is a brutal sound and they definitely deserve the reaction that they are getting from the crowd this evening.
There is a large amount of fans for them, and the main brunt of the crowd are making them feel very welcome with the pit. Every song was performed to perfection and it is very easy to see that they put everything they can into both the writing and performing of their music.
One song that stood out to me - 'Eating Me Alive' - purely for its heart felt dedication at the start to the late Trevor Strnad who provided vocals for the track on record. All in an amazing set, you can find Cage Fight hitting up Bloodstock later this year for a much deserved main stage slot.
Finally it is time to have our IQ significantly reduced by Scottish party slammers, Party Cannon.
Honestly, I don’t even know where to start with these guys, I think I first saw their logo a few years ago and was suitably surprised when I heard their music. It is not your normal death metal performance with inflatable balls being thrown out to the crowd from the word go, Super Mario themed cut outs, and a guy dressed as a skeleton holding up signs for the band.
From the word go, it is brutally heavy, loud and very fun. They don’t take themselves very seriously at all that is one of their main appeals. I can very much appreciate a great performance that crowd are responding well to.
This tour is supporting their latest release 'Injuries Are Inevitable' so naturally the set list has a good wack from that album, and the song names are just as hilarious, 'Bonus Ambulance' and 'Weird, But Not Illegal' being my favourites.
They have an amazingly loyal fan base, I spoke to a guy that has seen them on every tour that they have played, no matter where they are playing. For a somewhat niche genre, that has small fan base in the grand scheme of things, I would put these guys up there with some of the best when it comes to performance and general hard working!
Sadly their next show listed isn't until August in Finland, so you will have to both wait and travel if you missed them on this tour. Until then their complete discography is on Spotify, gGo have a listen and drop your IQ by a few points!
Photo Credit: Tom Atkin
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