LIVE REVIEW: Bury Tomorrow @ O2 Ritz, Manchester

When you think about British metal bands that have risen through the ranks and gone on to possess worldwide acclaim, a few key players come to mind: perhaps you think of ARCHITECTS or BRING ME THE HORIZON, whose success has warranted the jump from theatres to arena shows. The next act who are making huge strides towards becoming an arena band are meteoric metalcore outfit BURY TOMORROW, who are selling out large venues up-and-down the country on their biggest tour to date. With 36 CRAZYFISTS, CANE HILL, and CRYSTAL LAKE in tow, BURY TOMORROW lay waste to the sold-out O2 Ritz in Manchester in what will certainly be a night to remember.

Kicking the night off with a bang was Japanese metalcore outfit CRYSTAL LAKE. Despite chatter around the room indicating immense anticipation for CANE HILL to take the stage, CRYSTAL LAKE delivered a set which seemed to radiate through the crowd like a wave and grasped their attention from beginning to end. The band delivered a set that was equally as energetic as it was tactful – a fact that was noticed by the people still filing into the venue, their faces immediately fixated with the assault emanating from the stage. By the time they capped their set off with their 2015 track Prometheus, the atmosphere in the room had been kicked into high gear. CRYSTAL LAKE proved to be the perfect act to get the cold room excited, receptive, and ready for the following bands and provided them with an exceptional springboard for them to build off.

Rating: 6/10

Playing cuts from their latest album Too Far Gone, along with some standouts from their diverse catalogue, CANE HILL well and truly took the atmosphere to the next level. Ruthlessly laying waste to the venue with volatile tracks such as Lord of the Flies and It Follows, right from the get-go the band whipped the crowd into a glorious furore – the intensity of which rising throughout the set’s entire duration.

Frontman Elijah Witt was absolutely on top of his game, bounding around the stage and blasting out his lyrics to the crowd – the majority of whom were shouting the words right back to him. Even though the band clearly had a lot of their own fans in attendance, they without a doubt will have made life-long fans of those who weren’t familiar with them before.

Occupying the penultimate slot of their set was the absolutely thumping Fountain of Youth from the album Smile. The furious, full-throttle intensity of this track incited the crowd into a riotous frenzy, bouncing wall-to-wall in unison. Without giving the crowd even a moment of respite the band launched straight into the last song of their set, and titular track of their latest album, Too Far Gone. CANE HILL delivered a set which completely smashed every expectation placed on them and set the bar incredibly high for the rest of the night. 2018 has been an incredible year for the band, and if this performance is anything to go by, 2019 is going to be their year.

Rating: 8/10

With the crowd still reeling over CANE HILL‘s incredible set, it was time for the iconic 36 CRAZYFISTS to raise the bar even further. Announcing their arrival with the opening song from their latest album Lanterns, Death Eater made the whole room erupt right from the opening riff. Chances are if you’re a fan of metalcore, or metal in general, you’ll be very familiar with the band already – and that was certainly true here. Every word of every track was being passionately shouted back towards the stage, and those who weren’t singing were either crowdsurfing or wheel-kicking around the venue.

The entirety of the set was drenched with immense musical acumen and awareness, and delivered with the kind of finesse that only veterans of the craft can muster. Despite this show being at the tail-end of the tour, Brock Lindow‘s vocals were remarkably indistinguishable from their records – the only telling factor was the striking, off-the-cuff ad-libs and embellishments keeping the established melodies fresh.

After playing cuts from everything from A Snow Capped Romance and Lanterns, to Bitterness The Star and The Tide and its Takers, the band ended their set with their most recognisable track, Slit Wrist Theory. In what was the cherry on top of an incredible performance, the finale gave the security at the front barrier a frantic workout as masses of people were compelled to surf their way up to the front. 36 CRAZYFISTS have endured a long and storied career as the very glue that holds the metalcore genre together – and it’s clear to see why. Their performance set the room alight, with the crowd’s excitement and enthusiasm manifesting in a relentless outpouring of energy in an effort to repay the band for their dazzling display of musicianship. Even at the seventh album mark, 36 CRAZYFISTS show no signs of creative fatigue and prove to all who witnessed that there is still a lot more in the tank.

Rating: 9/10

With the room now packed with 1500 people positively buzzing for the main act, it was time for BURY TOMORROW to grace the stage. Drenched in purple light, the band took to the stage as the intro to No Less Violent rang out around the venue and the loudest cheer of the night broke out. As soon as the drums and guitar kicked in, the atmosphere in the sold-out room detonated into unrivalled chaos.

The screamed vocals of frontman Dani Winter-Bates were offset brilliantly by the clean chorus sections sang by guitarist Jason Cameron and this perfect back-and-forth created a unity which is unrivalled by most of their contemporaries. Passing the vocal duties between the two of them, each with their distinct vocal styles, gave the performance an edge which should be commended at every opportunity – this band is a close-knit unit, with each member standing at the forefront of their own respective fields. After the opening track, the band jumped right into some of their older material from the albums Earthbound and The Union of Crowns. By this time, the room was a sea of smiling faces singing along to some of their oldest and most cherished songs. At points it felt like the floor was going to give way from the weight of the capacity crowd jumping in unison, from wall-to-wall and front-to-back.

Moving back to material from Black Flame, the band launched into the fast-paced More Than Mortal and new fans, and old fans rejoiced and it gave their all. There was talk about this tours crowdsurfing record and whether Manchester could set the bar even higher – at this point droves of fans were putting their bodies on the line to firmly cement Manchester at the top of the list.

Over the course of the performance, there was a real sense of togetherness and goodwill between old fans and new fans alike. Towards the end of the set, Dani encouraged everyone to look after the person next to them, put your arm around them and jump in unison to Last Light. Normally this kind of crowd work gets minimum participation from the audience, but BURY TOMORROW fans are different. Everyone took part and refused to let go until the song was all but done – this proved to be a refreshing change not often seen at similar gigs.

There are no two ways about it, BURY TOMORROW have firmly cemented their place amongst the best metal bands the UK has to offer. They have come along way since their inception and look set to continue their steady rise to the top – maybe even making the jump to arenas in the not-so-distant future. All the bands, and the capacity crowd gave their all and more than proved that the black flame burns bright in Manchester.

Rating: 9/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Manchester from Sabrina Ramdoyal Photography here: