Before the Easter break takes an inevitable plunge towards chocolaty over-indulgence Luton is the time and the place to bare witness to one of the biggest names in New York hardcore and one of the biggest names in the UK scene . It’s a tag-team tour effort that has had a buzz about it for the past few months. Tonight, we to see what the fuss is all about.

With such heavyweight talent on the bill you might expect a debut performance to be somewhat daunting. The 40 Seven however makes a good stab at it. Rising from the ashes of Tell Them Nothing, the Luton debutant puts on an honourable performance that sees big riffs and growling vocals aplenty. It’s far from the finished product (not least the band is looking for an additional guitarist) with a few miscues and the rustiness you’d expect of a band that hasn’t made it out onto that stage yet. Still, there’s a hefty wad of promise here.

There’s no denying that The Blackout Argument is the sleeper band on this package. Sleeper maybe but the band really knows how to wake you up. In the space of 30 minutes the Munich quintet manages to pack its brand of hardcore into every nook and cranny of the venue, a blitz of shredding guitars, howling vocals (in English, proving to be an impressive second language offering), and an offensive of big, ballsy drums. It’s melodic enough to appeal to non HxC enthusiasts whilst maintaining a brutalness that should impress the fans of the headline band. It’s a shame then that so many of the crowd disappear outside. This is unequivocally the performance of the night.

Right as the momentum is building its way to a crunching crescendo a broken amp head pretty much halts Dead Swans. A five minute drum and bass interlude doesn’t quite manage to mask the anxiety the band feels. It’s taking a lot tonight to get the Luton crowd moving and this has killed any such impetus. The eruption of intensity and immediacy that follows the repair work shows just how much the band wants to impress. Either side of these technical hitches the crowd is bombarded with a viciousness that highlights why Dead Swans is one of the most sought after bands in the UK scene. It’s gritty, brash and forceful. As it should be then.

“I don’t know what it sounds like down there,” This is Hell frontman Travis Reilly exclaims mid set, “but up here it sounds like bullshit.” Actually, it sounds quite good down here, all rugged and thumping, quite the aural onslaught. It’s a shame then that the New York quartet allows the onstage sound to generate an obstacle for its performance. Maybe it’s not just the onstage sound. Maybe it’s that the crowd is rather subdued, far from resembling the heaving throng of sweat and movement that you’d find at a traditional hardcore show. Maybe it’s the fact that the band is limited in the set it can offer (new drummer Dennis Wilson has only been with the band a month or so and isn’t up to speed with the entire song book yet).

Whatever it is it’s definitely apparent that this isn’t the incendiary performance you’d expect from a band spearheading the modern day hardcore charge. Don’t get me wrong, what the band does offer is a savagely tight, burly performance that would overshadow 90% of hardcore bands out there. Honed to precision but raw enough not to feel stale. Impressive but there’s an underlying knowledge that in a few months time, when the components are all comfortably back in place, This is Hell is going to slay this performance. There will be an absolute obliteration of this reeled-in offering. For now though, Luton looks nearly content that a band of this stature took the time to grace the town with its presence.