The year had barely found its footing when 84BadBlood stepped in with GIÁ-BĂNG. Bringing together forces from Japan and Vietnam, the night blended hardcore, metal, and underground crossover sounds into one tight room, collapsing the distance between scenes, countries, and bodies. With ReVERSE BOYZ and UNHOLY11 anchoring the lineup, the entry into the new year was not easy; it was loud and physical.
KINH — The Fuse Burns Slow, Then Everything Goes BOOM
KINH opened the night by playing with tension. The set began with Phong Le’s rap selections, pulling the room into a loose rhythm before snapping it shut with sudden blast beats and raw hardcore screams. That contrast mattered. It gave the crowd just enough time to gather itself before the first real impact landed.
When the breakdown finally hit, restraint disappeared. The pit didn’t grow, it activated. Movement became automatic, bodies swinging without hesitation. For an underground hardcore live show, it was the perfect ignition: not instant chaos, but a delayed reaction that made the release feel unavoidable. KINH opened the night and set its internal clock.
UNDER PRESSURE — New Material, Same Intent
Momentum carried straight into Under Pressure. With “Omnipotent” freshly released on New Year’s Eve, their set felt like a reintroduction sharpened by purpose. Thick, chugging riffs and melodic edges pushed the crowd laterally, front to back, collapsing space with each song. Minor mistakes surfaced, but they didn’t weaken the performance. If anything, they reinforced the honesty of the moment. In the underground metal and hardcore community, precision matters, but intent matters more. Under Pressure made it clear that whenever they take the stage, violence follows naturally, not as a gimmick, but as a shared understanding with the crowd.
DISTRICT 105 — Discipline as a Weapon
Where others relied on raw force, District 105 brought control. Their live show was tight from the first note, each member locked into the next, releasing energy with discipline rather than excess. Vocals cut clean, drums stayed relentless, guitars and bass moved as a single unit.
Midway through the set, Huy paused to address the room. It wasn’t a speech, it was a reminder. In the middle of moshing and headbanging, that brief human moment grounded the crowd, reinforcing the sense of community that keeps the hardcore scene alive. Then the music resumed, sharper for it.
EMPATHIZE — A Band of Many Vocalists
Comedy and violence are not opposites for Empathize; they coexist. Their breakdowns hit with intention, but the real force came from participation. The room turned into a single organism, every lyric shouted back, every pause filled with anticipation.
Stage dives multiplied. People rushed the mic, fighting for seconds of voice. The pit tightened until movement was instinctual rather than planned. Fights broke out, tempers flared, and order dissolved completely. In any underground hardcore live show, there’s a moment where the line between band and crowd disappears. Empathize erased it entirely.
UNHOLY11 — Osaka Weight, No Distance
When UNHOLY11 stepped on stage, the atmosphere shifted. Minor tuning issues barely registered once the guitars dropped into slow, filthy chugs. From that point on, the rules changed. Beatdown riffs rolled forward with old-school intent, turning the floor into a space where crowd-killing was the norm.
Punches flew, kicks spun, bodies collided without pause. There was no separation between performer and audience, ally and target. This wasn’t spectacle; it was immersion. UNHOLY11 brought the weight of Osaka’s hardcore scene into the room and left it there, pressing down until movement was the only response.
ReVERSE BOYZ — Neon Chaos to Seal the Night
Closing the night, ReVERSE BOYZ blurred genres without losing impact. Breakcore and trap beats are threaded through devastating hardcore breakdowns, creating a constant push and pull between movement and violence. Hands stayed in the air, bodies bounced, then snapped back into moshing without warning.
Style mattered as much as sound. Flashy visuals, rapid vocal switches, harsh grunts colliding with fast-flow delivery, it all kept the crowd off balance. The final breakdown landed hard. Blood spilled. There were no safe edges left in the room, no place to observe without participating.
When the show ended, people leaned against walls, catching their breath, comparing bruises, laughing through exhaustion. GIÁ-BĂNG felt like a necessary release after the long holiday season. 84BadBlood once again delivered a live show rooted in violence, honesty, and shared understanding. As far as ways to open a new year go, this one needed no countdown.
Words by: Chung Tính
