Suicide Silence + Thy Art Is Murder + Fit For An Autopsy + Black Tongue @ The Asylum, 14th November 2014 -

Black Tongue were in full flow when I made it into the already packed downstairs room at the Asylum and they instantly made me regret the fact that this was the first time I’d heard them. The Hull City Hate Crew served up an opening set that could make you question your very understanding of the word heavy. Alex Teyen’s guttural tirade, their sludgy breakdowns and bowel weakening sub-hits left me wanting more and perfectly teed up the evening to come.

Whether I was still reeling from Black Tongue or whether Fit For An Autopsy needed to shake off a little rust bought about by the trip over from the East Coast of the US, I’m not sure, but either way their opening couple of tracks fell flat for me and I found Greg Wilburn’s vocals to be getting completely lost in the mix. Things turned around with their third track Tremors, followed up by Dead In The Dirt. Their use of intricate rhythms and techie riffs delivered in a manner that felt like you were having your ears torn off caused the pit to really kick in and the first casualty of the evening to need helping outside. The latter part of their set managed to show exactly why Suicide Silence have been trying for such a long time to get FFAA out on the road.

Aussie extreme metallers Thy Art Is Murder have never previously disappointed live and tonight was no different. From the moment they stalked out onto the stage, they demonstrated exactly what being almost permanently out on the road does for a band’s craft, everything was incredibly tight and what Andy Marsh may lack in terms of facial expression he more than made up with killer guitar work. The quality of sound continued into CJ McMahon’s vocals, tonight repping his own clothing label Evil Soul. He transitions between piercing screams and demonic lows in a way that really shouldn’t be physically possible. If Thy Art’s lyrical content had left us in any doubt, CJ’s blasphemous ad-libs during Dead Sun clarified precisely as to where he and the band stand in relation to religion. Their set finished up with Doomed From Birth and the brutal Reign Of Darkness, one dedicated to those in the crowd supporting Aston Villa and the other to the Birmingham City fans.

In some ways I’m glad that I’d never seen Suicide Silence live before tonight, as unlike many in the crowd, I didn’t feel the need to prioritise the inevitable analysis of whether Eddie Hermida was an adequate replacement for previous frontman Mitch Lucker, who tragically died two years ago. As Suicide Silence smashed into Inherit The Crown the crowd were given their answer and immediately responded by nearly taking the roof off the Asylum. The chaos subsided as the track finished up and the crowd broke into chants of “Eddie, Eddie…” to which Hermida replied “Yes, MY name is Eddie but WE are Suicide Silence”; a remark typical of his charismatic stage presence.

Having listened through their latest record You Can’t Stop Me a number of times before the gig, I’d enjoyed it but certainly not been wowed. Other than the vocal performance, I’d not found much to set them apart from their peers in the deathcore genre, but live, that couldn’t be further from the case. The entire set radiated an energy that was infectious, keeping the crowd screaming back lyrics and surfing to the barrier throughout. In an aside, Hermida made the crowd aware that he intended to observe the warning he’d been given and that in no way would he be asking for a circle pit or wall of death, instead tonight the crowd were asked to partake in a circle “jerk” and “hi-five” of death, much to their amusement and the displeasure of the on-looking security.

Choosing not to perform an encore the set escalated to its peak, the title track from the new record followed by the anthemic You Only Live Once, which received a reaction that had to be seen to be believed. I don’t think anyone leaving the venue after that performance would disagree that Suicide Silence were awesome, and demonstrated that they are most definitely back with a vengeance and that their new era starts now.