Metal Made Beautiful: A Concert Review of Mandragora

Written By Kevin McSweeney From The Junction, Plymouth UK February 8th 2025

It was a dark, cold and otherwise nondescript evening in Plymouth on the 8th of February 2025 when an exciting and dynamic young band called Mandragora honoured Britain’s so-called Ocean City by making it the location of their first ever headline show outside of their native Bristol. So, Metal Lair thought, who better to cover the auspicious event than their most wizened and curmudgeonly old codger of a reporter? Well, I was certainly glad to get out of the cold for a bit, and what I witnessed that night warmed the cockles with gladdening promises of great things to come.

Support was ably provided on the occasion by Cornish band Falling Empires and Exeter-based Recreance; the former an alternative metal band who wore their Deftones influences on their sleeves, particularly when they covered Change (In The House of Flies). The latter had a large, lumbering beast of a sound, with guitars tuned down to somewhere beneath the floorboards, and bass set to shudder the undercarriage. The frontman applied a frugal approach to the deployment of clean vocals, and their music was all the better for it.

Then the headliners took to the stage, now festooned with flowers and vines, and did so to an intro of iambic beats pulsating under atmospheric synths, in what is perhaps a nod to Bristol’s trip hop traditions. They then commenced a glorious cacophony of wailing, dissonant lead guitars, crunching riffs and a barrage of cymbal crashes and double kick drumming as they launched into opening track Godspeed. They define their sound as nü-metalcore, but it verges on post-hardcore, at least to this reviewer’s ears. They are occasionally reminiscent of Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence-era Glassjaw, but obviously minus the anger towards women.

Vocalist Maisie Waterhouse is a charismatic presence onstage. Her breathy, impassioned vocal delivery is often reminiscent of Aimee Echo in her Human Waste Project pomp. She beguiled the audience between songs with self-deprecating humour. Her voice was apparently still heavily strained from a previous show, but you’d have struggled to tell, such was her commitment to her performance. She later resolved to blow her voice out completely that night – a pledge that met with the grateful approval of the audience.

Double Negatives began with a mid-paced, palm-muted riff, which then increased in pace and intensity as it built to a bold, melodic chorus. A quiet interlude gave way to the first appearance of the customary metalcore breakdown. Then came Box Jumper, a new song due to be released on the 14th of February, characterised by furious double-kicks and dissonant leads, building to a big chorus with impressive clean vocals that showed no sign of struggle. The intensity did not diminish with Watch Me Drown, on which the vocals alternated frequently between manic and melodic, in a style not dissimilar to that of Daryl Palumbo of the aforementioned Glassjaw. A blast beat towards the end gave way to another huge breakdown, which prompted an outbreak of moshing.

A special guest by the name of Emily was then called to the stage. Ordinarily a country singer, she was deployed on this occasion to provide a Fred Schneider-style sprechgesangvocal as they performed what I’m told was a cover of the Charli XCX song Guess. I’m guessing that, with its sharp, staccato riffs and syncopated beats, and even a bit of polka thrown in for good measure, their version is more to my liking than the original would be.

You’ll Be Sorry was, I’m almost sorry to report, their own composition, and not a cover of the song of the same name by the cheesy British pop group Steps. It bordered on thrash at times, with its frantic double-kicks and atonal riffs. This was followed with what was, for me at least, the highlight of the set: the performance of their best song, I Can Make You Beautiful. It was introduced by Waterhouse as a song about “…battling with mental health demons,” before adding, somewhat alarmingly: “We ARE your mental health demons!” Would it be inappropriate to describe the song as schizophrenic in nature? It was certainly multifaceted, alternating between calm and erratic, from blast beats to syncopated grooves, from beautiful to terrifying. It ended with another big breakdown, and the biggest mosh pit of the night.

After launching into an impromptu rendition of Happy Birthday for a member of the crowd, it was time for the last song of the setlist, for which another special guest was summoned to the stage. The guest this time was identified as Harry, who duetted with Waterhouse on Bedroom, a maelstrom of thrashing guitars and pounding drums in its intro, before settling into a rapped verse from Waterhouse and guttural vocals from Harry. The audience were beckoned to crouch down for the quiet part in the middle, before springing up and going absolutely ballistic for the big breakdown at the end, with Waterhouse leaping into the mosh pit, leaving Harry and the rest of the band to bring the set to a close.

Calls for “one more song” from the audience were met with a threat to perform a Coldplay cover, which was thankfully in jest. There was also a brief burst of the guitar intro to the Guns ‘N’ Roses classic Sweet Child O’ Mine before tearing into Made To Please, a song of their own for an encore. Unfortunately, your idiot of a reviewer had stopped making notes at this point, having made his way to the bar, mistakenly thinking the show was over. However, I saw more than enough to know that this young British band have a lot of potential. It’s always exciting when you see a fledgling outfit in an intimate setting and strongly suspect you might be seeing them in much bigger venues in future. That’s the feeling I got that night, and we at Metal Lair wish them godspeed on their way to bigger and more beautiful things.