What a way to start 2023. A fantastic night of Deathcore featuring a mix of bands from around the globe certainly shook a sold-out Asylum in Birmingham to its foundations. Shadow Of Intent, Enterprise Earth, Angelmaker and To The Grave would offer a stunning evening where we could witness the best of the best that Deathcore has to offer.
Shadow Of Intent – Enterprise Earth – Angelmaker – To The Grave
The Asylum, Birmingham – 11 January 2023
Words and Photography: Andy Shaw
This would turn out to be an evening that all were glad it was raining when we left to cool us down after a breathtaking evening.
Shadow Of Intent
Shadow Of Intent are undoability one of the finest purveyors of Deathcore, and they certainly showed it this evening. We had waited three years for this protracted tour to promote their new album, The Elegy. They began with two tracks from that album, Farewell and Saurian King, in what was a truly stunning start.
Vocalist Ben Duerr was straight into the action, wetting his long locks and swirling them around spectacularly. The Asylum was jumping and moshing, thoroughly into everything the band were doing. Shadow Of Intent swirled into Barren And Breathless Macrocosm from their Melancholy album and The Heretic Prevails from Reclaimer.
Chris Wiseman is a stunning and vastly underrated guitarist, playing fast Deathcore on the more intricate parts of their music, showing him at his best when playing Of Fury, another new track. Back in time next for a track from their first album Primordial, The Prelude To Bereavement and The Prophet’s Beckoning from Reclaimer.
Shadow Of Intent brought us back to their stunning new album Elegy, treating us to three more tracks The Coming Fire, Blood In The Sands Of Time and Reconquest. These fantastic live renditions of stunning songs show why they are the doyens of Deathcore.
The final song of their set was the title track of their Melancholy album. They returned for a stunning version of Malediction, which left the crowd breathless, hot and sweaty.
Enterprise Earth
Enterprise Earth from Spokane, Washington, kicked off their set with a new song, the epic Psalm Of Agony, with charismatic frontman Travis Worland looking and definitely sounding the part. Worland was Enterprise Earth’s touring frontman and was given the job full-time after former vocalist Dan Watson left the band in April 2022.
Next was Scars Of The Past from their Luciferous album, and this really showed off the virtuoso guitar playing of Gabe Mangold, stunning, utterly stunning. Then into a song from their latest album, The Chosen, Reanimate // Disintegrate and straight into the new single Death Magick, which is a spectacular wall of sound.
The Asylum crowd were reaching fever pitch, the mosh pit was in full effect, and the atmosphere was amazing. The new, unreleased song, A World Without A, was next and had a slightly false start before they regrouped and smashed it.
Dakota Johnson, on bass, was a striking figure on stage and beautifully complimented Enterprise Earth’s amazing sound. They Have No Honor led to You Couldn’t Save Me, both from their latest album, The Chosen, for the finish. A wonderful set of deep booming riffs making everything vibrate.
Angelmaker
Second up are Angelmaker, a six-piece Deathcore band from North Vancouver, Canada and who are known for their amazing dual vocalist combination of Casey Tyson-Pearce and Mike Greenwood. From the get-go, they were a dynamic combination leading from the front. They started with two tracks from their latest album, Sanctum, Slaughter and Vengeance.
A fantastic start to their set was followed by Bloodthirster, then into the stunning What I Would Give, showing their true ferocity and the amazing musicianship of guitarists Colton Bennett and Matt Perrin.
The Asylum crowd were in full circle pit mode now and loving every second of Angelmaker’s set. Next up is Hollow Heart, then a brilliant version of Radiance In The Light Of A Dying Sun from their third album AngelMaker. Their fantastic set finished with Leech and left the crowd wanting more.
To The Grave
The evening kicked off with To The Grave, who hail from Sydney, New South Wales. They exploded onto the stage, starting with a couple of new songs from their upcoming album Director’s Cuts – Warning Shot and Red Dot Sight. The Aussie five-piece are led by frontman Dane Evans, who is a fireball of energy both on and off the stage.
They then went into a couple of tracks from their second album, Epilogue in Terrorist Threat and Miserable Summer, during which Dane jumped off the stage to interact closer with the crowd. They continued to maintain their intensity with twin guitarists John Flaws and Tom Cadden together with Matt Clarke on Bass and Simon O’Malley on Drums, providing a blockbusting start to the evening.
Next was Axe Of Kindness from Director’s Cuts finishing off with Wastage from their first album, Global Warning. We will be seeing and hearing a lot more from this band as the year progresses.
