Rolo Tomassi / XOYO

Anyone who says that the Metal/Hardcore underground doesn’t have enough strong female role models has clearly not seen a single date of this tour. In Rolo Tomassi’s Eva and support acts Oathbreaker’s Caro you have two young women playing extreme music on their own terms.

Belgium isn’t traditionally known for their extreme music scene, but Oathbreaker are here to change that. With a sound that melds the vicious hardcore of Converge and Trap Them with the heaviness of Celtic Frost, they are a force to reckoned with live. Cara windmills her way round the stage, screeching like a black metal banshee, while the rest of the band pummel the audience with their gloriously stripped back extremity. They’re relatively new to the scene, but their live show makes them seem like hardened veterans.

Suddenly the lights go down, and the theme tune from the Addams Family starts playing, this is Halloween Rolo Tomassi style. The band walk on stage bedecked as different members of the family, with Eva taking on the role of Morticia, and from the off its clear tonight is about fun and friends. A triple celebration, it’s not only Halloween, but the last date of a successful tour and a party for the upcoming album, Astraea, which gets a pounding showcase tonight. The band is tighter than ever, interchanging from blistering riffage to ambient passages in the blink of an eye. Eva remains a mesmerising stage presence, a kind of metallic Kate Bush, while keyboardist James is one of the more charming howlers in hardcore. After a kinetic 50 minute set everyone is sweaty and exhausted, but all the happier for having been there. Rolo are a band that need to be seen live to be fully appreciated.
Daniel Cadwallader