The last time that Ithink Smash Into Pieces were in town was in November 2023, when I had another engagement and the gig was covered by Kristal and Jack. I wasn’t going to miss this return visit in a larger venue, and after the release of their rather goodArmaHeaven album (review here).
The queue for doors opening was way along Sauchiehall Street and up a nearby hill, but thankfully the door staff were on form and we were inside in good time forDark Divine to kick things off. All the way from Florida (but I won’t hold that against them), this was actually their second time here. Slathered in black and white “corpse paint” their appearance was at first somewhat black metal, but it only took a few bars of “Halloweentown II” before it became obvious that their musical pigeonhole is more metalcore.
Singer Anthony Martinez has quite the vocal range, hitting an impressive number of styles. Deathcore growls, melodic tones, and I swear even a grindcore pig sqeal (just the once). Despite the “scary” stage makeup and horror-themed set, the band seemed like the nicest of guys if a little static… but given the small stage and the amount of kit that our headliners had set up on there this is forgivable.
Their half hour slot went by quite quickly, with Martinez enthusing over the audience turning up early to catch the support acts – a message we would also like to repeat. The vast majority of the Garage crowd had made their way into the hall for this opening salvo and they were rewarded by an appropriately loud and impressive show. The calls for the audience to “scream for me” and to sing along with the chorus for “Better Start Digging” were taken on board, and I do think that Dark Divine left the right impression when they finally departed.
As they also stated, at this point in their careers it’s not so much about the merch sales… it’s about the sharing and engagement online so they know whether it’s worth them booking to come all the way over again. This is a band who aren’t looking at covering their costs now, but at pushing themselves into the future. On tonight’s performance and audience response, I have a feeling we could be seeing them again soon. Go give them some love online, and share their recent video for “Half Past Dead (Unbury Me)”!
Next up, Enemy Inside, prior to which I was talking to Beth from Aberdeen who said she’d draft the headliner’s review for me: “It was awesome”. We’ll come back to that in a bit.
Enemy Inside hail from Germany and are fronted by Nastassja Giulia who is a singer covering a vast range of styles. It comes across that Enemy Inside if a vehicle for her eclectic abilities, making them quite hard to pin down in terms of genre. This isn’t a bad thing by any means, with a lot of melodic moments, dark segments and… hell, it’s modern metal mish-mash and it works.
One thing I noticed, though, was that Giulia’s vocals disappeared sometimes – usually when she was singing the quieter passages. Taylor Acorn had the same issue at Slay recently, and I’ve had it at other gigs where the singer isn’t at a fairly narrow volume range throughout. The loud stuff is fine, but the more emotive moments not so much so.
This was the only downside to an otherwise enjoyable and energetic set. The band were a little more active than Dark Divine, perhaps simply through more confidence and experience, but you do notice it. Giulia is a great frontperson, communicated well with the audience and gels well with her bandmates.
“R.I.P.” and “Fuck That Party” were probably the best song song on offer tonight, and the Glasgow crowd were definitely enjoying them. One lad next to me was bouncing so much that his phone fell out of his pocket. Thanks to the honest Glasgow folk, it was handed back to him rather than being spirited away!
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Smash Into Pieces were a little late hitting the stage, but were absolutely worth the wait. I kind of knew what to expect, having not seen them before, but the eyeball-searing blitz of their light show still hit with some impact.
First on stage was, of course, APOC. Acting as narrator for the evening, the robed behemoth is as much the band’s mascot as he is the drummer. The rest of the band swiftly followed and launched into “Man or Machine” from last year’sArmaHeavenalbum. Perhaps strangely this wasn’t the main focus of the set with most songs coming fromGhost Code, but regardless it was a very strong setlist without a moment of tedium.
The aforementioned “disappearing vocals” issue continued throughout which is a shame as I rather like Chris Sörbye’s recognisable style. While singing quieter sections I thought he was miming, but no – it was just the mix. This, however, was the only downside to an excellent set. I can completely see why people are so taken by them. Cracking songs, pretty much non-stop energy, and that light show… bloody hell.
I can’t remember the last time I saw the Garage stage so packed with lights and kit, with the two guitarists often stood on ledges near the drums. Well done to the road crew for cramming so much into the available space. Between the LED screens and the lasers, the band could have been in a much bigger venue – I’d love to see what they could do with a stage the size of Barrowlands’.
But the light show is just the icing on the cake. With songs like “Let Me Be Your Superhero” and “Devil In My Head” dropped into the set, you’re going to get a crowd going. Add in Enemy Inside’s Nastassja Giulia guesting on “Boomerang”, and a superb acoustic version of “Somebody Like You” and they’re definitely not a band who are simply churning out the tunes – they’re putting effort into making the live show that little bit different.
It’s taken me a while to catch them live, but now I just want to see them again. I realise I’ve written a lot of words, so I should have taken Beth up on her offer and just written “It was awesome”. It would have saved me some time.
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Photos by ECO Pixels UK
Smash Into Pieces:official|facebook|twitter|instagram|spotify|youtube
Enemy Inside: official | facebook | instagram | spotify | tiktok | youtube
Dark Divine: facebook | twitter | instagram | spotify | tiktok | youtube
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