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Amongst the fabric of modern metal, few bands are held with such high regard by their fans as Fit For An Autopsy. The group have gotten better and better, with their last two albums credited as some of the best in each year they were released, and their most recent release, ‘The Nothing That Is’, continuing the trend of phenomenal work by the group. After dropping such a hot release, it was of course time for a trip around the UK, and with an all-star lineup joining them to keep the pits full, one hell of a night awaited.
The first of those all-stars on the bill was the almighty Heriot, one of the UK’s best and brightest metal bands. Coming off of the September release of their stunningly good debut album ‘Devoured By The Mouth Of Hell’, they’re now in the enviable position of taking a slew of phenomenal songs on a UK and European tour with a group of excellent artists. However, for those who were thinking that the openers aren’t worth your time - best think again. Heriot’s set was apocalyptically heavy, taking all the sounds of an infernal pit and throwing them into your face as if your mere existence is an insult to them. They had all the heft of a planetary collision, and could quite easily have been headlining the event with the sheer ability displayed all set. Opening with ‘Foul Void’ and ‘Enter The Flesh’ kickstarted their unholy half an hour with a vengeance, and closer ‘Demure’ was a viciously potent finish to one of the best live sets this
year.
Whilst they did have one hell of a show to follow, Washington DC’s Darkest Hour gave out as
good as they got with a melodeath/metalcore show in the vein of the very best of Trivium.
Having also released an album this year, with ‘Perpetual Terminal’ coming out in February, there was a torrent of new music on offer this evening which suited Darkest Hour just fine. Playing a six song set with four songs off of ‘Perpetual Terminal’, the crowd lapped up the new material as readily as the old - old favourite ‘With A Thousand Words To Say But One’ went down a treat right before the newly-released finale ‘Goddess of War, Give Me Something to Die For’ whipped up an enormous round of applause, as well as a fair bit of energy within the crowd too, getting a number of runners and moshers moving.
Playing third on the night was our tour headliner, Fit For An Autopsy. On a tour to support their latest release ‘The Nothing That Is’, the North American bruisers fit four new tracks into their crushing setlist - opener ‘Lower Purpose’, highlight of the set ‘Red Horizon’, the frenetic ‘Saviour Of None / Ashes Of All’ and penultimate song ‘Hostage’. However, they were far from the only brilliant songs played as plenty of songs featured from 2022’s ‘Oh What The Future Holds’, and there was a potent duo of ‘Warfare’ and the title track off of ‘The Sea of Tragic Beasts’. With a set filled with riffs, breakdowns, and gutturals, they rose above the crowd of London’s Electric Brixton like a wave of power and energy, full of rage directed at injustice and violence, further cementing their status as a prime live act.
Finally came the co-headliners for the night, the UK’s Sylosis. Their metalcore riffage complements the style of Darkest Hour earlier in the night, whilst their technical breakdowns fit nicely with Fit For An Autopsy’s brutality, and their slower moments echo the sludgy aggression of Heriot. With a twelve song set like Fit For An Autopsy before them, they ran through a career-spanning setlist going from the old - 2008’s ‘Teras’ and ‘Conclusion of an Age’ - to the new - 2024’s ‘The Path’, including a decimating guest feature from Heriot’s Debbie Gough - and running the gamut of everything in between. Of course, bangers like ‘Calcified’ and ‘I Sever’ were as popular as you’d expect, but every song was received with a chorus of whoops and cheers, which kept the energy high for the entire set. For the rest of the tour they’re acting as the main support, but to see them headline such a venue with such a brilliant supporting lineup was a bizarrely proud moment.
Every single moment of live music on the night was phenomenal, with a litany of memorable moments that will take their time to be forgotten - however, opening bands don’t often show up the entire touring bill in the way that Heriot did. The performance of a lifetime somehow upstaged three much more experienced bands and made them the stars of the night, in a manner that did warrant this second mention. That said, the audience looked like they could’ve gone for a repeat of the whole night before getting bored, and there was not a single face that didn’t have a grin plastered across it as the venue emptied out.
Words: Jake Longhurst
Photos: Sarah Farooque
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