Inside G2, an ambiently lit venue with a certain swankiness but still unmistakably part of Garage, fervent music fans gather on a Wednesday evening to witness a classic dose of hardcore “death rap”. The night sees the arrival of American punk-rap duo Ho99o9 — comprised of theOGM and Yeti Bones (also known as Eaddy) — as they tour their latest album Tomorrow We Escape to a devoted Glasgow crowd.

Opening the evening is support act N8NOFACE, whose performance feels akin to watching the drunkest person at a function having the absolute time of their life, while everyone else debates whether to catch up or call a taxi early. It’s oddly admirable to watch someone perform with such abandon, using a microphone like a chew toy and favouring sheer volume over intelligibility. On first glance, you might be forgiven for thinking this would be the strangest moment of the night — but you would, of course, be wrong.

Even before Ho99o9 take the stage, there’s a spacial and physical awareness of what is to come. As the room steadily begins to fill, the gaping circle in front of the stage never quite disappears, its foreboding presence enough to inspire a few self-preserving steps backwards. When the duo bounce onstage — with a punctuality that contradicts their rebellious image but is nonetheless appreciated — the warning bells sound again. With the bass hitting at a volume threatening enough to rupture earplugs, another few steps back feels like a very sensible choice to make. 

Ho99o9 bring with them a relentless charge of energy and a setlist packed with hard-hitting fan favourites. Blending styles from combat rap to grunge, and tackling topical themes with embittered honesty, their lyrics — when intelligible over the bass — land with real force. They make full use of every inch of the stage, delivering a spectacle that’s impossible to look away from. There’s an inescapable chaos to the performance, some of it deliberate, some of it less so, most notably in Yeti Bones’ regular disappearances from the stage, leaving theOGM to stall with musical segues and strange dance moves. The disorder mirrors the frenzy of the crowd, who seize every opportunity to enter the pit — and there are many — with an aggression that  occasionally feels less about the music and more about the urge to bash into someone.

Ultimately, Ho99o9 may be the only gig I’ve ever been to where I started close to the front and, with every song, found myself slowly retreating until I was practically out the door. However, despite the need for distance, I constantly found myself on tiptoes, neck craned, unwilling to miss either the performance or the crowd’s continuously unhinged reaction. Ultimately, I can say with some confidence: if you have any expectations of what Ho99o9 will be before you see them, they will meet them — and then some.