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Judging by the number of Gojira shirts in attendance this evening, opening for the French metal stars on their 2023 UK tour seems to have paid off on so many fronts for Woking-based Brit metallers Employed To Serve. Impressing fans, there to see the headliner, enough to make them take a punt on a headline show, is always difficult, but when you have just created your strongest album to date (thus far) in 2025’s masterpiece ‘Fallen Star’, then the task is made all the easier.
The Gojira connection is also relevant because the rise of the sub-genre-blending quarter from Ondres, southwestern France, has been gradual, and showcases the tenacity of a band that are now enjoying the plaudits, as well as the rewards, rather than the here-today-gone-tomorrow banana skin that blights many other genres. And whisper it, but with some impressive support slots – both in the past, and still to come – Employed To Serve might just be beginning to see the tide turning with regards to more exposure.
As expected, ‘Fallen Star’ plays a huge part in the setlist, with seven of the 11 tracks featured on the album aired live. A risky move? Nah. Not when the songs are as strong as these. And the knockout one-two of ‘Treachery’ and ‘Atonement’ serve as a bludgeoning opening salvo. On ‘Treachery’, the band manages the impossible and makes the live version faster and heavier than the skull-crushing studio version. Sammy Urwin’s fingers are a blur as they fly up and down the neck of his guitar, and his co-vocals complement the majestical, harsh vocals from Justine Jones. No rest, though, as it’s straight into ‘Atonement’ where Urwin’s clean vocals are almost as impressive as Jones’ performance, where she also takes on the vocals of Will Ramos from Lorna Shore, who appeared on the album version.
An opening ten minutes or so that leaves a trail of carnage. The title track lands early on and is as huge as you might expect. More progressive, and to an extent, more complex, it provides one of the highlights of the evening.
‘Beneath It All’ is a quick detour to 2019’s ‘Eternal Forward Motion’ and the sludgier outro that lands near the conclusion still slaps hard seven years on. Sticking with ‘Eternal Forward Motion’, the short and unsettling instrumental ‘Sore Tooth Twin’ (where Urwin’s playing is jaw-dropping at times) leads into a killer live version of ‘Force Fed’ where the stellar work of drummer Casey McHale steals the show. Kudos to both McHale and Nick Plews of special guests Cage Fight, for the staggering work rate that both put in this evening. Christ almighty, their arms must have been like months-old cold spaghetti after their respective sets. Keeping it pre-‘Fallen Star’, ‘Sun Up To Sun Down’ is monstrous. Justine Jones is controlling a wall of death, making sure nobody goes too early, asking for the lights to illuminate the crowd – nope, “We tried!”…they come on a few moments later.
‘Familiar Pain’ highlights the thrashier side of Employed To Serve, and it is played at a blistering pace. ‘We Don’t Need You’ features the crowd bellowing the words back at Jones, who, judging by the huge grin on her face, is having an absolute blast. Along with the staggeringly good ‘Whose Side Are You On?’, ‘Breaks Me Down’ is one of the standout moments on ‘Fallen Star’, and that gradual build from the keys-laden intro, through Urwin’s clean vocals, to the explosion that announces the arrival of Justine Jones, will live on for some time. A rather special moment on a night of many.
The tendency is to end a review like this with some sort of attention-seeking quote about how this band will surely be headlining Academy-sized venues soon enough. But these are fickle times, and very often, bands like Employed To Serve, deserving of that status, are overlooked for one of those here-today-gone-tomorrow acts mentioned earlier. If the quality of output and the quality of live performances are anything to go by, then Employed To Serve’s time is on the way. The rest is up to the hordes of metal fans to make the right ones famous.
Another UK-based metal act making waves at the moment are special guests on this tour, Cage Fight. Led by mesmerising vocalist Rachel Aspe, Cage Fight are a formidable act to encounter in the flesh, and those near the front need to pay attention as guitarist James Monteith might just step off the stage to instruct the crowd in how to start a circle pit. New album ‘Exuvia’ is out 1st May via Spinefarm, and current single ‘Pick Your Fighter’ is cracking skulls as we speak. Live, it is unreal to witness, as is the track that immediately follows it on: another new banger, the gonzo ‘IHYG (I Hate Your Guts)’, where Rachel Aspe goes to another place entirely while she performs. All hell is breaking loose, but in a good, cathartic way.
Remaining Tour Dates:
24-Mar – Norwich, The Waterfront Studio
25-Mar – Milton Keynes, The Craufurd Arms
26-Mar – Wolverhampton, KK’s Steel Mill
27-Mar – Southampton, The Joiners
28-Mar – Cardiff, Clwd Ifor Bach
More information, HERE.
Review – Rattlehead
Employed To Serve images – Bethan Miller
Cage Fight image – Andy Ford
