Annotations of an Autopsy Where do I begin? Annotations Of An Autopsy were one of my gateways to the more brutal side of metal as a teenager. Despite them taking a hiatus just before I was actually old enough to attend one of their shows, making me wait until their reunion in 2017, it’s like they never left the scene. They delivered exactly what you expect from a band of their calibre. Heavy riffs, disgustingly low guttural screams and chugs to melt even the sturdiest of faces. I’m crossing every finger, and toe, that they tour again soon, as this was not one to be missed.
Suicide Silence Introduced with a crowd singalong to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”, Suicide Silence took full command of the stage from the second they stepped onto it. The fans who’ve been there since the beginning, watched frontman Eddie Hermida continue to pay homage to late vocalist Mitch Lucker with the ferocity of his screams. One of my favourite things about Suicide Silence is that, despite being together for 20 odd years, they’re not shy to play songs from their catalogue that are a couple of decades old. Fan favourites such as “You Only Live Once”, “Unanswered”, and “No Pity for a Coward”, blew the roof off the venue. Every song had pit after pit, and was deserving of the energy from the crowd. Suicide Silence continue to prove their worth as one of the most definitive metal bands of our generation.
Dying Fetus Despite having their set cut short due to a medical emergency in the crowd, what we saw of Dying Fetus was nothing short of incredible. How 3 men with static microphones can create so much stage presence, continues to blow my mind. This genre defying band was met with crowd surfer after crowd surfer, and you could feel the entire temperature of the building rise as more and more mosh pits were created. With song titles to match the vulgarity of the band name (check out their Spotify if you don’t believe me), these metal giants gave Birmingham everything they had and more, and it was a privilege to watch them continue to dominate the scene.
Slaughter to Prevail a fitting tribute to Birmingham, Slaughter to Prevail played Black Sabbath over the PA before coming on stage with immense presence. The unmistakeable masks of all members glistened amongst the blue haze. Naturally the crowd were insatiable to hear what is one of the genres most notorious artists currently. They weren’t disappointed. As soon as the first chugs of Bonebreaker kicked in, the room became a swarm of bodies. No Slaughter to Prevail set is complete with frontman “Alex Terrible’s” iconic acapella vocals during the silence before “Vikings” breakdown. This was unsurprisingly met with raucous cheers from the crowd, and rightly so. I’m still not sure how he does it, and will forever be jealous of the fact that he can!
An incredible show from start to finish, it comes as no surprise that fans are calling for Slaughter to Prevail to headline Bloodstock festival. Controversy aside, Slaughter to Prevail have certainly cemented themselves into metals heaviest hitters, and rightly so…