Temple Of Boom Leeds – Save Our Home day two review

The opening act for day two of Save Boom were Disengagement, a Death Metal band (inspired by Obituary) made up of veterans of the U.K hardcore scene (The Flex, T.S Warspite). Nothing gets me moving more than some down tuned sludgy riffs. With breakneck drumming and the vocalists’ harsh guttural delivery, they were the perfect opener for a night of carnage.

The crowd was already primed when Cauldron from Birmingham took the stage. Their debut album “Suicide in the City” was one of my favorites of last year. I love everything on the Coming Strife Records label that harkens back to the early 00s metalcore sound.

With plenty of frenzied tremolo riffs and panic chord laced breakdown they were a mosher’s treat. Despite the interruption of a fire alarm, the band delivered a perfect set, and I can’t wait for what they do next. Vocalist Fraser made an excellent point that if Boom were to go, live nation venues would be the monopoly (a horrible thought).

Now, for one of the best hat trick band runs I believe I will witness in my entire life. First was The Flex, easily a juggernaut of U.K hardcore and one of the cornerstones of the scene. They had plenty of fast riffs and gnarly moments for sweet side to side action.

The vocalist whipped the entire crowd into a whirlpool, where no one was safe. I may be a tad bit biased as they are a band, I catch live any time they are near me, but these guys are honestly my top live band of all time.

Now onto Pest Control. This is a band I hold near and dear. Their debut “Don’t Test The Pest” had to be my favourite album released last year and crossover thrash is one of my favourite genres. 

Combining the breakneck speeds and urgency of hardcore with the virtuosity of metal. Vocalist Leah is a force to be reckoned with and you can tell the two guitarists have a natural chemistry, bouncing so well off each other, all while drummer Ben moves it along at a machine gun pace. 

There are so many mic grabs as everyone knows every word for every word and stage divers are flailing everywhere. This is my personal heaven!

Topping off this perfect night came a high energy set from Higher Power. The band have come a long way since their humble beginnings in the Yorkshire hardcore scene, going on to tour internationally with some of the biggest names in rock and metal. 

Frontman Jimmy Wizard acknowledged this and gave an uplifting speech on how the venue was a pivotal starting point to their success. The whole crowd was bouncing and singing along to their back catalogue, not just the hits but deep cuts from their demos. The band make sure everyone felt welcome and were having a good time from the new kids experiencing hardcore to the veterans. 

This was easily one of the best gigs I had ever witnessed. What made it even more special was the fact that I had seen a few of these bands before, but at bigger venues, so it felt more personal seeing them in an intimate space. 

Every band on the bill has a personal connection to Boom and independent venues and would fight tooth and nail to protect them. And so, would I. This was a perfect start to 2024 and touchwood I will be attending many Boom gigs in the future.