Rise To Remain
Relentless Garage, London
25th February 2011

Being a support band has never, and will never, be an easy job. Especially when opening for an act with a long-spanning, tight-knit fanbase such as Funeral For A Friend. That said, metalcore mob Rise To Remain do a darned good job of it. Opening with the bruising ‘Illusive Existence’, their set is a veritable cornucopia of crushing riffs, raucous breakdowns and unrelenting energy. It’s tight as hell, frontman Austin Dickinson leading the troupe in thrashing apart the Garage before the night has even begun. The band touch on the lightly comical fact that “roughly three” people in the audience own their EP but, as proved by the glimpse of new track ‘Power Through Fear’ or EP title track ‘Bridges Will Burn’, having Rise To Remain in your CD collection is entirely unnecessary to appreciate the throttling power they bring to a live performance. Time and time again, the quintet have been hailed as the new saviours of British metal. Tonight, it’s easy to see why.

- Beth