Show Review: Fury of Five, These Streets, MH Chaos, and More at Cobra Lounge in Chicago, IL

IT’S NOT WHERE YA FROM, IT’S WHERE YA AT. New Jersey’s very own Fury of Five stormed through the Midwest for a short run hitting Chicago for the very first time in their 20-plus-year career for an absolutely kick-ass show.

Kicking off the night were Northwest Indiana’s Dayz Lost which was birthed out of the ashes of one of the Midwest’s most notorious, Purgatory. Picking up where Purgatory ended, Dayz Lost puts a different spin on the cross-over metal/hardcore sound consisting of a heavy dose of lyrical honesty and in-your-face instrumentals, Dayz Lost knows how to get the party started.

Ohio’s Greater Vision followed up and even though this project is new, everyone in it isn’t. Featuring former members of Terror, Blood Has Been Shed, and One Nation Under, Greater Vision has the experience and the foresight to know exactly what they want to create and how they want to execute their vision. Delivering a tight and nuanced metallic approach to their sound mixed with break breakdowns, Greater Vision sonically makes you feel like you’re exploding from the sheer intensity.

Next up were Chicago’s metallic hardcore quartet. The best part of Bovice is their ability to bring over metal elements into their music, generating a fast-paced style with chuggy riffs, pummeling bass and drums, and powerhouse vocals. Not knowing the meaning slowing down, Bovice have been steady crushing it for a hot-minute delivering consistent, non-stop fury and rage.

I haven’t seen These Streets since the last they came through a few years ago, (maybe 2018), so it was refreshing to see them through the area again, this time supporting the legends in Fury of Five. With an unrelenting metallic hardcore style, These Streets don’t follow the trend of what else is going, but rather opt for a style that sounds and feels cool to them creating a hard-hitting sound with diverse lyrical themes and messaging. Leaning heavily into the groove-driven side of hardcore, These Streets are no tourists to the hardships of life as reflected in their music. Through this strong lyrical content, These Streets creates hard-hitting music that just about anyone can relate too.

One of the supergroups of Chicago, MH Chaos, followed with their un-filtered, raw ‘90’s hardcore sound reminiscent of bands like Merauder, Madball, Cold as Life, or Fury of Five. A supergroup of Chicago hardcore, MH features members of Hold My Own, Bodybag, Bitter Thoughts, Sector, and more, MH is guaranteed to be one of the heaviest bands you’ll see anytime soon. MH is pissed and they want you to know it. With blistering rage and energy, MH Chaos delivers memorable sets every time you see them leaving you wanting more and feeling like you just saw them for the first time even if it was you’re 100th time.

I didn’t have on my bucket list that Fury of Five would be playing the Midwest, let alone Chicago anytime soon, but here we are! With an arsenal of venom and anger, the New Jersey heavyweights aren’t letting up the gas, as they’re fresh off their reunion and a brand new EP, Half Past Revenge, Fury of Five have picked up exactly where they left off so many years ago and aren’t holding back. Going back all the way to 1994, Fury of Five wanted to put on for their city and scene merging old-school ‘80s metal and hardcore with a hell of a lot of breakdowns and old-school ethics.

Filled with guitar solos, pissed-off and angry lyrics, bouncy hip-hop beats, groovy riffs, and a notorious reputation, Fury of Five put on for New Jersey coming up at the same time as E. Town Concrete, Second to None, and more making a point always to remember where they came from. Bringing it back to basics, Fury of Five refocused their musicianship on what worked and the best aspects of their sound, delivering a hard, heavy, kick-ass EP.

Having crafted a sound that is like a mixture of Biohazard meets Machine Head meets Slayer, it’s awesome to see a band like Fury of Five coming back and releasing new music. While they’ve been releasing new tunes, their original material still stands the test of time and is just as relevant today as it was when it came out. Featuring topics like police brutality, gun violence, poverty, government corruption, and more, Fury of Five messaging sounds like it would have come out today, maybe with just a touch of an old-school flair. If Fury of Five are coming to your city or a city near you, I seriously encourage you to go.

Fury of Five