A wonderfully eclectic night of rock at a blisteringly hot evening at The Asylum. With music ranging from Hard Prog through to Deathcore, Humanity’s Last Breath, Heart Of A Coward, Future Static and Giant Walker impressed.
Humanity’s Last Breath – Heart Of A Coward – Future Static – Giant Walker
The Asylum, Birmingham – 30 July 2024
Words And Photography: Andy Shaw
Giant Walker
First up were Giant Walker, a Heavy Progressive Rock band from Newcastle who kicked things off with aplomb. Their brand of rock was the perfect way to start the evening and featured a big chunk of their new album, Silhouettes, due for release in September.
Kicking off with two new tracks, Make Me and Time To Waste, really showed off their musical skills to a very appreciative audience. Vocalist Steff Fish has a wonderful stage presence and a stunning voice, and this was shown during their next track, Katoomba.
Another couple of new tracks are followed in Use On You and Round And Round We Go. The rest of the band, Jamie Southern (guitar), Jordan Gregory (bass) and Alex Black (drums), are a really tight-knit unit.
Their short but highly impressive set ended with The Fact In Fiction and am sure we will be seeing a lot more of these guys very soon.
Future Static
Next up was the highly anticipated Birmingham debut of Melbourne quintet Future Static and we were not disappointed. Their set was made up almost exclusively of their debut album Liminality, starting with Chemical Lobotomy and Played Gold.
Leading the way was Amariah Cook, whose vocals were immense, using clean and growling vocals, plus her stage presence was obviously well honed. Their unique brand of emotional heavy music captivated the Asylum crowd, who thoroughly enjoyed their performance.
Next were two more new songs, Waves and Iliad, which hlighlighted all aspects of the band’s capabilities. The band, featuring Kira Neil on bass and backing vocals, drummer Jackson Trudel and guitarists Ryan Qualizza and Jack Smith, were absolutely on it.
The brilliant set ended with Venenosa and the stunning Roach Queen. If you get the chance please get to see them as they are destined for big things.
Heart Of A Coward
Next up were London-based Metalcore outfit Heart Of A Coward, who managed to step up the intensity of the evening to another level. They absolutely blasted through their set, coming on stage to the strains of Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise before exploding into Drown In Ruin.
The crowd were immediately moshing and sweating. Frontman Kaan Tasan prowled the stage and was leading the frenzy. They ploughed through Passenger, Hollow, then Mouth Of Madness.
Bassist Vishal ‘V’ Khetia and Steve Haycock and Carl Ayers, both on guitars, provided an intense backdrop to Tasan’s growling vocals. They played through a range of old and new songs, Monstro, Collapse and Shade followed.
Tasan was still prowling with sweat was dripping off him but he never relented during the performance. Their brilliant set ended with Shade and the brilliant Deadweight. This was truly a really epic set.
Humanity’s Last Breath
Then was headliner time with the awesome Swedish Deathcore outfit Humanity’s Last Breath, famed for their intense live performances. Tonight they delivered the goods.
Kicking off with Väldet from their 2021 album Välde, they started as they meant to go on. Guitarists Buster Odeholm and Calle Thomér appeared backlit from behind banners as they blasted into the song. The enigmatic vocalist Filip Danielsson came onto the stage wearing a hooded garment, and you could just see his long locks and expressive hand gestures.
Humanity’s Last Breath ran into Labyrinthian, Withering and then Ocean Drinker. The lighting was dark, red, and broody, and the vocals were guttural and utterly stunning.
Powerhouse Marcus Rosell on drums provided a thudding backdrop to the expansive sound. The Asylum was in full flow, moshing, moving and loving the evening.
The stunning set ended with Passage, then Earthless before returning for a blockbusting end to the set with Glutton.
Yet another stunning night at The Asylum and a big thanks again to the guys Surprise You’re Dead for putting on another amazing evening.
