Live Review: Defects w/ Profiler & Knife Bride (3/11/24)

Sunday night, usually an early night for most. Not for me though! I am lucky in the sense that I’m getting to see three amazing up and coming bands on a lovely night in Islington.

First up to the stage are Brighton based metallers Knife Bride – coming to the stage to a huge round of applause they waste no time in debuting their unique sound. Chock full of tasty bass lines and nice chunky chugs. As their vocalist shouts

‘Somebody wake me up!’

– the crowd obviously listens and opens up a cheeky little pit. Catchy choruses and bass drops littered throughout, I am pleased. As somebody who is used to being in the opening band, I am well versed in the whole ‘we won’t move for the opening band’ thing. But Knife Bride don’t struggle, and you can tell they’re stoked about it. I really rated these guys and am hoping to catch them next time they’re down here. Lovely stuff, London. The band have loads of energy on stage and they absolutely killed it. If you’ve got the chance to catch Knife Bride, absolutely do.

Up next are Nu-metal Bristol upstarts Profiler – spikey hair and dinky snare all round they hit the stage with heaps of energy and get people bouncing up and down. Giving Deftones meets UK metalcore – the band take no time at all with slamming breakdowns and jumpy parts all around. They wear their Y2K esque nu-metal vibes on the sleeve (almost a pun considering the sleeveless shirt) – and have enough energy for this 30 minute set to feel like 10. It flies by quickly with each member giving their own unique performance they’re a treat to watch. They have a level of maturity that I find often lacks in Nu-metal acts and I’m definately on the lookout for more from Profiler.

I think that maybe their mix was slightly heavy on the low end, they could’ve been mixed better with an emphasis on the guitars being louder. Their drummer kills it beyond belief and they’re an absolute treat to watch, mans is hitting those drums as hard as he can and has a very particular drum style, he’s specifically very fun to watch and I’m hoping to see more from these folks in future.

Defects are perfect examples of ‘leaving the best until last’ – in no way meant to dog the other bands down. It entirely makes sense why they are headlining tonight. Having seen them earlier this year in a smaller room it’s nice to see the growth with my own eyes. The room is nicely packed out and you can feel the excitement throughout the room. As Defects come out to a frenzy of screams a pit immediately opens up. They have all the confidence up there and the energy, their set is tight and chock full of huge choruses and big breakdowns. All you could wish for out of a Defects set is right here. With a nice tasty edge of djenty goodness, the set is bouncy the whole way through and energy is at an alltime high. The happiness on the band member’s faces is testament to how good this was.

It isn’t pure heaviness the whole way through, they’ve got plenty of absolutely heartbreaking choruses – shit that pulls on the heart strings. They pair all of this with fantastic crowd interactions that shows off their time & experience. Their graft is clearly paying off, tonight’s crowds is testament to the that. Words spoken ‘this is fucking special.’ I’m glad to be here, especially haven’t seen them in a smaller venue earlier this year. They’ve come far since even then, and I can’t help but feel proud. They smash every single track they play, the crowd moving and swaying with each word spoken, each riff played, each drum beat played.

Big up Defects, keep killing it guys. We’ll be there ready and waiting.