Deathcore band Suicide Silence – consisting of lead vocalist, Hernan “Eddie” Hermida, guitarists Chris Garza and Mark Heylmun, bassist, Dan Kenny, and drummer, Alex Lopez – have been touring the UK in support of their recent album You Can’t Stop Me, the band’s first studio album since the death of original vocalist Mitch Lucker in November 2012. Two years on and the Californian 5-piece have progressed well, replacement vocalist Eddie Hermida having been accepted with open arms into the extreme metal community and proving that Suicide Silence are still as strong as ever. You Can’t Stop Me was released in July and since then the band have been on tour promoting the album to audiences in the USA. This marks Suicide Silence’s first time in Europe since 2011 – the UK leg of this tour has included dates in Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds, Cardiff, Southampton, and London.
First support Black Tongue made an excellent start to the evening with their signature blend of doom metal and metalcore which they have branded as “down-tempo doomcore”. Whatever you want to label it this is some of the heaviest music on the scene, and the crowd were lapping it up with plenty of movement during the first half of their set. Black Tongue’s performance was dark and menacing, embellished by vocalist Alex Teyen’s incredible stage presence as he squares up to the crowd, his deep growls resonating through the venue. Crowd movement continued right up to the end of their set, which finished with ‘H.C.H.C’ and the smash hit ‘Coma’.
Second support, Fit For An Autopsy, were up next, opening with ‘Still We Destroy’ from their most recent album Hellbound. They were overshadowed somewhat by Black Tongue’s incredible start to the gig, but the Hull down-tempo group were always going to be difficult to follow. Nonetheless the New Jersey 6-piece gave a killer performance, displaying the professionalism of a group who are well experienced in putting on live shows. Tracks ‘Dead In The Dirt’ and ‘Do You See Him’, also from their newest album, went off like a storm. Throughout their set, Fit For An Autopsy were humble in receiving the crowd’s appreciation, which is refreshing to see when so many mid-level metal bands can let success get to their ego.
Third support act, Thy Art Is Murder, brought back the dark atmosphere that Black Tongue started, stalking on-stage and launching straight into ‘Defective Breed’ – by the second track the crowd were on their feet, jumping to distorted chugs and blast beats with encouragement from frontman CJ McMahon. Popular track ‘The Purest Strain Of Hate’ went off like a bomb, the crowd bouncing from the barrier to the bar. Four tracks into their set, the appearance of a huge wall-to-wall circle pit only encouraged the crowd further, carrying the band into their final few songs. ‘Reign Of Darkness’ saw vocalist CJ launch himself from the PA system into the pit: crowd surfing his way back to the barrier he continued to pummel the mic with his blisteringly deep scream-vocals. Their set was rounded off with bassist Sean Delander appearing from stage right with a fluffy fox head mask, sporting an inverted cross on the forehead and embodying exactly what it means to attend a Thy Art Is Murder show – fun and allusions to devil worship!
Suicide Silence launched into their set with single ‘Cease To Exist’, sparking the formation of a rapidly increasing circle pit which lasted for the whole track. There was a good mix of songs from the new album and classic fan-favourites. Vocalist Eddie paid tribute to the previous support bands, particularly praising Black Tongue. ‘Wake Up’ went off in classic Suicide Silence fashion, with a chorus of crowd vocals drowning out Eddie by the end of the song, and popular track ‘Fuck Everything’ encouraging even more crowd movement. ‘Slaves To Substance’, another favourite amongst fans, caused yet more circle pits and even a wall of death. The band finished off their set with singles ‘You Can’t Stop Me’ and ‘You Only Live Once’, both of which were received with massive enthusiasm from the audience.
Suicide Silence couldn’t have selected a better line up of bands, and their efforts made for one hell of a gig.
