LIVE REVIEW: Impericon Never Say Die! Tour 2022 @ The Mill, Birmingham
Faced with a shit ton of post-work traffic and a 5.30 pm slot, Team DS have been forced to do our best Usain Bolt at the Olympics impression in order to get to The Mill in Birmingham for this year’s iteration of the Impericon Never Say Die! Tour.
All of this herculean effort is to catch the start of BOUNDARIES (7). Fortunately, the ensuing perspiration is worth it, as the Connecticut five-piece proceed to unveil their irresistible brand of metallic hardcore upon the masses. Expertly wielding a mix of scathing riffs and colossal breakdowns juxtaposed by moments of jaw-dropping – dare we say it – serenity, it’s a set equally laden with aggression and emotion. The heavy/soft dynamic is perfectly illustrated on djent-licked Burying Brightness whilst Matthew McDougal’s orders to “spin this room around!” are dutifully followed.
CABAL’s (8) blackened smorgasbord of crushing blastbeats, frenzied screams and spine-chilling atmospherics is swallowed hungrily by a crowd starving for neck-snapping, downtempo thrills. Between vocalist Andreas Bjulver’s endless appeals for action and a polyrhythmic attack that’s shot through with the odd black metal-imbued refrain for gloriously grim measure, the Copenhagen collective have won Birmingham over. With hands thrust aloft and swaying from the jump-off, its safe to say that progressive metalcorers INVENT ANIMATE (7) have perfected a head turning sound. The band’s affinity for utilising atmosphere and ambience to drive a song is unparalleled, but there’s chugging breakdowns and tap-filled riffs on the go here to incite an impressive circle pit.
Between Darius Tehrani’s bug-eyed stare and the bile-flecked vitriol coating each and every lyric he spits, SPITE (8) are a rabid tour-de-force tonight. The energy in the room is palpable and it takes but a nanosecond of IED for this revved-up crowd to go smashing into one another. The pits open and stay open, heads bang anytime those trademark “BREEEEEE”’s rip through the dense air and nihilistic cut The Root of All Evil pulls zero punches. Blistering drumwork, punishing breakdowns, pure and unadulterated chug – it’s all here to be greedily savoured, with Darius’ preceding scream of “DESTROY SOMETHING!” ensures Kill Or Be Killed lands with devastating force.
CURRENTS’ (7) blend of death-infused metalcore, post-hardcore and punk dissonance sounds as potent as ever, with mainstream-bothering choruses sitting alongside pent-up aggression. Crunching, distorted guitars abound, whilst A Flag To Wave blows the proverbial door off its hinges via an onslaught of frenzied blastbeats and anguished bellowing.
“It feels fucking good to be in the home of Metal!” Eddie Hermida proclaims and judging by the cacophony of noise that follows suit, the feeling is mutual amongst this now swelling audience. As you might expect from one of deathcore’s quintessential and most influential bands, SUICIDE SILENCE (8) are on coruscating form, with a blistering opening salvo of Unanswered and Wake Up sending the already hyper masses into overdrive. Interactions are plentiful and affable, with Eddie encouraging the folks up on the balcony to join the swarming floor (“Dan Kenny will give you a kiss!”) and advising us “it’s time to wake the fuck uppp!” en masse. Half a dozen wall of deaths later, The Mill is transformed into a sea of middle fingers prior to now universal anthems Fuck Everything and still poignant You Only Live Once. The biggest cheers however, are arguably reserved for No Pity For A Coward, as we hurtle back in time to the glory days of the MySpace-era and debut album The Cleansing. Breakdowns, sweep-picking, enamel-peeling screams – it’s the epitome of mad-eyed lunacy and akin to being repeatedly stabbed in the lugholes with a rusty blade. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I slept until six. I was high as fuck last night. I was surprised at how good the weed is here!” Anthony Notarmaso divulges. It also turns out that Josh the merch guy went missing on tour once, and was later found in a random bathroom. His nickname would become Shitnap. Granted, such revelations aren’t exactly how anyone expected tonight’s co-headliners to kick-off, but when your sound fails twice during opener In Flux, what’s a gregarious, hobbling-in-a-surgical boot frontman to do?! Luckily, the third time’s a charm and Minneapolis progressive death metallers AFTER THE BURIAL (9) deliver both Collapse and live staple Behold The Crown with feral, shit-kicking aplomb; bodies fly amongst a plethora of thunderous, down-tuned grooves and eye-popping shred courtesy of Trent Hafdahl and Dan Carle’s double-kick mastery.
Tonight’s setlist is equally split between 2019’s Evergreen and Dig Deep; Exit, Exist – replete with an unrelenting barrage of riffs – still hits with the weight of an anvil whilst Quicksand’s closing MESHUGGAH-esque intricacies are a slam-dunk and the cue for venue-wide shit-eating grins. As curfew approaches, there’s just enough time for a humble Notarmarso to insist we make some noise for the Impericon Never Say Die! Tour lineup and to regale us with the tale of how he broke his big toe (two days before this 20-date tour started!) before sprawling closer A Wolf Amongst Ravens’ throat-wrecking bellows, synth-licks and djent-fuelled intensity rounds off a spectacular 45 minutes. Disruptions be damned – AFTER THE BURIAL remain a vital unit within this stunning Impericon Never Say Die! Tour package.
Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Birmingham from Serena Hill Photography here:
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