Soil, (Hed)p.e , Nonpoint, Union Underground

SGW3, Glasgow

12/11/2024

Review By Paul Taggart Photos By Barry Douglas

Is it 2001? No, it’s 2024! Nu-metal nostalgia has bubbled under for a while but suddenly seems in full flow the last few months of this year with Linkin Park sadly resurrecting themselves and Limp Bizkit announcing a big U.K. tour in 2025. For the wider populace that is, me? I never stopped listening to this shit. When most of the world has moved on, I’m still listening to sixth division heavy alternative and nu-metal bands from 2000 such as the Deadlights and Brik. I’m a nu-metal version of those nwobhm nerds that still like Tygers Of Pan Tang. With Soil from Chicago head lining, tonight is a four band bill of vintage alt metal acts from that glorious moment In time when a red cap stood for something else than what it currently does, make Durst great again!

Union Underground are up first, I used to always get mixed up with Powerman 5000, I have no idea why, even recently I commented online recently that one of the support bands was Powerman 5000. Is that a sign of aging? For a band from over twenty years ago, with only a single album to their name, there is a big turnout for the first band of the night. ‘An Education In Rebellion’ must have been a more popular record than I realized, as many of the audience seem to know the songs, even their theme to some wrestling show from 2002.

The Texan outfit is razor sharp, all rock and roll swagger but passed through a late 90s alt metal grinder, like the Hellacopters mushed into Rob Zombie. ‘South Texas Deathride’ shudders with foul-mouthed tangible menace and ‘Turn Me On Mr. Deadman’ is as crackerjack live as it is on their debut album. There are slight sound issues early on with the band coming across ever so slightly muffled, but it soon passes. Bryan Scott scowls and prowls the stage like a veteran and the band exits to huge cheers, promising new music in the New Year.

Nonpoint are next, the only band on the line-up I had seen previously oh so long ago. They hail from Florida and are the most traditional rap-metal act on the bill, fusing old school funk metal with the more forceful sounds of the 2000s school, coming across like P.O.D. with actual balls. Frontman Elias Soriano captivates the crowd with his dynamic vocals and engaging performance, enhanced by a rock-solid rhythm section and high wire riffage from Jaysin Zeilstra who moves seamlessly from Mc5 meets Bad Brains blues to RATM ramalama.

The band dash together styles seamlessly, leap-frogging borders with brash, soulful yet heavy anthems such as the hot wired ‘What A Day’ which is the oldest song played. Their brief eight song set covers as much of their career as possible, which has mixed rawer sounds with more polished, melodic material. They are gone too soon.

(Hed)p.e. are a band I never thought I would ever see live, somehow seeing them in a support slot can only disappoint slightly, with their condensed set leaning more towards their newer material rather than the tried and trusted rap-metal bangers that I grew up with but what can you do? (Hed)p.e. have had as many differing sounds as they have had spellings of their name, in the last ten years alone they’ve played reggae, fused their traditional sound with modern pop techniques and then most recently, a turnaround back to their roots of mixing hip-hop and punk.

Unlike Soil, they have never really been away and continually toured and released new music, a true veteran band of nu-metal who probably should have been bigger than they were. ‘Killing Time’ and ‘Bartender’ which are both aired from their second album ‘Broke’ are as good as nu-metal gets, combining a natural groove with swagger, yet with a pop nous getting the crowd going.

So does ‘Raise Hell’, with its riotous sleaze factor at odds with the rest of the night’s bands. (Hed)p.e. always had that edge though, in a world of Linkin Parks, singer M.C.U.D. has never been afraid to say whatever he liked in an old school 90s rap fashion. The band has covered all sorts of topics over the years from 9/11 conspiracies to odes to tonic wine. He is a commanding presence; your eyes are drawn to him and the set is electric and sadly goes past in a flash, ‘Renegade’ marking a funky flourish of a set highlight. More please sir.

Soil is a more straight-ahead act in comparison, not so much genre mashing like the others but beholden to a more traditional post-grunge sound that has been shot through with a nu-metal groove. It is a basic but effective formula, they are totally and utter metallic at times yet hold onto a melodic savagery, with huge heavy, tuneful riffs, that are matched with choruses so big they could fill the country’s current financial blackhole.

Soil are one of those bands who were never huge in comparison to some of their peers but have always remained popular, ‘Halo’ is surely one of the last vintage nu-metal anthems, a nuke of a tune. The set tonight is basically their second album ‘Scars’ from which ‘Halo’ came, which is their most successful moment on record, kicking off with the compact blast of ‘Breaking Me Down’ and into the glowering ‘Need To Feel’. Soil’s Ryan McCombs vocals are tight, and he conducts the proceedings with a veteran’s skill, the band backing him up with granite hard finesse.

Yeah, the stage banter is cliched, but it works, and you cannot go wrong with the material in my opinion, especially the punky rush of ‘The One’ that contrasts with the hulking menace of ‘Black 7’. ‘Halo’ explodes as the set finale, but the band is ushered back for a rather bizarre encore of ‘Black Betty’ and then the jagged ‘Pride’ sees the night to a close. Soil go down so well, they have to return at some point, indeed the tour has mostly sold-out across the country. McCombs will be back touring next year as he doubles as the current vocalist in Drowning Pool. A busy man!