Review by Gary Spiller for MPM
Having supported Halestorm here in the UK back at the tail end of 2019 and with further dates – headlining smaller venues such as Bristol’s Fleece and the Key Club, Leeds – in the following new year Californian outfit New Years Day can be forgiven for taking the dreaded C-word personally. That well documented shut-down clipped their wings in mid-flight as they sought to further bolster their reputation this side of the Atlantic.
Although it’s taken a good few years for the band to regroup and return to these shores mercifully quitting isn’t a word in the band’s vocabulary. Their return hasn’t been all plain sailing however, as tonight’s date is one of several originally scheduled in September last year. A call-up to an extensive Stateside tour with Set It Off steamrollered these original plans and thus it’s been nearly five years have elapsed since the band’s last UK tour.
Any thoughts or concerns regarding a loss of momentum are completely vaporised from the moment the quartet step on stage. Setting about pulverising the Thekla with the set-opening ‘Vampyre’ it’s clear why Kerrang! have, on occasion, described this band as “among an elite handful of bands inspiring the next generation.” The ensemble rammed into the former cargo hold of the Thekla are, in an instant, transformed into a ‘feeding frenzy’ of a two-way energising. Let me assure you voracious great whites have nothing on this lot!
Joining New Years Day, and their special guests Conquer Divide, for the UK dates are FVK (Fearless Vampire Killers). Noted, in September 2011, by Kerrang! as one of the publication’s ’10 Best Unsigned Bands in Britain’ this quintet have a tail of their own to tell. Twice nominated for ‘Best British Newcomer’ at the Kerrang! Awards FVK were, through the early to mid-2010s, through touring with the likes of Black Veil Brides, In This Moment and Escape The Fate creating a tangible buzz.
With prestigious slots at 2016’s Leeds and Reading festivals beckoning the departure of Kier Kemp a few weeks beforehand proved the catalyst for the band’s split shortly thereafter. The radio silence upheld for over five years was broken in early 2022 with similarities between FVK and an outfit going under the name of After The Flames were noticed. The feline was out of its bag and vampires everywhere were fearful once more.

Kitted out in light blue work shirts and black stab vests FVK burst into life with a roar of guitaring and drums with frontman Kier Kemp despatching a time-honoured “Brissssssstooool!”. The quintet delivers a sort, sharp half hour of gnarly, punchy material punctuated by moments of delicateness outputted from the Strat of lead guitarist Shane Sumner. From the opening ‘All Hallows Evil’, an absolute banger from 2013, the already sizeable Thekla crowd are onside. Or should that be onboard?
Quaking the musical vessel to the tip of its keel FVK storm into the hyper bouncy ‘Braindead’ with Kemp taking over rhythm guitar duties from sidekick Laurence Beveridge as the latter takes up the mic. It’s a seamless switch, one that doesn’t throw off-kilter, “You lot are fucking sexy!” observes Beveridge.

Released as a single in 2016 ‘Priceless’ is described as “another new-old song”. Either way it tumbles and cascades with finespun psych courtesy of Sumner. Searing anthem ‘Maeby’ is the solitary foray into the ‘Unbreakable Hearts’ album before the attention turns to new material with last October’s single ‘Back From The Void’. Raw and bleeding it’s well received and rightly so.
Powerhouse closing number ‘Always Forgive’ possesses a nu-metal sucker punch, summoning every last drop of energy a thunderous outro rings out leaving the briefest of deafening silences in its wake before the Thekla crowd match FVK’s output with a noisy reception. Colour me impressed too, will be watching for future manoeuvres for sure.
In their first UK dates, supporting Monterrey rockers The Warning last year, American metalcore quintet Conquer Divide caught the attention of swathes of the rock community. Returning across the Atlantic for this tour and, in a few weeks’ time, a full European tour with Ankor it’s pretty evident that this is a band with a burgeoning reputation.
Taking over from where FVK left off Conquer Divide up the ante further. Formed in Michigan by guitarist / songwriter Kirsten Sturgis over a decade ago this is a band that has, until the release of their second album ‘Slow Burn’, run on a lengthy safety fuse. One which reached its first detonation with the aforementioned second album. It’s more a case, nowadays, of a fast burn though I conclude following 40 minutes of having my soul pinned to the hull and being well and truly rock and rolled.

For a couple of years, like FVK before them, Conquer Divide pressed the button marked ‘hiatus’. Returning with a new single ‘Chemicals’ in August 2020 – a heavy duty melding of the brute force of an avalanche with the alluring call of the sirens – that is aired early on in their set this is a band not looking backwards.
Following a shimmering intro tubthumping ‘Atonement’ gets Thekla moving with its high-level kinetics. The revved-up thrasher ‘Chemicals’ sees former Nervosa drummer Samantha Landa pick the pace up even more. From here on in the spotlight is, other than the latest single ‘Bad Dreams’, turned upon ‘Slow Burn’.
Overall, we receive eight of the album’s fine baker’s dozen, it’s an album that demonstrates a shift towards more of a crossover into alt-rock and hard rock sounds whilst retaining the initial metalcore slant on their eponymous debut. “Look at [bassist] Spencer (A War Within) and do what he does” coaxes engaging vocalist Kiarely Castillo with tremendous success prior to the unmuzzling of ‘PRESSURE’.

Firmly in the ascendent the band soar effortlessly with guitarist Izzy Johnson in peak form. The crowd are whipped up prior to alt-metaller ‘wide awake’ with Castillo reflecting about the amount of movement “I think you could be doing more” she cajoles. With the crowd bouncing up and down the band are clearly happy feeding off the energy transmitted. A mosh pit opens in ‘Paralyzed’ at Spencer’s behest.
The hard-hitting ‘the INVISIBLE’ is poignantly dedicated to “anyone who has been bullied or made fun of”. It’s a hooky earworm that posts a serious message challenging thought upon the isolating effects that such actions can have. The ranks of the Thekla hold blur in a crazed Brownian sort of motion during ‘system_failure’ that rocks the boat to its core.

From bow to stern the venue is rocking and rolling by the time ‘N E W H E A V E N’ powers through led by the trust percussive forces of Landa. The buzzsawing fury of ‘Bad Dreams’ packs a heavy ambience that keeps proceedings upon an elevated plane with the seething maelstrom of ‘welcome2paradise’ ensuring the ever-filling venue boils over.
I’m left wanting more and note that this is going to be an incredibly hard act for any headliner to follow. It’s been 40 minutes of 110% adrenaline and the Thekla are truly pumped up. With a precise steely edge and metallic heart Conquer Divide have stolen my very heavy metal heart. Personally, by a slight margin, this is the performance of the evening for myself. However, I suspect that a huge percentage here this evening will disagree and that’s fine as it’s purely about opinions.
Both balcony and hold are utterly rammed as battle-hardened SoCal veterans New Years Days storm the Thekla stage and lay siege to the metaphorical ramparts constructed by their special guests. In complete darkness the atmosphere has been ramped up with Pantera’s ‘Domination’ tearing the PA apart. Blue strobing punctuates in brief bursts as what feels like the entire boat shudders as if in the grasp of oceanic storm.
With howls of the underworld fury pours forth in opening number ‘Vampyre’. Paired with ‘Half Black Heart’ the title track of last year’s studio release it’s a meteoric commencement. There’s a huge intensity and the quartet – we’re minus the bass services of Brandon Wolfe – don’t seem in the slightest daunted by what they are following. Far from it in fact, they take the gauntlet firmly in their collective grasp and feed off the energies herein utilising them to the fullest.

Focusing, in the main, upon their latter part of their catalogue NYD throw in a couple of covers into the midst. The most surprising being a frenzied rendition of Kehlani’s ‘Gangsta’, a souped-up alloy that whilst retaining hints of the original soulful R&B revels in its thunderstorm. Horns are raised to the deckhead in salute for a magmatic despatch of Pantera’s ‘Fucking Hostile’ later on, genres blur in the blink of an eye as a sacrifice to the metal gods is held aloft.
Every inch endearing and engaging vocalist Ash Costello – the one constant and driving force in NYD’s near twenty-year tenure – enquires “Bristol are you ready to get weird?” Evidently the city is, even on a soggy January Monday evening. Costello isn’t content with the crowd’s output riling them up with “You can do better Bristol, we’ve come a long way so wake the fuck up!”
The searing bullet from the barrel ‘Come For Me’ hits full-on as Bristol witnesses Costello’s kind of crazy. Thekla is having the time of its life, an absolute ball with ‘Shut Up’ being dedicated to all the ladies onboard. Guitarists Nikki Misery and Jeremy Valentyne are seemingly synched and bewitchingly ‘controlled’ by their mistress in their midst. Pirouetting possessed they fall to their knees at Costello’s feet keen to impress.

This is a band that packs a serious amount of tech, there’s not a single cable, amp, or pedal to be seen upon the stage. All that is transmitted is mastered via a tower of 21st century-ness tucked away in the shadows of stage left. There is the odd occasion where it appears the band are a touch adrift from their systems but it’s early days in the tour and there’s no substitute for match fitness.
Not that anyone in the Thekla crowd seems to notice as they headbang and mosh as one. Static crackles in the air with the defiance of ‘Fearless’ stomping along. The battery continues unrelenting with ‘Disgust Me’ raging. Declared by Costello as her favourite song ‘Hurts Like Hell’ is simply electrifying.

‘So Sick’, the fifth venturing into ‘Half Black Heart’, rumbles at Richter 10 before fan-favourite ‘Skeletons’ takes us by the hand into the set’s finale. A triple salvo from 2015’s ‘Malevolence’ punches a hole in the portside with ‘I’m About To Break You’ getting things rolling after Costello finds her way back to the stage following a spot of up close and personal bonding with the crowd.
The volcano of ‘Defame Me’ erupts with a sonic assault before ‘Kill Or Be Killed’ bares its metallic teeth for the encore. In between strongarm drummer Tommy Rockoff pays gratitude to Costello, “She gave me the chance to do what I love professionally!” A gentle moment amidst the tsunami. The diverse Thekla audience have lapped up every moment and New Years Day disembark the vessel safe in the knowledge of mission completed.
Photography by Kelly Spiller for MPM