LIVE REVIEW: Fit For An Autopsy @ The Mill, Birmingham
Stepping into Birmingham’s sprawling The Mill venue on a late Saturday afternoon, there’s a humid and distinctively heavy feeling hanging in the air right now. Could it be pinpointed towards the rather, ahem, fragrant throng of black and leather-clad-despite-the-heat punters gathering in the main hall? Quite possibly. Is it the rabid anticipation regarding the return of headliners FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY to UK shores after a two year absence? Almost certainly. Throw in the fact that the New Jersey deathcore innovators – arguably on career-defining form following Oh What the Future Holds’ release earlier this year – are coming fully loaded with four of the filthiest supports to be mercilessly spat forth from the tech/death metal maelstrom, and it’s safe to say that excitement (and expectations!) are at their most vertiginous.
Riding in on a chaotic wave of polyrhythmic intricacies, atmosphere and thumping heaviness, SENTINELS’ opening set is the epitome of a swirling musical vortex. Serving up a tsunami of tech-addled cuts from current album Collapse By Design, the aural barrage kicks off via Epitaph’s cacophony of distorted riffery and chug-centric breakdowns. Frontman Josh Hardiman stalks the stage, his enamel-peeling vocals encouraging this still modest crowd to test their neck-snapping capabilities. Such an ability is further put to the test during a standout rendition of Albatross which – quite frankly – is so obscenely potent that it could be bottled and sold to cure any and all types of sexual dysfunction. Guttural blasts are dispatched with consummate ease amidst a jarring plethora of mind-bending grooves and ambient passages which quickly send these onlookers into overdrive. Weaving melody and menace with aplomb, Embers’ dissonant fretwork closes out these progressive metalcore djentlemens’ outing – further proving that when this five-piece take a stage, they take it and own it with technically astute style.
Rating: 7/10
When a band splices death metal and hardcore together with the kind of fire and soul-rendering heaviness that GREAT AMERICAN GHOST do, the crowd relishes water being chucked at them from the jump-off. Replete with serrated rhythms, vitriol-laced screams and bowel-rumbling beatdowns, the one-two salvo of Kingmaker and No Savior ensures the Boston wrecking crew begin their thirty-plus minutes off in gloriously volatile fashion. Now synonymous with spitting furious bile (“Careful what you wish for you fucking cowards!”) at the world’s countless injustices, Ethan Harrison leads his raging charge into the chaos; he’s already launched himself into the audience by the time downtuned stomper Womb lands and is practically foaming at the mouth prior to Death Forgives No One – his instruction-cum-reminder of “Birmingham bang your fuckin’ heads, you paid whatever to!” followed to the snarling nth degree. Can such aggressive bludgeon even be equalled? In a word, yes. As Torture World (complete with a cameo from ENTERPRISE EARTH’s Travis Worland) and chuggernaut Altar of Snakes riles up the pit for a bloodthirsty climax.
Rating: 8/10
Such frenzied swagger makes for a high bar, yet it takes but one joyful bellow of “how the fuck are you Birmingham?” to send those onlookers into fist-pumping, feet-stamping ecstasy as ENTERPRISE EARTH unleash Reanimate//Disintegrate – all pummelling low-end fury and off-kilter rhythmic patterns – and You Couldn’t Save Me in blistering succession. This is moshpit ammunition in its most devastating form and it’s frequently illustrated this evening, with bodies smashing relentlessly into one another when the room splits during monstrous statement of intent Where Dreams Are Broken. Cue the influx of clattering drums, hellish sub-drops, tremolo riffs and Travis Worland’s eye-wateringly high shrieks – there’s not only a renewed sense of blackened atmosphere to enjoy here, there’s also a newfound confidence to the deathcore collective’s sonic arsenal. The inclusion of new track Psalm of Agony (which is being debuted live for the first time on this tour) is further proof to the aforementioned; unfurling at hyper-speed, packing a cornucopia of melodic guitars and grooves and perhaps most significantly, delivering up the biggest pit of the set. There’s just enough time for The Failsafe Fallacy’s wall of death to (almost) produce blood on the ground, with the ‘EARTH boys once again giving blistering adage to the concept of sleep being for the dead.
Rating: 8/10
“We’re the kings of fucking British death metal and we need your help here!” INGESTED’s Jason Evans implores to the now packed-out room. But on the strength of abrasive BM-imbued bangers The List and No Half Measures, one would argue that the Mancunian death/slam merchants require zero assistance in which to bring down the ten-ton hammers. Decked out in his trademark studded leather and serving eye-popping belligerence with every deliciously nasty note, he’s as appreciative of the band’s FOH as he is the front-and-centre fans rattling the barrier. Packing the kind of face-contorting ferocity and blackened blastbeats that could make the Dalai Lama himself want to spin-kick your gran, Rebirth rewards at every cranium-rattling turn, leaving very little room to take a heaving breath before the venue splits for the millionth time tonight. Jason insists that he wants to see “fucking chaos” and Birmingham does not disappoint. Slam, bam, thank you ma’am – Impending Dominance is chock-full of chugging grooves and filthy bass drops whilst bad-to-the-bone closer Dead Seraphic Forms pulls zero punches. Unbridled, classic death metal in its purest (read brutal) format, INGESTED know how to deliver sonic annihilation in a live setting.
Rating: 8/10
Relentlessly crushing and unflinching in its purpose, the music of New Jersey’s FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY has long ticked the proverbial boxes for fans of extreme metal. That said, lyrically there’s long been a message lying at the core of this band’s aggressive heart – resulting in music that is impassioned as it is intense. And the ensuing reaction from the onlookers here is the epitome of this description. It takes approximately one hair-raising refrain and impassioned scream from frontman Joe Badolato on opener Oh What The Future Holds to send fists skywards before bodies go flying towards the stage in waves during The Sea of Tragic Beasts; its gut-punching riffery making for an absolutely crushing segue. Whilst there’s no disputing the showmanship on display here tonight (these guys use every inch of The Mill’s stage and own it like it was their own), what is equally impressive is how the set continually shifts and twists, never falling into repose.
From the expansive, spine-tingling atmosphere and monstrous grooves of GOJIRA-esque Far from Heaven (cue some truly startling leadwork from axeman Patrick Sheridan) to Warfare’s no-nonsense, adrenaline-fuelled deathcore simplicity, this is the kind of live onslaught that hits all the right spots. Cries of “Too many graves / Not enough shovels!” ring out in unison during a frenzied rendition of Pandora; it’s Gothenburg-influenced riffery offset by that serene solo mid-track before set closer Your Pain Is Mine grabs throats with reckless abandon. The band’s engagement with the crowd is consistent – a quality which comes in handy just prior to encore Two Towers. Technical issues (which looks to be a lack of functioning guitar signal) sees FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY try their hand at some brief on-stage banter. Badolato’s humorous enquiry of “How many elders do we have in this room tonight?” is met with laughter as is an impromptu singalong to 80’s rock belter Livin’ on a Prayer. Simply put, tonight is yet another eargasm-worthy performance, as FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY continue to break down those once immovable boundaries of extreme music.
Rating: 9/10
Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Birmingham from Em Coulter Photography here:
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