BRING ME THE HORIZON

ARCHITECTS

From the moment they hit the stage Architects show speed, power, aggression and even affection as their slightly slower song, 'Heartburn', breaks up and compliments an energetic set nicely. The opening song, 'Day in Day Out', sets the tone and atmosphere of their set with fiery riffs and vocals, mixing a post hardcore sound with melodic structure. These guys are no stranger to playing big shows and are arguably one of the better bands on the bill. Each member brings a destructive presence, using full extent of the small
space they are given, peering at the tip of the stage with. It's evident that Architects have made a strong impact on the metal world from the avid fans they have here tonight who circle pit and shout every word. A tenacious performance finishing with 'Early Grave' leaves the crowd without a doubt satisfied and pumped for the remaining bands. This is a band not to be missed; a true credit to the UK and modern metal scene.

DATE:

VENUE:

Thursday 28th April 2011

Academy in Birmingham, UK

Reviews & Photography by Joe Winn

PARKWAY DRIVE; ARCHITECTS

PARKWAY DRIVE

If you've still got energy after a thrashing from Architects then the next band on the bill, Parkway Drive from Australia, will certainly blow your head off. Having won an ARIA award last year, the Australian equivalent to a Grammy, for "Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album" with their latest record 'Deep Blue', the Aussie metallers return to the UK to continue their onslaught. The first time I heard of this band was last year on the Imperial Never Say Die tour which they actually headlined - a tour with a line up as awesome as this one, with a mighty 8 bands playing. Ever since that performance I have been hooked on their music. From the moment Parkway Drive launch themselves onto the stage tonight the crowd are going nuts. It seems as though last year's tour has created a huge fan-base for them as the majority of the crowd are shouting their heads off for the duration of their performance, fuelling an atmosphere that could quite easily be mistaken for the headline act. Frontman Winston Mcall leaps around the stage relentlessly throughout each song, which seems to be played at twice its normal tempo. After the first two songs he looks into the crowd with astonishment, cracking a grin with amazement from the worshipping response the band are receiving from the entire venue. It's always nice to see a band show acknowledgement and appreciation towards its fans. Their set ends with encore 'Carrion' and has the whole room shaking from the continuous movement and jumping in the pits. It's going to take something special from Bring Me The Horizon to follow that. I am eagerly waiting for them to come back for a headline tour and their set later this year at Sonisphere.

BRING ME THE HORIZON

The band that is probably talked, debated and argued about most of all in the metal industry today. Bring Me The Horizon raise all sorts of questions but regardless of whether you think they are "metal" or not, they put on a bloody good heavy show. The fact that this show, along with most of the other dates on the tour, are sold out speaks volumes about their popularity. A popularity that is dominated by the youth who are mainly dressed tonight in Oli Sykes' very own clothing label "Drop Dead" and various band shirts. As a huge black curtain is erected over the face of the stage, Calvin Harris manages to find its way onto the PA, being surprisingly recieved with a sing along. Not the response you would usually expect at a metal show. As the curtain drops the crowd go absolutely insane for Oli Sykes and crew which continues throughout the whole performance, but the hero of the show tonight goes out to Architects drummer Dan Searle who has almost single handedly saved Bring Me The Horizon from pulling out of their own tour. Dan has spent the last few hours, except for the time he was on stage with Architects, practising Bring Me The Horizon's entire set after BMTH's drummer had broken his arm playing football. And with only half a day of rehearsing Dan has done an amazing job playing unbelievably tight and consistently. That aside, Bring Me the Horizon's overall stage presence certainly displays the qualities of a headline act - frontman Oli Sykes shows a side of cockiness which lets the room know he is in charge. His vocals are an issue at times but it is unquestionable that he knows how to work the crowd. The instrumentals in songs such as 'Anthem' are applied with breakdowns and carefully placed build ups and have the crowd jumping through the roof and head-banging ferociously. I wasn't sure what to make of this band at first but, if you like heavy music, you should definitely check out their live performance.

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