Tonight was a blockbusting night of Deathcore at The Asylum with bands from Europe and The States with sets from Distant, Extortionist, Dagger Threat and Abbie Falls.
Distant, Extortionist, Dagger Threat and Abbie Falls
The Asylum, Birmingham – 21 May 2023
Words and Photography: Andy Shaw
Abbie Falls
First up, Abbie Falls are a Prague-based 5-piece band mixing elements of Metalcore, Hardcore, Deathcore and a bit of drum and bass thrown in for good measure. Kicking off with Absolution from their Hell Is Other People EP, the scene was set with crashing guitars and vocals and strobe lighting.
They go straight into No Ones Above, then Parasite, with frontman Tomas looking like he is thoroughly enjoying himself, along with Guitarists Lukas and Adam dancing and jumping around the stage.
The Asylum crowd are loving the opening band, with the Hell Is Other People next, followed by Pitch Black. This exciting set ends with Mayday, then Chaos Disciples, in a great start to the night
Dagger Threat
Next up are Dagger Threat from Hamburg, an exciting Hardcore-Metal Crossover band. With frontman Tim Rogle prowling the stage from the off, he gets The Asylum crowd moving.
Kicking off with Cut The Cord, we certainly know what we are in for. Guitarists Dennis Vogt and Nicolas Hoff create a pulverising sound. Next is Manic, followed by Hyde, and then Jaded. Dager Threat never let up the intensity.
This frantic performance was turning out to be a really enjoyable set. Hollow was followed by a blockbusting version of Crooked Mirror. The set ended with Coffin Nail, then Inner Beast. What a brilliant performance.
Extortionist
Then was time for Extortionist, a Deathcore from Idaho. They exploded onto the stage, leaving nothing to chance. Frontman Ben Hoagland was a striking figure with his shock of blonde hair and soaring vocals.
Blasting through songs old and new, they are masters of their art and got the crowd bouncing and dancing around. We will be seeing more of these guys in the near future.
Distant
Then was headliner time, Distant, a down-tempo/Deathcore band from Rotterdam. Their set mainly contained songs from their latest album Heritage, and they kicked off with a trio of songs from that album – Paradigm Shift, Born of Blood and Exofilth.
They really are a stunning band live with the pounding Deathcore beats and the stunning vocals of Alec Grnja. Once again, the walls of The Asylum were being smashed by the throbbing, booming sounds.
Next was Hellmøuth from the Aeons of Oblivion album, then the brilliant Orphan Of Blight from Heritage, followed by False Gods. Grnja was encouraging the crowd, and they were duly obliging as a mosh pit opened up.
The set ended with A Sentence to Suffer, Oedipism and Tyrannotophia before leaving the stage. They returned with a stunning version of Aeons Of Oblivion, then left to a cacophony of noise.