The Asylum, Birmingham, provided another rip-roaring evening of blockbusting Heavy Metal that was a real assault on the senses as Tallah, BVDLVD, and Nameless delivered sets that were both loud and uncompromising.
Tallah – BVDLVD – Nameless
The Asylum, Birmingham – 9 July 2024
Words And Photography: Andy Shaw
Tallah
Tallah, from Pennsylvania, are the band who coined the term Nu-Core, combining Nu-Metal and hardcore influence in their music and performance.
Tonight, they brought a performance that was a complete assault on the senses. The music was loud and uncompromising enhanced by lighting that was a mix of strobes and vivid greens and reds.
The set started with Stomping Grounds, Placenta and Telescope, all of which got the crowd moshing and creating as wild an atmosphere off stage as it was on stage.
Cross-dressing frontman Justin Bonitz gave everything he could during the performance. With Vanilla Paste next followed by How Long? His intensity did not let up.
Together with Derrick Schneider, guitar, Max Portnoy, drums and Alex Snowden, rhythm guitar, this was an amazing powerhouse combination.
This extraordinary set ended with We, The Sad, Murder Seed and For The Recognition before leaving the stage to a rapturous ovation.
Tallah with a trio of songs from their first album Matriphagy, [Redacted], No One Should Read This and finally Overconfidence. This is a must-see band. If you are a fan of Extreme Metal, you should experience their incredible live performance.
BVDLVD
Next up was Josh Pearman, aka BVDLVD, who was here to really shake up the evening with a fantastic set of Trap Metal and a bit of hip-hop thrown in for good measure.
Starting with Scorn, then into Inevitable and Who Am I, both from his latest album Absence, he was quickly into his stride, jumping and dancing around the stage with regular visits to the front of the crowd to get them involved.
The band were as intense as he was and pounded out some amazing beats to keep up the high-octane pace of the set. Next was Knock Knock, then into Dead That, which had The Asylum crowd hooked on the unrelenting pace of BVDLVD’s performance.
The set ended with Femme, then Prison, finishing with Don’t Look At Me.
This combination of Extreme Metal and rap is becoming a really new sound on the Metal scene, and BVDLVD is going to be a real star in the not-too-distant future.
Nameless
First up, local band Nameless brought their brand of modern Hardcore to The Asylum with a really powerful set. The evening kicked off with Worth Of Man, followed by the brilliant new single Shapeshifter.
Frontman Jordan has an amazing vocal range, giving out pounding growls followed by some soaring vocals. Devil In Us was next, giving them the chance to show off some of their true Metalcore credentials.
This was turning into a fantastic short but sweet set by a band with a growing reputation for brilliant live performances. The set ended with Spin Kick, then Finger On The Pulse, warming up The Asylum crowd nicely for the rest of the evening.
