Live Review : God Complex + Bodyweb + Long Goodbye + Witcheater @ Rough Trade, Liverpool on March 10th 2025

Monday nights in March aren’t renowned for offering up brutally heavy hardcore-laced metal gigs, but thanks to the awesome independent Liverpool promoter No Play, Merseyside’s very own God Complex are the treat tonight. This being their comeback show, it’s a long overdue special occasion at that! They’re accompanied by an exciting support bill, and it’s all brought to us at the intimate yet polished Rough Trade venue.

First on tonight are Merseyside’s deathcore merchants WitchEater. As ever they deliver their take on brutal modern death metal with a relentless intensity from start to finish. Their sound is defined by buzzsaw guitars and vicious energy, with vocals bringing an unrelenting mix of pig squeals, screaming.

The rest of the set is laced with pinched harmonics over guttural onslaughts. It makes your heart beat and your head nod, and the crowd are loving it already. They manage to keep an interesting balance that many deathcore bands get lost in, so unlike the typical chaotic barrage of blast beats, their drums and bass are measured and deliberate, adding a crushing weight to their sound.

Next up we have Long Goodbye delivering abrasive North East hardcore. It’s genuinely raw and intense hardcore, with both nods to classic US hardcore and also modern metal elements. Their music carries the influence of bands like Emmure and Boundaries, blending discordant elements with slashing open chords to create a visceral listening experience.

The tracks are distinct and memorable, and I can feel a genuine excitement in my mind about what I’ve discovered here. Their camo-clad frontman barks orders at the wheeling and kicking pit members, even joining in himself at one point, as the band produce some stunningly catchy yet bludgeoning hardcore metal. The stage doesn’t feel big enough for them at times, and I can’t help but think big things must be coming for these guys.

Bodyweb bring a grungy post-hardcore metal sound to the stage. They truly are genre-melding and varied. Almost impossible to pigeonhole, you could draw comparisons to Higher Power and Split Chain one moment, while the next convinced they’re channelling early Deftones and even elements of Incubus. Despite the different musical styles and influences on display, they manage to keep a coherent and engaging sound throughout.

There’s a charisma to both the crowd interaction and the way each member holds themselves on stage, and it feels like a genuine pleasure to get to share their set. Their use of a band member on live effects adds another layer to the music, leaning into those early nu-metal influences. In fact, vocally and structurally there are clear parallels to Glassjaw, with those schizophrenic shifts in genre and composition keeping the listener on edge.

Headliners God Complex had a busy and exciting December, releasing a new single, ‘Salt and Ash’, and signing with SharpTone records. This gig marks their comeback, and thank goodness they’re back! Their sound takes the aggression of Graphic Nature and pushes it even further, blending the chaotic intensity of bands like Frontierer and The Dillinger Escape Plan. The Merseyside lads hold the crowd’s attention throughout, with an enthusiastically dynamic yet precise and slick set.

Their sound is driven by pounding distorted bass and jagged overdriven guitars, creating an infectious rhythm that is unexpectedly both catchy and vicious. There are classic hardcore elements present, particularly in the drums which shift between a swaggering stomp and an all-out fast tempo assault. At times, their sound feels like an up-tempo version of LLNN, and their physically primitive ferocity is found in God Complex’s sound and set tonight.

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
God Complex + Bodyweb + Long Goodbye + Witcheater + Crowd Shots