Obey The Brave – Caught in the Crossfire

The Impericon Never Say Die Tour (INSD) has been tearing its way across Europe since 2007. The mini-touring festival -comparable to Vans Warped Tour- showcases exciting upcoming and established acts in the world of Metalcore, Metal, Hardcore, Punk and Deathcore with previous bands on the bill including Emmure, Architects, Suicide Silence, Bleeding Through and Parkway Drive.

2012 sees the tour feature an all-American line up with headliners We Came As Romans joined by blessthefall, Stick To Your Guns, For The Fallen Dreams, Obey The Brave, At The Skylines, The Browning and At Dawn We Rage. The tour stops off at 20 dates across Europe including 3 in the UK.

On 18th October the 8 band bill tore apart Camden’s Electric Ballroom with headliners We Came As Romans showing how dynamic the genre of metalcore can be. However it was reported that Obey The Brave (who took our ‘Album of the Week’ spot with ‘Young Blood‘ back in early August) stole the show. As ever Stick To Your Guns impressed with their uplifting brand of hardcore whilst blessthefall and For The Fallen Dreams were widely appreciated due to impressive performances from their charismatic front men. We sent talented photographer Jake Owens to capture the annual jaunt through his lens, here are his results…

The Browning © Jake Owens — The Browning

Obey The Brave © Jake Owens — Obey The Brave

For The Fallen Dreams © Jake Owens — For The Fallen Dreams

Stick To Your Guns © Jake Owens — Stick To Your Guns

Stick To Your Guns 2 © Jake Owens — Stick To Your Guns

Blessthefall © Jake Owens — Blessthefall

Blessthefall2 © Jake Owens — Blessthefall

We Came As Romans © Jake Owens — We Came As Romans

We Came As Romans 4 © Jake Owens — We Came As Romans

We Came As Romans 3 © Jake Owens — We Came As Romans

We Came As Romans 2 © Jake Owens — We Came As Romans

Impericon Never Say Die Tour Crowd — Impericon Never Say Die Tour

Words: Emma Wallace
Photos: Jake Owens

OBEY THE BRAVE
Young Blood
Epitaph Records

Ferocious drumming, intense vocals and deep riffs epitomise Obey The Brave‘s first release through Epitaph records, ‘Young Blood’. Ex-Despised Icon vocalist Alex Erian delivers sinister shouts and brutal screams, an example of his deathcore roots coming into their own and making ‘Young Blood‘ heavy. Very heavy indeed. Yet, although essentially a metalcore album, the two-step rhythms of modern hardcore raise ‘Young Blood‘ head and shoulders above the rest with guest vocals from Terror’s Scott Vogel on ‘Get Real‘ emphasising the ‘core’ element of this genre in all its glory.

With experimental interludes such as ‘Grim‘ flashes of more recent Emmure shine through, but the most relevant comparison has to be to The Ghost Inside’s ‘Get What You Give‘ which was released earlier in 2012. Originality is a slight down fall for Obey The Brave, there are plenty elements similar to Parkway Drive, Stick To Your Guns, Hundredth and many other metal/hardcore acts. But in all honesty Obey The Brave aren’t trying to be something special or something unique; during opener ‘Lifestyle‘ the lyrics “Not trying to reinvent the wheel – we keep it simple, we keep it real,” are performed with vehement passion, this band just want to make an impact with the intensity of their music and with ‘Young Blood’ thats a task well and truely achieved.

Words: Emma Wallace