Fans of technical metal were in for a treat tonight as Born Of Osiris brought their current UK tour to Manchester. After The Burial, Betraying The Martyrs and Buried In Verona rounded off tonight’s line up with some of the most impressive bands working their way up the metal scene right now.
‘Openers Buried In Verona (7) are stuck in the unfortunate position of playing 15 minutes after doors open meaning only a few early arrivals are there to watch them. It’s a shame because Buried In Verona continue Australia’s trend of producing great metalcore bands. Frontman Brett Anderson’s aggression can be felt in every song while guitarist Daniel Gynn and bassist Sean Gynn continuously try to whip the crowd into a frenzy. Towards the end of their set pits start to open and Buried In Verona’s hard work is finally rewarded.
As Betraying The Martyrs (7) came on stage frontman Aaron Matts was mysteriously absent. With no sign of him the band pushed on with keyboardist and backing vocalist Victor Guillet taking over as frontman. He made for a decent stand in but clearly struggled to both front the band and perform his usual duties on the keyboard. Fortunately by the end of their second song Aaron Matts appeared from the crowd and took over. After several apologies to both the band and the fans Betraying The Martyrs finally showed how good they really are live. The band seem to have an endless supply of energy and Aaron Matts vocals sound brilliant over the bands mix of symphonic metal and breakdowns. Despite the problems at the start of the set Betraying The Martyrs proved they can be capable of putting on a great show.
After The Burial (8.5) suffer no such issues and easily put on the performance of the evening. Based on the crowd reaction you’d almost believe this was a headline set from After The Burial. Pits are open from the first song and fans scream every word back at Anthony Notarmaso with ewer tracks from their latest album Wolves Within get as good a reaction as their older material. While their performance might not be as energetic as Betraying The Martyrs was, After The Burial put on such a tight show and their performance matches the intensity and technicality of the music.
Born Of Osiris (7.5) cannot quite match this quality but they still end the night on a high. The band blast through an hour long set largely focused on their latest album Tomorrow We Die Alive which might have divided fans upon it’s release due to it’s bigger focus on electronic elements but these songs just add some variety to Born Of Osiris’ live show. And when he’s not playing keyboardist Joe Buras is either in the crowd or hanging off the ceiling adding a chaotic element to their live show. The rest of the band perform with a ridiculous amount of energy and Ronnie Canizaro’s vocals are brilliant tonight. However it’s definitely the older tracks that get the best reaction tonight with more fans singing and moshing to these. Born Of Osiris did everything they needed to tonight but it never quite matched the heights set by After The Burial before them.
Overall tonight will hardly be a contender for gig of the year, but it was still a chance to catch four impressive modern metal bands. Hopefully the future will hold big things for all four bands as tonight they all proved how much potential they have.
