August Burns Red | Live Review | Liberty Hall | Sydney | 2nd October

4 Oct

How often do you attend a four-band-bill show where each act is as strong as the next? This is the question I’ve been asking myself since leaving Liberty Hall on Friday night after attending the Sydney leg of August Burns Red’s 'Season Of Surrender' tour. Supporting the Pennsylvanian metalcore veterans were Fallweather (AU), Gloom In The Corner (AU) and I Promise the World (USA). From the super fans who had attended the meet-and-great earlier and had cemented their spot on the barrier through to parents sharing this experience with their young children, the room was buzzing with love, angst and anticipation.

It’s always hard for an opener to kick off a show, but not for Fall Weather. Once the unfortunate early technical difficulties were overcome, they delivered a high-energy set that warmed up the early crowd. Skilfully blending some buttery post-hardcore choruses with the modern Aussie metalcore sound we all know and love, and when the vocalist, Cullen Forbes, encouraged the crowd to move, there was 0 hesitation. This group will certainly be one to keep your eyes and ears out for in the future.

Up next was The Gloom In The Corner. These guys have been around for a while now, and unless you’ve been living under a rock, you have likely seen them at the festival or show once or twice. Blending theatrics and storytelling into punishingly heavy music, their distinctive sound along with their stage presence creates an atmosphere of its own. The crowd absolutely ate up their performance, with very little encouragement. Patrons were witness to some wild mosh pit antics, including but not limited to cartwheels and fly kicks, as well as one guy spinning his mate around like a windmill. I even saw someone do a shoey in the pit during their song Assasination Run. To top it off, the security were put through their paces for the finale, when frontman Mikey Arthur encouraged patrons to crowd surf and stage dive. You could see how taken aback he was when that was exactly what happened and a swarm of crowd surfers headed their way.

What to say about I Promised The World? Honestly, I had not heard much about the band before this gig, but they absolutely blew me away. The Texan six-piece transported Liberty Hall back in time by 20 years with their unique mix of emo and 2000s metalcore. Just when you thought they were entering a subdued part of a song, their vocalist would rip shreds off the front few rows with his voice, which sent the crowd absolutely feral. You can tell this young band has been touring relentlessly because they were incredibly tight and high energy. Colour me impressed.

It’s hard to argue that August Burns Red have been one of the most consistent heavy bands on the planet for the last 20 years. It really shows in their chemistry on stage and how they play together live. You feel like you’re just watching a group of friends hang out and have a good time. We were lucky enough to be treated to a diverse setlist playing both material off their latest album: Seasons Of Surrender as well as the classic crowd favourites off albums such as Messengers and Constellations. You couldn’t wipe the smiles off the audiences' faces throughout their set, and I don’t think there was a moment in time where the crowd was stagnant. The encore was a perfect way to close out the night with a drum solo from Matt Greiner followed by Composure and White Washed. Face melting riffs, earth-shattering breakdowns, breakneck blast beats and the stage presence of frontman Jake Luhrs (and his incredible control of swinging his cord mic around) combine to exist as the juggernaut that is August Burns Red.