After The Burial, Emmure, Fit For An Autopsy, Artifacts, Fit For A King, Invent Animate In Baltimore!

After The Burial

Monday nights can be a dreadful affair, I despise them. Last Monday night was not just another Monday night, for heavy metal reigned supreme at Baltimore Soundstage. This was my umpteenth concert at the Baltimore Soundstage, and I must admit that I have never seen this venue more crowded on a Monday night. When I reached the venue, over two hundred people (yes, I counted!) were lining up at the door to get in. This is not what I was expecting as only thirty odd people has confirmed “going” to the event page on Facebook, which was surprising to me since this was a night with six strong bands on the bill. I have a love hate relationship with concerts with a long lineup, the plus point being the experience of seeing multiple powerhouse bands on one night, and the major negative being shorter setlists for the bands. On this night, After The Burial was headlining at Baltimore on their Carry The Flame tour, with support from four other excellent touring bands.

Artifacts

The night was kicked off by Artifacts, a progressive metal band from Baltimore, who wasted no time in getting the night rolling with a bunch of catchy songs. Check out their debut album ‘Perceptions’, released last year. I recall the only time I had seen them in a dinky bar in the past, but this was a far better performance with a very energetic performance with excellent engagement of the crowd, a very good start to a great night.

Invent Animate

Invent Animate, a metalcore band from Texas with a tinge of progressive metal, followed Artifacts. The best part of their live performance was the blending of clean vocals with the harsh stuff, and how it is backed up by the guitar work. Check out the latest album ‘Stillworld’ which was released last year, I am impressed with this release. My best wishes to Invent Animate with a hope that they keep going from strength to strength.

Fit For An Autopsy

Fit For An Autopsy released their latest album ‘The Great Collapse’ midway through this tour, just three days before this show. The reviews for the album are still rolling in, garnering rave reviews from multiple magazines, a few calling it one of the best deathcore albums to have been released. Only one song from the new album, “Hydra”, was included in the very short setlist for the night and they delivered it to perfection, with an energetic and tight performance.

Fit For A King

Now comes the review of the live performance of Fit For A King, who took the stage after Fit For An Autopsy. Let me state that this was hands down the finest and the most energetic performance of the night for me. As a matter of fact, in all the countless concerts that I have attended, I have never seen a more energetic performance, period. The live performance of FFAK was frenetic, right from the time they took the stage, with no hint of any slowdown until the moment they left the stage. Ryan O’Leary, the bass guitarist of FFAK, is hands down the most energetic heavy metal musician I have seen on stage, ever. It will be a real shame if I don’t mention his constant kicks, sprints and front hurdle jumps while playing bass. The stage presence of Ryan Kirby and the unbridled energy of O’Leary was breathtaking, on top of a musically excellent performance. If you don’t believe me, check out the photos of their set. I can’t wait to do a concert review with FFAK as the headliner.

Emmure

Emmure played a relatively long set of a dozen odd songs. I did not really know what to expect from them with this new reincarnation of Emmure, following the departure of all the band members bar, the lead singer Frankie Palmeri, a couple of years back. I had noticed tons of people in the crowd who were clamoring for Emmure during the break, and the live performance showed why. Frankie Palmerie, and the band in general, wasted no time in in engaging the crowd while delivering super energetic performance, constantly dashing across the stage. Excellent stuff Emmure, this is what your fans expected and you delivered it to perfection, keep it up!

After The Burial

After The Burial was the next band up, and after the set of Emmure, there was a break for half an hour. So far this has been a relentless affair, with the 15 minutes long breaks between the bands so far. Multiple songs from their latest release ‘Dig Deep’ were included in the setlist, with a handful of songs from their earlier releases. Anthony Notarsamo’s vocals were flawless, an album quality performance, and with the guitar work impeccable. The levels of the crowd, pent up during the break, were through the roof, with a ton of people were crowd surfing and landing inside the barrier separating the stage despite the presence of multiple security personnel inside it. This was the first time seeing After The Burial, and this show displayed why the Twin Cities based band have cemented their position as one of the finest deathcore bands around. This tour has come to an end, I hope you caught them on one of their 24 stops on this tour. If not, then in future if any of these bands play a show nearby your location, you should probably check them out. Keep following our page, we will be bringing you many more reviews of exciting concert in future!