Despised Icon, Carnifex & Suffocation / O2 Institute / Birmingham
It’s not often you get a triple-header tour, and if you like your Death Metal / Deathcore, then this one is a real treat. Three of the most iconic bands around in Suffocation, Despised Icon and Carnifex !
Opening the night are Suffer from Wolverhampton, who stepped in to replace Gates of Hell who had to pull out from the tour. Formed in 2018, they have released two Eps and toured extensively across the UK and Europe alongside the likes of Decapitated, Gutrectomy, Black Tongue, Bound in Fear and Signs of the Swarm.
Delivering a set of raw deathcore it was a great opening to the night, especially if you like bands such as Whitechapel or Black Tongue. Greg Hevican on vocals had an impressive guttural vocal style along the lines of Phil Bozeman (Whitechapel) and Will Ramos (Lorna Shore). The set is an aggressive introduction to the carnage ahead, laying a foundation of groove-infused brutality.
And for Suffer to share a stage with Suffocation, Despised Icon AND Carnifex…… dream come true kinda stuff !
Setlist
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Next up are US death metal band Suffocation, from New York. The line up currently consists of Terrance Hobbs (guitar), Derek Boyer (bass), Charlie Errigo (guitar), Ricky Myers (vocals) and John Longstreth (drums). Rising to prominence with their 1991 debut album “Effigy of the Forgotten” an iconic album and the cornerstone for the development of the death metal scene in the ‘90’s.
Suffocation brought a who new level of technicality, rhythmic complexity and sheer brutality that would influence generations of death metal and deathcore musicians.
And tonight, their performance is nothing short of a masterclass in brutality. The guitar riffs are punishing, backed by an intense and uncompromising drum sound that pounds at our eardrums. Ricky’s vocals are as deep and violent as ever. The Birmingham crowd respond as you would expect, with a massive circle pit opening up, swirling fast and furious right through the set. The energy on the room is intense and unwavering throughout.
The set is packed with classics, opening with a brutal set of tracks in Thrones Of Blood, Seraphim Enslavement, Breeding The Spawn and Perpetual Deception. Derek Boyer on bass the cornerstone of their sound, delivering some of the deepest and most brutal bass lines out there. With the metal tip on his bass, low slung it’s tip sits on the ground as he rips through the songs.
Of course, the highlight for the Birmingham crowd has to be Effigy Of The Forgotten, their most well known and influential track, which just sends the circle pit into overdrive !
The set draws to a brutal conclusion with Infecting The Crypts from 1991’s “Effigy Of The Forgotten”.
The room seems to breathe in for the first time for half an hour as one as the set draws to a close. This is a band that has led the scene and is showing that they still remain a formidable force.
Setlist
Thrones of Blood
Seraphim Enslavement
Breeding the Spawn
Perpetual Deception
Catatonia
Pierced From Within
Effigy of the Forgotten
Funeral Inception
Liege of Inveracity
Infecting the Crypts
Next in our trio of deathcore icons are Montreal natives Despised Icon. Formed in 2002, the band uses two vocalists in Alex Erian and Steve Marois and are considered by many as one of the forerunners of the whole deathcore genre. The band broke u on 2010, but reformed in 2016. To date they have released seven albums.
There is a shift in style from Suffocation, with Alex and Steve prowling the stage, swapping monitors to stand on as they launch their vocals out at the crowd, the contrast between their styles, intense guttural death-metal growls and hardcore screams creates a sonic dynamic unlike any other. There is a real punk / hardcore sensibility to their performance, and the vocals are delivered with a raw energy and sense of angry confrontation.
They open the set with A Fractured Hand from 2007’s “The Ills of Modern Man” which immediately unleashes this punk intensity onto the eager crowd. But this raw edge is coupled with a great technical skill through tracks such as Snake In The Grass and Bad Vibes.
Next up is one of their most iconic tracks Furtive Monologue from “The Ills Of Modern Man”. It’s lost none of its intensity and remains as iconic and raw today as ever.
The newer material sits comfortably alongside the older classics. ‘Over My Dead Body’ and ‘The Apparition’ demonstrate that Despised Icon have lost none of their appetite for aggressive, technically demanding songwriting.
Their 2025 release “Shadow Work” is represented by Over My Dead Body which roars out at us, the ferocious screams as powerful as ever showing they have lost none of their drive. The breakdowns are savage and have the crowd screaming the line ‘over my dead body’ back at the stage. Its intense and relentless.
In The Arms Of Perdition highlights that technical ability combining some intense riffs raw beats and breakdowns that are made for circle pits. The set closes with Purgatory, from the 2019 album of the same name. A fitting closer and a reminder of why Despised Icon are so influential. Purgatory doesn’t lift off for a second. As soon as you think you’ve got your breathe back, it hits again, harder than before. The circle pit is unstoppable.
Setlist
A Fractured Hand
Snake in the Grass
Bad Vibes
Furtive Monologue
Over My Dead Body
The Apparition
Retina
In the Arms of Perdition
MVP
Purgatory
And if that wasn’t enough brutality for one night, there’s still more to come – in the form of San Diego, Californian deathmetal band Carnifex. Formed in 2005, they have released nine studio albums The band is made up of founding members Scott Ian Lewis (vocals) and (Shawn Cameron), with Cory Arford (guitar), Fred Calderon (bass) Neal Tiemann (guitar).
Carnifex have developed their own sound built on hardcore foundations but building into it blackened metal atmospherics, some death metal ferocity and darkness.
They open with Die Without Hope, from the 2014 album of the same name, a blistering unrelenting crushing deathcore anthem if ever there was one. Packed with technical riffs, and the most insanely fast double bass drum beats you could ever hope to hear. Scott Lewis delivers some intense guttural vocals over the top as he dominates the stage around him.
What is perhaps so different with Carnifex is their ability to balance that deathcore brutality and intensity with some great atmospheric segments, dark melodies weave through the track mix and there are some fantastic intricate and sinister sounding guitar work in there. Some of the riffs are almost power-rock like, popping out unexpectedly. It builds a tension and an atmosphere very different from the other acts on tonight’s line up. But the brutality is never far away and at times, such as with Lie to My Face it’s particularly savage.
Of course the crowd needs no prompting, and the pit unleashes its fury at every opportunity throughout the set. The set draws to its inevitable conclusion with the raw tempest, the fury that is Drown Me In Bloodwhich ensures the night ends in manic carnage.
Four bands, all with a slightly different take on the genre, but all insanely brutal. A celebration of the history of deathcore, and a reminder the genre has plenty still to come. A stacked line up like no other, a show that leaves you breatheless and begging for more.
What else do you need ?!
Setlist
Die Without Hope
Slit Wrist Savior
Graveside Confessions
Lie to My Face
In Coalesce With Filth and Faith
Hell Chose Me
More Than Misery
Hatred and Slaughter
Roses & Rotting Corpses
Drown Me in Blood
