Never Say Die Tour (As Blood Runs Black, The Word Alive, Deez Nuts, Emmure and Suicide Silence) 9/10/11

Due to the commercial success of the Never Say Die tour in the past, this year it was back with even more of a bang! Despite the resemblance to a Justin Bieber song, there was no pop here! Sponsored by Impericon, the headliners this year were Suicide Silence, and it definitely was a concert to remember.

Due to transport issues I missed the first two bands (Vanna and The Human Abstract), so the first band I saw were As Blood Runs Black. Despite not knowing many of their songs, they instantly engaged with the audience and offered a fresh new deathcore sound. The lead singer, Sonik Garcia, seemed extremely grateful to be presented with such an energetic crowd, and they played songs such as ‘In Dying Days’ and ‘Divided’. They had strong guitarists and definitely are a band to watch out for in the future.

The next band on were The Word Alive, an American metalcore band from Arizona. I was slightly sceptical when I saw their name on the line up as on record they didn’t seem as ‘heavy’ as the other bands listed, however, they sounded a lot heavier with more screaming live and performed amazingly well. Their performance of ‘2012’ was astounding and the crowd seemed to love them.

Deez Nuts, a hardcore punk band from Australia, are renowned for their explicit lyrics and energetic stage shows. Despite their slightly negative reputation, they were really fun to watch and engaged the audience well. Their crowd chants made them more accessible to the audience (for example “I hustle every day, every day, every day!” and the unpleasant “Your mother should have swallowed you!”). The lead singer had a strong voice that filled the venue and the mosh pits were intense.

The next band on were Emmure. Love them or hate them, you have to admit they were amazing live. The lead singer Frankie Palmeri has an indescribable voice and he was fascinating to watch. They played songs such as ‘I Thought You Met Telly and Turned Me Into Casper’, ‘Demons with Ryu’ and ‘R2 Deepthroat’. It really was amusing hearing the whole crowd shout “The next time you see her, ask your girl what my dick tastes like!” Things like this would only happen at a metal gig! I was pleasantly surprised with Emmure’s setlist as it had a wide mixture of songs to engage old and new fans. The passion Frankie displayed on stage was intense and I highly recommend that if you haven’t already to check them out.

The final band on were called Suicide Silence. They opened with ‘Wake Up’, which definitely did wake up any of the crowd that were exhausted from such a long night of metal! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a crowd go so mental as they did during ‘You Only Live Once’, the latest single off ‘Black Crown’. Mitch Lucker proved anyone in the crowd who seemed doubtful of Suicide Silence’s musical ability wrong and his energy was infectious. I wouldn’t be surprised if ‘Fuck Everything’ became many people’s new anthem last night as it was an amazing demonstration of how metal music can be used to portray your emotions and rid yourself of anger.

All in all, it was a fantastic night with an incredible line up that helped introduce metal fans into new bands and genres. All I can say is bring on next year!