Underground Reviews
Review: Cane Hill – The Corner Hotel
Earlier in the year it was announced that welsh heavy metal giants “Bullet for my Valentine” were heading back our way for a headline tour alongside Orange County metal core act Atreyu plus an unknown band to us (at the time) Cane Hill!
We had months to prepare and get hyped for this, the heaviest tour to hit our shores in years! Cane Hill’s self-titled EP had us begging to hear more and finally their debut album “Smile” dropped on July 15th through Rise Records. We were even lucky enough to catch up with vocalist “Elijah Witt” who let us know about recording the album, life on the road, heading to Australia and more.
Listen for yourself here:
Crazily enough we found ourselves more excited for the little known New Orleans sideline act than the main event itself, so much so that in the end Cane Hill would be the only show we caught on the tour! In the months leading up to the Australian tour we would keep up to date with the Cane Hill as they were on the Vans Warped tour and then hit the road with one of our Underground favourites the Insane Clown Posse.
Fast forward to Sunday October 23rd and we know the album “Smile” back to front and literally walk in the door as Melbourne act Belle Haven are wrapping their set up, on a side note this group was full of intensity and most definitely caught our attention!
9.45pm hit and it was time for Cane Hill to take the stage, the moment we had been waiting for (metal guy Herbz and myself) and we got what we travelled almost four hours to see, 30 straight minutes of pure mayhem from start to finish. The bulk of the crowd were clearly there to see Atreyu but Cane Hill would do their best to win them over, attempting to start a circle pit and get the crowd moving. Were they successful? I guess only time will tell on that one!
(Elijah Witt performing at the Corner Hotel – Photo taken from their official instagram @canehill)
It most definitely got the stamp of approval from me though with highlights including (The New) Jesus, MGGDA (My Good God Damn America), their “Slower” songs You’re So Wonderful and Strange Candy and wrapping up their set with the perfectly fitting “Time Bomb”. Elijah Witt brought humour in between songs and the band were spot on for the 30 minute duration. On the trip home we found ourselves discussing what actual genre are Cane Hill? We’re still not sure but one things for sure… They are HEAVY!
Last but not least in the metal/heavy world over the last ten years we’ve been asking what new band is going to step up and take the reins from the likes of Korn, Slipknot, Machine Head etc… Well we think we may have found at least one contender, the future is bright for Cane Hill. Watch this space!
