Devilskin - Try to make a name for themselves in London

April 15th 2015

London, The Borderline, UK

****

Try to show why they are so popular in New Zealand!

Devilskin **** are a well established band from New Zealand. They have been relentlessly touring their homeland over the past five years and have become extremely well known and respected there. So much so that their debut album 'We Rise' went straight to No.1 in the New Zealand charts and stayed there for three weeks.

It is their first set of shows ever in the UK and they seem very excited to bring their unique brand of metal to these shores. With a warm up show last night, the showcase this evening and the fact that it’s singer Jennie Skulander’s birthday tomorrow, they are on top form.

She struts onto the stage with a red flower in her hair and frilly shorts that belie the rock vixen she can be. Tracks such as 'Until you Bleed' and single 'Start a Revolution' get the crowd wound up into a frenzy and the Nu-Metal style delivery is apleasant change from the more orchestral sound that a lot of female-fronted bands lean towards these days.

I mean it as a great compliment when I say this band could be straight out of the mid 90’s California scene. The set is cut in half by a cover of 'Holy Diver' which is delivered flawlessly and sees a surprising amount of younger fans singing along. This is another moment where Jennie can exhibit her fantastic vocals.

The rest of the band also produces a great sound that is helped along by a looming stage presence. They command this fairly small stage and demand the crowd’s attention. With the guitarist and bass player having a striking similarity to each other in dress and features, it almost looks like they are two satanic bookends at either side of the stage... Albeit bookends with pink beards.

They continue through their set with growing confidence, playing the title track from their album and finishing with 'Little Pills'. I can only really come up with one criticism of Devilskin tonight; and that is that some of their songs are not quite distinctive enough.

I won’t go as far as to say they are samey, I’m sure to a fan they are very different. But to a casual observer they may start to sound like each other, which would be a true shame as this is a very talented an d fun band that I think are destined for great things.

Review and Photo's by Colm Browne