After The Burial and Suicide Silence headlined the Impericon Never Say Die Tour that is going all over Europe. Descending on The Mill, in Birmingham, this gave us all the chance to see two of the most influential bands of their genre up close and personal.
After The Burial – Suicide Silence
The Mill, Birmingham. 11 November 2022.
Words and Photography: Andy Shaw
Suicide Silence
The first headliner was Suicide Silence and to say this was an intense 45-minute set is to do it an injustice. The Deathcore band from Riverside, California, hit the stage with all guns blazing and a truly awesome version of Unanswered from their 2007 Cleansing album. Eddie Hermida is a brilliant frontman and prowls the stage with an intensity only matched by his stunning vocals.
Next was Wake Up from No Time To Bleed, followed by a new track, You Must Die. Ernie Iniguez is a blockbusting drummer keeping the ferocity of sound going. Eddie asks The Mill crowd, “have you heard of a wall of death? Good, lets separate. The only rule is you wait for me to say go.”
The crowd divides, and they start Disengage. Eddie shouts, “1…2….3… Go,” and boom, the crowd go for it. The intensity never lets up, with Fuck Everything followed by a song from the latest album, Become The Hunter – Love Me To Death. The fans are loving it. A circle pit forms, and it’s an amazing sight.
Guitarists Chris Garza and Mark Heylmun, together with bass player Dan Kenny are a bundle of energy, and their wonderful musicianship is a joy to behold. Then another new song, Capable Of Violence, is followed by You Only Live Once. The set ends with No Pity For A Coward. This was truly fantastic, with energy filled both on and off stage.
After The Burial
Tonight was After The Burial’s turn to headline, and this was a night where things happened that I had never seen before. The band also commented that they had never had it happen, either. Primed and ready, intro music playing After The Burial launched into Flux from their latest album Evergreen. The crowd are loving it. The band is in full flow, and the song stops. Have they messed it up? Nope, the power had gone on the amps, leaving only the mics at the front of the stage with power.
Frontman Anthony Notarmaso apologises and has a brief chat with the crowd. Power is restored, and Anthony says, “let’s pretend we have gone off stage and let’s start again.”
Take two, and the band launch into Flux. 30 seconds later, no power and silence. This time it starts to look terminal. A battery of stage crew is on stage trying to restore the power. Anthony decides to turn this into an After The Burial version of Question Time by asking the crowd to throw some questions at them. “When is the new album coming out” someone shouts. He says, “wouldn’t you like to know. We start recording after Christmas”. After a few more questions, a guitar is heard loud and clear. Fingers crossed, we are on.
Take three, and yes, you guessed it, they launch into Flux. This looks better and wow, they are as good as I have ever heard them. Straight into Collapse from Dig Deep, Trent Hafdahl is awesome on his eight-string guitar and a real musical genius. We then get three songs from their latest album, the first being Behold The Crown, then Exit, Exist.
“Covid got me thinking of some real dark stuff from the past,” Anthony says. “It came to get me, and I spiralled down to a place that wasn’t safe. I needed help and have been seeing a therapist once a week, so you are not alone. There is no stigma in asking for help. I am on this stage to say it’s ok to not be ok. This is a song about someone taking their own life when they didn’t have to. This is Quicksand….”
Dan Carle, drums and Adrian Oropeza, bass, provide a solid backbeat to proceedings, and they are into another song from Dig Deep, Lost In The Static.
Notarmaso explains why he is hobbling around in a surgical boot. “Can’t move very well with das boot,” he says. “When at home prior to the tour, we said let’s go to the park and smoke weed. Then, deciding to skate home, I hit a bump and broke my big toe. Yes, my big toe, two weeks before the tour.”
Two more fantastic songs finish the 45-minute set, Mire then a spectacular A Wolf Amongst Ravens. After The Burial never disappoint and considering the disrupted start to the show, it was incredible.
