Hailing from Norway and now based in the States Combichrist is the brainchild of lead singer Andy LaPlegua. They are about to release their sixth album and tonight they ascend the Button Factory stage.
Opening with their anthem What the F*ck is Wrong With You People, Combichrist launch into, what promises to be, a scintillating and stimulating set. The four piece appear thrilled to play tonight and the show gets off to an energetic start. However, there is a poor turnout at the Button Factory tonight which seems to affect Combichrist’s performance. They stumble on and it becomes clear that depsite all their enthusiasm, their sound lacks fervour and clear direction. Their minute crowd seem to, quite frankly, lose interest by the middle of the set. While boasts such as I Smell Electro and Feed Your Anger only make front man LaPlegue seem callow and overly eager. LaPlegua attributes the poor turnout and the docile mood to what he describes as a deteriorating scene in Ireland and thanks the audience for supporting the Aggrotech genre. It is worth mentioning that Iron Maiden are also playing at the RDS tonight who are, in all fairness, stiff competition for any artist.
At times there is a hum of Rammstein and Mindless Self Indulgence in their sound. There are also traces of early Limp Bizkit and even Crazy Town in their work. Maybe this isn’t such a terrible thing, perhaps a Nu metal revival is long overdue and Combichrist are merely paving the way. On a more optimistic note their desire to entertain is irrefutable. Tonight’s tame performance could be attributed to the fact that their current tour schedule has left them a bit jaded. A more positive impact may stem from forthcoming album Making Monsters, due for release on August 27th via Out of Line records.
