Employed To Serve @ Cathouse (10th March 2020)

with: Palm Reader and Cruelty

Hosted by: Triple G

WORDS: Joanne Gray

A week has proven to be a long time in 2020... In the days since Employed To Serve played in Glasgow, most bands out there have cancelled any upcoming shows left, right and centre. Thankfully then, we managed to get this show before things escalated even further.

Whether it was an effect of the virus, or some other reason however; it was clear from reaching the venue that this was going to be a quiet show by the Cathouse's standards. Contrasting with the remaining UK shows over the next few days, this show was definitely not a sold-out one, and this would have an impact on the show as a whole.

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Up to face the modest crowds of about 20-30 people, it was over to the relatively fresh-faced Birmingham opening band Cruelty. Merging the blisteringly heavy and chaotic sounds of bands like Converge, The Dillinger Escape Plan and All Out War with an aggression seen particularly with mid 2000's UK hardcore bands, Cruelty were like a whirlwind straight out of the gates, regardless of how few people were at the show. 

I don't have a setlist of their songs from the night itself, and I wasn't at all familiar with their work before the gig (I actually got them mixed up with the Bristol-based post-punk band of the same name). But I do know that- upon listening to the band after seeing them- they were even more ferocious live than what they sound on record. And thankfully the sound at the Cathouse was really pretty excellent for this first band to showcase the best of their performance to the crowd.

Even amongst some anvil-heavy riffing and thunderously intense drumming, vocalist Shaafi Parvez became the visual and sonic embodiment of the intense sounds blasting out of the speakers. In between clutching his arms to his sides while throwing his whole body into some throat shredding snarling shouts, Parvez would pace from each side of the stage like a living representation of anxiety. Without so much as a word in between songs, it was left to the only audible screeches of "you scum" to gather the venom protruding from the lyrics on display. 

Although there was a slight sense that the band were still finding their feet as a live act, due to the lack of interaction with the crowd and the slight awkwardness between songs; Cruelty thoroughly impressed me and I would be keen to check them out again if I get the chance. 

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Up next (with thankfully about twice as many in the audience), were Nottingham's post-hardcore band Palm Reader. I was aware of how much praise the band have had for their live performance and recent output, so I was keen to see the band in action. 

Coming onstage with a far more more relaxed demeanour than the band before, Palm Reader suggested that this was going to be a very different sort of performance before a note was even struck. This was of course highlighted when the more textured opening grooves of Braille's 'Internal Winter' bled into a combination of melodic vocals and jagged guitarwork. 

Focusing on the critically acclaimed Braille, the more expansive sounds of the band were put on full display with the floatier offerings of 'Swarm' and the twisting ebb and flow of 'Coalesce' and 'The Turn'. 

Accompanying this slight change of feel throughout these less openly aggressive songs, it would be fair to say that the onstage performance of the band was rather laid back for a good proportion of their set. This was particularly evident with vocalist Josh Mckeown, who would sway and gently bounce on the spot while clutching onto the microphone, only occasionally reaching for some gruff throaty screams amongst some sedate melodic lines. When we could hear them that is...  

For some reason, the sound coming out of the PA for their entire performance had Mckeown's vocal lines so low in the mix that they were struggling to compete with the instruments around him. The drums in particular were damn overpowering in the mix. In fact, for the vast majority of Palm Reader's set, Mckeown's clean vocal lines were practically inaudible. With such a reliance on Braille's material, it quickly became clear that this was having a detrimental affect on the band's performance, and it only took about three songs before audience members near the front of the stage were requesting that his vocals could be turned up in the mix. For whatever reason, this issue never seemed to be sorted as their set went on, even though it seemed pretty obvious that it was a problem for the crowd...

Thankfully, the band did throw in some heavier tunes (2017's 'Always Darkest' and the jugular punch of set closer 'I Watch the Fire Chase My Tongue' from their debut album) which helped negate some of these issues surrounding the sound mix that night. As a whole though, I couldn't help but feel that some of the nuance and impact of their performance was lost to me as a newcomer to the band with the lack of vocals to grab onto. Not a bad set from the band by any means, and I would love to check them out again with better sound on the night. But this was an odd first experience of Palm Reader for myself that meant they still never entirely clicked with me.

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Moving away from the Midlands, it was then over to the headline act Employed To Serve to represent Woking's contribution to UK hardcore. Although I was slightly disappointed that the crowd hadn't really gotten any bigger than around 100 people, I was sure that the raucous performance I had seen before from this band before would encourage more activity than had been on offer that night so far.  

But as the band came onstage to odd eerie noises and pulsing lights before launching into the excellent riff barrage of 'Eternal Forward Motion', I immediately noticed that the crowd response was far more sedate than I anticipated. It didn't help that half of the audience were either standing at the band of the room or at the raised platforms near the side, but I did expect that there would be more movement from the get go. 

But this was a problem that simply couldn't be levelled at the band's performance in the slightest. The more straight-ahead groove laden riffs that are presented on Employed To Serve's latest album should have been prompted pits and singalongs immediately. 'Dull Ache Behind My Eyes's thrashing assault would normally get moshpits swirling about with fervour and the infectious Knocked Loose-esque slamming breakdowns on songs like 'Void Ambition' would normally get limbs flailing all over a room. But here, a few songs in, there was a noticeable gap in the middle of the room with very little filling it up. 

Not for the lack of the band trying either. As is customary with Employed To Serve shows, co-vocalist and symbolic frontman Sammy Urwin actively glared intensely and yelled into the crowd to try and generate some movement, while vocalist Justine Jones flew up and down the stage in between unleashing her raw, piercings screams with gusto. Thankfully, the relentless prodding of the band managed to get a small pit going around halfway through the set. But with only about a dozen people actively taking part within a largely vacant space, the impact of this was damped slightly.

Nevertheless though, Employed To Serve continued to perform as though the entire room was going nuts. Particularly crushing was the material from 2017's The Warmth of a Dying Sun, which made up a decent proportion of the setlist's mid portion. The previously mentioned 'Void Ambition' led nicely into 'I Spend My Days's chunky low end bends which slowed into a crushing break that got heads banging and the small pit moving. 'Half Life' then throw in a bit of dissonance and pace as the guitars squealed over the top of the pit-ready bouncing beat. Continuing to keep up the pace, it was then back to Eternal Forward Motion with the stomping rager 'Beneath It All'. I'm sure it was during this song that Sammy Urwin encouraged the crowd to start a circle pit and to throw themselves over the barrier. Fair play to those who took him up on that, and you could see that it meant a lot to the band as well.

After this, the band took a few minutes to slow things down with the short and slightly doomy instrumental 'Sore Tooth Twin'. This set things up for the song's follow-up tune 'Force Fed'. Arguably the most melodic song of the band's career to date, the cleaner chorus saw larger portions of the crowd singing along. Of course, the punchy, swaggering ending to the song increased the movement on the floor, and I just wish this level of engagement had been achieved throughout the gig. Unsurprisingly then, this song ended the band's main set at a high point of the night. 

With the curfew quickly approaching though, it was barely a minute before EtS came back out to give us a final two songs from The Warmth of a Dying Sun. 'Good For Nothing' saw discordant low end chugs play against offkilter drum beats, ensuring that the parts of the crowd that were active were in full flow. Finally then, we were left with 'Platform 89' to see things off in frantic fashion. Once again encouraged by Urwin to "give everything you've got", the moves from slower, Conjurer-esque slabs to thrashing drum blasts saw the crowd give as much of an appropriate send off to the band that they could possibly muster. A pretty decent finale for a band who really did deserve the best that night with such a killer performance. 

As the bands then mingled with the audience afterwards, it became clear that they were appreciative of the crowd, regardless of the attendance that night. This was a strange one, as Employed To Serve and the rest of the bands deserved a bigger audience that night, but it simply wasn't to be. In the wake of this show, the remainder of the EU tour has now been cancelled so it will be a while before the bands are back touring. When they are though, I hope that they can come back and play a packed out show in more certain times...

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Thanks to you for checking out this review of Employed To Serve at the Cathouse! Feel free to leave a comment below or you can help support RWEI by giving us a like/follow on the socials. As always, we're open to submissions and/or contributions from bands and writers in Glasgow and beyond so give us an email or message if you're interested. 

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