The last time Suicide Silence did a full UK tour, it was over 2 years ago, and they were a totally different band to what they are now. This Birmingham show was the first night of the bands first tour of the UK since the death of frontman Mitch Lucker and with his subsequent replacement, Eddie Hermida from All Shall Perish.
Due to interviews running slightly late on our behalf, we didn’t catch any of Black Tongues, and just about managed to catch the tail end of Fit For An Autopsy‘s set, however what we did catch of Fit For An Autopsy was very impressive: they were a band with a lot of energy and the intimidating and brutal aura that they gave off on stage as they stared daggers at the crowd was befitting of their heavy hitting and ear-splittingly loud music.
However the first band we fully saw were Aussie extreme metallers Thy Art Is Murder [8/10]. Kicking off the set with ‘Defective Breed’, the band came to show why they are one of the hottest prospects in extreme metal currently. In CJ McMahon, Thy Art Is Murder possess a beast of a man who commanded the stage with ease while looking like a psychotic serial killer. For heavier bands, crowd participation tends to occur more in the form of mosh pits and walls of death rather than sing a longs however Thy Art Is Murder possess so many catchy hooks in their songs that it was impossible to not sing and scream along with them. While only playing a quick 6 song set, the energy that both the band and the crowd poured into the performance, it could have easily been mistaken for a headline show.
Bringing tonight’s proceedings to a close were California’s own Suicide Silence [9/10]. In what could have been seen as a risky move, the band kicked off the show with three tracks off of their new album, You Can’t Stop Me, however the quality of the tracks meant they fit seamlessly into the set. There were worries among many people that due to the fact Mitch eased charisma, then Eddie would struggle with the step up into bigger venues than he has ever played before. However Eddie looked like he was made for Suicide Silence, his voice was perfect for the older tracks, stuff like ‘No Pity For Coward’ and ‘Wake Up’ sounded as good as on record as it did live.
The stereotypical metal show is usually a very serious affair however Eddie wasn’t afraid to crack jokes, which made the set more lighthearted and far more enjoyable. Due to the slightly ridiculous curfew of 9:30, it meant that the band only had an hour to play however it was packed full of incredible music. ‘Slaves To Substance’ and ‘Fuck Everything’ drummed the crowd up into a near frenzy with the pits stretching to the size of half the venue.
Finishing the evening with ‘You Cant Stop Me’ followed by ‘You Only Live Once’ highlighted why Suicide Silence are one of the leading lights in metal currently, and in Eddie Hermida they have found a man wholly capable of not only filling some pretty big shoes, but going the extra mile to make their music even better. Tonight they proved that after a hard couple of years, Suicide Silence were back and back in a big way and that their path to world domination is still on course.
