Bury Tomorrow - Manchester Academy 23/11/2024

There are a lot of things we get wrong over here in the U.K., but something we definitely get right is Heavy Metal. Tonight British Metalcore titans, Bury Tomorrow, are in Manchester on their final few gigs of 2024 before they begin a new era in 2025. Also on the bill tonight we have As Everything Unfolds, Thornhill and Make Them Suffer. 

First on tonight is As Everything Unfolds. Following the loss of their drummer, it was uncertain as to whether the band would still join the tour but to the relief of the fans they decided they would be playing. Fronted by the fantastic Charlie Rolfe, the band take to the stage to much applause. They make their way through a strong set delivering each song with clear intent. Songs like ‘Flip Side’ are where the band shine brightest with vocalist Charlie showing she’s capable of more than just pitch perfect clean vocals and can in fact deliver brutal screams, all whilst jumping and dancing across the stage. It's a great set and well-received by the already mostly packed out room.

Next up is our first Australian band of the night, Thornhill. Having released what might just be the most exciting song of the year back in February, there’s a lot of excitement for the band's set tonight. Riding high off the back of a small U.K. tour leading up to their support slot with Bury Tomorrow, the band are warmed up and ready to give the crowd a taste of what they’re made of. Kicking things off with a rip-roaring play-through of ‘Raw’, it's not long before the band have the crowd in the palm of their hands.

Their new song ‘nerv’ also has the crowd moving, to the sound of distorted guitars, a punchy beat and a booming bass line to match. It's also the first time for anyone who didn’t catch their tour to hear this song live and judging by the crowd's response, it's a hit. Musically, the band are easily comparable to the likes of Deftones in the way that they shift between heavier, more raw sounding songs to dreamy shoegaze-esque infused riffs and vocals. By the end of their set, the whole room had their arms up, going up and down to fan favourite ‘Obssession’, bringing a huge set to a close.

Our penultimate band tonight, also comes from Australia, they are Make Them Suffer. Having released a new, self-titled, album at the start of November, there is no better time for the band to be back in the UK. Following on from Thornhill's and As Everything Unfolds' tremendous sets is bound to be tough but they take it in their stride, hitting the crowd with their genre-bending, electronically charged sound which is very quick to whip the room up into a frenzy once more. On stage the movement is non-stop from all members, with some entertaining antics from both the guitarist and bassist, whilst off stage, it's a sea of punching fists, a swirling circle pit and on top of it all, waves upon waves of crowd surfers.

Similar to that of Northlane, Make Them Suffer take elements of electronic music and warp it into something else, seamlessly mixing it into their metalcore sound and the results are huge. The breakdowns sound bigger and the atmosphere feels more intense. The use of dual vocals from lead vocalist, Sean Harmanis and co vocalist, Alex Reade takes things to new heights, alternating between the power clean vocals of Alex and the brutal screams of Sean. New songs like ‘Epitaph’ and ‘Oscillator’ sound great alongside the band's older material but it’s ‘Doomswitch’ that really sets the crowd off into a swirling mass of bodies and chaos, all the while the crowd surfers continue to flow across the barrier. It's a high energy set from start to finish, if the crowd weren’t hyped up and ready before, they sure are now.

Tonight's headliner has been a name on the British metalcore scene since they made a name for themselves with the release of their debut album ‘The Union of Crowns’ back in 2012. Since then, they have released another 6 albums and toured the world, cementing themselves as one the UK’s best metalcore bands. The band continue to build on the success of 2023’s ‘The Seventh Sun’ by kicking their tour off in style, by announcing the release date of their 8th album ‘Will You Haunt Me With That Same Patience’. As the lights drop, the stage is illuminated by screens which only elevates the atmosphere in the room. One by one the band take to the stage before starting their set with ‘Abandon Us’. As the intro ends, vocalist Dani Winter-Bates bursts onto the stage before getting stuck into the first vocal line. From the very start this set feels different to what we’ve seen from the band before, and the crowd clearly feels it as they belt out the words ‘You F**cking abandoned us!’ At the top of their lungs.

From here on out, the energy in the room rarely drops, as Dani strides back and forth across the risers and the supporting band members thrash across the stage. Whilst Dani shows the extent of his ferocious screams and raw vocal style, Keyboard and co-vocalist, Tom Prendergast, leads the choruses and clean vocal sections of the songs. It's also clear that the band are keen to showcase newer material in favour of the older songs which is always a risky decision but that doesn’t seem to be an issue here, as the crowd are loving it. Early stand-out songs include a brutal play-through of ‘DEATH (Even Colder)’ which has the room descending back into chaos as the circle pit erupts once again. Late in the set, the crowd are also treated to the atmospheric ‘Majesty’. Lead by Tom’s melodic clean vocals the song continues to build until it bursts into its triumphant end-section, in similar fashion to Malevolence’s ‘Higher Place’.

Also included in tonight's set is a taste of what's to come, with the brutal and vicious ‘Villain Arc’ laying waste to the room before the band's second ever live play-through of the newly released single ‘What if I Burn’. This song sounds absolutely huge live, packed with emotion and delivered with pure excitement from the band. It may have only released the day before but many in the crowd already know the words as they sing back sections of the chorus. The whole set oozes confidence and is played with absolute precision. It's also clear how grateful the band are for the crowd as they express their gratitude for selling out the show and playing their largest sold out headline show to date. Having followed the band from their early EP’s up to this point, it feels exciting seeing the band play tonight's show with such energy and ambition, it does raise questions as to why the band haven’t made it to bigger venues prior to this point. 

From the start of the gig tonight, it's been exciting, with As Everything Unfolds, Thornhill and Make Them Suffer all delivering fantastic sets, followed by an amazing set from Bury Tomorrow. It truly feels like the band have stepped things up a notch. They have always been good live, and always given it their all but tonight's show blew all expectations out of the water, leaving the crowd desperate for me. With the new album on the horizon, it hopefully wont be too long until Bury Tomorrow head back out on tour.