IN A ROOM FULL OF HISTORY, BORN OF OSIRIS TEACH THE ESSENCE OF DEATHCORE

⭐⭐⭐(3.5/5)

BORN OF OSIRIS AT THE JOINERS, SOUTHAMPTON
PHOTOCREDIT: **CHARIS LYDIA BAGIOKI**

When the announcement dropped that Born of Osiris would be rolling through the UK with a much-talked stacked support lineup (Lacrenia Roe, Aversions Crown and Within Destruction), there was a lot of tension in the technical deathcore scene: excitement on the one hand, resignation on the other. Too often these days, the tour routing means that once-iconic lineups get shunted into mid-capacity rooms that lack identity. So despite a few venue downgrades, it is rooms like the Joiners that feel the most right. Small, full of memories and stories, with low ceilings and sweaty walls, these venues are where the deal is. It’s part of grassroots infrastructure: to test ideas and to bring musicians and audiences so close they could kiss.

The first band on is Lacrenia Roe, emerging from the UK’s heavy underground scene. Their riffs are angular and their rhythms feel like daggers, making the music sound like those who pay attention are rewarded for it. But the band is not at all about passive consumption; they bring chaos, energy and grit into the mix, warming up the crowd with their dissonance and contrast.They had people coming closer to the stage as each track progressed through their setlist, ending up with people stomping and moshing like they would do for a headliner.

Aversions Crown, hailing all the way from Australia, were second up on the bill. Fusing brutality with precision and balancing extreme tempos with melodic riffs, they brought their A-game for this tour. The crowd was now visibly closer to the stage, responding with even more enthusiasm as the pits started forming, the headbanging intensified and the people who came down after the first band finished were visibly hungry for onslaught.

Along the same lines, Within Destruction approached their set like engineers testing a system to failure. Their music is a blend of tech-death brutality, industrial notes and vocals and absolute chaos that translated surprisingly well in the intimate room. The audience shifted further here as the response was more visceral. Circle pits, heads banging and spinning, they had it all. Their show was definitely a step up from their predecessors, bringing flair and theatricality into their set. As the audience was now fully warmed up and primed like a weapon, Within Destruction provided the perfect backdrop to release the week’s pent up energy. In my opinion, they stole the show.

By the time Born of Osiris took the stage, the Joiners was at full capacity. If the supports had been ammunition loaded into the gun, Born of Osiris were now ready to pull the trigger - and what a band it is to detonate the gig, after defining a certain strand of progressive deathcore in the 2010s and continues to do so pretty much almost two decades later. Coming from Chicagos’s metalcore/deathcore scene, they quickly became recognised as a hybrid of technical proficiency and synthetic rhythms, often merging genre ‘orthodoxy’ with experimentation and attracting listeners who are not just drawn to the brutality of the music, but the layered complexity that comes with such a diverse array of elements in sound. Tonight’s performance was therefore not just a replay of the band’s milestones, but a demonstration of its evolution.

Born of Osiris performed old favourites and new material with the same amount of grit and confidence. As a reward, the crowd was all in - calls to arms were responded, orders to mosh were executed, and the walls were dripping with sweat from the first song. There was visible silent understanding between the band and the audience, a calibrated connection and mutual respect for the history that was being written in the room. The setlist included songs such as ‘Elevate’, ‘Follow The Signs’, ‘Inverno’, ‘Through Shadows’, ‘In Desolation’ and ‘Regenerate’, whilst the pit and the moshing intensified during ‘Recreate’, ‘Devastate’ and ‘Under A Gun’. Ending off the set with ‘Machine’, it was clear that the audience was treating the show like a ritual. At no point did the room feel too small; though it felt unconstrained at times. Yet there was a sense of clinical clarity and precision through the set.

It is worth noting that despite the venue downgrade, The Joiners stands apart. It is a venue that keep writing history, and a place where touring culture has passed through the walls. There is no other venue in the area that carries that many memories, the very room that helped newcomers become legends. It has become a vital hub where bands cut their teeth and communities congregate to celebrate and come closer to the music they love. On a night like this, it matters. High ceilings have their place, but it is the lower-ceiling rooms that bounce the sound around and bring the performers almost among their audience. You don’t just watch music at the Jointers, you are part of it. And this was exactly what Born of Osiris did.