Lorna shore

Last night I joined my brother and 1500 others to see Lorna shore headline a four band bill in Cardiff, wales. Hardcore metal and thrash metal is drawing some decent crowds by matching decent bands on multi band bills and having quick changeovers to guarantee as much music as possible.

What Lorna Shore bring to the party is the amazing and varied vocals of vocalist Will Ramos. Only recently recruited to the band he has taken the extreme metal world by storm. He has wonderful clean vocals, a great growl and a few other tricks he incorporates into songs. Vocalists for extreme bands like this will add various growls, screams and other sounds to add something extra to songs. What Will seems to do is all this but with more ease and delivery then most.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua8SuWNPrLE

The link will take you to a video of his vocal range being tested by having a camera put down his throat and then being asked to perform different sounds and techniques. I think that the ease with which he can switch is his strong point. He is softly spoken and even seems embarrassed to show off his skill.

The selling point for the band as a hole is how well they work as a unit and that Ramos vocals fit in so well. With some bands the vocals are the same endlessly and the music works around them. The incredibly tight band play almost entirely fast and energy filled music, amazingly as I write this they have just appeared on my random play list.

The songs are anthemic, often have a corded opening for live shows and tend to be longer then most. Another thing is I am finding it hard to make a close comparison to many other bands, even ones of the same genre. They have moments of sounding like a number of bands but never an exact copy. Their recipe is to take the best bits from various sources and work with it.

What this does mean is that their live mix has be good or their superior style wont come over. The instruments and vocals have to be pin point clear and luckily last night they were. I have seen them live twice and last night was the best as the stage and its set up was theirs, the previous time they were the support, this is getting freaky as they supported Parkway drive who are now playing in my ears.

I believe they have rapidly jumped up the line ups due to Will plus a tight band. Obviously what ever your strongest point is the thing you want people to see. The recorded work with Will is strong but as with many hardcore bands the live show is where they thrive.

I would strongly suggest if you want to see the band then do it soon , the venues will get bigger and the relative intimacy will go. Parkway drive have gone big and their plus is the stage show so the size of the venue helps. Bands like Fit for an autopsy, Trivium , Slaughter to prevail and Dying foetus all benefit from a smaller venues as the interaction with the crowd always works and they know how to fire up an audience.

If you are in the UK and want to test the hardcore scene then for not to much money there are many 3 and 4 band tours to test the water with. In the states the shows are often joint headliners or headliner and biggish support. The energy will be intense, the music loud and the crowds will be ready for fun and loud, fast music. Dip your toe in the mosh pit or stand back and listen.