Following the release of their latest album, Novelists started their brief UK leg of their Coda tour with an upgraded show in Manchester. Originally set to be in Academy 3, the show was upgraded to the bigger Club Academy room downstairs, with an immense turnout. The show came with support from fellow French metal band TSS and Berlin- based Vianova.
TSS
Also known as The Sunday Sadness, TSS started off the night right with their unique blend of synthwave, metalcore, and emo. As well as blending genres with ease, the band jumps between their native French and English, both screaming and singing, giving a truly limitless feel as you don’t know what’s going to come next from either Matthieu Kirby or John Fine.
While the pair lead the charge on vocals, as well as guitar from Fine, Hugo Peix brings powerful, crashing drums to the mix. Rounding off the group perfectly is touring member Tom Saulnier on guitar. The setlist primarily consisted of songs from their latest release ‘END OF TIME’, including songs like ‘Fantasize’, which feels like it transports you back to MySpace-era synth-infused emo/ scene bands.
Vianova
Vianova brought their signature groove-infused metalcore to Manchester, which comes in stark contrast to the set from TSS beforehand. Another band that isn’t afraid to get creative with mixing genres, as we’re hit with immense metalcore riffs, chugging bass with an almost djent feel, and 80s-inspired synths to top it off. With hooks aplenty, the band doesn’t hesitate to make sure the crowd is sufficiently warmed up for our headliners.
With the addition of a jazz portion of the set, vocalist Alexander Kerski requested that everyone in the audience dance with them, and the audience promptly complied. It appears fans of the band came in great numbers as the audience sang along intently, although with how catchy their songs are, the crowd will have left the gig knowing every lyric, whether they were familiar with the band beforehand or not. A song which stands as a testament to this is ‘Wheel of Fortune’, which rounded off (no pun intended) their set.
Novelists
Led by vocalist Camille Contreras, Novelists are a sight to behold. Teetering on the border between prog metal and metalcore, the band isn’t as complex genre-wise as the support bands, but that doesn’t mean they’re any less fun.
Contreras‘ smile was infectious, and her vocals were extremely powerful; the singer frequently interacted with the crowd throughout, including dedicating ‘In Heaven’ to her mum and asking for crowdsurfers for ‘Say My Name’, stating that it is a favourite to play. The band performed as a tight unit, powering through every belt and breakdown, with only a brief acoustic break for ‘Okapi’.
Every song offers everything you could want and more, including hard-hitting, emotional vocals into intense screams, immense riffs, technical guitar solos and heart-pounding drums. The songs came heavy and fast, time flies when you’re having fun, and the set felt as though it was over just as quickly as it began. The band closed out the set with the catchy, anthemic title track of their latest album, ‘Coda’.