Blood Command – Exchange, Bristol, 9th June 2013

It’s a real shame when additions to a bill are not made public. That’s what happened when I arrived at the Exchange in Bristol on Sunday evening. The venue’s website said doors opened at 7.30pm, however it turned out that, along with the three bands advertised, a further FOUR groups had been booked to play as well and that everything had been going on for a full hour already. Consequently, this meant I had missed the opening act and half of the second. What was even MORE disappointing was that the second band in question – Heaven Asunder – were the standout local act of the evening; imagine Killswitch Engage without the pinch harmonics and you’re not too far off their overall sound. They brought a lot of energy to the stage and were incredibly tight for what little I saw of their 20-minute set. Watch this space for a full review of them in the near future.

When the three main bands finally started, Verses (7) took a little bit of time to warm up, but were soon free flowing and precise. They pulled the biggest audience of the evening and songs like ‘We Live in the Sky’ were sung with gusto back at them by a small community of fans that had been to a couple of the tour dates already. By complete contrast, Flood of Red (8) walked on stage to a room of about 10 people, which barely tripled over the course of their half hour set. Not that this appeared to deter the band, mind you – singer Jordan Spiers simply stepped offstage onto the floor, called everyone in around him and immediately created one of the most intimate settings I’ve ever seen a band play in. When you add this to their simply massive sound and their impressive array of songs including ‘Whispers in Choirs’ and ‘Like Elephants’, you have a band that had every audience member in the palm of their hand from the moment they began to the moment they finished.

You could forgive Blood Command (8) for being a little off-form tonight: the band were playing their second set of the day, a feat made even more remarkable when you consider that the first performance was played in their native Norway during the afternoon. But their tiredness didn’t show at all, because they proved why they are one of the best up-and-coming bands at this moment in time. Frontwoman Silja is an absolute firecracker – she and guitarist Yngve were jumping all over the place as they powered through a very fast, very energetic set that deserved more than the 40 or so people that stuck around to the very end to watch them. A slight delay to proceedings meant the band had to cut ‘High Five for Life’, but the move to keep ‘Alarm All Assassins’ as the set closer proved a masterstroke as it received the biggest sing-along of the evening. If you are heading to Download Festival this week, pop over to the Red Bull Stage on Friday at 6.15pm to catch these guys; you won’t be disappointed in the slightest.

Blood Command lineup

Silja Tombre – vocals
Yngve Andersen – Guitars, additional vocals
Sigurd Haakaass – Drums

Blood Command touring members

Simon Økland – bass, additional vocals
Nikolas Aarnes – guitar, additional vocals

Setlist

1) Pissed Off and Slightly Offended
2) March of the Swan Elite
3) Cult of the New Beat
4) True North
5) Agenda
6) Death to All But Us!
7) On and On Chameleon
8) Incorporate Use of Cloak and Daggers
9) Alarm All Assassins!