í¢äåñSO ARE you metallers or a bunch of fucking Funeral For A Friend fans?í¢äå An excellent question from Johnny Truant singer Olly Mitchell considering the muted reaction he’s getting. But if the metallic hoards tonight seem relatively quiet, it’s probably more to do with bewilderment than a lack of appreciation for the hardcore inflected boogie-metal post-rock mutation they see before them. Thirty minutes later, with the Brighton quartet’s set but a memory and the space in front of the stage swirling with anticipation, a better question is, ‘Are you fucking ready?’. The lights go down and the horns go up, but the traditional round of guttural roars are interrupted by Alison Krauss’ choral ‘Down In The River To Pray’ blaring through the PA. It gives the death grunters a momentary, contemplative breather. They’re going to need it. DevilDriver í¢äåäóì fresh from storming the Astoria with In Flames just 10 days ago í¢äåäóì stride onstage, and the venue explodes into a full-on metal frenzy. Dez Fafara is a dancing shaman, his throat-ripping vocals reminiscent of some demonic possession or tribal incantation of yore. It spearheads the blitzkried death metal assault behind him and bludgeons the space with an unending deluge of head-banging anthems. í¢äåñHel-fucking-lo London. You see that behind us?í¢äå roars Fafara, gesturing to the skull and crossbones banner behind him. í¢äåñThat’s how we live our lives.í¢äå And as the righteously indignant refrains of ‘Meet The Wretched’ summon howls of exaltation from the crowd, the significance of that statement becomes clear. Dez Fafara is flying the flag for proper fucking metal at last. This time nobody had better stand in his way. KKKK Alexander Milas KERRANG!