There are very few constants in the music industry, especially in pairings of bands for a tour. Imagine you are into more hardcore/deathcore metal, but your significant other is more into metalcore. What to do? Go to shows separately? Not go at all? No, you catch the Darkbloom II tour.
The crowd started lining up early for what was going to be a fun night. Unfortunately for some fans, a recent show on this tour was cut short due to security concerns which escalated to the point of the show being cancelled. I won’t delve into what was said to have happened, nor pick a side other than to say that at a metal/metalcore show, there will potentially be crowd surfing, there with be mosh pits, there will be adult libations consumed and if this doesn’t sound like a fun time, I’d suggest pursuing other forms of live entertainment. And have your security team in place and understanding of the task at hand. That’s all I will say on the earlier show.
Tonight’s show started off with Arizona (USA) based Archetypes Collide. Seeing Archetypes Collide with WCAR isn’t new. In fact, they opened for them as local support on a tour in 2018. Their style is one of metalcore and one that is a perfect pairing with the headliner on this tour. Their 7-song set consisted of:
- Parasite
- Destiny
- One Step Closer (Linkin Park cover)
- My Own Device
- Fade Away
- What If I Fall
- Your Misery
The band consists of:
Kyle Pastor -Vocals
Brandon Baker – Guitar
Jared Knister – Guitar
Ky Sanders – Bass
Tyler Flamm – Drums
ARCHETYPES COLLIDE
Next up on the stage was Melbourne, FL (USA) based Bodysnatcher. This is where the significant other goes to look at merch and you get to rock TF out. Bodysnatcher has been around for about ten years and have made a name for themselves with their deatchcore/metalcore approach to music. This was not my first exposure to one of their shows as I’ve seen them at blue ridge as well as on tour with Hatebreed. And every time, they bring it. Their 8-song set consisted of:
- Glass Prison
- Wired For Destruction
- Dead Rabbit
- Take Me To Hell
- Behind the Crowd
- Black of My Eyes
- Twelve/Seventeen
- King of the Rats
The band consists of:
Kyle Medina – Vocals
Kyle Carter – Guitar
Kyle Sharpe – Bass
Chris Whited – Drums
BODYSNATCHER
Next up on this night was New York (USA) based Emmure. Emmure has been on the scene since 2003 with a sound that has been called deathcore, metalcore and alternative metal with 8 albums released to date. They hit the stage with evidence of their tenure, even though the last remaining original member is vocalist Frankie Palmeri. They covered most of their catalog in their set, even while omitting some of their more controversial songs. Their set consisted of:
- You Asked for It
- Shinjuku Masterlord
- Smokey
- Gypsy Disco
- Pigs Ear
- Natural Born Killer
- Flag of the Beast
- R2Deepthroat
- Torch
- Nemesis
- Children of Cybertron
- Sunday Bacon
- Solar Flare Homicide
- When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong
The current lineup consists of:
Frankie Palmeri – vocals
Joshua Travis – guitars
Zach Allard – drums
Nicholas Pyatt – bass
EMMURE
And, after the onslaught of the first three bands, up next was We Came as Romans. They got their start in Troy, Michigan in 2005, undergoing several lineup changes with most of the band being together since 2006, with founding member, Dave Stephens. The night’s set starts off with bassist Andy Glass running on the stage to set the tone that this is not a show to sit back and watch. They launched into Darkbloom off their 2022 release of the same name. Darkbloom is the first album released by the band in five years. The set consisted of a good portion of this album, which in and of itself, is not a bad thing, with a good mix of their six-album discography. They had a 14-song set, consisting of:
- Darkbloom
- Doublespeak
- Wasted Age
- Cold Like War
- Plagued
- The Anchor
- Lost in the Moment
- Learning to Survive
- Tracing Back Roots
- Golden
- Hope
- Daggers
Encore
- To Plant a Seed
- Black Hole
The band lineup is:
Joshua Moore – lead guitar, backing vocals
Dave Stephens – lead vocals
Lou Cotton – rhythm guitar
Andy Glass – bass, backing vocals
David Puckett – drums, percussion
WE CAME AS ROMANS
It was a fun evening and one that many will not forget anytime soon. The tour continues through the US through mid-November and WCAR will be heading to the UK in mid-January to kick off their European tour.